Hobby Lab: DIY Telegraph Poles With Our Handy Guide
September 22, 2014 by lloyd
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Love it!
Great tutorial guys… my wife is gonna kill me 😉
Great addition to a field of play.
The download links are not working for me
I think you’re better off coloring the parts before assembly. Cut, color, assemble.
Probably even attaching the insulators to the crossbar first.
These are colored using wood stain:
http://www.smallcuts.net/photo/?id=3542
Which, ironically, I got for dipping figs but found that it wasn’t too good for that.
We have found wood stain to be a bit hit and miss. What every the weathering spray is made of just works.
The other thing about coloring after the build is you can weather them a little more specifically if you want to. With shading and moss etc.
This is going to take sometime
Yeah, i’d probably attach the plastic bits to the crossbars before gluing them to the frame. But then they’d be hit by the spray too. Maybe a bit of solvent/nail-polish remover on one of the cotton buds to clean the spray off them? Or just a bit of paint when its dry?
Personally I’m very likely to just leave them off… or build a set of cross bars and cast them in resin. (Which may be a cool tutorial to do, but not as user friendly as this little tutorial) 🙂
will you be doing the phone wire? as you could use thin wire that has come away from the pole or is that too much detail?
I know 1 guy who tried the wire, and here are the problems he faced 1) the wire and poles get all tangled up when you pack them away after the game 2) the weight of the wire will often make it difficult to make the poles stand up when setting them up on the tabel 3) once you get them all stood up, if someone accidentally touches them during the game, you effectively domino the entire set of telegraph poles, as each one that falls will pull down the next one. The only way to incorporate the wires effectively… Read more »
Yup Forget wire – let the model rail guys worry about that 😉
For reference – if you wanted to do wire check out silkworm thread for stuff that is at scale.
But you really will get tangled in it, so best avoiding the wire for gaming
Very nice tutorial guys, I have been thinking of making telegraph poles for the table I’m working on. Basically a desert city table to be used for Dust, Bolt Action, and with appropriate “future bits” Infinity. While poles tend to be decorative for most games, the skirmish scale of infinity does mean they could provide cover for a single model in b2B, so can help breakup areas like white open streets. Also might provide cover for smaller units in bolt action like snipers or small MG teams. Here is my only problem with this approach, and this is coming from… Read more »
It’s a tricky one. Hobby lab, will not always be about making things quick (we’d love that but it’s not always possible). We intend to build an archive of great little hobby projects so in time, if you want to have a go at something we’ll have dozens of projects for all sorts of stuff, mostly made out of easy to find household type materials. Cost wise if you stick to the simple poles, you could have 50 made in an afternoon, for under £5 in materials (Including the 2p’s 😉 ) that you could find while out shopping for… Read more »
These are awesome, plus I have everything in this video to hand already nice.
My bolt action board is completely made from hobby lab stuff. I don’t even need to think of what to do next or what would make it better it just progresses with the show!!
Nice idea guys like it.
How I think I’d do it is cut, shape, colour (spray), attach the insulator pots then assemble the poles.
As for the rebating the cross bar notches wouldn’t it be easier to mark then cut then your not trying to align a pole a dremel with a piece of paper etc?
What would you reckon for 15mm tooth picks instead of skewers and paper clips instead of matches (no way am i bothering with the pots at 15mm)?
Again great show.
@lloyd Have you guys ever thought of compiling these articles into a DVD for purchase by none backstagers. Might be worth looking into, they are great videos!
That a brilliant suggestion they could have complete run on one thing on a DVD plus a few quid for the funding their after.
Nice looking. Love real-to-life terrain extras like this.
Sounded like a father ted moment again their almost? The insulators on the pylons are glass or ceramic because their nonconductive they come in clear blue or brown usually try pound shops for bags of beads for necklaces.
Or try this.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/200-pieces-Crackle-Glass-Beads/dp/B00C0Z67YG/ref=pd_sim_lp_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=045Z6K0C9M50XHNR2YMH
Would love to see a PDF for FOW!
1) Take existing pdf, print it out
2) place on copy machine
3) under “options” select to reduce size by 50%
15mm is really just about half the size of 28mm
Nice tutorial. For the plastic insulators, I would probably use a dressmakers pin to place the insulator and hold down the plastic with a file or something to remove the pin. This will require the pole to be immobilised, maybe a small table-top vice?
Fantastic video. Really liking hobby lab, can’t wait to see the finished table.
another cracking idea thanx bow
Hi lads. As an alternative to the ear cleaner parts you could use 2mm rare earth magnets painted white (or left silver). they are easier to manage and you can magnetise wire from pole to pole.
Great tutorial guys, the modelmates spray is definitely the way to go with getting them painted quickly. 🙂
I would love to see more bits for 15mm; Flames of War as well as further 28mm for Bolt Action.
Great work guys. Always appreciate the work all of you do.