Has anyone taken plastic telephone poles made by Lionel, Plasticville, Marx, etc. and done some weathering so as not to make them looks so “plastic”?
Buckeye, I have not done so…yet, but plan to do soon. I read an article on this and some ideas I recall (was a long time ago). They took a saw blade and ran it sideways up the length of the pole to look like wood grain. they also used a alcohol wash to cut the coating and once dry, they sprayed it with Dulcoat. The bottom of poles were removed and they took straight pins that were heated and inserted into the bottom plastic and used that to push into the layout surface to keep it up straight. Thread was used to act as wire and they got green glitter nail polish to use as insulators on the crossbeams. That’s all I have for now. Good luck and I look forward to seeing your finished product to perhaps glean some hints.
Dennis
**Dennis…**Thanks for the suggestions. I had seen an article on building your own poles, but it takes about one hour to make one pole. For a Lionel pole, I had planned to take 1/4" styrene tubing and use it as the base instead of the straight pin. Since my layout is on two inch foam, I would just cut the tubing about 1 1/4" and push them into the foam with a little hot glue attaching the pole to the tube. (When I have used wood poles, I put them in the pencil sharpner before sticking them into the foam.) I like the green glitter nail polish idea. You would get a built in brush, too!!! I bet there are other colors of nail polish that would work.
I wrote the article about the poles. It was a while ago so I don’t recall the specific issue. I’ll check my records.
Dennis Brennan
Dennis B…I have a ton of back issues so thank you very much for any help.
Buckeye,
My article appeared in the July 2006 CTT issue in a Special Project Section:. Roughed Up Telephone poles
Dennis Brennan
Thanks Dennis B.
Took some of the ideas that Dennis W. wrote and came up with this:
I cut the top of the pole off to make it square and not rounded. I used a paint called SMLKE on the pole. The pole is glued to 1/4 plastic tubing and stuck into the foam.
That works! Nice. Did you use that green glitter nail polish suggested above?
Used Neon Greenlight by Studio M. I think it is the cheap stuff. [(-D]
Great job Buckeye! And thanks to Dennis Brennan for the original article. I didn’t recall all the specifics, but had a number of the ideas in my head.
Dennis
Thanks Dennis. I found that after I glue the tubing to the bottom, I cut the tubing at a slant. Punctures the foam a little better and stays tighter.
Although prototype poles may be cut flat at the top, they may also be “roofed” to shed water. There are two ways that this is done:
o The pole is cut with a single top surface slanted 15 degrees from the horizontal.
o The pole has two top surfaces forming a “gable” roof, with each surface sloping down 45 degrees from the ridge.
Either kind of roof should be oriented so that it sheds water to the side, and not onto the crossarms.
It has never rained in my train room. Sorry about the hole in your roof Bob. [swg]
At this point in the drought, I can’t quite remember whether it has ever rained here!
In addition to the saw cuts on the plastic poles, you can get a better effect by noting that most poles are not brown from top to bottom. If they are brown at all, it’s only about 4-6’ from the bottom up; the rest is either grey or tan with a few brown streaks here and there, depending on their age.
Terry
In addition to the saw cuts on the plastic poles, you can get a better effect by noting that most poles are not brown from top to bottom. If they are brown at all, it’s only about 4-6’ from the bottom down; the rest is either grey or tan with a few brown streaks here and there, depending on their age.
Terry
Terry…I would really like to see some O scale poles that you have made based upon your description. Some of the new poles in our area are treated wood and have a pale green cast to them when new.
Buckeye… All “real life” telephone poles are set at a 5 degree angle away from the tracks. This is to allow for possible breakage in a storm and will allow the pole to fall away from the tracks. I noticed all of yours were exactly straight.
Chuck
Chuck,
While prototype poles may be at a slight angle away from the track, what works in the real word doesn’t necessarily translate well to our modeled reality. Outside, we really have no frame of reference and we perceive the poles as being perpendicular to the ground. Line poles placed at an angle on a train layout will appear crooked.
I’d be happy to but where are the instructions on how to post pix on this forum?
Terry