I have tried small craft beads and they are still to big. Any ideas of something I am over looking?
Over the years, I've tried several different techniques for representing glass utility pole insulators...none of which I found to be ideal...including antique glass beads, brass posts with blobs of clear acrylic gel applied, or just plain painting (applying silver first, then an overcoat of clear green/blue).
Actual measurements on the blue/green glass insulators on U.P. mainline utility (or "telephone" as the U.P. calls them) poles are roughly 3.75" in maximum diameter, "tapering" to about 2.60" at the top, being 4" tall. That translates into a glass bead that would be .023" in diameter (representing the large, base diameter of the insulator), and .025" tall. Finding antique glass beads that actually look like insulators is impossible, since they do not exist. So, "representing" these small objects in N-scale is the best we can hope for.
Yours, Chuck
@chuck geiger , are about the best I've seen, although obviously much too large.
With the advent of 3D printing for the home hobbyist, printing cross-arms with insulators on them has become possible as has been posted here. However, just guessing at the dimensions of both the crossarms and the insulators is not going to result in the optimal prototype look, with obvious concessions to strength and the limits of what present-day 3D printers can produce.
Years ago, I saw the handwriting on the wall, and did a 3D model of typical U.P. telephone pole crossarms with a typical pattern of insulators attached to the tops, along with hardware on the fronts, backs and bottoms of the crossarms representing prototype square washers and bolt heads found on prototype examples I have documented over the years. Also, the cross-arm length and other dimensions are accurate and derived from fallen poles that sometimes happen alongside the U.P. mainline trackage in Weber and Echo Canyons between Ogden UT and Evanston WY.
Photo (1) - My 3D model of U.P. Telephone Pole Crossarms in N-scale for 3D Printing in Translucent Green and/or Clear:
Now that I've finally got my 3D printer and am learning to properly use it, the next project to complete is the introduction of these crossarms, along with other trackside telephone pole details, for sale...including etched NS brace details and wooden poles for these to mount on.
The one concession to N-scale for these is the diameter of the "mounting pegs" between the wooden crossarms and the glass insulators, which on the prototype were originally wooden pegs, and later, steel pegs that the insulators are screwed on to. I've designed mine to allow for stringing appropriate elastic thread if desired so the insulators won't break off.
I'm shooting for introducing these sometime around the end of January, but I may have samples by the middle of December, after experimenting with several clear and green translucent resins to find the most durable, non-brittle resin for these fine parts and completing negotiations with an etching service.
When the organization of my company and the product line is complete, I'll be informing TRW formally, but as of now, I am still learning and devoting the vast majority of my time in doing it...hence, I have not been as present at TRW as I have been in the past.
Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore
