Weekend Update 9/29/13

[eric220]

Glad to hear she's getting a work out.
Judging by the picture, I might suggest a re-think on your blue walls with the new lighting scheme...  It's a tad bilious. Are you considering fading it toward the top of the wall for a better sky effect?

Bilious... Vocab word for the day.  Lee still doesn't like my wall color...  Noted... Again.

The plan right now is to have sky board painted the same color, but faded to white toward the bottom.  More white in the more humid PA/OH areas, and less in the arid CO/CA areas.  I'll admit, the blue is a bit bluer than what I'd intended.  In person, It's not quite that garish, and I think it will make a decent high-sky color.  I've compared it to the CA sky, and it's actually not too different from the middle of the sky on a sunny summer day.  I think that makes it a good starting point to fade with white.

[dougnelson]

Nice work all around.  Mark's winter scene is always amazing to see.

I completed construction of the Train Cat PRR G22b.  Most of the construction was done with CA but I soldered the stirrups and the brake wheel. 

Now about those DECALS????

Doug Nelson

[muktown128]

Seeing another assembled G22 gondola finally got me to order a couple.  Hopefully there are still some left.

Scott

[BCRail_FSJ]

Slowly working on the first of the two approach plate girder spans for the Beatton River bridge.  These are being cobbled together from a mix of Central Valley parts, strip styrene and whatever other bits and pieces  I can find.   


 

[nkalanaga]

Russ:  How do your Triple-53s work on model curves?  I've often wondered if the trailer wheels would bind on rub rails going around "typical" curves.

Not that it matters in 1974, but it was something to wonder about...

[tehachapifan]

Russ:  How do your Triple-53s work on model curves?  I've often wondered if the trailer wheels would bind on rub rails going around "typical" curves.

Not that it matters in 1974, but it was something to wonder about...

They work fine but there are some things that help make this happen. First, I have 20" minimum radius curves on the mainline. Second, only certain trailers can ride in the "spanning" position on a Long Runner flat (DI trailers, for example, cannot as the gauge between inner tires is too narrow). MT trailer bogies seem to do the best in this position and, if a set of tires do happen to bind/ride up on a rub rail through a curve, the gauge can be easily widened by gently pulling the wheels outward along the axle a little.

[DKS]

Did a bit of street paving to test a method of installation:



The technique is detailed here: http://www.jerseycityindustrial.net/streets.htm

[mmagliaro]

MMAGLIARO Do you know if it will cut plastic without melting it? Thanks,Brian

Bryan,
Good question.  Since you asked, I went and tested it.  The short answer is, "Yes" it does it without melting.
I tried it on some .040", .020" and .010" strip, and some .020" sheet (making a cut about 2" long).
There is some very minor heat "crud" along the back edge after some of the cuts, but it flicks off with a fingernail
and leaves a crisp edge.  There is no speed control on this thing.  With a lower blade speed, it might
get rid of that little bit of melt effect.    I bet it could be run off
a ceiling fan dimmer control and you could get some usable slow-down without too much torque loss.

...and if anybody is wondering... do NOT use a normal wall dimmer.   A ceiling fan dimmer is a full-wave
type and on small motors (like this, or a Dremel tool), it works pretty well.  I used a ceiling fan speed control
mounted in an electrical box as a speed control for my 1-speed Dremel for years.

ALSO... I looked in the box, and it COMES with two thicker 2-1/2" steel stabilizing plates, so I don't have to
go get them made like I thought I would have to.  I bolted them onto
the shaft on either side of my ultra-thin blade, and it worked wonders.  The blade stays really straight now.

Another word of caution.  It can cut through brass strip and sheet very well.  But if you try to cut brass pipe,
do NOT try to cut through the whole thing aggressively in one pass.  I broke one of my lovely blades trying that stunt.
(Good thing I bought two).

Easy does it is the key, and with a good blade, this thing can work well.

[mmagliaro]

Nice work all around.  Mark's winter scene is always amazing to see.

I completed construction of the Train Cat PRR G22b.  Most of the construction was done with CA but I soldered the stirrups and the brake wheel. 

Now about those DECALS????

Doug Nelson

That car is BEAUTIFUL.  Kudos to you!  (and to Bob a.k.a. TrainCat)

[mandealco]

CNW Mike, nice work on the kitbash.  Can't wait to see more of it.
Cheers
Steve

[DKS]

MMAGLIARO Do you know if it will cut plastic without melting it? Thanks,Brian

FWIW, I have the Micro Mark equivalent of the same tool. More costly than the Harbor Freight version, but I imagine they perform about the same.



I use it to cut styrene all of the time. In fact, I could not have accomplished many of the things I have for the JCIR without it (example below). I use the standard blade that came with it; in fact, I think a finer-tooth blade might cause melting as it wouldn't remove material as efficiently. To say it doesn't "melt" is to say that it makes very clean cuts (often so clean I don't need to sand or dress the edges), but depending on the type and thickness of plastic, there will be a ridge of melted material along the bottom edge of each cut, which comes right off just by brushing it with your fingers.

[flight2000]

Finished a few more projects this morning. 

Microscale released the Heritage scheme decals, so I had to paint a few.  The Trinity Hoppers are not exact matches, but has to do without getting into modifications. 



Also finished another CEFX SD40-2.







Brian

[nickelplate759]

Amazing job removing the dynamic brake detail on your RS-11 shell!

[HuskerN]

Nice work as always on here.

I got around to finishing a Mack CH613 tractor.







HuskerN
www.nscaleaddiction.blogspot.com
www.shapeways.com/shops/NScaleAddict

[rochsub]

Added the Proviso Yard walkway. More at http://genevasub.blogspot.com




Here's the prototype.