Very nice work Robert. I took this opertunity to reread this thread as well. Your approach to layout building is very interesting.
I have been building models a long time, but I have the highest respect for those who work in N scale. I can't even imagine working in a scale that small.
Sheldon
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
Just reading thru the thread, Robert. Excellent work indeed. Something to be really proud of. Well done.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
mbinsewi Nice model! Mike.
Nice model!
Mike.
Hey Mike, thanks.
This model is my first effort on this particular scratch-build. I think I will add a quick coat of rattle can white primer (to kinda diminish the laser scorch marks) and paint the roofs (rooves?) green (to simulate the copper roofs the neauveau riche original owners would have used to impress the neighbors) and place it on the layout to see how it looks in the overall scheme. It can stay there pretty much indefinitely until something better comes along.
The final model will be a little different depending on construction methods and materials used. Some details are normally not shown because . . . well . . . N Scale, and the 24-inch rules always comes into play.
But some details not shown on this rough draft will be incorporated into the final model; such as doors, windows, shutters, stairs, and railings. I will try to find these things from the usual places, but some will have to be scratch-built because they are simply not commercially available. And here's where the educational aspect of this exercise arises.
A lot of people ask me if I plan to ever use 3D printing, and it seems that now is a good time to start. I will make some 3D CAD models and send the files into Shapeways (or some similar outfit) and see what's what. Might work, might not. But we'll see.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
Nice Robert. According to local historical societies, there a few huge farm houses in the midwest that also have the widows walk, so mom or wife could watch for a son or husband due home from the war, or a long voyage.
There are some in the rual (not as rural as it once was) areas around where I live.
Some had enclosed cupalas with a deck surrounding it.
I suppose it all started as maritime related, but it did carry inland as well.
My You Tube
SeeYou190 The Widow's Walk (I think that is what it is called) on the roof makes it look more suitable for the maritime theme. -Kevin
The Widow's Walk (I think that is what it is called) on the roof makes it look more suitable for the maritime theme.
-Kevin
Yes. And a few large artifacts and exhibits displayed on the pavilion out back will also help sell the maritime theme: a pair of crossed kedge anchors taken from a Spanish treasure galleon and a long-nine deck gun from the British frigate who captured her. Plus a solid bronze ship's bell or two that're always popular with the bubble gum crowd.
I have visited several small museums, and that building looks right in-line for the smaller historical society museums. The right size, and the right style.
Living the dream.
Here is the rough first draft of a candidate for the Maritime Museum, laser cut from 0.030" taskboard (a kind of lightweight fibrous papery cardboard similar to the gray chipboard on the back of legal pads). Not wood, not even close, but not paper either. Stiff enough to form fairly straight surfaces that stand up to careful handling.
What I have in mind is an old-timey residence that is large enough and grand enough to house a legitimate museum. By old-timey, I mean from about 1900 or before. A kind of well-built mini-mansion of a style and character that seems suited for a wind-swept and rugged seaside location, and a bit above average within the local gentry. I figure the original inhabitants might have made a little pocket money running rum during Prohibition, or at least they could have kept a lookout for those who did, and they used the proceeds to move up in status and mingle amongst the horses-and-yachts crowd.
I'm currently doing some more design work on the little Maritime Museum for my layout, so I'm belatedly responding to a comment about this photo posted about a year ago. I apologize for the delay.
7j43k I think those flags read: "If you can read this, you're too close." Ed
I think those flags read:
"If you can read this, you're too close."
Ed
Actually, it reads 'Hurricane Anita'.
There have been a few threads recently regarding bridges. One talked about road bridges, and I wasn't entirely sure what the OP meant by that. I would interpret the phrase 'road' bridge to mean highway bridge; you know, vehicular traffic. But, being a railroad forum, most posters assumed it meant railroad bridge, which is perfectly understandable. So, I didn't post anything thereto.
But it got me to thinking that since I added a little back story about how I arrived at the name of one bridge on my layout, I should add some more info about the other one.
Here's a photo of the inspiration:
The Hart Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida. A highway bridge. When I first came to know this bridge, it was called the Commodore Point Bridge. The project manager for the company that built it was named Winston Littlefield, an old-school engineer from a time when there were giants who built this country using little more than a piece of paper, a piece of pencil, and a slide rule.
When highway bridges in Florida cross deep rivers, they have to rise considerably to allow ocean-going ships to pass underneath. That rising (and the corresponding falling on the other side) necessitates a long, gentle vertical curve in the middle, easily noticed in this photo. Fabricating and constructing such a curve on my layout was possible, but a whole lot more complicated to pull off. So mine is flat. And it is compressed a little. I had plenty of room (N Scale), but 66 inches is long enough and there's no sense being ridiculous about it.
SeeYou190 ROBERT PETRICK Also, including a small monetary offering to the gods of chaos helps insure that a few stragglers don't get sucked into the vortex of doom Is a penny enough to satisfy the Gods of Chaos? I would put out at least a nickel. I guess drying the pieces with compressed air would be out of the question. -Kevin
ROBERT PETRICK Also, including a small monetary offering to the gods of chaos helps insure that a few stragglers don't get sucked into the vortex of doom
Is a penny enough to satisfy the Gods of Chaos? I would put out at least a nickel.
I guess drying the pieces with compressed air would be out of the question.
I sometimes use dimes, or even go all in and use a quarter. But the shiny silver (aluminum-plated copper-clad) surfaces cause a bright glare in macro photos.
I use a calibrated compressor that delivers 98-degree air in controlled bursts.
ROBERT PETRICKAlso, including a small monetary offering to the gods of chaos helps insure that a few stragglers don't get sucked into the vortex of doom
A bunch of little bitty windows. When stuff comes out of the laser cutter, they are covered with a very fine dust, which is vaporized bits of acrylic, and they need to be washed in warm soapy water and dried. The millions of tiny pieces are too small and cumbersome to be dried with a towel or something, so they are laid out to let Wyoming's 15% humidity do its thing. Hence this photo:
It is also a good idea to do an inventory count, so laying out in groups helps. Also, including a small monetary offering to the gods of chaos helps insure that a few stragglers don't get sucked into the vortex of doom . . .
I've ordered two N Scale laser-cut kits from American Model Builders as discussed in that other thread. The Country Barn and Silo. They should arrive this week. When they do, I will do a still-photo version of an unboxing video.
In the meanwhile, I am working out the design for an N Scale scratch-built Maritime Museum for my layout that I plan to cut out and fabricate using my laser cutter/engraver.
Meanwhile to the previous meanwhile . . . here is a doodle sketch showing front, side, and rear elevation views of a big-city church I scratch-built about ten years ago, and which I intend to build again in the near future. I know Mel has an interest in CAD drawings and whatnot, and I will be happy to share them with him.
The church has a footprint about 8.5" long by 3" wide at the nave and about 5" wide at the transcept. The steeple is about 8.5" high. A little larger than most N Scale commercial kits, but the prototype takes up an entire city block so I had to do something . . .
ROBERT PETRICKHere's a still life photo of the various pieces and parts in various stages of assembly. A completed stanchion stands (oddly enough) in the center.
Well, I can tell by that photograph that you put a lot more care into your scratchbuilding projects than I do.
That is very neat and precise fabrication.
On another thread I mentioned that it is time to begin preliminary design of a laser-cut structure for my layout, with the idea that some members who have experience with structures of that type would chime in with helpful comments and suggestions along the way.
I suppose the thing could technically be called a scratch-build . . . I have a laser cutter/engraver and will provide the CAD/CAM support to facilitate the design plans and fabrication, and I'm hoping others will share their thoughts and experiences learned through the builds they've previously worked on. I'm hoping they can provide insight into issues (problems, challenges) they've encountered with materials and techniques and with sequences of construction and whatnot. The idea is that I will cut out a particular piece or part from some particular material and build it up and incorporate it into the body of work and see what's what. If it works, fine; if it doesn't, fine; try again. An ongoing experimental laboratory of sorts. Keep the good ideas and toss out the less-than-good ideas.
They say a camel is a horse designed by committee. Might be interesting to see what sort of camel comes from this.
When I design a building or structure, constructability is always a major consideration. No sense designing something that can't be built or something that I do not have the tools or the talent to assemble. In general, this means incorporating tabs and slots or ridges or pins or slots or dados or alignment marks or something to help assembly and to help insure that the parts go together properly or that parts can be held together in place long enough for the adhesive to set up.
The project at hand is fabricating and assembling concrete pipe stanchion piers to carry a pair of large irrigation water pipelines from the pumping plant at the base of the dam across an alcove of the Wind River and into a bored tunnel in the sheer rock wall of the canyon opposite. The materials used include gray 0.120" sheet acrylic, white 3/8" butylene tubing, and white 3/16" butylene tubing.
Here's a still life photo of the various pieces and parts in various stages of assembly. A completed stanchion stands (oddly enough) in the center. The large white tube will represent the 60" diameter water pipelines, and the small white tube has been sawn off like a hot dog or carrot into little stubby round pins that insert into the blind hole of one outer part and completely through the central part and into the blind hole of the other outer part. Trusty X-acto saw to the rear.
Robert, that bridge is simply amazing. You are truly finding the best ways to use the potential of N scale to capture the immence nature of the prototype. That is truly grand.
In this week's edition of WPF, I switched on the Way-Back Machine and posted a few photos of one of my first scratchbuilt buildings from 2010. The thing about nostalgia is that once you start taking the buggy ride down Memory Lane, it's kinda hard to stop. So, I'll try to just do this once and post some photos of the first long-span bridge I scratchbuilt (also in 2010).
This is a to-scale (completely uncompressed) N scale model of the Limeville Bridge over the Ohio River between Limeville, KY and Sciottoville, OH. The main span of the bridge is 1550 feet and there are approach spans on both sides of the river. That works out to 9'-8" for the main structure with 32" approach spans on the Kentucky side and 24" approach spans on the Ohio side. Overall length of 14'-4" from abutment to abutment.
Here's a photo showing the skeleton frame of the Tainter radial gate that goes at the top of the spillway of Boysen Dam in the Wind River Canyon peninsula. I may or may not (depending on how the paint job turns out) replace the 1/4" wood dowel trunnion with a short length of 1/4" ABS tube.
Recently, I've been scratchbuilding the turbine building for this vignette, and this item is part of Part B in that effort. Here are a coupla photos (posted a long time ago) of the rough draft blocked-out mocked-up scene, using cardboard and matboard and whatnot to set the stage. Since I started on the turbine building (pretty much out of sequence and not actually on my current agenda), I needed to get started on replacing the cardboard and pink foam with the more-or-less permanent construction in this area. I will add a few work-in-progress as-is photos to the next Weekend Photo Fun thread when it gets started.
hon30critterHonestly Robert, I think you should rank yourself up there with the great modelers! Your creativity with modern cutting machinery is amazing. It does not matter that your layout is not complete. Your work is an inspiration! Dave
I totally agree. Well done.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
Robert, I'll second what the others have said. I just started building my first layout two years ago Nothing is finished, and the things I have built are nowhere near as nice as your stuff.
Given that, I still post things on WPF. It's nice to get encouragement from people who have modeled a long time.
York1 John
hon30critter ROBERT PETRICK WPF is one of my favorite go-to threads. It always provides a lot of inspiration and encouragement, not to mention sheer enjoyment. But there is also a little intimidation. The photos posted there are great: great layouts, great modelers, great work. Honestly Robert, I think you should rank yourself up there with the great modelers! Your creativity with modern cutting machinery is amazing. It does not matter that your layout is not complete. Your work is an inspiration! Dave
ROBERT PETRICK WPF is one of my favorite go-to threads. It always provides a lot of inspiration and encouragement, not to mention sheer enjoyment. But there is also a little intimidation. The photos posted there are great: great layouts, great modelers, great work.
Honestly Robert, I think you should rank yourself up there with the great modelers! Your creativity with modern cutting machinery is amazing. It does not matter that your layout is not complete. Your work is an inspiration!
Dave
+1
I'm beginning to realize that Windows 10 and sound decoders have a lot in common. There are so many things you have to change in order to get them to work the way you want.
Weekend Photo Fun is also for works in progress, layout updates, and new purchases. It is fun photographs being shared on the weekend.
What could be better?
ROBERT PETRICKWPF is one of my favorite go-to threads. It always provides a lot of inspiration and encouragement, not to mention sheer enjoyment. But there is also a little intimidation. The photos posted there are great: great layouts, great modelers, great work.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hey guys, thanks for the kind words.
Regarding Weekend Photo Fun . . . WPF is one of my favorite go-to threads. It always provides a lot of inspiration and encouragement, not to mention sheer enjoyment. But there is also a little intimidation. The photos posted there are great: great layouts, great modelers, great work.
I always feel a little uneasy when seeing wonderfully completed scenes fully detailed on fully scenicked mature layouts. I get that same sort of feeling when standing in front of the seventh grade geography class giving my book report and then discovering that I'm in my underwear.
My layout is a coupla years old, and I've done a lot of work on it, but it is nowhere near complete. Not even close. I don't think there is even one square inch of the layout that could be classified as complete. I make a little progress every day, and things are moving along. It is starting to look reasonably good, and one day it might start looking pretty good; maybe even really good.
But for now, any photos I take will only show a work in progress, and photos of work in progress make me a little uncomfortable. I can see the fully completed structure or scene in my head, but the photos never match that image.
Nevertheless, per Kevin's suggestion, I will take my turn in the barrel and try to post photos to WPF showing what I'm working on, whatever state whatever project is in at the time. We'll see how it goes.
I wanted to look at the prototype and the model close together, so I combined portions of two of your posts. That is simply incredible workmanship.
Rich
Alton Junction
ROBERT PETRICKThe building has been partially assembled
Robert, that is incredible. Excellent work.
Please feel invited to share updates of this project in Weekend Photo Fun.
I hope to see more.
A+
The building has been partially assembled and I added the applique 'texture' details to the walls (pilasters, copings, and corbels, etc).
The joints need some work and there are some solvent weld splotches here and there, but some 600-grit sandpaper and maybe a little squadron putty will clean that up.
Here's a photo of the base plane of the front wall for the Shoshone Power Plant. I usually don't call these things anything, but I suppose base plane is a reasonable descriptor. It is flat and unadorned and will serve as the base for the built-up wall section. The architectural details and fenestration, such as copings, corbels, cornices, pilasters, eaves, railings, balustrades, fascias, friezes, etc will be applied onto the top (front) of the plane. Other details, such as windows and depressed or incuse carvings, will be applied to the back of the plane. The goal is to end up with a tilt-up wall similar in nature to those found in commercial building kits. Four walls and a roof . . . voila.