Black Hawk & Ironwood - Hon30 Mini Southwest Layout

[timwatson]

I have been teaching myself to use Blender for this exact purpose. It is the only free software that I have found so far that can take textures (displacement maps), and apply them in a controlled way on surfaces without needing to manual "sculp" the textures. There are thousands of free texture files available online for every kind of surface from diamond plate, wood grain, shingles, cobblestone, cement, dirt, etc. I will say this though, diving into Blender is not for the faint of heart, and is completely unintuitive to my CAD oriented mind. Fortunately I have a cousin who is an artist and animator by trade, so he helps me when I get really stuck in Blender, and I help him with CAD issues. But check out what you can do with it once you get it working properly:

This is great @CNR5529 thanks for sharing - this was what I wanted to learn next.

[timwatson]

Hey @CNR5529 you should make a new post in the 3d printing forum and call it “3d sculpting” with that post above as a starter then I can go and add to it with my iPad design stuff. That way it’s not lost in some layout thread. I think lots would be interested in it. I know I am.

[CNR5529]

Thanks Tim, been following your work with great interest! Good idea.

Blender really is a complementary skill to CAD that is worth learning in my opinion, as it opens up a world of possibilities in what we can design and print! I haven't gotten much into the organic sculpting side of things yet beyond simple edits of thingiverse models, but it seemed relatively straightforward as well.

[timwatson]

Thanks Tim, been following your work with great interest! Good idea.

Blender really is a complementary skill to CAD that is worth learning in my opinion, as it opens up a world of possibilities in what we can design and print! I haven't gotten much into the organic sculpting side of things yet beyond simple edits of thingiverse models, but it seemed relatively straightforward as well.

I completely agree, but it’s scary daunting to learn! Worse than After Effects. I really like the organic sculpt stuff it’s way more natural to me.

[JeffB]

It is in essence sculpting. I have 2 ways I do the wood grain.

1 is via Tinkercad.

The Tinkercad part is by using math and then stretching the result. I will share the wood grain file I use.
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/g5ifjBwAmsW-various-wood-grains

Could you elaborate on this a little more Tim?  What's the "using math" part? 

Jeff

[timwatson]

Could you elaborate on this a little more Tim?  What's the "using math" part? 

Jeff

Best thing is to open the tinker cad document and look at the formula.

[JeffB]

Best thing is to open the tinker cad document and look at the formula.

Thanks Tim...  I'll have a look at it at some point.  I'm itching to do a more freeform type of solid modeling. 

Jeff

[nkalanaga]

Chris333:  Thank you!  That's what I suspected, as heights seem to vary, even between car classes on the same railroad.

[timwatson]

Hey some progress but I actually tore up everything I laid down and I started from scratch with a new track plan. Thanks to @Chris333 for the inspiration which in turn came from Dawson’s creek track plan.

Also I am trying a pink foam spline method for the track base. It’s pink foam cut on every other side to be flexible then secured by silicone. So far it seems fairly robust and the silicone dried fast. So far so good

Looks like woodland scenic foam. Much smaller curves can be made though.
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The cutting jig.
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The final product.

[Chris333]

I could have made it easier for ya 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xDUQYFgpLqLJRVGq9

[timwatson]

I could have made it easier for ya 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xDUQYFgpLqLJRVGq9

You did ... look in the top right corner of that LAST picture with the photocopies and the blue tape!! 

[Chris333]

Oops didn't see. All my photos of this layout are somewhere here on the Railwire. They are mixed in with my other HOn30 stuff.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9x2iPk8J6vu2ewC79
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TY6wR78yYjhKxCAWA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zA2QwBCQPBWcevEQA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BagUeNHVXDt9YeDs8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1v57xMqxjMw82vcP6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/G8vpSEdPEikyUiJj8

The waterfront area that you left off was based on the Dolly Varden Mines Railway http://dollyvardenrr.com/

[timwatson]

Oops didn't see. All my photos of this layout are somewhere here on the Railwire. They are mixed in with my other HOn30 stuff.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9x2iPk8J6vu2ewC79
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TY6wR78yYjhKxCAWA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zA2QwBCQPBWcevEQA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BagUeNHVXDt9YeDs8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1v57xMqxjMw82vcP6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/G8vpSEdPEikyUiJj8

The waterfront area that you left off was based on the Dolly Varden Mines Railway http://dollyvardenrr.com/

I love the Dolly Varden portion but didn’t have the room the base was already 20”x30”. I have some of those pics that I was working off of. I am kind of excited the pink foam spline worked so well.

[timwatson]

Some landforms beginning to emerge.

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[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'm getting real Thunder Mesa vibes from this build. And I am here for it.