Weekend Update 5/19/19

[Mark W]

J Street is coming along nicely. 


https://i.imgur.com/nJL6blR.jpg


And now I can alternate to working on Emerald while glue is drying on the other stuff.
Here's the field dirt and first layer of ground foam.


https://i.imgur.com/rHv5Uc1.jpg

[Mark W]

Last night I printed off the first iteration of my Southern Railway remote control receiver car.

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Where’s the like button??

The up arrow, top right of his post.

[Bendtracker1]

The up arrow, top right of his post.

He needs a few more posts Marki! 

[southernman]

He needs a few more posts Marki! 

I assumed that’s what needed to happen. I’ll get there someday lol. Thanks

[Maletrain]

Who makes that grain silo with a pop top?

[peteski]

Where’s the like button??

Um, this is not FB - we do have respect points though.   

But seriously, we have some amazing modeling in this weeks update: from 1:1 VW Beetles, to some awesome 3D printing (with lots of stuff in between).  "Likes" all around!

[Jim Starbuck]

Car shows were rained out this weekend which allowed for some good progress on the HH660 build.

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[nkalanaga]

Maletrain:  I don't know, but it fits, size-wise, and is a good stand-in during scenery work.  After the dirty work is done, a "real" bin can be put there, without damaging any detail.

I don't know if that's the reasoning, but I've done similar stuff.  If it was on a paved surface, my first thought would be "weight".

[craigolio1]

Car shows were rained out this weekend which allowed for some good progress on the HH660 build.

(Attachment Link)

Can you please tell me about that fancy grill on the hood side? Is it etched?

Craig

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It's a DCC In a Box!



Full build progress in the DCC forum: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=47128.msg619712#new

[wm3798]

 the buildings on Mechanic Street are now done. Still need to add lights in a few more details

[Jim Starbuck]

Can you please tell me about that fancy grill on the hood side? Is it etched?

Craig

The grilles are scratch built from styrene. It’s a piece of .010 sheet with a border of .010x.030 strip around it. They were cut into the .020 hood side flush with the back then the strip was sanded flush leaving a .010 recess. The louvers are cut down Archer decals applied individually. There are also some Archer rivet decals. The narrow strip across the center is .002 sign making vinyl to represent some plating.
Here’s a photo in process. I changed the louvers on this one as the prototype had 6 rows instead of 4.

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[JMaurer1]

Wolf: Is that GS-2 brass or a converted Kato? I know I have Superturbines GS-2 conversion parts and if this is how it comes out, I'll need to go find them...

[svedblen]

It features that 4-light scratchbuilt pole fixture I was working on weeks ago, and a whole lot of exterior gooseneck lamps made from 0402 LEDs with .028" stainless hypodermic tubing bent around a jig I cut in some steel rod so I could make the tight bends without collapsing the tubing.

Looking good! Can you please explain that jig and how you did the bending? Picture? Bending tubing is a trick I want to learn. 

[mmagliaro]

Looking good! Can you please explain that jig and how you did the bending? Picture? Bending tubing is a trick I want to learn. 

I really don't have any pictures, but I think I can explain it in text well enough.
Imagine wrapping a piece of tubing around a standard 1/4-20 standard bolt you could buy at any hardware store.
Place the tubing into one of the tread grooves, and gently wrap it around the bolt a little at a time.  The walls of the groove help to keep the tubing from spreading out to the sides, so it can't flatten and collapse.

Except... the thread groove on a bolt is a "V" shape, and it's not going to be EXACTLY the width of the tubing you are trying to bend unless you are incredibly lucky.

So to improve on the idea, I chucked a piece of 1/4" steel rod in my mill, and I shaped a cutter to be exactly .028" wide, so I could cut a nice neat square-bottomed groove into the rod that was exactly .028 wide.

Now, I place my tubing in that groove and gently bend it around.  The walls and bottom of the groove do a much better job of not letting the tubing spread out anywhere, so it can't flatten or kink.    I made two different ones with different sizes of steel rod so I could get two different bend radii.

AND I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THOSE CASES WHERE A COMPLETELY OFF-TOPIC HANDY IDEA COMES UP IN THE MIDST
OF AN UNRELATED THREAD, so it would be hard to find for inclusion in Ed's proposed Railwire book!