*See my Page 3 posts for updates on this project and pics
I work at a nuclear power plant, and today we were told that the site wants to build a model of the site to use in security drills, etc. Apparently, one of our sister plants did this and now every plant wants it. There’s kind of an informal competition as to who can have the nicest model. They were asking for a volunteer to build it. Naturally, I volunteered! Once I got on shift and had a chance to crunch some numbers though, I realized just how big of a project this was going to be. They want all the buildings of both the Protected Area and Owner Controlled Area represented, with a good level of detail. The modeled area could very well be 1/4 mile wide and a mile long. In width alone, that comes out to be over 8 feet wide! There could be 100 actual feet of model fence to build, and dozens of buildings made of steel and concrete, and with some very odd, difficult to model, shapes. The cooling towers would stand about 18" high in N scale!
I’m supposed to be talking to the Project Manager tomorrow to get some details on what exactly they want this thing to be. How detailed it’s to be, how large of a space is allocated for it. N scales seems too big, and Z almost seems too small. I may have to go with a custom scale like 1:200. Only problem then would be with finding vehicles, figures, etc to match the scale of the buildings and fences.
This project is so large, there’s a decent chance they’ll have to pull me off shift and have me work on it 8 hours a day until it’s done. Wouldn’t that stink, getting paid to build models, and having all the material paid for!
Once I get the details, I may ask if I could bring in volunteers that would want to help in the construction. Assuming they went for it, you’d be allowed on site to help build this monster. You wouldn’t get paid (I imagine), but you get access to a nuclear facility and get to work on a very uinique model. Woul
I think it’s importent that you build this in N or HO scale and NOT a custom scale. I think building it in a custom scale will be much more work for you. If you build it in for example HO scale you have a lot of things already made for you. The picture named three-mile-island-npp.jpg can be used do assist you placing things right, just draw a grid over it. For the cooling towers, use a lathe. I think that are what you guys call them.
I would much rather build it in HO or N, but size becomes an issue. How much space will the site want to devote to this thing? In N scale it could be 8.5 feet wide and 30 feet long, or even more. HO scale would almost double those figures. And nearly all of that space would be occupied by buildings tanks, fences, etc. Very little unused space. That’s just getting out of hand for what they want to do with it. You wouldn’t be able to reach the middle of it to use it for drills. I’ll have to wait until I get details from the project manager. I’ll also want to contact the site that has already built a model and see how they went about it.
Where is your plant located ? i would definately use a lathe to create those towers, either a wood lathe or a metal lathe. Use wood if you must or use PVC pipe or solid plastic if available, and turn those re-curved towers. I see lots of pike stuff walls for those metal buildings. Good luck. [:D]
That’s Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania…Is part of that place still out of order from the mishap back in the late 1970’s?..Looks like a big job…good luck!
Wooden dowels could be used for the towers. Also, plastistruct is your best friend. Lots of common shapes for the plastistruct. Cylinders, domes, walls, sheeting fot parking lots, and so on. I also noticed one of those water towers that loos like a golf ball on a tee. Perhaps you could find one of those “Worlds Greatest Golfer” trophy’s that you could rob the ball & tee from.
Just break everything down to a basic form and then add the details from there.
BTW, I’d definately do it in a common scale like N or Z. This would become a monster undertaking if you try to do a custom scale. I think you’d quickly regret that decision.
Also get as much information on what it will be used for. is it evacuation traffic flow? building egress? perimeter security?
things like that will identify what the most important aspects of the model are. and trying to match those against the space allocated may be difficult. for example, if for some reason, they need every window modeled, but only are giving you 8 feet for the completed model, the windows will be little more than dots.
and just hope they aren’t asking for interiors to be accurately modeled too in such a small space.
You may want to stop thinking like a model railroader and start thinking like an architectural model builder. To us, scale ratios like 1:87 and 1:160 are custom scales. You will need to consider scales like 1"=50’ (1:600) or smaller. Buildings will be little more than boxes but they can be the correct shape and mass. You’re building a three dimensional diagram, not a precise replica. Do a google.com search for architectural model suppliers (Plastruct and American Model Builders might be a good place to start). Styrene sheet will become your best friend.
if i were you i’d get a catalog from PLASTRUCT…they will have everything you need to build a conventional to a nuclear power plant in just about any scale you want…here’s a pic of my refinery that I built from plastruct …chuck
superheated boilers and a scratch built cooling tower…(the fan shrouds are nyquil dosage cups modified)
Aren’t those dosage cups neat ! I’ve been saving them for a year now, even from the hospital , had relatives in the hospital and I saved all the med cups for things like that.
Yes, it’s TMI, in Middletown, PA. Unit 2 had the partial meltdown in 1979 and is sealed off. Unit 1 is still operating and has recently broken several world records for longest continous run without a shutdown. However, both Units will have to be modeled.
I don’t know if this would help, Monroe Stewart has an N scale layout, Volume # 30, on Great Model Railroads video and he demonstrates all types of material to build large plants, steel mills etc. It is amazing what he uses to construct his industrial plants.
Volume #3 with Dean Freytag, he also demonstrates the use of many different objects to produce his famous steel mills.
WTRR
Yard Office
I only have two thoughts. One is don’t do it in 1:1 scale. The other is to pray a lot more.
The third (oops I guess I have three thoughts) is to check what the other guys have said. There seems to be a lot of good ideas there.
If you have access to any kind of facility or compound blueprints (i.e. some kind of CAD drawing or otherwise that might have correctly-scaled dimensions on it), that would really help you get the sizes and proportions right, regardless of what scale you decide to go with.
Dave, Iv’e worked in many nuke plants on the east coast. I believe your sister plant with the model is Salem/Hope Creek, they have a nice model of the plant and it is in N scale. It’s not super detailed like the layouts in Model Railroader but it is nice. It is on display in their security center, it’s about 10’ by 8’ from what I remember but I don’t think it has the owner controled area modeled. For vehicles they used toy cars like Micro-Machines or Matchbox. The roads are black construction paper. The chain link fence and boulders around the plant are modeled, I don’t know what they used for the fence but it looks good.
Iv’e worked at TMI and know how big it is, you definetly have a large project ahead of you. But on the plus side TMI is served by rail, that part should’nt be hard to model. Mabey a larger transformer on a heavy duty flat car?
Since you work security there you would probably have no trouble getting demensions of the major buildings. Mabey use wood blocks and shapes for the square building and paint on doors and windows? Another idea is to research what the modelers use for models of proposed skyscrapers use for windows and doors. Is that stuff scrach built?