Boxcab For Chris

[RDG_Rich]

They are taking advance orders. I have one on reserve.

CNJ or RDG David?

For every one else...  I have this boxcab body drawn up in N scale with CAD. I have a perfectly working chassis with a 72:1 gear ratio! I was trying to have Bob etch the body for me, but CAD files and adobe files (what Bob uses) don't jive with each other.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/Gearsmall3.jpg
I have since made the frame of thick brass and put a Faulhaber motor in it.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/IMG_3169.jpg
the sideframes.

Chris...

I have Adobe Illustrator CS3. I know I can create a drawing in .ai format and export it to dxf or dwg. I wouldn't see why it doesn't reciprocate, but I haven't tried it.

According to http://sbiii.com/jfcageir/ageir4.html the cab length was 28 feet. The Kato B chassis is 30. The Truck WB is small for the prototype, but I for one could live with that, to get a unique model for little fabrication.

[Chris333]

The chassis I made uses the trucks from a Tomytec chassis:


The wheelbase is correct and the wheel dia looks right.

The whole thing with the etching. I could make the dimple rivets myself, but I wanted to do it right. I have AI CS2 when I import the CAD files into it the drawings turn into what looks like origami with triangle shapes everywhere.  I have searched online for a fix and it doesn't seem to be out there. the only option is to re-draw the whole thing with AI. I have no idea how to draw a straight line with Adobe.  :-\


Someday...


About the Kato chassis. I wanted a slow switcher. My 50 cents worth of radio shack zip-zap gears gets me 72:1 ratio. It will creep very slow:

[John]

Is that a 3 pole motor or 5 pole motor .. everyone knows you need a 5 pole

[TrainCat2]

They are taking advance orders. I have one on reserve.

CNJ or RDG David?

For every one else...  I have this boxcab body drawn up in N scale with CAD. I have a perfectly working chassis with a 72:1 gear ratio! I was trying to have Bob etch the body for me, but CAD files and adobe files (what Bob uses) don't jive with each other.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/Gearsmall3.jpg
I have since made the frame of thick brass and put a Faulhaber motor in it.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/IMG_3169.jpg
the sideframes.

Chris...

I have Adobe Illustrator CS3. I know I can create a drawing in .ai format and export it to dxf or dwg. I wouldn't see why it doesn't reciprocate, but I haven't tried it.

According to http://sbiii.com/jfcageir/ageir4.html the cab length was 28 feet. The Kato B chassis is 30. The Truck WB is small for the prototype, but I for one could live with that, to get a unique model for little fabrication.

The DXF files just give a line where in AutoCAD, Chris had a filled shape. To make matters worse, the line ends did not intersect where you could join the paths to create a shape. I did properly convert one handrail drawing, but I could have done it from scratch MUCH faster.

[Chris333]

Is that a 3 pole motor or 5 pole motor .. everyone knows you need a 5 pole

Supposedly the 10mm Faulhaber has 7 poles, but I haven't taken it apart. Plus coreless motors don't really have poles.

The gearing is what makes the poles irrelevant. It's not going to cog at low speeds because at low speeds the motor is still spinning fast. Everyone talks about the motor, but I think it is more in the gearing.

I try not to argue too much, Rob D Rebel needs something to do anyways 

[RDG_Rich]

The whole thing with the etching. I could make the dimple rivets myself, but I wanted to do it right. I have AI CS2 when I import the CAD files into it the drawings turn into what looks like origami with triangle shapes everywhere.  I have searched online for a fix and it doesn't seem to be out there. the only option is to re-draw the whole thing with AI. I have no idea how to draw a straight line with Adobe. 

About the Kato chassis. I wanted a slow switcher. My 50 cents worth of radio shack zip-zap gears gets me 72:1 ratio. It will creep very slow:

Drawing a straight line with adobe is easy...it is the pen tool that is a B#@!H.

You are right about the B chassis. It's a zoomy.

Do you use the Micro Mark etch system, or are you homegrown? Ever since getting the CS3 suite for College, I have been tempted to try etching, because I know there are things that no manufacturer will ever make that I want... Like Reading 72' coaches.

The DXF files just give a line where in AutoCAD, Chris had a filled shape. To make matters worse, the line ends did not intersect where you could join the paths to create a shape. I did properly convert one handrail drawing, but I could have done it from scratch MUCH faster.

I can see where that would get ugly.

[up1950s]

400+ bucks for a Z boxcab . Wow . Does that company has a good drive ?

[DKS]

They are taking advance orders. I have one on reserve.

CNJ or RDG David?

CNJ.

400+ bucks for a Z boxcab . Wow . Does that company has a good drive ?

Yes. Coreless motor with flywheel.

[TrainCat2]

I have no idea how to draw a straight line with Adobe.  :-\

Chris,
Select the line tool, Click on the starting point, Drag mouse, release mouse at end point.

Congrats, you can now draw a line.

Yours Truely
SmartAssHat

[Chris333]

Rich,

I bought the Micro Mark kit. Now pretty much all I use from them is the resist film and their laminator. I have been buying powdered ferric chloride and mixing it with water. The bottled stuff is the exact same thing, but buying the powder I can get more at a time and probably save a few bucks too. This is a quick rundown of how it all works:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/Etching

And this is my try at Z scale PAX sides (rivets are dimples)
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/ZScale/photo#5089931597918137650
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/ZScale/photo#5089931537788595490
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/ZScale/photo#5099424362435448930

[Chris333]

David,

CNJ #1000 was the first boxcab from the first production run of 4 and it's still alive in a museum somewhere. I have pics saved in my computer. Erie #20 is slightly different and from the 2nd production run.

[RS-27]

David,

CNJ #1000 was the first boxcab from the first production run of 4 and it's still alive in a museum somewhere. I have pics saved in my computer. Erie #20 is slightly different and from the 2nd production run.

The B&O museum in Balto for the CNJ 1000.

Bob in IDaho

[DKS]

David,

CNJ #1000 was the first boxcab from the first production run of 4 and it's still alive in a museum somewhere. I have pics saved in my computer. Erie #20 is slightly different and from the 2nd production run.

The B&O museum in Balto for the CNJ 1000.

Bob in IDaho

Yes, and it was involved in that accident when the roundhouse roof collapsed.

[RDG_Rich]

Rich,

I bought the Micro Mark kit. Now pretty much all I use from them is the resist film and their laminator. I have been buying powdered ferric chloride and mixing it with water. The bottled stuff is the exact same thing, but buying the powder I can get more at a time and probably save a few bucks too. This is a quick rundown of how it all works:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/Etching

And this is my try at Z scale PAX sides (rivets are dimples)
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/ZScale/photo#5089931597918137650
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/ZScale/photo#5089931537788595490
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/ZScale/photo#5099424362435448930

Awesome photo tutorial Chris!

One question though...the dimple rivets... did you etch through the piece and have a second sheet behind, or are you using greyscale somehow? I have no idea if this would work, but if Black stops the etching, would 50% grey slow it? Or doesn't that theory hold water when using the micro mark set?

[DKS]

Rich,

I bought the Micro Mark kit. Now pretty much all I use from them is the resist film and their laminator. I have been buying powdered ferric chloride and mixing it with water. The bottled stuff is the exact same thing, but buying the powder I can get more at a time and probably save a few bucks too. This is a quick rundown of how it all works:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/Etching

And this is my try at Z scale PAX sides (rivets are dimples)
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/ZScale/photo#5089931597918137650
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/ZScale/photo#5089931537788595490
http://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/ZScale/photo#5099424362435448930

Awesome photo tutorial Chris!

One question though...the dimple rivets... did you etch through the piece and have a second sheet behind, or are you using greyscale somehow? I have no idea if this would work, but if Black stops the etching, would 50% grey slow it? Or doesn't that theory hold water when using the micro mark set?

Dimple rivets work by using two different renderings for the two sides of the metal. The art for the front has the rivets (as holes or openings) within the object's shape, and the art for the back is just the solid shape of the object. Both sides of the metal get exposed to the artwork and processed in the etchant. Where both pieces of art are clear, the metal is etched all the way through; where there are features only on one side, the metal is etched roughly halfway through. (Greyscale wouldn't work because it's an all-or-nothing process: the art has to be solid or clear, nothing in between. The metal is either etched or not. You can, however, do multiple etchings for certain effects, but it's a lot of work and with DIY it's all kind of hit-or-miss.)