SNSR Layout Build

[mbinsewi]

Hi Robert, looking forward to your HO build.  Good luck with the move.

Mike.

[richhotrain]

ROBERT PETRICK

 

 

richhotrain

Looking forward to your new layout, Robert.

Welcome to the world of HO scale!

Rich  

Hey Rich -

Thanks. You know, you were a small part of the decision to go to HO scale . . .

A few years ago, you were working on the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal.  

That reminder prompted me to go back and re-read my 2020 thread about scratching the LAUPT. At that time, the retired Walthers model was going for $400. Now, the price is $500 on eBay. No thank you.

November 2020 was a seminal moment for me in that subsequent back and hip problems resulted in a long layoff from working on my layout. I still do plan to scratchbuild the LAUPT, and I have dismantled the roundhouse and turntable on the peninsula to make room for the passenger station. For the time being, I have the Walthers Cornerstone Union Station sitting in its place.

Rich

[ROBERT PETRICK]

richhotrain

Looking forward to your new layout, Robert.

Welcome to the world of HO scale!

Rich 

Hey Rich -

Thanks. You know, you were a small part of the decision to go to HO scale . . .

A few years ago, you were working on the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal. I did some research and noodled around and did some rough cutting out tracery details for the large arch windows:

This is just about the limits of the small detail I can do using my laser cutter, and it is HO scale. I could not do this in N.

[richhotrain]

Looking forward to your new layout, Robert.

Welcome to the world of HO scale!

Rich

[richhotrain]

ROBERT PETRICK

My eyes are still sharp and my hands are still steady. 

My hands were steady, my eyes were clear and bright.

My walk had purpose, my steps were quick and light.

And I held firmly to what I felt was right.

Like a rock.

Bob Seger

[hon30critter]

Hi Robert,

ROBERT PETRICK

Here's a small little tiny bit of news . . .

That's hardly what I would call a "small little tiny bit of news..."!

Here's hoping your move goes smoothly and that your new model train venture is a success! I look forward to your progress reports.

Cheers!!

Dave

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

Robert,

All I can say is welcome back to places that are green......

HO does have the variety thing going on for sure.

Some planned but until now delayed life and family changes are finally happening so the slow progress on my layout is finally accelerating. 

Looking forward to see what you build.

Sheldon

[ROBERT PETRICK]

Here's a small little tiny bit of news . . .

I'm from the south, the Deep South. I've been living in the high desert of Wyoming for the past 15 years, but it's time to head back east, to go home. The thirty-below weather we had two weeks ago did not force this decision, but it did contribute a little in its own way. Mainly it's family, and the desire to live someplace where it rains a little more often than once every three years.

The N Scale layout will not be making the trip; not entirely. What can be taken apart will be taken apart, and what can be packed and stacked will be packed and stacked. But here's the news that kinda pertains to this forum: my next layout will be HO. One level. No helix. No hidden staging. In a 20' X 50' purpose-built garage/workshop/building. I'll let the grandkids and the real estate agents decide what the building is when that time comes; but for me, for now, it will be the train room.

I'm not abandoning N Scale. My eyes are still sharp and my hands are still steady. I will keep a few (of what might be called unit-) trains and participate in FreemoN activities in a portable travelling sort of way (one 8-foot module that comes to mind will feature a long-span high-level cantilever truss bridge), but the home layout will be HO. The reason for the HO business isn't size; it's variety, it's availability. It's that there are simply many more choices regarding structures, buildings, and vehicles. No big deal. It's just a thing.

Anyhow, there it is.

Robert

[ROBERT PETRICK]

Sculpture titled Prometheus Bringing the Gift of Fire cut from a sheet of 1.0 mm acrylic for the entrance to the Natrona County Library on my N Scale layout. I suppose one day I could paint it bronze or something, but for now I kinda like the contrast and highlight of the black figure. The fire is made from two short pieces of stranded 16 ga wire cut from an old lamp cord and twisted together. Granny was right when she said never throw away old lamp cords, you never know when you're gonna need one . . .

 

 

[Pruitt]

ROBERT PETRICK

EDIT  I don't know why it takes up more than the whole width of the screen. Any ideas or suggestions? Can I edit the embed code to a certain pixel width and height?

That's pretty weird. I always embed my videos, and they've never popped in wider than the thread width.

It appears you can adjust the width of the image in the embed code in the first line, where it gives values for the window. width="560" height="315" are the default values for my videos. Yours in the above clip are width="1004" height="753". You might try adjusting these a bit.

Here's your video with the 560 and 315 values (which came up as default in the YouTube-generated embed code):

[ROBERT PETRICK]

Here's another animation. This time linked using the embed technique.

I posted a still rendering of this a while back. It is the Wet Product Loading Facilities at Acme Chemicals.

Once again, thanks to Mark Pruitt for allowing me to park a couple of videos on his YouTube channel. I'm in the process of getting a channel for my self.

Robert

EDIT  I don't know why it takes up more than the whole width of the screen. Any ideas or suggestions? Can I edit the embed code to a certain pixel width and height?

EDIT #2  It looks like the embed option still needs a little work. So, the plan might be to go to another option: using a simple link to the YouTube channel itself. You don't get an image or a preview or anything, just some cold text in a hot link.

Wet Product Loading Facility Video

EDIT #3  Time warp . . . I made the adjustment suggested by Mark in the post that comes after this one . . .

Question for Mark. When you shoot your videos, do you set up the camera or the video editing post-processor to those height and width values? Do you set them to any values, or is that all already set inside the camera you use? Right now, I am only using these animations becasuse they are the only 'movies' I have. Soon, I will use my camera (that has video capability) to make actual real-live videos.

 

[mbinsewi]

Looks good Robert.  Video works.

Mike.

[ROBERT PETRICK]

Trying something new. With valuable assistance from Mark Pruitt.

Here's a YouTube video of a CAD animation of a double-leaf bascule bridge I designed quite a while ago. Based (more or less) on the Burnside Bridge in Portland. At the time I was using a much older version of AutoCAD, so the image might look a little raggedy. But, I'm not entirely sure that even if I re-created it again today, it would look any better.

Robert

EDIT to add image of actual bridge . . .

[hon30critter]

ROBERT PETRICK

Yes, the frames (and any other details) could be printed separately and then painted and applied. But, that would mean a bunch of little bitty appliques about the size of my little fingernail. Gluing them on and lining them all up would be as much trouble as masking them off.

Hi Robert,

Thanks for explaining that.

I have acquired almost all of the structures needed for my layout. In hind sight I think I may have missed an opportunity to create my own unique structures, especially for the the larger buildings in the downtown scenes. Compared to what I have spent in kits, I could very likely have purchased a decent 3D printer and made them all myself. One significant advantage would have been the ability to print windows, doors and other architectural details separately to make the painting process much easier.

I played with Walthers Modulars when I was working on my first layout plan and I loved the flexibility and creativity that they allowed. Unfortunately they were exceedingly expensive up until they discontinued them and started to clear them out. Unfortunately the buildings that I made won't work on the new layout.

Dave

[BNSF UP and others modeler]

Yes I had trouble with pesky overexposure issues when I tried to design a small slotting concept to fit my well car halves together. The slots were always smaller then they were supposed to be. If you figure out how to get rid of that before I do, by all means please let us know. Its a pretty big dilemma for designing tight fitting parts.

[ROBERT PETRICK]

hon30critter

Hi Robert,

Just out of curiousity, could the window frames and wall trim details be printed  separately so that they would be easier to paint a different colour? Also, could the window frames be printed separately with more details like sills and header trim pieces that project further from the basic frames? If that level of detail isn't practical in N scale, could it be feasible in HO?

Also, have you already sanded the tower parts shown in the pictures? I'm curious to know how much sanding is required. They look pretty clean to me.

Thanks,

Dave 

Hey Dave-

Yes, the frames (and any other details) could be printed separately and then painted and applied. But, that would mean a bunch of little bitty appliques about the size of my little fingernail. Gluing them on and lining them all up would be as much trouble as masking them off. The window frames are square and they are all on outside corners (no tight inner corners to deal with). And yes, doing this in HO would be a lot easier. For one thing, the pieces would be the size of my thumbnail.

Similar story regarding the copings and cornices and the horizontal trim accents.

But my plan was to simply add some texture to an otherwise plain wall section. The windows and frames I'm using are commercial store-bought units, and they already come in a contrasting color or they can be painted as you describe. We N-Scalers try to not ask for too much . . .

Regarding sanding and finishing . . . here's a photo.

The circled parts show what was described in that other thread as 'elephant's feet'. Not much sanding and filing to do, but I'm using Tichy windows, and they have a little flange that fits snugly into the square opening from the inside. So, those tiny ridges need to be flattened and squared up.

Robert

[hon30critter]

Hi Robert,

Just out of curiousity, could the window frames and wall trim details be printed  separately so that they would be easier to paint a different colour? Also, could the window frames be printed separately with more details like sills and header trim pieces that project further from the basic frames? If that level of detail isn't practical in N scale, could it be feasible in HO?

Also, have you already sanded the tower parts shown in the pictures? I'm curious to know how much sanding is required. They look pretty clean to me.

Thanks,

Dave

[ROBERT PETRICK]

3D Resin Print Project No 2 . . .

Corner turret with witch hat roof for the Maritime Museum. N scale. Exploded view and assembled view.

And a photo of the pieces and parts as they came out of the printer. A little sanding and filing and general cleanup. Then assembly.

Dang, forgot to add a penny to the photo.

Robert

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

Very nice. Those look really good.

Sheldon

[ROBERT PETRICK]

I've recently taken up the sport of 3D Resin Printing, and I posted a few photos in another thread regarding that topic. Instead of using generic publicly-available online .STL files to test and calibrate my printer, I used actual project designs. Since those designs are specifically for this layout build, I am updating this thread and adding a few of the photos here.

Here is a CAD rendering of a pile cap for the main piers of Win Littlefield Bridge:

And a photo of the actual 3D print:

Here's a photo of the pile base, the pile shaft, and the pile cap:

And a photo of the assembled bridge pier:

And finally a photo showing the pier in its location on the layout for when it replaces the existing 'place holder' pier:

The resin prints feel a lot smoother than they look. After a coat or two of sandable primer we'll see what's what.

Robert

[ROBERT PETRICK]

Pruitt

Nice!

Thanks!

[Pruitt]

Nice!

[ROBERT PETRICK]

Just about ready to place on the layout.

Robert

["JaBear"]

Gidday Robert, sorry about the issues you encountered trying to reply to my question, but thanks for the reply.

 

Yes, I was a bit vague, but my idea of permanent structures are those that can stand the rigors of repeated transportation as part of exhibition HO scale nodules.

 

A pity about the Taskboard but here are certainly other materials that would be more suitable. I have a friend who is also a modeller (HO scale) who has a laser engraving / cutting business, who also designs various commercial gift / presentation items, and when he comes back from his well-deserved summer break, I’ll pick his brains regarding the materials he uses and their applicability, and will report back. I know he’s mentioned bamboo based products.

 

He hasn’t had the time to do much regarding laser cut model railroading stuff, except for these HO scale “logging cabins” which are cut from 1/8” (3mm) MDF and card. (If I ever get to retire, I’d like to think I could learn how to use CAD and give him the files)

 

IMG_1503 (2) by Bear, on Flickr

Keep having FUN,

Cheers, the Bear. 

 

[richhotrain]

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

Robert, I found that emojis in the quoted post are causing the 403 error. Delete the emoji and the post will work.

Sheldon 

Well, I'll be. I gotta try that. Sometimes I can quote a reply, other time I can't.

Rich

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

Robert, I found that emojis in the quoted post are causing the 403 error. Delete the emoji and the post will work.

Sheldon

 

[ROBERT PETRICK]

Hey Bear-

 

I tried responding to your question last midnight (that works out to about noon tomorrow, your time) and first thing this morning, but when I pushed the 'reply' button I got the dreaded 403 Forbidden message both times. No idea if that will happen again after I try to recompose my answer from last night . . .

 

Taskboard seems to be a perfectly stable material to work with, as stable as anything else we modelers commonly use, and perfectly suitable for permanent structures. I guess it depends on what you mean by permanent. Rough, gentle, and/or repeated handling also comes into play.

 

But it appears to be kinda 'chunky'. I don't know if that is the correct term. Maybe friable is closer, but I don't think that is accurate either. The edges and corners fray easily. Taskboard cannot be sanded or filed, and when I try, the surface peels off in layers. It absorbs water and swells up. It bends easily (which is either good or bad, depending on your situation) and leaves wrinkles.

 

I'm new to laser cutting. My plan is to use smooth dense multi-ply aircraft-grade birch plywood in very thin sheets: 1/32" (0.032", not sure about mm for our International System friends) and 1/64" (0.016"). Also, thin veneers of maple and walnut and single-ply balsa or basswood in similar sizes. I have some of this material on hand, and I'll try it out and publish the results as I go along.

Robert

[ROBERT PETRICK]

Chuck Stuettgen

WOW!  Very Nice!  Would you be willing to share the laser cut file? My Brother has a 60w laser cutter and I would love putting that on my HO layout.

Thanks

Chuck

Hey Chuck-

Thanks. I appreciate your interest.

I've only just recently started into designing and building laser-cut structures. I'm still working out a lot of the details, and there are a lot of details to work out. I'm trying to figure out where the state of the art stands today, and what I can do to advance the craft.

For this particular structure, I am pondering both an N scale version and an HO version as well. There's more to going from N to HO than simply multiplying dimensions by a scale factor of 1.84 or something. I'm trying to figure out which materials are best to use and how those materials can be cut out, handled, assembled, joined, glued, painted, etc.

When I get a little further along the learning curve, I'll send you a PM. I'd be curious to see how well an interested third-party can take a raw set of drawings and assemble the model. It could be valuable to get real-world feedback and an honest assessment of the design.

Robert

["JaBear"]

Gidday Robert, great modelling but then I’m afraid I don’t expect anything less from you!!

Am I to assume that “Taskboard” is not a suitable material for a permanent structure?

Cheers, the Bear