Eric Warhol said:
Craig Townsend said:
Sean McGillicuddy said:
I still love this thread!
Glad at least one person is following along.
Make it two following along (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
You don’t count Eric… 
Actually, I’m kind of surprised how little attention the build thread over on MRH is getting… Oh well, I would still build it even if I didn’t have these nice forum posts to keep me going. 
I’m still following your thread youngster. And Yes, I DO Count. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-sealed.gif)
I like the solution you came up for concerning your wings.
Chris
Yup, still watchin…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Chris Kieffer said:
I’m still following your thread youngster. And Yes, I DO Count. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-sealed.gif)
I like the solution you came up for concerning your wings.
Chris
You see Eric gets the super secret email updates… So he see’s the mistakes and all… Actually for the side wings I ended up not building them out of brass, or 3D prints. I was studying the prototype picture and low and behold one drag wing had the entire backside of the H beams covered by sheet stock. So I simply glued two 1/8" thick styrene pieces together and called it good. The other side used my original built up H beams. My next big puzzle is the curved roof. I 3D printed a 1’ section to cast copies but in gluing the cast pieces together I introduced a lot of mistakes. So its either reprint a full roof section (Shapeways prices went from $3 a c.c. to .75 a c.c.) or start recasting and glue a little neater…
Ken Brunt said:
Yup, still watchin…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Me too. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)
really looking good!
As a teacher one would expect that I could get more modeling done during the summer, but life has a funny way of pushing aside modeling for fun summer activities like camping, and doing yard work. Now that school is back in session, I should be able to find more time on modeling as I use it to decompress during the week after teaching 180 high school students! Here’s some updated progress photos. I started with a USA Trains 50’ boxcar roofwalk, and cut it down to make the end platform and the side ladders that are used to access the interior of the dozer.
This is the end result. The diamond tread was found in my scrap box from a long lost project.
I recall ordering the diamond tread from PSME years ago to use as platform steps for a grain elevator. One side almost done, with the exception of cutting slide glass for the windows, and making window covers. The plan is once I get all four sides done, and primed one last time, Archer rivet and weld decals will be added for the final touch. The roof will be next, and I hope to have some roof sections laser cut by another large scale modeler (Alan of the Gal line). Will try to post more updates and a better build log description later this weekend. Craig
Those look really good Craig.
Chris Kieffer said:
Those look really good Craig.
I wanted to make the ladder put of brass for strength, but than I studied the photos and said, forget that! Its not a 100% match, but it works. There was now way I was going to try to build that whole thing out of brass. The thinness of the diamond plate really make it pop too. Now I just have to figure out how many other fiddly little bits are on the side.
Nice choice Craig. those will really stand out to the viewer when done.(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Thanks Dave, I hope so. Even though I have the prototype plans, I’m finding this particular dozers has a lot of extra features. It sure makes for an interesting build.
Craig, how does Shapeways work? I have a Jordan Spreader drawn up in 2d. Do they take that and make the part from it?
Ron Hill said:
Craig, how does Shapeways work? I have a Jordan Spreader drawn up in 2d. Do they take that and make the part from it?
The simple answer is you upload a file, select what material you want, they run a check on the drawing, and you pay. The coat of printing a whole car would be way coat prohibitive. Depending on the material it would be $200 or $300 or more. The printing of small parts that are hard to build are the benefits of 3D printing. If you really wanted to be high tech, I would say laser cut the sides, and than 3D print everything that couldn’t be laser cut. It still would be pricy, but I would think less than an all 3D print.
Ron Hill said:
Craig, how does Shapeways work? I have a Jordan Spreader drawn up in 2d. Do they take that and make the part from it?
shapeways requires a 3d drawing to make a part not a 2d drawing, Drawing it in 3d is the hard part, the 2d plans are easy to find
So I’ve been busy plugging away on this model lately, by trying to install slide glass as windows. If anyone wants to try slide glass for windows be prepared for a steep learning curve!
I ordered 150 3" square, 1mm thick slide glasses for this project. After I got them, I went down to my local Ace Hardware and asked them what I needed to cut glass. I left with three things; a plastic set of glass pliers, a diamond scribe and a glass cutting wheel. I think total it was under $40.
After reading a blog post about cutting slide glass, I decided to attempt. In the first few minutes I tried scoring and snapping the glass. I was getting a 90-95% failure rate. Finally, I started to figure out how much pressure to put on the scribe and how much pressure was needed for a clean snap. This is what I found. One or two light scribes with the diamond scribe. Than grab the slide glass with the pliers, upside down, and ever so slightly give a squeeze. With this method I’m not getting only a 15-20% failure rate. So next I tried cutting with a,diamond blade in my dremel. The diamond blade cuts nice, but it left a heat mark on the edge of the glass. Its not too noticeable if you are covering the glass edge with a window frame, but if the frame butts up to the glass I can notice a diffence in appearance.
That said, I have been able to install just under half of the windows required for this build. I still have 3/4 of the first box of slides left, so I think I can manage the rest without screwing up. Here’s an up close shot of one of the windows before I sanded everything smooth. I will try later to get some better pictures of the tools and methods.
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As I mentioned in a previous post, I wanted to install slide glass for windows. After reading about this technique for many years from different modelers I thought that this model would be the perfect test grounds for learning this method. I’ve never liked the look of clear styrene or the clear plastic that comes with models, so if I could prove to myself that I could successfully install slide glass on this model I would be able to replace the windows on my locomotives and cabooses.
When learning a new modeling technique, one always expects to have a steep learning curve, but I didn’t realize how steep this really was! When I started out I had about a 90-95% failure rate. Now that I’ve figured it out, I’m successful about 80-90% of the time. Huge change, but at times it was very frustrating. So, if you want to learn how to do this be prepared for some mistakes.
Below are the tools and the slide glass that I used for this model. Once I bought the slide glass online, I went to my local Ace Hardware store and asked them for help. The diamond scriber, glass pliers, and glass wheel is what they all recommended. So I bought all three. I found out that the glass wheel doesn’t work very good. I also found out that if I use the pliers upside down I get a better snap, than when I use them the proper way.
The jaws of the pliers. This photo is with the jaws in the right position. Out of the picture on the outside of the top half is a white strip that indicates the middle of the pliers. According to the directions supplied, the white line is what you use to line up your snap. It doesn’t work for me. So, I flip them around.
For this example, I’m cutting a 36" x 36" square piece of glass to fit in the opening as shown in this drawing.
After measuring and marking the slide glass I scribe the cut with the diamond scribe. The key here is to lightly apply pressure. Not to much, but not too little. This is where the practice comes in. I’ve found that I can make more than one pass to deepen the mark without having problems. If you read anything on cutting glass it always says to make one pass, and one pass only. When I have done one pass, the scribe mark is not deep enough and the glass breaks wherever it wants to. I think that slide glass might be stronger than say picture or window glass.(http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/sites/model-railroad-hobbyist.com/files/users/ctown2gn19/WIN_20170924_20_16_22_Pro.jpg)
Here I’m holding the glass with the pliers the right way.
And the wrong way (but this is the way that works for me).
And I make a snap. Whoops, the glass broke in the wrong spot. At this point I normally have two options; trim the edges with a diamond cut-off wheel in my Dremel, or start over. Depending on the size of the piece I take different approaches.
This time I tried to resnap.
All is not lost, because I can use the smaller piece on the left to make a smaller window, and there is still enough on the larger right hand side to make a new score.
Now this time, the piece snapped clean, and is nice and square. Repeat process and cross fingers!
Once cut this piece will get sandwiched between two pieces of styrene. I normally use two pieces of 0.010" double stick taped together, window opening cut and filed out, and then separated. However on this piece, I used 0.020" and 0.010" because I needed a slightly thicker piece for the exterior.
I double stick two pieces of rough stock together with double stick tape so that each cut, file and mark will line up on both sides of the slide glass. (http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/sites/model-railroad-hobbyist.com/files/users/ctown2gn19/WIN_20170924_20_21_02_Pro.jpg)
After final trimming, the two pieces are easily separated with a knife blade. I do make a mark (as seen on the top left) so that I can line up the exact corners. A little CA spread around on the styrene and the slide glass is glued in. At this stage I don’t worry about finger prints, or CA drops, or anything else on the slide glass. However, I do trim the edges of the styrene to fit the slide glass.
The reason I trim the outer layers of the styrene to the edge of the glass comes in the next step.
After marking out the location of the window, I file the edges down. At this point in time, I don’t worry if the opening is slightly larger than the window.
(http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/sites/model-railroad-hobbyist.com/files/users/ctown2gn19/WIN_20170924_20_30_43_Pro.jpg)When the opening is ready, I test fit the window. Normally in the process of filing the opening, the window will fit slightly better one way or another. I place the window in, and with a drop or two of MEK I temporary tack the window in place, using the styrene from the outer and inner frames. Than, with scraps of styrene I plug the holes and level the window. After flooding the whole frame with MEK I let it sit overnight before trimming the excess, and filling in any minor holes. During this process MEK and styrene typically get on the window. When I am finished with the final sanding I clean the window with rubbing alcohol and a Q tip. Prior to priming the windows will get masked as well.
At this stage the window is complete. In the picture below, the window is framed by C channel, and two pieces of slide glass are cut and placed together to allow the window to open and close.
The window in the door had been plate welded over during my modeling period, so it’s one less window to model!
Craig
Nice work Craig. Thin slide glass can be a bit persnickety to work with. I does look like you have a good handle on getting it done. Those windows are going to look incredible when done.
Bob C.
I think that slide glass is stronger than window glass. I’ve dropped slides and watched them just bounce. The glass is intact, but I have to start over on prepping the slide for the microscope. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)
Very nice Craig. Progress is coming along well. Did you get your curved roof bows made?
Chris
