Looking for suggestions on multiple window openings in N scale large buildings.

[wcfn100]

I thought I read somewhere on TRW that the Silhouette cutters were not so great for square corner openings because the blade rotates and creates a small radius at a 90 degree direction change.

In some cases you can draw the lines past the corners and do it in four passes.

Jason

[thomasjmdavis]

Not done with a silhouette but with my standard run of the mill Roland vinyl cutter. It can't cut all the way through but it scores the lines and you can the break out the parts you need or finish the job with a knife. Even the bricks were scored with the vinyl cutter. Even if you need to file the corners a bit, it still better than trying to free hand the whole thing.

Nice brickwork, and +1 on the bond courses. 

[160pennsy]

If you are using the .040 styrene as a sub wall where you will ultimately add a brick veneer on top, then:

1.) First draw out all the window & door openings on the sub wall using your drafting tools.
2.) Next use the score & snap technique to cut along all the horizontal & vertical lines - marking the pieces as you go.
3.) Glue the sub wall back together minus the window / door opening pieces (I suggest a fast setting glue like Tenax). Might need to add some splice bracing to stiffen up the wall.
4.) Final step is glue on the thin brick veneer and cut out the window / door openings from behind. This should be easy if using a brand new #11 blade and then follow up with needle files to get a nice tight fit for the window / door castings

[gregamer]

I’ve become quite fond of using my Cricut Maker to cut walls with window and door openings. I usually cut multiple layers in .020” or sometime .030” styrene and laminate them together. The multiple layers allows me to easily recess windows and provide a small area to support gluing the window from behind. I’m also able to cut the lower layers shorter so there is a support for the roof.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[Cajonpassfan]

Tony, that’s awesome! I have some large roundhouse windows to do...
Otto

[kiwi_al]

I was thinking along that line for this project.  Anything that would need to be .040 thick could be scribed (if the machine is capable of small z axis adjustment, or some other method of incising the lines without going all the way through).  The question about cutting capability is more just to determine whether it's worth the investment, and what other projects (not necessarily model) I might be able to use it for.  For the time being, this may be a moot point, at least for a Silhouette, since the software is not available in a Linux version, which is the operating system I use.  It is possible I can get it to work through the Wine utility, but I have found that very hit or miss with software generally, and graphics in particular.

Have you seen this?

https://librearts.org/2012/06/vinyl-cutting-on-linux-the-real-deal/

[thomasjmdavis]

Have you seen this?

https://librearts.org/2012/06/vinyl-cutting-on-linux-the-real-deal/

Thanks @kiwi_al - that appears to be a solution for the vinyl cutters.

Your posting also got me thinking about this in a different way - so instead of looking through various machine manufacturer's software, I did some searches along the lines of "silhouette linux" and came up with a link that appears to have a lot of potential, as I already have inkscape installed on my machine and at least a little familiarity with it.

Courtesy of the open source folks in Canada-
https://libertyseeds.ca/2017/12/08/A-better-open-source-extension-for-Silhouette-Cameo-Inkscape-and-Ubuntu/

I haven't tried this yet as I don't have a Silhouette machine, but it might make it worth the risk to buy one.