Large Scale Central

Still a work in progress but I'm ready to share

Modeling Rolling stock
#41

Forrest Scott Wood said:

That does make a nice consist.

(https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Talking about the 3D printing brings to mind a day a few years ago where after looking at some On30 and Gn15 printing work on the Gn15 forum named Gnatterbox, and some 3D printing for sci-fi models, and for gaming miniatures, at the forum Starship Modeler, I went to a military modeling forum where there happened to be a discussion debating whether 3D printing “would ever” have any use for the model building hobby.

“Would it ever”?

Really, “Would it ever”?

ROFL!!! (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

There were model railroaders in narrow gauge and in 1860s Early Rail; and sci-fi modelers making Star Trek variant ships, who had already been using 3D printing, and selling the parts, for about 5 years at that point!

Naw. 3D printing will never really catch on. Just like them newfangled, cantankerous diesel-lectric thangs will never catch on. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

The 2 things that are keeping me away from that side of the hobby are the cost and the learning curve.

#42

David Maynard said:

Naw. 3D printing will never really catch on…

You’re right Maynard. In fact I predict it will go the way of that goofball television thing from a while back.

#43

David Maynard said:

Forrest Scott Wood said:

That does make a nice consist.

(https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Talking about the 3D printing brings to mind a day a few years ago where after looking at some On30 and Gn15 printing work on the Gn15 forum named Gnatterbox, and some 3D printing for sci-fi models, and for gaming miniatures, at the forum Starship Modeler, I went to a military modeling forum where there happened to be a discussion debating whether 3D printing “would ever” have any use for the model building hobby.

“Would it ever”?

Really, “Would it ever”?

ROFL!!! (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

There were model railroaders in narrow gauge and in 1860s Early Rail; and sci-fi modelers making Star Trek variant ships, who had already been using 3D printing, and selling the parts, for about 5 years at that point!

Naw. 3D printing will never really catch on. Just like them newfangled, cantankerous diesel-lectric thangs will never catch on. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

The 2 things that are keeping me away from that side of the hobby are the cost and the learning curve.

The cost are coming down, David, but the learning curve … well … there are some things that just can’t be fixed (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)

#44

Made some decals today. Think I’ll place an order with Stan for the rest but I’ve been seriously considering getting my own laser/white toner setup for awhile now. Figure my wife can use it too for product labeling as she uses craft paper labels and the white would look mighty nice on that.

#45

Outstanding work Dan !

#46

(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)

Keep in mind this is still a work in progress. I’m working on a jig to make grab irons and will add holes to accept them. Also, I bought some 4" OD Aluminum tube and will rework the parts for that size. Adds $$ to the build but closer to most common prototypical tanks. I figured out each PVC pipe car costs me $38.88 to build. The aluminum pipe will add $12.

the thought of a polished aluminum tank car is very interesting to me! They would look very cool, especially to someone that likes shiny things! Now if I could figure out how to form aluminum ends…

#47

Pete Lassen said:

the thought of a polished aluminum tank car is very interesting to me! They would look very cool, especially to someone that likes shiny things! Now if I could figure out how to form aluminum ends…

I suppose you could turn them in a lathe. Funny, When I made those 2, it was a real pain to get rid of the shine and get paint to stick. Even with etching primer some paint pulled off when I masked for the logo.

#48

The black printed decals match the paint so well I’m tempted to make the rest of the decals myself this way.

Also, found another use for the Cricut machine. Precise scale 4"x36" and 4"x18" retroreflective tape strips cut from the striped stuff from Harbor Freight.

#49

Hey, that’s an idea with the Cricut and tape!
And I learned a word!

https://reflectivetape.info/reflective-versus-retro-reflective-tape-what-is-the-difference/

Retro Reflective Versus Reflective

The word “retro” is the key to understanding the difference between a reflective surface like a mirror, and a retro reflective surface like a bike or automobile reflector. Retro means to go back or backward. In the reflective tape industry it means to return light back where it came from and no where else.

A mirror is reflective but not retro reflective because it sends light in different directions depending on the entrance angle. If light was a tennis ball it would be like throwing the ball at a wall at an angle. The ball would hit the wall and ricochet at an angle very similar to the one that it arrived on only the other direction. Now imagine a wall that curved around you so that when you threw a tennis ball at it the ball would always return to you. That would be called retro reflective. The diagram below illustrates this.

#50

Forrest Scott Wood said:

Retro Reflective Versus Reflective

The word “retro” is the key to understanding the difference between a reflective surface like a mirror, and a retro reflective surface like a bike or automobile reflector. Retro means to go back or backward. In the reflective tape industry it means to return light back where it came from and no where else.

The Harbor Freight tape is reflective https://www.harborfreight.com/2-inch-x-30-ft-reflective-tape-yellow-and-black-stripes-66069.html

I have a few pieces of the FRA-224 that I intended to use but there is a geometric pattern that would be way out of scale. https://www.reflects-light.com/FRA-224-Yellow-4-Rail-Car-Train-Reflective-Tape-4-fra-30-150.htm

#51

If only the retro reflective tape would actually discourage people from driving into things…