M Graff

Finally some progress! I've actually managed to clear out the space for the layout. The room as it looked... Insulation and moisture barrier installed. Sheetrock... We all love to do some sheetrock and mud and sanding, and mud and sanding.... I rounded two of the corners. I made a backing from two layers of 1/8" hardboard. I used 1/4" sheetrock that I wetted and bent to shape in the corners. The backdrop is now the next step (almost..) I need to install the lighting first. I painted a test piece just to see the colors and tonal values. It needs to be toned down a bit though. More like this test: I've ordered the carpet and all the LED light fixtures, so it's finally getting there.

Update! The metal mesh gives a better static field! I solved that by applying plumbers aluminium tape on the backside of the printed mesh! Sure, it was a bit tedious to cut out the holes, but it works perfectly! One added bonus is that I don't risk any arcing between the earth and the mesh as the metal is on the inside.

The alteration I did with the metal plate on the bottom of the canister and the prong that contacts the grass made the metal mesh unnecessary. I printed a lid with a 4x4 mm grid for longer strands, and it works perfectly good! I really didn't like the strainer mesh that had to be glued in place...

I followed Luke's article (beside from the handle then... ) http://www.bouldercreekrailroad.com/static-grass-applicator.html

Hi all! I borrowed a Noch Grassmaster, it was great, but a tad expensive ... I saw that Luke Towan had an article and a video showing how to build one. My friend and I decided to build one each. We didn't like the material that he had used for the handle and cup though... I therefore designed a handle and cup in CAD (Fusion 360). I liked the idea of an easy to handle tool. I 3D printed the parts myself on my Wanhao duplicator 4S. It's assembled from quite a bit of parts.. I found all the electronics online. First test of the home-built grassmaster with a 9 volt battery for power and Woodland scenics short grass. Tomorrow I will test with the 12 volt transformer and longer grass. I was surprised how strong the static field is. The hair on my hand stands straight up when I get close ... The grass gets really dense and stands up really nice. This project gives a good result. The cost was really affordable. When summarizing every component and the material for the 3D print, it cost me roughly £35! Under half of what equal products on the market costs with the same specs.

Hi all! This is my latest build that only took me two days to finish. No need for despair though, as anyone can do it after a few builds under their command. I had this HSM Silver plume store kit. (Same MFG as the fire station I built) Really nice old craftsman kit with mostly printed cardboard and wood parts. Moulded plastic windows and corbels. The walls had to be cut from sheet wood. Roof material is surgical tape. Real glass in the windows (which needs to be cleaned...) The smoke stack is made from a wood dowel. Now some interior to make.

The HSM Nevada city fire station is done! It was a real challenge, mostly printed cardboard and some sticks of wood...but it went really okay I think. The bell tower has 28 parts.... Fiddly, to say the least. The interior light is a led mounted above the ceiling and has an orange colored diffuser to make it resemble gas light.

Finished!!! The HSM Nevada city fire station is done! It was a real challenge, but it went really okay I think. The bell tower has 28 parts.... Fiddly, to say the least. The interior light is a led mounted above the ceiling and has an orange colored diffuser to make it resemble gas light.

The fire station build continued. I've assembled the walls and built the windows and doors. They are mostly made out of cardboard with printed plastic glass. The embossed brick walls were a real chore to work with....But it worked out okay.

This is how I did the walls: I primed them with burnt sienna and then picked some bricks in lighter and darker colors. Note that they are way to strong in contrast at this stage. I then lightly Airbrushed some of the base color to tone down the bricks. To make the mortar, I painted the walls with warm gray oil paint straight from the tube. I then wiped it off while wet. I lastly used a towel that was very lightly damped in mineral spirits to remove the oil paint from the brick surfaces. Just the way I liked it.

Been building the wall details. The brick surround is cardboard. Doors.... The gables are almost finished. Painting bricks.... The walls are quite large, so it's going to take a while.

The stamp mill in the afternoon.

That would have been good Brian. The fire station kit build has begun... Cutting the windows and doors. A new blade was definitely a must The walls was a pain to cut out in 1/8" cardboard. I have glued the brick faces to the cardboard, and they are now drying under a ton of lead weights....

Starting a new project... A really old kit that I bought a while back. It´s going to be fun to build a really old craftsman kit. Printed cardboard, some stripwood and a lot of instructions....

I built the Blair line church kit. http://www.blairline.com/church/ I started it two days ago.... It's a rather good kit, but the roof material sucked. I replaced it with Campbell shingles instead. The lack of a bell bothered me, but I solved it by 3D printing a bell and fastener. I weathered it by painting white acrylic over stained wood that I had soaked with mineral spirits. The roof is painted tan and then I brushed on burnt umber oil paint that I wiped of while wet. The windows turned out really good with the stained glass plastic. Backside of the church.

Raw model:

Before covering it up:

Thanks Chris. I will have to search the books for some inspiration about the gutters. Here's a pic of the mill outside in the sun: And in b/w

Thanks! Here's a pic of it outside in the sun: And in b/w

My latest build: A Stamp mill in HO scale for my HOn3 layout. I've made it from plans in the "Old wood and stone buildings​" book. I CAD converted the drawn plans and as I have a 3D printer, I printed the timber frame, windows, doors, smoke stack and loading platform. I then covered the frame with Northeastern wood and the roof with cardboard covered with surgical tape. The stays for the smokestack are made of piano wire. The painting is acrylics on mineral spirits soaked wood...It makes it so nicely weathered. India​ ink washes to represent rotten wood and shadows etc. I'm almost finished with the diorama, and will show more pics of the build later.

My latest build: A Stamp mill in HO scale for my HOn3 layout. I've made it from plans in the "Old wood and stone buildings​" book. I CAD converted the drawn plans and as I have a 3D printer, I printed the timber frame, windows, doors, smoke stack and loading platform. I then covered the frame with Northeastern wood and the roof with cardboard covered with surgical tape. The stays for the smokestack are made of piano wire. The painting is acrylics on mineral spirits soaked wood...It makes it so nicely weathered. India​ ink washes to represent rotten wood and shadows etc. I'm almost finished with the diorama, and will show more pics of the build later.

My latest build: A Stamp mill in HO scale for my HOn3 layout. I've made it from plans in the "Old wood and stone buildings​" book. I CAD converted the drawn plans and as I have a 3D printer, I printed the timber frame, windows, doors, smoke stack and loading platform. I then covered the frame with Northeastern wood and the roof with cardboard covered with surgical tape. The stays for the smokestack are made of piano wire. The painting is acrylics on mineral spirits soaked wood...It makes it so nicely weathered. India​ ink washes to represent rotten wood and shadows etc. I'm almost finished with the diorama, and will show more pics of the build later.

Considering the available space, wouldn't it be worth milling the frame and get rid of the flywheels?A longer and a bit wider motor would be very powerful. We have a CNC mill that could be put to good use. Maybe someone has a cheap dead Garratt I could be experimenting with?

Is that a Pillstrom snake tong?:-)

Well, comparing supermarket quality tablets with iPads are not an equal match. You need a quadcore processor and at least Android kitkat or lollipop. At least 2 Gb RAM as well. Then you will not experience the lag and unstable performance stated in this thread. Anyone tried it on a iphone 2? I guess it would be quite a drag....