HV Gantries
MV Disconnect
Lightning Suppressors
Aluminum Bus
MV Gantry
HV Disconnect CCVT Site
The various subassem- blies finally were joined on the base. “Concrete Pads” were modeled, painted, and weathered. The final step was to add all the wiring between the different components.
HV Hybrid Breaker/Switch
forced on the top, bottom, and all corners. In retrospect, I used too much reinforcement, and it got in the way when making holes to mount the radiators. I used plas- tic solvent cement for all my sty- rene work.
Disconnect 135 KV Main Disconnect. This is a model of an ABB center-break disconnect switch used to isolate all the downstream appa- ratus from the incoming voltage for maintenance. It’s a multi-materials structure with a styrene stand and brass operat- ing links. The aluminum disks on the disconnect- ing arms help extinguish the separation arc that accompanies disconnect- ing high voltage.
Scratchbuilding forces you to consciously plan many steps ahead so you don’t paint your- self into a corner. Several items took a lot of pre-planning to pull off, including the radiators. A lay- ered sandwich of 0.010-inch thin styrene sheet forms the radia- tor fronts, replicating the proto- types’ stamped steel front faces. The model fronts are perforated with round-ended slots. Drill-
Main Transformer
ing thin styrene is difficult, but punching works much better. I’ve developed a “poor man’s punch scheme.” This method requires a drill press and bench grinder. Se- lect a drill bit of the needed diam- eter and make a hole in a piece of sheet metal (steel or brass). Clamp the material to the table, so it doesn’t move from this po- sition. Remove the drill bit, and on the bench grinder re-shape the back end of the drill bit to a punch shape — either a diago- nal straight grind or a v-shaped grind. Install the drill bit back into the drill press’ chuck up- side down. You may need to wrap the drill’s flutes with paper, so the drill press chuck can hold it correctly. To ensure that the newly created punch aligns with the “die” (the hole you previously drilled), first put the punch end into the hole and bring the drill chuck down over it. Hold the press in that position and tighten the chuck. You can now punch out many holes, especially if you’re punching plastic. Inciden- tally, this punch method also cre-
62 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
MV Breaker Scratchbuilt Fence
ates discs of any size you want, as long as you have a drill bit of that size.
The radiators are attached to the transformer tank with large, ¼-inch styrene manifolds. Cre- ating reasonable radiator fins was the next challenge. Another colleague suggested using Ev- ergreen styrene angles bumped up against one another. The cen- ter was a U-shaped channel cre- ated by gluing a same-sized sty- rene strip to the horizontal angle leg. From there, angles were laid down working to the edges. Flat black paint pre-shades the fins, so they looked dark when airbrushed with Tamiya sky gray top coat. I machined some aluminum bushings where the radiator manifolds attach to the transformer to give it a finished look. A styrene assembly of a tri- angular piece wrapped with sty- rene strips simulates the welded radiator support brackets. I used this same approach for the light- ning suppressor supports. The conservator tank is a cardboard mailing tube wrapped
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