Best Of New Brass EP-2 assembly & Mod clinic

[victor miranda]

parallax....   you don't say.

I am thinking that may be an anti counterfeiting thing.

interesting.

victor

[peteski]

Peteski,

Since you mentioned flat bed scanners.....

I have found over the years that not all are equal.  Some have a slight paralax effect, meaning there is some ever so slight distortion if the object is not centered.

The one I have now is better in that regard but is TERRIBLE at 3d objects.  If what you are scanning does not lay flat right up to the glass... then forget about it.

Ron,
I consider myself pretty fastidious modeler, but I think that what I consider acceptable tolerance might not be good enough for you.   After all,we are building models here, not some precision lab equipment.   

As far as scanners go, I go by my experience alone. My trusty old Epson Perfection 1240U (1200dpi max optical resolution) scanner give me more than enough accuracy. Of course if the model has a flat surface and held closely against the glass, the scan will be most accurate. Other than that, there will some error introduced into the scan.  IIRC, this scanner uses a CCD optical sensor. It works fairly well even with objects which aren't right against the glass.

Your scanner might use another scanning technology which requires the scanned item to be right against the glass.

As far as this being an anti-counterfeiting protection, I think that is highly unlikely.  It is simply that objects which are not right against the glass will not scan well. Dollar bills will scan just fine as they are placed right against the glass. 

[Kisatchie]

...Dollar bills will scan just fine as they are placed right against the glass. 

Hmm... could you scan
me... oh, $50,000 worth...?

[victor miranda]

now now Ms. Drayle,
lets not tempt anyone into trouble.

Peteski,
take my word for it...
placing us legal tender on the scanner will get you
into a conversation with some fellow in a dark suit
with absolutely no sense of humor.

your scanner may be VERY good.
but I was not talking about it.
It may not have the 'features' the Govt would like it to have.

victor

[peteski]

now now Ms. Drayle,
lets not tempt anyone into trouble.

Peteski,
take my word for it...
placing us legal tender on the scanner will get you
into a conversation with some fellow in a dark suit
with absolutely no sense of humor.

your scanner may be VERY good.
but I was not talking about it.
It may not have the 'features' the Govt would like it to have.

victor

OMG!  I just heard helicopter sounds but I didn't see anything in the night sky - total darkness.  Then there were some strange noises and now my scanner's cold cathode fluorescent tube no longer works. Hmmm.... 

I didn't say that I'm scanning any sort of currency - I just said that currency is a piece of paper with printed image on it (at least the visible part of the actual bill).  That said, the scanner will accurately scan the visible images as it sees them through its scanning head.  The scanners do not have any censoring devices built in.  At least my not-very-paranoid mind thinks.

I have to say that this thread has taken us where no thread has gone before. 

[nkalanaga]

Peteski:  I've also never seen a scanner that can recognize currency, or anything else, and selectively mis-scan it.  At my last job we had a check reader-sorter that imaged everything going through it, and it took pictures of money just fine.  We weren't supposed to put money through it, but some bank tellers aren't too sharp.  If you give them money, they're supposed to put it in the drawer and make a "Cash In" ticket for processing.  Some didn't...

That said, one cannot properly image a US Postal Money Order, at least on an imaging reader-sorter.  Half of the document comes out solid black, with only the name, amount, and serial number readable.  At several times we started getting imageable PMOs, always from the same bank.  Each time they proved to be counterfeit, and finally the bank and USPS managed to catch the counterfeiter.

I don't know what a modern color scanner would do with a money order.  It could probably image it.  Our camera was B&W, and all the post office had to do was print the PMO in the right colors to foil it.  Scanning money is easy.  Printing a decent copy from the scanned image isn't, as anybody paying attention to what they receive will recognize the bad bill from the texture. 

[Chris333]

The last scanner I bought kept automatically croping photos when I was trying to scan the whole page

[peteski]

The last scanner I bought kept automatically croping photos when I was trying to scan the whole page

That is the reason for me keeping my old scanner - it doesn't try to outsmart me or "think" that it knows better than me as to what exactly I want scanned.  Its TWAIN driver's interface is nice and simple - fully manually user configurable. 

[victor miranda]

we wonder far off topic sometimes.

when it comes to scanners I have seen a lot of different... results.

distortions from x and y are common (were?)
and scanning bills and money orders was one way I checked resolutions....
until I read the secret service ahem  Frowned on scanning cash...
so I thought I'd pass along the consideration.
I was pretty sure peteski would not care.  it is his style.

It is often hard to tell where errors get introduced.
the scan is one part, displays are often not accurate
and are not the same as what the printer does.

so one scans prints and adjusts as best one can.
I found all this out when I was trying to get a decal to fit a tank car.

and then I tried to build a truck side frame from a scanned  and reduced drawing.
oooof.

assume you will make a few attempts to get it all square.

victor

[Chris333]

Old scanner... well.

Had to toss my first one because they stopped putting serial ports on PCs. Last scanner was an all in one. The printer stopped working so I bought a new laser printer. Then the next time I tried to scan and print something the scanner stopped. I ripped the plugs right out and threw it across the room. Spent the next hour on my knees picking up glass shards 

Sorry old scanner is no longer with us.

[u18b]

Hahahaha.

This thread has now covered counterfeiting!

We are a little bit at a standstill on decals.  Tomorrow, I'll drop the paint chip in the mail, along with my left over decals to Peteski.  So it will be the end of the week before he will report much.

So, in the meantime, I will be posting a new thread on turning the expensive borderline shelf-queen (otherwise called cr@p) that goes by the name Little Joe into a wonderful slightly re-designed excellent runner.

If you have a Little Joe, you will want to see it when I post it.

Say....... I should get a photo of the EP-2 and the Little Joe together.   

[peteski]

Here is the design process for the nose lettering.

[peteski]

..and the side artwork.



EDIT: Photobucket fix

[u18b]

Hey peter.   

On you double photo of the boiler room, is the prototype sized too big?

The left side comes to the outside of the boiler steam pipe on the model doesn't it?

[peteski]

Hey peter.   

On you double photo of the boiler room, is the prototype sized too big?

The left side comes to the outside of the boiler steam pipe on the model doesn't it?

Ron,
earlier in this thread (when you originally sized the boiler room lettering) you stated "My letters are placed right over the prototype photo for exact spacing...I then move that lettering to my sized photo of my boiler room...So when I get the decals back from Peter, I should have no trouble fitting them - even WITHOUT lowering the separation."

Since you sent me that artwork file I just assumed that the lettering traced over the prototype photo was sized correctly.  I just realigned some of the letters slightly then I moved that lettering along with the prototype photo to overlap your sized photo of the boiler room. It seemed to line up ok - I thought that was the size you wanted. But now that you mentioned the steam pipe I can see that the actual body of the model's boiler room is slightly shorted than of the prototype in the photo (by the width of the steam pipe).  I can correct that. It will be a very slight adjustment.


Well Ron, to be honest I took your original artwork and just moved the lettering along with the bitmapped photo of the 1:1 loco down to your scan of the boiler room.