Hey Spacemouse !! HO scale spectacles ?? here you go. (updated,expandable pics)

[ukguy]

Chip, I remember sometime ago you asked the question about HO scale specs but the majority of the replies said it couldnt be done, well I've had this in the back of my mind ever since and last night I hit upon a solution. Let me know what you think.

The things are so small I couldnt get them in focus too good for a pic at first, this is the best I could do. These are also the 3rd pair I made as I kept dropping them during fitting and then couldn't find them.




As you can see from the next pic even Mr Prieser had trouble holding them, luckily he dropped them on the black card and was able to retrieve them easily enough.


Have fun & be safe.
Karl.

[SpaceMouse]

In the words of Ron Weasly,

"Bloddy Brilliant!"

Okay, how'd you do it?

[steveblackledge]

if that guy was G scale i would still struggle making specs, nice work Karl

[dave9999]

Ok... They look great... but you still haven't told us how you made them. Or is it a secret?
I can see a market for them... might want to patent them.[8D] Nice work, dave

[tstage]

Is that David Bowie? I didn't recognize him with glasses...

Tom

[ukguy]

Thanks guys, and no, nothing I do is a secret as I dont see it worth that, as for David Bowie, lol, the name that runs through my head everytime I look at him is Michael Caine, with those big 70's glasses he wore.

Anyway Chip, here goes.

Get some stranded electrical wire, strip about 2" of it and take the strands.

Next find some thicker wire(or two sewing needles will do, approx the diameter of the lenses you want. Hold them side by side up to the figures face to check the size to be sure. Tape these together with a small gap between(this will give the bridge of the glasses) I used the tape as a spacer.

With the thin wire across the others bend it around the outside and up through the middle and then straight out.


Repeat for the other lens frame and slide off CAREFULLY.

Measure the width of the figures head and mark some tapered tweasers accordingly. place the glasses at this point in the tweasers with the lenses centered and hold.

Bend the 'arms' downward ensuring an exactly approximate 90 angle. DO NOT PULL, if you do the lens loops will come out and you'll need to start again.

At this point I have found it easier to leave the arms longer for handling purposes. Put a small blob of glue on the figues face where needed and carefully place glasses.leave to dry overnight and trim off excess arms to the hairline with an exacto.

Its as easy as that [:D]

Have fun & be safe.
Karl.

[howmus]

Wow! ukguy, I am definately impressed. I don't thing my old eyes or shaky hands could get those made. Great work!

[tatans]

Yes, but how do you get those tiny screws that hold the temples to the frames in those small holes??????????

[rrinker]

Wow! Bravo! There is absolutely NO WAY I could do that, I couldn't see the darn things, with or without my glasses. I took one look at the tiny eye bolts needed for the drop steps for my RS-3 project and said "no way". Those glasses are probably even smaller. WOW!
I agree - you probably could market those if you could make enough.

--Randy

[ereimer]

QUOTE:
I agree - you probably could market those if you could make enough.

--Randy

you could market them , but could you sell them for enough to make any money on the deal ? i sort of doubt that many people would be willing to pay to superdetail the figures on our layouts . i have been wrong before though , so don't take my thoughts on the subject as worth anything at all [:)]

EDIT : there i go again , forgetting to tell somebody i think they've done a great job of modelling something . nice work ukguy !

[JohnT14808]

Wow....now we can have Superman on our layouts!!! (...or perhaps Clark Kent in a phone booth??!?) Watch out for pairs of spectacles laying on the floor at ukguy's workroom!! Nicely done!!

[selector]

Karl, you are definitely THE MAN. [bow]

And, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you getting 'back on the horse', even if you still have one foot on the ground. You'll get there.

[tstage]

Karl,

Is that an old style, glass bottle Coke machine that "David Bowie" is standing in front of on the pier - i.e. the old ones with the single door? Those were the best when it came to dispensing a REALLY cold bottle of pop. As a kid, a grape or orange Nehi never tasted quite so good as it did coming out of one of those machines (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I'm dating myself again...)

Tom

[ukguy]

Thanks for all the kind words guys, I appreciate it.

As for marketing them, although they only take me less than 2 mins per pair to make I dont think they would travel too well, I guess the only way to ship them without damage would be in a small (ie testors) bottle of water. But I'm happy to just share with everyone, I'll find another way to make my $million.

Tom, the olde worlde Coke machine is a JL Innovative, as are the other boating items and the boat, I now like their castings much more than WS, (hardly any filing) and very well detailed. Heres a link.
http://www.jlinnovative.com/Catalog.ASP?WCI=DisplayProduct&WCE=%2043763&WCU=DCZmpHJgwb0zsY5fZ51WCeGRlL6JAN33

I dont think I've seen any other figures wearing glasses on HO layouts so I'm hoping mine will be the first, but probably not.

Have fun & be safe.
Karl

[davekelly]

ukguy,

You did a great job and I love it that you decided to take action on a question posted here that many (included myself) concluded couldn't be done! What's next on your list?

[AggroJones]

WOW! I didn't even know that was physically possible!

[davekelly]

Everybody,

Ok. Ukguy is definately the man to turn to next time you ask how to model something and everyone says it's impossible.

Ukguy,

You related to the Wright brothers?