This afternoon, I started on a set of Walthers Cornerstone Series high-voltage transmission towers (933-3121). Below, is the description from the Walthers website:
"These tall towers will add realism to your railroad’s skyline. The set includes four easy-to-build towers with molded-on eyelets for stringing “wire.”
I like the “easy-to-build” part. It took me just under 2 hours to put one together. Luckily, I had some small clothespins that I got from the Dollar Tree store. If you don’t have some small clips, do yourself a favor and get some. The molded-on eyelets, are just that, molded on. You have to drill the holes in them yourself. Tools needed:
Flush cut sprue nippers. I use the Xuron pair.
Liquid cement
CA
Small file
Hobby knife
No. 72 or smaller drill bit and pin vise
Some of the areas, between struts and around the bases had some flash that needed to be removed.
There are 3 center sections that get glued to part no. 1.
I clamped the first two sides together, then used liquid cement to glue them together. Give it time to set, because you have to bend to top of part 2 to mate with part 1.
Repeat step two.
When the four sides are glued together, the crossbeams have a gap between them. You must squeeze and glue them together. CA sets up faster, so that’s what I used
The molded on eyelets are separate pieces that have a wedge shape that fits between the crossbeams. I applied the CA to the top of the eyelets, and along the side of the wedge. And held them in place while the CA set up.
Supporting the eyelets on a block of wood, I drilled the holes in the ends of the eyelet with a no. 72 bit in a pin vise. There are dimples in the eyelet to aid in centering the bit.
I sprayed mine with grey auto primer, then lightly wea
Looks like one of those things that requires gobs of patience, which you seem to have. Looks great.
I’m also curious as to just how big they are, in relation to say a 40’ or 50’ car. Some of the full size ones around here are rather massive. I imagine Walther’s had the kitmaker use some selective compression to make them look better on average sized layouts.
Just thought of a little scenic gimmick with them. An HO scale helicopter suspended just above one of the towers. A person, possibly from one of the hazmat or firefighting figure sets, with the hazmat or fire suit painted silver, sitting on the landing skid, with a bypass cable around part of the structure he’s obstensibly working on. I saw that in real life once, it’s awsome to think of the guts it takes to bring a chopper that close then have someone actually sitting on a platform attached to the landing skid, working on a 240 or 460 KV live line.
I’ve always thought these high tension towers were among the most “north american” in look. But they seem to be better in real than on the cover art from Walthers.
Thanks for the tips, it will be useful in the near future (at least, I don’t need two boxes).
By the way, you should really think about building them on a production line. You will save time in the end and since you’ve built already one, you know how to efficiently built them. I always set production line when doing repetitive work. It gives a feeling of achieving several small objectives instead of falling under the pressure of a never ending task.
I was wondering if someone makes an HO scale Gorgo or Godzilla… [swg] The pyrotechnics alone would be a crowd pleaser, although I might have to check with my insurance agent, but I’m guessing he would probably frown on that. Oh, and thank you for the positive comments.
Oh, and, Sailormatic, I thought about the assembly line approach, but I don’t have that many clips to hold the pieces together.