Pylon King

These old 33kV tower built back in the 1940’’s at around 50-60 feet in height would be a good modelling candidate. Hi

One fine evening in 1:76 scale .

Telecommunication antenna now added.

Combining telecommunications and power distribution - L3 275kV tower in 4mm scale.

Largest in 4mm is this L6 BICC 400kV tower which are found at both ends of the old Severn Bridge. The line runs under the river then reappears to travel west through Wales.

Thank you. Building these towers really gives an insight to how well engineered the prototypes really are. Love or hate them they have been part of the British landscape for over seventy years , but are seldom modelled.

Tanygrisiau Power Station L3 pylon modelled in 4mm scale.

Superb modelling there ! It’s now becoming increasing difficult to model these older structures as many are now being replaced/upgraded . Seeing the degree of detail this model possess will for many be a lasting reminder to past technology. Interesting to note the design differences between rail and National Grid substations.

A couple of Western Power Distribution 1:76 maintenance vehicles .

Although a Skaledale substation was produced several years ago , may be they could release a version compatible with their pylon kit .

The Model-Land range was excellent . I’ve still got some of the original preproduction models.

Great to see electrical grid modelling in such detail. I purchased one of each of your vehicles last year for my collection which is all modelled in 1:76 scale too. 

Starting every model was the same, once each lower section was completed , warning sign plates , anti climb corners using a donor tower were put together. Curved corner parts and wiring utilised Plastruct , after this was installed the upper tower was added. For both aesthetic and clearance purposes (terminal , deviation towers) I extended the upper tower sections by about 3mm which involved melting and welding very small sections from the donor kit which also supplied additional arm components. Each pylon was then airbrushed using Humbrol steel grey paint , while the leg bases were sprayed separately with Humbrol light grey acrylic. Once dried these bases were added and Sankey Scenics supplied warning signage . Detailing was based around the various 33kV found pylons outside the old Hornby factory at Westwood, Margate. Of note Hornby recommends using paints to add extra realism which eliminates any plastic indication to these kits. You will probably require two to three tower kits to produce one detailed version . When gluing the regular parts use precision poly, Pastic-weld when creating tower /arm extensions. Hope this information will be helpful .

It has to be to carry 400kV ! ))

Painting pylons at sunset .

Hornby detailed 33kV PL1 pylons .

Various 400kV & 275kV British National Grid pylons in 4mm/1:76 scale.

Pylons in the kitchen today in 4mm scale - L3 275kV & L6 400 kV.

Close up - 4mm electricity substation.

A couple more.

As with pylons, substations have always been fascinating to model . Here are a selection , scratch built ,ready made and from kits.

It’s the same story regarding the L3 design too.

One option you could try is by starting with the engineer drawings . Print out the image , then photocopy up to the desired scale to use as your template. The L2 design latticework work is slightly different left to right than front back. Evergreen/Plastruct products with Plastic-Weld for instant joining , regularly check the geometry using both the cutting board and template .