Completing the 4mm NER 6 wheel coach

[Siberian Snooper]

Hi Mike

 

Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to produce this idiots guide to using Inkscape and the Silhouette cutter.

 

Cheers SS

 

PS. Just need the afore mentioned time to put it all into practice.

[MikeTrice]

Thanks SS.

 

It is early days yet but the use of d-Limonene looks very promising. After 4 days a test peice using 20 thou is showing no sign of warping. A similar test piece using 10thou is showing very slight warping but nowhere near as with the traditional solvents. Think I will try it when laminating the panelling and the rest of the construction.

 

Of course to be able to complete the body I do need to do those ends. I cannot put them off any longer.

 

You might also notice that as this topic progresses I have used less basic instructions as by now there is a lot of the same and additional explanation should be unnecessary, however if anyone want me to cover anything in more depth, let me know.

 

First job is to draw the required outline.

 

Here is the end profile I produced earlier in the thread. I have changed some of the colours in an attempt to highlight what I am trying to achieve. In this instance I am trying to create the red line.

 

After duplicating the original profile, the first job is to start deleting some of the unwanted lines:

 

The outer curved lines are converted from a stroke to a path and the fill turned off and the stroke width set to 0.05mm:

 

Switching to node edit mode the outer nodes are broken apart, the resulting path broken apart and the inner unwanted bits deleted. Note that the roof arc stops short of the side. This can be extended by switching to node edit mode, selecting the end node and dragging it down and to the right until it meets the side.

 

The same needs to be done on the other side. Here the roof arc has been extended:

 

Finally a line needs to be drawn to join the two lower edges of the sides. It was easier to delete the floor from the previous images and just draw a line from scratch. All lines selected, changed to uniform thickness, coloured black and bitmap switched off:

 

 

[MikeTrice]

As you will see, I sort of made up the next bit as I went along.

 

I duplicated the roof arc and moved the copy down. I have drawn a lower guideline for the bottom of the panelling and duplicated the 20thou curve at the side and set its width to 0.75mm then moved it to align with the new edge of the end profile:

 

The new side was duplicated and mirrored and moved to the left to align with that edge. Vertical lines were added in 0.5mm to represent the beading. Additionl beading (shown in red) was added and aligned to the inner edge of the 0.75mm line. All 7 lines can now be selected and using the object align tool, evenly spaced:

 

I thought I would use the inner edge of the 0.75mm line so converted it to black and started breaking it so I just had the inner surface. In the end I did not need to break it as will be seen in the next post:

 

The first panel outline is added using the straight line tool and the various sides and lower edge adjusted to match the guidelines:

 

Zoom in, switch to node edit, select the left two nodes and then change to a curve using the toolbar button:

 

As it has been converted to a curve I now two handles to manipulate and can start changing the corner to a curve:

 

Repeat for the right hand side:

 

I then did the same for the top two nodes so I could curve the line slightly. The original panel outline is duplicated and moved to the next panel position then the top elements moved in node edit mode to suit their new height:

 

So this is what it looks like now:

[MikeTrice]

I should add that working from carriage diagrams is not an accurate way of producing cutting patterns and as will be seen earlier I doubted some of the dimensions shown. Lacking any reference material other than the preserved 818 clerestory a lot of this is down to guesswork.

 

One of the previously prepared panels is duplicated and positioned to the left and the top adjusted as before to match the arc:

 

Zooming in on the bottom edge and switching to node edit mode, the two lower nodes are selected and the "Add node" toolbar button clicked creating a new central node:

 

The left hand node is moved vertically up (while holding down the Ctrl key) and the middle node moved left horizontally:

 

The two left hand nodes are converted to a curve and the curvature introduced to match the profile guide:

 

The three left hand panels are duplicated, mirrored horizontally and moved to the right hand edge. Just to play safe I selected all 6 and aligned them to give equal spacing then deleted unwanted objects. We are left with this finish end:

 

One end needs a modification to the outer panel to allow for the alarm gear to be fitted, so the produce end is duplicated and the original moved aside for later use. On the other one the left hand corner is zoomed in and I have drawn a rounded rectangle to act as a guide line for the modification. I could at this point combine the two objects but decided to do it a slightly different way:

 

Instead what I did was break one of the nodes at the corner and then move curve to side side of my guiding rectangle, then draw in the missing parts by hand. Node editing allowed me to fine tune this:

 

The modified panel was duplicated, flipped and moved to replace the one on the right, then the old right hand one deleted. I now have the two panels finished:

[MikeTrice]

Once again a quick image to show which parts we want from the side for the panelling layer, as shown in blue, most of it really:

 

Taking out the unwanted parts. Oops, missed one droplight:

 

Got it! Past experience tells me the lower beading is quite fragile, so I have added a reinforcing rectangle below it and various rectangles that will form attachment points:

 

Selecting the side's outer rectangle and new new rectangles the whole lot are combined. That is the side done:

 

Duplicate one of the doorways from the original side so I can start producing the droplights:

 

Here I have drawn a rectangle round the droplight which will define the extend of the droplight:

 

Here the unwanted parts are deleted leaving a finished droplight. Just for variety I also like to create some droplights in lowered position so another clone has been created and the bounding rectangle reduced in height to where I imagine the prototype would be when in the up position:

 

The two droplight elements are moved into a lower position:

 

The lower edge of the outer rectangle was then moved up:

 

The inner shape is converted to a path and node edit selected:

 

The lowest two nodes are deleted and the bottom edge converted to a straight line on the toolbar:

 

Now the lower two nodes can be moved up to just below the opening:

 

Having created one open droplight it was the work of minute to create another even lower version:

[MikeTrice]

Nearly there.

 

First job is to find that bolection created a long time ago and change it to black. Now the various components are collected together, duplicated and arranged ready for cutting. I actually need 20 bolections but always include some spare, like the spare droplights. Note, that unlike the earlier 20thou components I find it best to leave space between the various parts, it seems to give cleaner cut. The bounding rectangles are also unnecessary as generally 10thou will cut through. This is the 10thou scribing version:

 

The whole arrangement is duplicated and moved to a new layer and the door outlines deleted. This is the 10thou cut version:

 

We are now ready for cutting (and more modelling).

 

 

 

 

[JCL]

Hi Mike, just slightly differently, I only have one Inkscape file for both cutting and scribing. The cut lines are one colour, and the scribed lines a different colour. When I take the file into Studio, each colour is automatically grouped separately, so I set the cutter to scribe everything first, then just select the scribe colour lines and delete them before cutting.

[MikeTrice]

I am cutting direct from Inkscape, however I could do as you do and use colour separation for cutting the various elements, as the Silhouette driver asks you to select which colour line to cut. To be honest, I have not thought of it.

 

Panelling cutting out in 10thou as I write this.

[Mikkel]

Mike, just wanted to say thanks for your extremely well illustrated and carefully explained posts. A fantastic guide to a whole new world of modelling. Apart from that, I'm also really enjoying watching the coaches developing.

[JCL]

I'll be interested to see how the bolections turn out.

[MikeTrice]

10thou straight from the cutter. The styrene has a shiny surface so this was mounted on the mat, gloss side up:

 

Some of the components. Bolections bottom right.

 

The side panelling is laid on the sides and clips used to keep it aligned. Once everything is in place, d-Limonene was applied to fix in place:

 

The close up here shows how the 20thou layer needs its window and door openings filed to size following the snapping process especially the 3rd quarterlight from the left, but not yet:

 

The bottom reinforcing strip is cut off and the interior has been refitted to show how the sides a reasonably straight:

 

In reality, not all the parts have cut right through so a little work with a blade is required to complete:

 

The end panelling is located using the clips and solvented in place:

 

Once everything has cured for a few hours the side panelling can be rubber smooth on the 800 grit wet and dry and to remove the gloss finish. The interior is left in place to add strength:

 

The ends are also treated the same way:

 

Door vents and bolections added. Now they need to cure fully before I can finally finish the window apertures.

[Buhar]

That is excellent, Mike and thank you for taking us through it.

I hope Limonene is indeed the magic bullet against warping, I had some 60 thou twist alarmingly and was starting to think shellac and cardboad might be the only route through this.

[MikeTrice]

In hindsight I decided to increase the false roof thickness from 30thou to 40thou. This involved reducing the partion heights once again, this time by rubbing upsade down on a piece of 600 grit wet and dry. Here is the new false roof in place and marked to reflect the partion positions:

 

The roof profile pieces produced previously have been tidied up and fixed in place:

 

The roof itself cut from 30thou styrene being curved the same way the turnunder was produced:

 

False roof back in place:

 

Checking that all the profile pieces are level with the ends. IF there are any high ones, turn upside down and rub on wet and dry until level:

 

The roof is now stuck to the false roof profiles and put under weight to cure:

 

A trial fitting. Not bad.

[Siberian Snooper]

Mike,

 

The coach has turned out to be a magnificent build, I look forward to seeing it with a running chassis underneath it.

 

SS

[MikeTrice]

In order to work out the vent and lamp positions on the roof, rather than measure and mark up directly on the roof, I created a template in Inkscale and printed it off:

 

The printout was cut out and fixed to the roof with a Pritt Stick:

 

Pilot holes were then drilled:

 

The paper template was removed and the pilot holes opened out. They need finishing off:

 

[MikeTrice]

Question: should the roof have rainstrips?

[Siberian Snooper]

Hi Mike

 

Very probably, the question is would they have been one or two continuous strips per side or individual ones over each door? Not much help really, just throwing in all the possible permutations.

 

SS

[MikeTrice]

51L London and North Western Railway Carriage Torpedo Vents (LNWC042) and 51L Midland Railway Clayton Carriage Gas Lamps - for arc roofed vehicles (MRC041) added.

 

Tiny drops of Uhu solvent free were applied with a cocktail stick and the castings inserted. Will cleam them up a bit more when the glue has dried:

 

 

 

Have ordered a Brassmasters Cleminson chassis (RCH type ref MC002) to provide the underframe working parts.

 

 

[MikeOxon]

Before continuing an important diversion: styrene warping. Nothing to do with Inkscape, or the Silhouette cutter, but very important none the less.

......

Another option I have seen advocated is the use D-Limonene which is supposed to be less agressive. This huge bottle was bought from Magnacol for the princely sum of  £7.50 + £3 postage, a test sample has been glued together and I will monitor it over the next few days..

May thanks for your very detailed exposition on coach building. I have found loads of great ideas in this thread, which I hope to put into practice myself, soon.

 

I found your analysis of the styrene warping issue very revealing, and your experiments with D-Limonene seem to be proving your point.  On my own, similar, seat units, I added side members, which have reduced the problem very considerably but not so elegantly!

 

The whole subject of glues is a thorny one, especially when one uses several different materials in construction.  The ability to 'weld' plasticard with solvent is an important factor, when choosing this  material, so anything that reduces side-effects is very helpful. 

 

I am currently investigating adhesives for attaching card to plastic and am experimenting with some book-binders' glues, which seem promising.

 

Mike

[MikeTrice]

Thanks Mike. Try the UHU solvent free, I was surprised just how strong a joint it produced.

[MikeTrice]

I mentioned earlier a lack of detailed information relating to various details, which are sort of holding up further progress. Last night I spent time going through various references, pulling out what little hair I have left in the process. In the end after a lot of guesswork I have produced the following arrangement of the steps and handrails, drawn in Inkscape of course:

 

 

If anyone knows of any glaring errors please speak now or forever hold your peace.

 

I have also decided to add a continuous rain strip to the roof so have updated my roof template accordingly:

 

As far as Inkscape and the Silhouette is concerned there is little left to do, just the axleboxes which will have to wait until the Brassmasters Cleminson chassis arrives. After that it is plain scratchbuilding and soldering. So the question is should I continue in this step by step fashion, or should I just show the finished item (assuming I finish it)?

[MikeOxon]

...

 

 So the question is should I continue in this step by step fashion, or should I just show the finished item (assuming I finish it)?

 

I always enjoy reading 'work in progress' reports - so long as you have the time and energy to write them.

 

Your attention to detail is way beyond anything I do   (yet!)

 

[Beatty 139]

A quick question, I have had quite a few of these since my birthday present arrived, I note that the Cameo is being driven straight from Inkscape can you drive it directly from AutoCad LT?

 

Regards

Andy

[Siberian Snooper]

A quick question, I have had quite a few of these since my birthday present arrived, I note that the Cameo is being driven straight from Inkscape can you drive it directly from AutoCad LT?

 

Regards

Andy

Ron Heggs is your man for the answer to that, he has produced parts for some of his bridges and roof trusses for Manchester Central. He had already drawn up a lot of it on Autocad before his introduction to the cutter.

 

SS

[MikeTrice]

A quick question, I have had quite a few of these since my birthday present arrived, I note that the Cameo is being driven straight from Inkscape can you drive it directly from AutoCad LT?

 

Regards

Andy

If not you can save it as DXF and import it into Studio.