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Liberty Steel Aldwarke - shelfie/glorified photo plank


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Hi all. You may or may not have seen from a couple of my other threads that I'm currently modifying and repainting an Oxford Janus into Aldwarke #30 as photographed last Summer by Paul Bartlett and Mark Saunders. This has got all the Stocksbridge fitted acoustic kit on, as well as a few other mods from the prototype depicted by the model, most of which has been 3d printed. I thought it would be a shame to go through the effort of converting it and not having somewhere to run it, so I had the idea of a short shelfie type layout based somewhere on the Aldwarke site, although its actually going to be more of a glorified photo plank really.

 

IMG_20190806_153719-01.jpeg.2a31ed3e4485b3c00d49de84dcb1f80d.jpeg

 

I had a scoot around on Google Earth (having it in VR on an Oculus Rift really helps get a feel of the site and what may or may not work as a layout as you're essentially looking at the site as if it was a 3d model). There's plenty of scope for layout ideas, however I really wanted somewhere I could use the side of a building for the backscene, so I eventually decided on a single line that runs the length of the Finishing Banks as can be seen in this screenshot below, the red area being the section I want to include in the first board.

 

210437590_Capture-Copy.JPG.22395a10e345c724b05a3fc55123f1ac.JPG

 

It's not the most operationally interesting length of line in the world, in fact I'll most likely add in a loop somewhere, but at first I do want to stick as closely as I can to the prototype.

 

I dug out some suitable baseboard material from the garage which was kindly left by the previous homeowners which measures 125 x 32 cm. Using Google Maps' very handy point to point measuring tool I've been able to convert the building into 1/76 scale and basically cut the backscene into 20cm long chunks between each downpipe. Sheer luck means 6 of these sections will fit onto one baseboard and should mean I can easily create a very modular scene. The entire length of the Finishing Banks building will actually fit on 5 boards, to scale, but at nearly 6m long that may be a tad overkill. I would like to do at least one more though.

 

I made a bit of a start last night to see how the backscene would look using some Scalescenes material packs. It's a little plain so far, and I took a little artistic license with the Finishing Banks sign (actually on a section of the building around the corner), and the window texture I had to make up myself which isn't 100% bang on but I think it looks ok. It still needs weathering and I have plans for most of the details to be 3d printed, I just need to draw some stuff up in CAD. To begin with I want to do a stairway set for the roof access/fire escape stairs, the roof walkway, down pipes, and any other vents/details that I can get from the pictures I have. Hopefully a few of those will be modular so I can adapt them for other sections.

 

IMG_20190807_194105-01.jpeg.4ccc02d6a82da197a411566242109863.jpeg

 

For this first plank I'm simply going to have a single length of Code 75, I should also be able to comfortably fit the roadway in the foreground as well as the pipe gantry so hopefully it should make quite a pleasing base for photographs.

 

More to come soon!

Edited by Locksley
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1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Very good concept and information gathering, I didn't realise/can't comprehend the advances in technology you use, but it certainly seems a good way to go.

 

Mike.

PS. it's Stocksbridge, welcome to fat finger syndrome!

 

My excuse is it's early ;)

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6 minutes ago, Ruston said:

They both look really good but I think the Janus would look better with wire handrails instead of the chunky moulded plastic ones.

 

The Janus handrails are actually 3d printed but at the absolute limit of what the printer can do. I suck at wire handrails so I decided to go for neater but chunkier, over just messy lol. One thing I did wonder though is whether I could 3d print a jig to make the wire handrails around... I may look into that.

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Making a 3D-printed jig sounds like a lot of hassle just to put handrails together. Wouldn't it melt when you put the soldering iron near it? Reminds me of the story about how NASA spent millions developing a pen that would write in zero gravity, as opposed to the Russians, who simply used a pencil. I used the Russian approach, with a piece of plywood, a few holes drilled in it with pins stuck in to make a jig to make the handrails for this Janus.

River-Don2.jpg

River-Don1.jpg

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2 hours ago, Ruston said:

 a piece of plywood, a few holes drilled in it with pins stuck in to make a jig to make the handrails for this Janus.

 

Jigs, the most under rated piece of modelling tooling known to man.

I've got a myriad of little/big pieces of wood/aluminium/tufnol etc which help me no end in attempting to construct things square/level/parallel.

 

Mike.

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On 09/08/2019 at 09:45, Ruston said:

Reminds me of the story about how NASA spent millions developing a pen that would write in zero gravity, as opposed to the Russians, who simply used a pencil.

You know that’s not true, right?

A ball pen uses capillary action, and a pencil, being made of graphite, is a good electrical conductor and not something you want pieces (from sharpening or breaking the point) of floating around a multi-million dollar environment designed to keep people alive in a hostile environment... 

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1 hour ago, Regularity said:

You know that’s not true, right?

A ball pen uses capillary action, and a pencil, being made of graphite, is a good electrical conductor and not something you want pieces (from sharpening or breaking the point) of floating around a multi-million dollar environment designed to keep people alive in a hostile environment... 

I did wonder if it was one of those 'urban myths' but it makes the point and a 3D print will still melt if you put a soldering iron to it. :P

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14 hours ago, Regularity said:

You know that’s not true, right?

A ball pen uses capillary action, and a pencil, being made of graphite, is a good electrical conductor and not something you want pieces (from sharpening or breaking the point) of floating around a multi-million dollar environment designed to keep people alive in a hostile environment... 

 

Has anyone asked the Russians what they used?

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Didn't the Russians purchase the pen in the end?

 

IMG_20190809_175842.jpg.1d53dea91eb54a7cf766009c29a1b2e4.jpg

 

Nice productive weekend on the layout.... lol. Decided to keep it uber simple for the first section and as close to the prototype as possible. To be fair I did also lay some card over the rest of the board. This photo is looking from the front, this side of the track will mostly be taken up by the road and pavement, plus a grassy area on the left. Towards the right hand side is a building of which the frontage would just be visible in the slice I'm modelling but I may or may not put that in as it would essentially just be in the way lol. Next job will be laying the card road surface, then I need to get some sand as I want to try Chris Nevard's sand/DAS clay slurry technique for the ballast and groundwork around the track.

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On 09/08/2019 at 09:45, Ruston said:

Making a 3D-printed jig sounds like a lot of hassle just to put handrails together. Wouldn't it melt when you put the soldering iron near it? Reminds me of the story about how NASA spent millions developing a pen that would write in zero gravity, as opposed to the Russians, who simply used a pencil. I used the Russian approach, with a piece of plywood, a few holes drilled in it with pins stuck in to make a jig to make the handrails for this Janus.

 

 

What wire did you use for the handrails? I've decided I'm unhappy enough with the Janus that I'm going to strip and repaint the main body, and I'd like to get some proper handrails sorted out as one of the printed ones has since warped slightly.

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1 hour ago, Locksley said:

Didn't the Russians purchase the pen in the end?

At the height of the Cold War? No, if they did use the pen they wouldn't have bought anything from the Americans. They'd have stolen the plans and made their own version! :laugh_mini:

 

11 minutes ago, Locksley said:

 

What wire did you use for the handrails? I've decided I'm unhappy enough with the Janus that I'm going to strip and repaint the main body, and I'd like to get some proper handrails sorted out as one of the printed ones has since warped slightly.

I used 0.45mm wire, which seems to be the standard size supplied in industrial loco kits by Judith Edge and High Level.

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18 minutes ago, Ruston said:

I used 0.45mm wire, which seems to be the standard size supplied in industrial loco kits by Judith Edge and High Level.

 

Just brass/piano wire? Any particular solder I should be using? I haven't had the best results with wire handrails in the past so I'm hoping if I can get the right materials I'll have a fighting chance!

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Straight brass or n/s wire is best, solder not critical but I use the stuff with 2% silver almost exclusively now. A simple jig with pins in a block of wood helps, particularly with a Janus where you are building four sets of them. The attached pdf from our Janus kit may be useful to you, it should print out quite accurately.

Janus GA.PDF

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Thanks for the help chaps, I've ordered myself some 0.4mm brass wire, a pot of Carr's Red Flux, some decent 60/40 solder and a 50w variable temp iron. Hopefully this'll mean I can actually get some decent looking handrails for once. I need to redo my Sentinel too.

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I've decided to try a couple of 'utility' prints, just to see how they work. I've turned my original Janus railing models into a jig that will hopefully hold the wire in place while I solder, and I've also put a little cutting guide on the side.

 

screenShot_Janus_Railing_A_Jig_v0.png.067e1da4ba5057f31d58dfd579f36760.png

 

And I've also thrown together a basic quartering jig.

 

screenShot_OO_Gauge_Quartering_Jig_v0.png.0f832aa911da1ae3ced1754fbfe0df52.png

Edited by Locksley
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15 hours ago, Ruston said:

The quartering jig looks interesting. How does it work?

 

I was initially thinking that you'd slide the axle over the jig with the wheels on the outside, then place a small piece of wire through the rear of the crankpin hole and rotate until the wire was resting on each side of the 90deg angle, but I think I'm going to add a second pair of side pieces so they would be on the outside of the wheels and I can simply use the existing crankpins, similar to the Cooper Craft one.

 

Here's the revised one with some wagon wheels as an example:

 

Capture.JPG.e0d4c4d84d2ff25c2f196103e6639f70.JPG

 

I've also just about finished the mockup of the first backscene panel, I have no idea how any of it is going to print but it should be fun trying it out.

 

1497574611_Mockupscreen1.JPG.b127d094f59335419761ce43505560a9.JPG

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3 hours ago, Locksley said:

 

I was initially thinking that you'd slide the axle over the jig with the wheels on the outside, then place a small piece of wire through the rear of the crankpin hole and rotate until the wire was resting on each side of the 90deg angle, but I think I'm going to add a second pair of side pieces so they would be on the outside of the wheels and I can simply use the existing crankpins, similar to the Cooper Craft one.

 

Here's the revised one with some wagon wheels as an example:

 

 

 

 

 

So you are converting wagon wheels into driving wheels? What is the loco that they're going in?

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3 minutes ago, Ruston said:

So you are converting wagon wheels into driving wheels? What is the loco that they're going in?

 

No, the wagon wheels were just an example of where the driving wheels would go as I had no other 3d model to hand. The jig is primarily for a Bachmann/ex-Mainline split chassis 04 which has the notorious plastic axles which are a nightmare to quarter. I'm hoping the jig will help.

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