Silouette Passenger Car sides (CGW100)

[Sokramiketes]

This proof of concept seems to be working out.

Cut window strip out of MTL heavyweight. Replace with a .010” styrene window strip cut on a Silouette.

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The prototype has sealed glass replacements. This seems to be a good way to get them modeled.

[Sokramiketes]

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After paint and some silver sharpie action.

[Sokramiketes]

I can't share a .studio file in the software here, but I can change the extension to .txt and upload.  Anyone want to download, change to .studio, and see if it opens up for you?

[Mark W]

Worked for me.

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[hegstad1]

YES, YES, YES!  i love my silhouette!

[amato1969]

Whoa, really nice work!

[basementcalling]

I thought Silouettes could only cut from files on a cartridge.

Which version are you using that lets you upload drawings, and is designing those as complicated as CAD for 3D printing?

[peteski]

Where did the smooth roofs come from?

To be blunt, what bugs me about the Silouette-cut windows is that the corner radius seems to be larger than in the drawing.  Kind of like the windows in a Nissan Cube.  The straight sides also seem a bit uneven from window to window.  A laser cutter would probably give better results (but more expensive than a blade type cutter).

[wcfn100]

Where did the smooth roofs come from?

Isn't that the Lowell Smith roof?

Jason

[Sokramiketes]

I thought Silouettes could only cut from files on a cartridge.

Which version are you using that lets you upload drawings, and is designing those as complicated as CAD for 3D printing?

Silhouette Cameo.  It's several years old by now, not sure what the latest are.

[Sokramiketes]

Worked for me.

Excellent, thanks!

[Sokramiketes]

Where did the smooth roofs come from?

To be blunt, what bugs me about the Silouette-cut windows is that the corner radius seems to be larger than in the drawing.  Kind of like the windows in a Nissan Cube.  The straight sides also seem a bit uneven from window to window.  A laser cutter would probably give better results (but more expensive than a blade type cutter).

It's an MTL roof.  Originally offered on various Lowell Smith special run cars, but then made its way to production MTL models and even offered separately in a three pack.

The nature of a blade cutter is that it has to rotate and spin.  That alignment causes the issue you raise.  But just to out-Peteski you, I'm unsure why you didn't suggest that milling a brass mold and shooting injection molded plastic parts wouldn't be even better than laser-cutting.  Actually, let's EDM the mold cavities for even better square corners on the car sides. 

Laser cutting styrene is difficult and usually ends up with ugly raised edges.  What about acrylic?  Thicker.  What about clear acrylic and using masking on the windows like AMB used to offer?  Can't do the silver window frames without separate decals or paint masks. 

No, I think the perfect blend of time, cost, and effort would be etched nickel silver sides, raised window gaskets, and paint scrapped off the gaskets after painting.  Doable for the hobbyist, and cost effective.

But, this car sitting on the business car track in Oelwein certainly looks better than the empty track has for the last 25 years.   

[hegstad1]

Where did the smooth roofs come from?

To be blunt, what bugs me about the Silouette-cut windows is that the corner radius seems to be larger than in the drawing.  Kind of like the windows in a Nissan Cube.  The straight sides also seem a bit uneven from window to window.  A laser cutter would probably give better results (but more expensive than a blade type cutter).

The corner radius is not a result of the cutter but the drawing.  You can set the radius to whatever you want.  Also, I find that if I set the speed of the cutter to the slowest possible,  it pretty much eliminates the "drifting" as it moves from one shape to the next. 

[Sokramiketes]

The corner radius is not a result of the cutter but the drawing.  You can set the radius to whatever you want.  Also, I find that if I set the speed of the cutter to the slowest possible,  it pretty much eliminates the "drifting" as it moves from one shape to the next.

That's good to know, I'll have to play with it a bit more.

I keep looking at the NP dome sleeper I did with flat sides and thinking it needs to be upgraded.  Either with slab panels like you did, or just cut a window piece to insert into another ConCor dome car so it matches the dome coaches better.

[peteski]

It's an MTL roof.  Originally offered on various Lowell Smith special run cars, but then made its way to production MTL models and even offered separately in a three pack.

Thanks!

The nature of a blade cutter is that it has to rotate and spin.  That alignment causes the issue you raise.  But just to out-Peteski you, I'm unsure why you didn't suggest that milling a brass mold and shooting injection molded plastic parts wouldn't be even better than laser-cutting.  Actually, let's EDM the mold cavities for even better square corners on the car sides. 

I see what you did there!  I would have suggested injection molding, but I suspect that method is a bit outside of your hobby budget.    I merely offered my observation.  That's what online forums are for, right?
[/quote]
Laser cutting styrene is difficult and usually ends up with ugly raised edges.  What about acrylic?  Thicker.  What about clear acrylic and using masking on the windows like AMB used to offer?  Can't do the silver window frames without separate decals or paint masks. 

No, I think the perfect blend of time, cost, and effort would be etched nickel silver sides, raised window gaskets, and paint scrapped off the gaskets after painting.  Doable for the hobbyist, and cost effective.

But, this car sitting on the business car track in Oelwein certainly looks better than the empty track has for the last 25 years.   
[/quote]

I agree on both counts: photoetching would have been a good optimal solution, and I'm sure you are happy to have those cars in your roster, after 25 year wait, regardless of what Peteski thinks.    Better modeling through peer pressure does not apply here since the cars are already finished.

The corner radius is not a result of the cutter but the drawing.  You can set the radius to whatever you want.  Also, I find that if I set the speed of the cutter to the slowest possible,  it pretty much eliminates the "drifting" as it moves from one shape to the next. 

True. I do own a simple cutter (old Graphtec CraftROBO CC100-20) which I have used few times, so I have an inkling of how it works.  But in this case, the drawing seems to already show much tighter radius than what was actually cut, so I'm not sure much could be done to reduce the radius (unless maybe make the window corners square).  And yes, drifting can also be somewhat controlled.