What's on your workbench?

JR59 Jan 29, 2006

  1. JoeS

    JoeS TrainBoard Member

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    Rubber black is a winner. It totally covers the red with no bleed through and it gives a slightly weathered look to the drivers.

    I don’t know the history between those two locomotives but I really like the look of that red one. I don’t know if it’s cause all those years with my boys when they were growing up with Thomas the tank trains but the red one for a strange reason resonates with me.
     
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  2. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    These are 3D printed in Plastic. I'll redo them in brass at some stage in the future as the extra weight helps the running
    Kev
     
  3. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    As I was in a painting mood I also pushed on with the first nine British rail HAA coal hoppers. These are another Ivan industries 3D design with the chassis printed integral with the body. The real things were built in their thousands to work in fixed sets on 'merry go round' working. Working continously between the coal mines and power stations.

    The hopper is a really complicated shape and I was able to sort out a lot of drawings and detail pictures to help Ivan get it designed. The levers on the side drop the bottom hopper doors as the train runs at 2mph over the conveyors at the generating station

    [​IMG]

    They ran in sets of 30 or 36 vehicles so nine doesn't really cut it

    Typical motive power was British Rail Class 47s, 58s and in this case a Class 56. The heat haze from the engine is evident as it accelarates a full train through Mill Lane in Derbyshire

    [​IMG]

    The chassis takes most of the available wheelsests in Z I've fitted mine with metal Marklin ones cos I had a load of them in stock but Full Throttle ones would have done just as well

    [​IMG] was the The first one to be completed was the 'translator wagon' This has a body mount MTL 'marklin style' coupler on one end to allow it to couple to most of my locos and an MTL 805 buckeye on the other end

    [​IMG]

    Body colour was Hycote Aluminium and the chassis was Tamiya rubber black. The TOPS panels were from Fox transfers

    So my class 56s finally have something to pull. The other eight wagons have 805s fitted

    56 031 passes the Republic blast furnace

    [​IMG]

    There is some intensive testing to do now. As built they are too light so I'm going to use powdered Tungsten in the bottom of the hoppers and keep adding it until they run well

    The 56 was kitbashed from an Elmar class 47 and then had a rubber mould taken of so I could reproduce it in resin. It runs on a Marklin BR 103 chassis

    Kev
     
  4. mrnosal

    mrnosal TrainBoard Member

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    I'm working on scratch building a German farmhouse (fachwerkhaus) in cardstock. This is just the first test to check overall size and proportions. Need to make some minor adjustments to account for cardstock thickness. Final model will have inner structure made from black cardstock to block light. Wasn't super careful with construction as it is only a test and isn't going to be completed.

    [​IMG]
    Prototype farm house


    [​IMG]
    Cardstock farm house prototype


    --Mike
     
  5. John Bartolotto

    John Bartolotto TrainBoard Supporter

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    Look pretty darn good to me!

    John
     
  6. CNE1899

    CNE1899 TrainBoard Member

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    Mike,
    Is the timber framing a separate piece of card stock?
    Looks good so far.
    Scott
     
  7. mrnosal

    mrnosal TrainBoard Member

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    Yes, the timber framing is a separate card. Obviously they should line up without a gap at the corners, but I'll fix that in the next version.
     
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  8. mdvholland

    mdvholland TrainBoard Member

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    Nice! How did you get these so neatly cut out?

    Matt
     
  9. mrnosal

    mrnosal TrainBoard Member

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    I'm using a craft cutting machine (Explore Air 2 from Cricut). It isn't as precise as a laser cutter, but I think it is doing a good enough job at the moment. The real downside is that you need to place your material to be cut on an sticky mat to hold it in place during cutting. Removing such delicate cuts from the sticky mat afterwards requires a very careful and gentle approach to avoid tearing or curling the paper.
     
  10. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    Are you using the default mat that comes with the machine? I think they make 3 or 4 grades of stickiness. I find the regular mat to be pretty sticky too. I haven't used my Cricut in a while, but I am considering getting one of the less adhesive mats. I think it works well for cutting styrene sheets, but it can be problematic to cut paper templates and stuff like that.
     
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  11. CNE1899

    CNE1899 TrainBoard Member

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    At work we have a Cricut, and we have four mats of varying stickyness. We do use them for different materials to cut.

    Scott
     
  12. mrnosal

    mrnosal TrainBoard Member

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    I am using the Light Grip Mat. I just wanted to point out that while the Cricut is working as I had hoped for cutting Z-scale paper craft parts, there is an extra step required to carefully remove the parts from the mat without causing rips or curling. For the timber work cuts above, this took about half and hour of careful work with a spatula and blade to remove the part without damaging it. Larger parts and heavier card stock are easier to remove, but the timber work is a delicate lattice and required much patience.

    After this test, I can say that using craft cutters like the Cricut (or similar) can produce satisfactory results for z-scale cardstock buildings. It requires extra care, and the results are not as precise as a laser cutter, but it is satisfactory for my needs. The timber framework was the real test for me, and I am quite happy with how it turned out.

    When I have updated my design and finished the building, I'll post a how-to and share the SVGs.

    Mike
     
  13. mdvholland

    mdvholland TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks, Mike, that will be interesting.

    Matt
     
  14. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Made a start on painting the 158s. Basic body color is white and I've done the yellow ends and the orange cant rail stripe. just above it is a fine black line I can paint up to when I do the grey roof

    [​IMG]

    Not a simple colour scheme with the grey, lightblue and dark blue stripes

    This is one of the Scottish ones at Inverkeithing on the old North British in 1992

    [​IMG]

    kev
     
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  15. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Had a relatively quiet night last night. Brooklyn didn't have a sleepover and the was Naff-all on the TV so pressed on with the 158

    The picture, taken under artificial light really shows all the areas I need to touch up. Particularly around the 'Panda Eyes' front windows. These sort of pics are really useful as they 'Lock in' defects you miss in real time

    [​IMG]

    Behind them is the two car Class 175 Alsthom DMU in freshly applied Gloss white. Now my original plan was to do the first 'Northern' livery but the more I looked at it the more of a challenge it was going to be

    [​IMG]

    I mean, I like a challenge but Come-on!

    Salvation was found in the unlikely form of the devolved Welsh Government who have taken over the running of trains in Wales from Arriva.

    Much easier to achieve and I think Railtec have done some N Scale decals I can adapt. I do think these DMUs have a face only a mother could like!

    [​IMG]

    More soon

    Kev
     
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  16. zdrada69

    zdrada69 TrainBoard Member

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    Kevin,
    Could you please explain w little bit more how you use Shorty for this model ? I an especially interested in electrics and the way you attach not motorized wheelset to the model. Do you use extra made parts for this ?
     
  17. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    The unpowered truck is fastened to a 3D printed mounting

    https://www.shapeways.com/product/9...orty-bulk-40pcs?optionId=168303125&li=ostatus

    This takes the Rokuhan screw and printed circuit board (held on with Cyano glue) The main part of the Shorty chassis has been thinned slightly so it is a snug fit into the body. I'm waiting until I have fastened the window glazing in to see how much clearance I have got before deciding how to fix the two halves of the chassis in but will probably just fix them with a thin smear of contact adhesive so I can get them out again if neccesary. The wires from the motor and the two sets of pickups will join together in the middle of the vehicle which gives me the opportunity to add a sound chip and speaker some time in the future. I am not planning to connect the two cars together electrically.

    [​IMG]

    The underframe detail will be scratchbuilt and I might take a mould off it and cast them in resin with tungsten powder mixed in to increase the weight

    I'm looking to see if the Rokuhan couplers will reach and give me a nice close fit between the units if not it will probably be a pair of magnetic couplers

    The window glazing will be sprayed on the inside with Tamiya 'Smoke' tinted acrylic to recreate the tinted windows on the prototype. This will also hide the Rokuhan bits

    Kev
     
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  18. zdrada69

    zdrada69 TrainBoard Member

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    Kevin,
    Thank you for info and the hint about this tiny Shapeways 3D printed part. One more question. Do you power both units of DMU or use only one as a motorized and the second one unpowered ?
     
  19. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    If I could get the unpowered Shortys at the right price the second unit would be unpowered but it was cheaper to buy six powered ones from Plaza japan in Osaka than the silly prices they want for the dummys so both units will be powered for now.

    If someone does an offer on the unpowered ones I'll just make another two units and split the powered ones up

    Kev
     
  20. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    So all the stripes are on. My eyes were going a bit squirlly by the end!
    The next thing to do is put the glass in the windows (tinted with Tamiya 'Smoke') and I'll then be able to get the Rokuhan chassis fitted to the right width

    [​IMG]

    started on doing the windows on the 175

    Kev
     
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