Animations

[dwiemer]

Hello all, I get small motors given to me from some of the orthopedic cases done here. These come from the irrigation sets. Anyway, I am interested in doing some animation projects with these and am hoping for some ideas. First, would anyone reccomend the OGR "Animations" book? Second, does anyone have any ideas of what they would create, and how would you do this? I look forward to the learned and creative responses from this group.
Thanks,
Dennis

[cnw1995]

Dennis, I've looked at that book 'over someone's shoulder' and looked nifty to me. I would look around at what you have that might look better animated - like a windmill or lighthouse-

[dwiemer]

Doug,
Thanks for the reply. I have the Lionel lighthouse with sounds and rotating light. The windmill sounds good though. I have several coal items and I was thinking of scratchbuilding a coal operation with a conveyer belt etc. I am also considering a pump type item like the K-Line house on fire with the squirting water from the firehose.
thanks again,
Dennis

[marxalot]

Howdy. While in Cleveland for the holidays I picked up the most recent OGR. It has a nice article on building an animation of a bear poking out of a cave. I think they were using a turnout mechanism to move the bear but I imagine any sort of motor could be arranged to so something similar. I think you'd be using some cams and some lever arms to do this. I bet that book would be worth it. Anyhow, the bear seemed pretty neat to me..............

Jim

[Big_Boy_4005]

Dennis, it's not just the motors, it's the motions they can power. Cams, screws, levers, and the like can translate into different things. The Choo Choo Barn has lots of great animations. Lionel has created some pretty clever mechanisms over the years too.

Some of my favorites are the newsstand, the culvert loader and unloader, the diesel fueling station, and the American Flyer barrel loader.

You need to look at the real world and then at your layout and say how can I make that move? The possibilities are endless.