So if 49 strands make up 0.018" wire, how big is each strand? Way smaller than I want to deal with. That’s how small!
I had a flashback to math class when I realized you were asking for the diameter of a circle that would fit into a .018” circle 49 times. After I recovered, my curiosity got the better of me, and I worked this example:
And the answer is .002”, or about 50 microns. Googling “50 micron thread” came up with a bunch of hits for filter media made of it, so someone is producing the stuff. I imagine a bobbin full of it would give you a few miles to work with.
Another avenue would be milking a spider, but it would give you a much finer rope, since you’d be starting with a 3-4 micron thread. Maybe more suited to N scale.
You could also try stretching a twizzler to the appropriate diameter.
I’m sure none of this was helpful, but it entertained me for several minutes. BTW, I am enjoying watching your progress on the model as well.
Thanks for the laugh Burl! I will get right one it after I find the right spider. Which kind did you say would work the best?
Maybe one of these would work:
McMaster-Carr lists .002" wire on their website: https://www.mcmaster.com/#3775k36/=16cw5z9
I would have never thought to look if it hadn’t been for this thread. No pun intended.
So I am slowly getting better with the Sketchup modeling. I have the large drag wing wing piece almost all the way drawn now after a couple of evenings worth of work. I still have a few more minor parts to draw that would be easier to print. It’s a nice break from sanding and priming the actual model, which now has almost one side pretty close to being ready for the next stages. I also fired up the airbrush again to try my hand at the hairspray rusting method. Much better results the second time. Photos to follow on that tomorrow.
A week ago, we actually got snow in the Seattle area. Depending on where you lived, it was trace to 20"… At our house, we got 7.5". After I realized that the snow was going to stick around for a while, I grabbed a piece of track and set it out in the snow.
The next day, this is the shot I grabbed.
That’s gotta be encouraging. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
It was kind of fun to place it, and imagine in my mind what it would look like when its done. I’m encouraged with my battle with the primer. One side is about 80% complete, and the opposite side is about 60% done. I didn’t think it needed this much work, but its slowly transforming. All this work sanding is from a simple mismatch when I glued the car body to the frame. It was off by about .010" to the under frame and I didn’t catch it until after the glue had set. I told my wife a few days ago that I was about ready to throw this whole thing away. She managed to bring me down from that ledge…
Coming along nicely Craig. Did you decide to go with the red paint job?
Chris
I’m still debating what paint scheme. If I paint it strictly to the era I’m modeling it will be GN mow red, with very light weathering. On the other hand, because I want to making a working version next, I would paint that one in GN colors. So, I’m thinking that I will stray from my era and paint in its final BN paint. It had lots of wear and tear at this stage in its lufe, and it should provide me with a chance to expand my weathering skills. I figure at the rate I’m building it will. Be another year or two till I get painting.
Last night as I was laying in bed, I got to thinking about which parts I can 3D print. I came up with quite a few that need to be drawn as they should be easier to do that way instead of by hand. Most of them deal with the appliances to move the large drag wing.
I finished the 3D drawing of the drag wing hinge pieces. I uploaded to Shapeways, and am debating ordering it. The reason I hesitated to click buy, is my school has a 3D printer. I talked to the computer teacher the other day when the kids were in an assembly. He told me to bring by the drawing to see if we could print it. He has been just having the kids print things already designed. I highly doubt that this print will be anywhere close to FUD detail, but if it prints correctly than I know the size, placement of parts, etc work for a FUD print from Shapeways…
Hopefully, I can try and see what happens tomorrow as I have no idea what the minimum tolerances are for his printer.
That sounds like a plan. Also a teaching tool.
As I expected the quality of the print at school stinks. We tried printing out the 4 parts, and out of both attempts, I would say only 1 part is useable. The quality and grain of the print is quite visible compared to FUD from Shapeways. I need to reload the Shapeways file as the preview missed a few NBW details, but other than that I think I’m really to send this 1st print off.
Well after a few weeks of battling creating 3D parts, I’ve finally hit submit with Shapeways, and “hopefully” my order will pass the manual inspection and get printed. When I get the little bits, the side drag wings should go together pretty fast. In the meantime, I am back to sanding and priming. It was a nice break from physical modeling, but still a lot of work. The good thing is now if anyone wants to build a similar Dozer, I can order up some of these tricky bits. I’m going to keep drawing a few interior detail parts for casting, but my major focus will be completing the exterior.
Next up on the list of big sub projects is to figure out the roof. It’s got a nice 27’ radius curve, and I’m trying to figure out a good way to build a jig for all the roof pieces. I want to design to roof to be removable as well.
The list for remaining parts other than paint; roof (and associated details like the roofwalk), finish brake piping and brakes, back porch walkway, front wings, interior. This list looks long now that I’ve written it out… Opps… (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
Craig, and that is why I don’t write lists until I am near the end. Its less daunting that way.
Craig Townsend said: The list for … This list looks long now that I’ve written it out… Opps… (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
Yep, lists of any length for most any area of life only succeed in stressing me out. It wasn’t that bad before my physical health crashed in 2005, but now lists are an oppressive weight instead of helpful.
Yea! exactly! That is what my mom doesn’t understand. She is a list person. Me, I just plod through things step by step. So in my mind I have a flowchart, sort of a list, but not written down.
I don’t normally write things down either for modeling projects, but as I was typing this post it just took a life of its own…
Reminds me to call USATrains for some roofwalks and other parts…
Okay guys I’m stumped…
I need to make a curved roof for this thing, and it needs to be smooth all the way around. The prototype calls for a 3" thick, 27’ radius roof. So that translates into roughly .100" by 11.17" radius. Any ideas on how to make such a roof?
