Q: How to make a hollow *tapered* pole?

[MK]

Oh dear, he's at it again......!   

[mmagliaro]

Wow Max, you amaze me again!  Soldering those 4 arms to  the center section while keeping the inner ends open for wire threading is impressive by itself! How about a photo of the LED side of the shades?

 I did take some steel music wire and run it through the brass pipes to knock a little solder out of the way, but it wasn't bad because the ends weren't completely soldered over.  Just lucky I guess.

It's mounted into the layout base now.
They are just 0402 LEDs that I got off eBay with pre-soldered black and red 32 ga  stranded wire already soldered to them.  I cut the black lead to only about 1/4", stripped off its insulation.  I threaded the red, insulated lead through the brass tube, and then took the uninsulated lead and just shoved it into the tube next to the red one.  It fits snugly enough that there's no way it can't make contact with the brass tube, which becomes the "-" lead.  I drop of epoxy on the LED right at the end of the tube keeps it firmly in place and protects the solder connections.

I'll get a pic from underneath, but it might be a little tricky now that it's in the layout base.

[C855B]

Impressive!

Great result.

[Cajonpassfan]

Oh dear, he's at it again......!   

Oh yeah, leave to Max to turn the lowly light pole into a piece art...😬
Nice work!
Otto

[QMike]

I'll get a pic from underneath, but it might be a little tricky now that it's in the layout base.

Instead of trying to get the camera under the lights, how about using a hand mirror below, and the camera above?

[mmagliaro]

QMike... the mirror was what I was thinking of too. Thanks.
I finally got around to it.  These are not the sharpest photos.  It's in an awkward location.

In the yard on the layout (there will be chain link fences and then lots of pallets loaded with barrels, sacks,
crates, and parked cars in the asphalt section; right now it's just an empty yard).


Close-up of the underside.  As you can see, there ain't much to see.  Just tiny tiny LEDs up inside the hoods.

[MK]

Hey Max, make a whole bunch of these, gang them together, and you can model a sports stadium at night! 

[mmagliaro]

MK: "A whole bunch"   HA HA HA.   Um, no.

Anyway, I realized I haven't shown that it actually lights up!

This is the R.S. Laserkit "Courter" factory kit, but with sections of it rearranged to have it straddle the siding
with the loading dock in the overpass instead of on the far size of the structure.  The smaller roof section
facing you in the photo got bumped while I was setting up for the photo and I didn't notice it.  That's why
it looks a little "off" if you look close.  The original kit was not designed to have removable roofs.  But I
added lots of extra bracing and guide ridges inside so that I could make them pop on/pop off sections, in case
I ever want to fully super-detail the interior like I did with my furniture factory.

[peteski]

Nice (and you used a front surface mirror)! 

It also looks great illuminated. Funny how the adjacent building dwarfs that tall light pole.

[jereising]

Beauty!

[mmagliaro]

Nice (and you used a front surface mirror)! 

It also looks great illuminated. Funny how the adjacent building dwarfs that tall light pole.

I just happened to only have a first-surface mirror in a small size handy.  I bought a pack of them from Edmund Scientific
years ago to create one of those background illusions where a road disappears into a backdrop.

The pole is about 25 scale feet high.   I was totally guessing on that, but I didn't want to make it into a "tower".

[wazzou]

Looks good Max.
I don't think you could have gone wrong with 35' or even 40'.

[peteski]

Looks good Max.
I don't think you could have gone wrong with 35' or even 40'.

From what I see for multi-light fixtures on tapered poles nowadays is usually pretty tall (I guess over 50').  But those are the tall ones placed around highway interchanges.

Why did you chose to go with a tapered pole for this particular light?  Were you trying to duplicate something specific to the modeled location, or did you just want to see if you could succeed in modeling such a light?

[strummer]

Why did you chose to go with a tapered pole for this particular light?  Were you trying to duplicate something specific to the modeled location, or did you just want to see if you could succeed in modeling such a light?

That's a fair question; in the photos, the fact that it's tapered is hardly noticeable. Also, the lights on that building look REALLY good...

Mark in Oregon

[peteski]

That's a fair question; in the photos, the fact that it's tapered is hardly noticeable.

That's what I was thinking too.  The taper is probably more pronounced when viewed in-person. But unless I was trying to model a specific light for that location, I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of making the pole tapered. Well, unless I just wanted to prove that I could do it.