Building a Station, Neubrucke Nahe, Wa. German, Americanized.

[MVW]

If you're going to use Monster Modelworks, just email Jimmy and ask him. I was looking at doing the same a couple years back, and he was very helpful. I was planning on using InDesign (just because I have it and know it well).

This was for a project I'll eventually get back to, so if you go this route please keep us posted.

Jim

[railnerd]

Now that I'm actually starting to work on the module, it's time to dig this back up. I think I want to try to have it laser cut. I'm wiling to give making the artwork done myself, but I need to know what software I should be using to make the drawing, and I would appreciate any pointer that I could get!

You'll want to do all of your drawings as a vector artwork. Most folks with Epilog lasers use Corel Draw to drive their machines.

Hairlines are used to specify cut, anything else can be used to etch the surface.  You can also use different colors to twiddle the laser settings.  Be sure to account for the kerf of the laser cut (0.005"), and the thickness of the material.

Finally, every machine is a bit different, especially machines at hacker-spaces which get abused by folks. Smoke in the machine can build up on the mirrors which affects the effective laser power.

-Dave

[peteski]

Now that I'm actually starting to work on the module, it's time to dig this back up. I think I want to try to have it laser cut. I'm wiling to give making the artwork done myself, but I need to know what software I should be using to make the drawing, and I would appreciate any pointer that I could get!

I think that most laser cutter software will accept Corel Draw vector files (.CDR).  They probably also accept other vector-based file formats.  There are also ways to indicate things like depth and speed of the cut.  I think that is done using different color of the lines in the drawing.

[mmagliaro]

Ratio makes some outstanding etched brass sheets of windows that include larger arched ones.  I think
sheet #309 would be really helpful for your project.

http://www.agrmodelrailwaystore.co.uk/ratio-309-industrial-windows-various-designs-on-etched-brass-sheet

[engineshop]

Now that I'm actually starting to work on the module, it's time to dig this back up. I think I want to try to have it laser cut. I'm wiling to give making the artwork done myself, but I need to know what software I should be using to make the drawing, and I would appreciate any pointer that I could get!

I am not an expert but I have some tips that could make it easier to design a lasercut building. I am working on a Swiss Station for my layout. First I build a core, in my case of 1.5mm Laserboard.



This has the advantage that I can have the glue taps where I want them and the size that is necessary for the building (Notice the huge glue taps on the ground floor). I also add floors and walls to make everything stronger. I added every room to the hotel structure below. Although they will not be really visible but I did it mostly for strength.



The window and door openings are a little bit smaller at the core structure to give a glue surface, since I will add the doors and windows from outside after the building is completely painted. My station building will have three layers to accommodate the multiple features of the outside wall. It also makes the building very strong.



I will cut the last wall layer out of balsa wood. It has a very smooth surface and does not need much laser power. This means, I can cut it in one run with minimal kerf and burn marks. With balsa I can also use regular inside house paint or stains. You can also cut the outside wall layer just a little bit bigger and sand it to fit.



There is another advantage of using a core structure: You can divide your building in different sections. If you make a mistake, you only have to replace that piece. I have cut out the main buidling of my station at least 5 times until I got perfect.

Which software?

I use Corel Draw but any vector software will do it. The laser comes with a conversion software. The laser is mimicking a printer and its driver shows up in the printer tap of your drawing software. As mention before, you need to use hairline in Corel Draw (other vector programs might call the thinnest possible line differently), otherwise the laser will engrave the line instead of cutting it. In my example, the red line will only get a about 5% of the power. This only creates a small groove. In case of bricks, it might need a little bit more power. The green and blue line will cut all the way through. I only use two colors, since I will cut the green lines first. Otherwise the laser will cut the outside lines first and my pieces will move around for the rest of the cutting session.

[delamaize]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I'm planning on starting the drawing in the next few days hopefully. I've got the roadbed down for the module, and I can't do the streetcar line until I have the building footprint locked in.

Ratio makes some outstanding etched brass sheets of windows that include larger arched ones.  I think
sheet #309 would be really helpful for your project.

http://www.agrmodelrailwaystore.co.uk/ratio-309-industrial-windows-various-designs-on-etched-brass-sheet

Damn, those are pretty much dead on.

[narrowminded]

... and I can't do the streetcar line until I have the building footprint locked in.

What will you be using for a streetcar?  I have an interest in this but have encountered problems with minimum turn radius on my small town layout(s).  As little as 34' (2 9/16") existed in some of the city streets but even at 50' (3 3/4") the PCC comes nowhere near close enough at over 7" with little chance to modify due to the mechanism that just misaligns the worm for turning and the Peter Witt with universal joints only gets to a reported 4 1/2" or so by test.  That was nowhere near what I needed for my setup.  This has led me to researching and having preliminary plans to make something but it's off in the future as I still am working on my mine loco as time and machine access allows.  But a trolley and similar small devices that would be possible with a truly small power truck is in line.

[delamaize]

I managed to get some motivation, and get some drawings, and finally built a mock up .
First, here is some of the elevation drawings I did, at N scale, Or so I thought....





Turns out, I was wrong on my estimation on sizes, It was 20% too big, after building one mock up. So I reduced the size by 80%, and It seems to be right. Of course I had to mirror the front elevation, to get the back one.

Here is a few pictures of the Size correcter Mock up:







Overall, I am pretty happy with the overall look and proportions. I accidentally flipped the foam board foundation, I just have to make a mental note to do it right when it comes time to transfer this to plastic or wood. Also, I need to make a decision if I'm going to try to build it from brick pattern styrine, or try to translate this to digital format to have it cut or lasered out of wood.

[wm3798]

Vertical scale can be tricky.  It's hard to measure precisely in the field without the right equipment.  I frequently cheat by counting courses of siding or brick and multiplying by whatever that width is, then guestimating things like cornices.  If you can get a straight - on photo of a gable, it's usually pretty easy to calculate roof pitch.  Things like doors and windows should be pretty easy to measure, and don't forget to account for the thickness of the second floor system when you're calculatin'.  A building like this would usually have high ceilings in the public areas, maybe 12 or 14 feet.

I would also take a couple of N scale figures, maybe a fire hydrant and a vehicle, and position them next to your mock up... see what you think. 

Lee

[randgust]

One of the most awesome scratchbuilt stations I've ever seen is Lee W's Cumberland WM depot, so Kudos paid.

On my West Hickory depot project I ended up checking similar surviving PRR structures for batten spacing, and counted battens, and proportioned height-to-length based on photos.   Came out pretty good.   It's probably not perfect, but it looks right, and there's nothing or nobody left to argue with me now.   I did posterboard mockups of it and photographed it just like above before I started it in Evergreen Styrene.

On any SURVIVING structure, I've come up with a pretty good method if you're lucky.   Using Google Earth, I'll use the measurement tool to dimension the roofline and footprint as best as I can.   (if you doubt the accuracy of the measuring tool, snap it over to a nearby track and see how close it comes to 4' 8 1/2" - you'll be surprised how good this has become).   That gives you a pretty darn accurate tool to scale the footprint and roof edges of a building from above.  You're going to be off by inches, not feet.

Now, if you're lucky, drop down to streetview photo and see if you can get directly perpendicular to the structure.    Take a dead-on shot with Streetview and paste it into Word or another imaging program.    Print it out.    Now, if you know the roof length or width, that gives you the dimension that you can calculate the proportional height to what you know - roof length.   Again, you may not be perfect but the proportions will be.   A handy check is a door, if you come out with six foot doors you're wrong.

If you can't get perpendicular, any old shot you can find - even in a book with an oblique view- can be squared up with the de-keystoning tool in Photoshop.  That's rougher than Streetview, but again, you'll probably be closer than a wild guess.   Using those dimensions from Google Earth, you can calculate a whole lot, even if all you can see is a dim foundation.

In Flagstaff, I'd kitbashed a number of downtown buildings from photos before Google Earth ever got this accurate.  As a result, I ended up redoing an entire city block because I had it about six scale feet too high, and yeah, it was noticeable.  What surprised me though was how close I actually was on the station, and I did that from photos only back in 1975.

I'm now scratchbuilding some particularly interesting looking houses on the hillside west of Flagstaff purely with the Google Earth + Photoshop + Streetview method.   I simply sketch them out on posterboard, reinforce walls with basswood, laminate on layers of bricks or surfacing materials, and either buy or scratch the windows.  This is really more accurate than estimating dimensions purely from photos. I've learned to stock every N window made by Grandt Line and Tichy and 'close is good enough'.

The first building I ever did from photos is the Flagstaff station, and it remains as the most difficult structure scratchbuild I've ever done.  It's the only time in my adult life I used trigonometry to calculate dimensions based on multiple roof angles.   Even La Posada in Winslow was easy by comparison.  Since 1975 I've touched up paint, replaced all the windows, and even weathered it a bit, but it's still front and center on my layout.
http://www.randgust.com/U36C%208714%20Flagstaff%20sm.jpg

My cheat, if I had one, was that I had two entire rolls of photos of the building to work from.  Most times you're struggling with one or two old pictures.

Nothing against using lasers and CAD, but unless I was doing a skyscraper or a hotel with a lot of repetitive elements, that just seems like hitting a fly with a shotgun blast to kill it.  The only structure I've resorted to 3D printing on was my ATSF hexagonal phone booths, even I couldn't figure out how to accurately cut and assemble that.

Project now on the workbench is scratchbuilding the entire Flagstaff lumberyard across from the depot as it appeared in 1972; today that's the lumberyard brewery and the basic shell structure is intact.

[delamaize]

It's been a very long time since I updated this project. I've been stalled on modeling in general for quite a few months, Something over the last few weeks got me going, and I made a lot of progress.
First, I have built this station at least 3 times, been unhappy, and restarted. This is the latest revision, and I am happy with the results, so I will continue to work towards final model. Picture time!







So, I've decided to try to do a full interior, and lighting. I'm also planning on having the roofs removable, held in place with magnets. with the 2nd floor in the main building removable also, to be able to see the inside. Here is some basic floor plans. I am waiting for a friend to scout the station, and tell me where the stairs are at. Once that's done, I can nail down details, and start working on the interior.





I have also have come up with a plan for doing the decorative sandstone, window, doors and frames now. and I have a tentative idea for lighting. I plan on trying to keep this thread updated with progress, now that things are rolling again...

[MVW]

Great to see this moving forward again! Lookin' forward to more progress and details.

Jim

[x600]

You Go Man !!!!

Greg O.

[delamaize]

Over the last few weeks, I also got my MP "US Customs" warehouses, and scratched them into one building. Doing this created a pretty damn close representation to the warehouse near the Station on the prototype. Also decided to use some scrap lumber, some scrap flex track, and a bunch of old Bachmann sectional track with the roadbed, to make a primitive end loops. I may pull up the sectional track, and replace it with cork and flex track. If I go that far, I might as well add scenery, probably something simple really, just a continue of the roadways, and probably hills as scenery blocks. The tracks across the back are made to sit over the trolley car tracks, and are not attached. Overall, It's nice to have something a little bigger to run some trains on.

[delamaize]

Ever since the success of the latest revision of the station, and the Warehouse, my motivation to work on the module has been high, and the creative juices have been flowing. Today, I bashed another warehouse/office type building from scrap European buildings I had. I'm really happy with how this one turned out also. I'm on the fence on if I'm going to build an interior into this building. But I will be lighting it, like the others. With this being a Module, I wanted it to be as self contained as much as I could make it. I found some clear, battery powered Christmas lights, which are just bright enough to look right, but not so bright that it blows out the buildings. It runs on 4 AA batteries. I'm going to chop up those lights to make things happen. I'm going to have extra bulbs, so I may figure out a way to use those for some other scenery lighting. The station platforms I need are on back order, but I was able to get the dimensions, and make a paper template, so I can get the station placed. I broke out some of those cheap-o N scale Chinese Vehicles, and a few other random trucks I had lying around to finalize the mock up of the roads, and buildings. I also needed to test my roundabout, and make sure a Semi-truck and trailer could make it though. For the first time, with this module, I'm confident, and happy with the general layout of everything. Here is some pictures.