Weekend Update 12/25/16

[daniel_leavitt2000]

No Christmas for me!

[peteski]

No Christmas for me!

Did you convert to Buddhism or Hinduism? 

[Mark W]

Time to take on the overpass for my Rosa Wye module. 
Reference:




Lots of repetitive props for this one.  A good pair of calipers to score dimensions makes making these repeating shapes so much easier!


First batch of pillar things laid out.  (All of the old terrain surface will be tore out and corrected.) 


Again with the repeating shapes, although I had the Silhouette cut out these cross-members.


Added a rough deck and we're off to a great start.


So far so good from down below too.


I've got the remaining pillar things built, and the road decks, including slight curve on the East side.  Just waiting for a few more packs of Plastruct I Beams, then on to the rain spouts, street lamps, and railings. 

[Mark W]

Forgot I had a few more progress pics.

Here's just a few of the million repeating shapes I had the cutter help with.  Can you imagine doing those notches by hand?!!


Here's attaching the I beams to the roadway.  Those peg things are what I'm using to attach the road to the pillar supports.  They'll slide down into the pillars themselves. 
Each brace that lies above a pillar is 4 .020 styrene parts from the Silhouette glued together.  They fill the entire space between the I beams.  The smaller braces in between are metal things, as can be seen in the reference from under the overpass in my post above.   And I just now realized that I forgot about the little bit that extends outside of the I Beam, above the pillars.   


Here's the old terrain tear-out.  Always fun destroying old stuff to make way for the new!



And where I am so far, waiting for the remaining I Beams to arrive.  I suppose I could attach the Westbound road deck while I wait. 

[C855B]

Amazing work, Mark. I will borrow your engineering extensively.   Not quite clear in that last picture, at the extreme right - how are you modeling the K-wall profile?

[brokemoto]

Brokemoto:  For your Chevrolet, how about this one:

 

[davefoxx]

This is my five-year-old daughter's new Operation North Pole train that she received from Santa.  Our family had a great Christmas; hope yours did, too.



DFF

[Angus Shops]

Mark, interesting use of the silhouette cutter. My wife (the Board of Director) got herself one of these for her own craft projects and I've been eyeing it enviously ever since...  I'm impressed that it can cut 0.02". If CP had smooth side passenger cars I'd be all over it.

Craig, I haven't told anybody yet, but I'm in the process of making resin versions of The Canadian. So far the coach, baggage/dorm, and the Chateau sleeper are complete, with the diner in progress. These will be as delivered versions, so not quite correct for Via Rail. Like yours, they're based on the Con Cor model but modified with correct window arrangement, more prototypical detailed end arrangements (modelled from from  Rapido's HO version), separate wire grabs (sides only), correct floor and underbody details, including stainless battery box covers, body mounted couplers, smooth doors (no corrugations)... Windows will have to be made individually from 0.01 clear plastic; I've made jigs to cut them accurately from green tinted plastic and added a black gasket (Sharpie) and window blinds.

Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to cast the dome cars. It's the dome and it's window insert. At this point I'm thinking that these cars are going to have to be the Con Cor cars, modified.

Also unfortunately, I've packed up everything for the move, so this project is on hold for a while.

Geoff

[Mark W]

Not quite clear in that last picture, at the extreme right - how are you modeling the K-wall profile?

Haven't yet.  Just rectangle strip styrene right now.  Only idea I've come up with so far is using a router on that strip of styrene.  Will probably have to find a proper bit and router speed to prevent just tearing the styrene to shreds.  Not to mention some kind of jig to keep fingers out of the way.   

[C855B]

It seems to me that given your (amazing) success with laminations off the Silhouette, you could build-up a profile in .010" or even .005" strips and hit it with sandpaper. Or... how's this?... do the laminations to start, and mill a profile into .040" or thicker brass to use as a shaping scraper. Recalls an old-school method to mill moldings.

I can't imagine for even a microsecond going after that soft styrene with a conventional router. Bit speed alone will turn it into goo.

[Angus Shops]

Make one really good one. Make a mold of it, make 20 or 30 resin copies, make another mold of those, and start cranking out batches of 20 or 30...

Geoff

[craigolio1]

Mark, interesting use of the silhouette cutter. My wife (the Board of Director) got herself one of these for her own craft projects and I've been eyeing it enviously ever since...  I'm impressed that it can cut 0.02". If CP had smooth side passenger cars I'd be all over it.

Craig, I haven't told anybody yet, but I'm in the process of making resin versions of The Canadian. So far the coach, baggage/dorm, and the Chateau sleeper are complete, with the diner in progress. These will be as delivered versions, so not quite correct for Via Rail. Like yours, they're based on the Con Cor model but modified with correct window arrangement, more prototypical detailed end arrangements (modelled from from  Rapido's HO version), separate wire grabs (sides only), correct floor and underbody details, including stainless battery box covers, body mounted couplers, smooth doors (no corrugations)... Windows will have to be made individually from 0.01 clear plastic; I've made jigs to cut them accurately from green tinted plastic and added a black gasket (Sharpie) and window blinds.

Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to cast the dome cars. It's the dome and it's window insert. At this point I'm thinking that these cars are going to have to be the Con Cor cars, modified.

Also unfortunately, I've packed up everything for the move, so this project is on hold for a while.

Geoff

Geoff,

that sounds awesome! I'm in whenever they're ready. I would like to fill out the roster.

[chuck geiger]

Always liked this Faller Oil Depot, but looked too Euro. Found it at antique shop that has a lot of N in a train
department here in Wenatchee. They have all of the N Atlas structures, the old foot bridge, signal tower, lumber
mill and freight station (one of the first I built in 1969). I am painting the building white and Union 76 decals.
Roof will be gray. Finally gonna get busy on this small oil depot. The roof was a V wing style. Flatting this
puppy out. Took everything off the plastic base and will use tanks, barrels, gas pump.

[Mark W]

It seems to me that given your (amazing) success with laminations off the Silhouette, you could build-up a profile in .010" or even .005" strips and hit it with sandpaper. Or... how's this?... do the laminations to start, and mill a profile into .040" or thicker brass to use as a shaping scraper. Recalls an old-school method to mill moldings.

I can't imagine for even a microsecond going after that soft styrene with a conventional router. Bit speed alone will turn it into goo.

Actually that sounds like an awesome idea!  Start with a strip of .020 full height.  Fix a strip of .010 or .015 along the bottom on either side, then lay over both with .005". 

Will test and report back. 

[bbussey]

Second test render of a New Haven NE caboose for an eventual wire train, but I can't get a clean enough render on the body from Shapeways in "assembled" configuration, too many build layer lines. Going to try to build it as a flat to see if that helps.

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