Modeling Websites

[Roy]

I stumbled on this site, while looking for Terrier drawings:

http://www.colinbinnie.com/index.html

Check out the menu.

[chuck]

Wow! A lot of great info in the top line topics and some spectacular modeling in the second tier. Thank you very much for posting that link!!!!

[Roy]

You're certainly welcome, Chuck. If you know of, or find, any other useful sites, please post them here.

[Roy]

On the above linked Colin Binnie website, there is a section on making rolling stock from cardstock. I think, using white cardstock printed by an inkjet printer, a lot can be done.

This Nn3 mogul, using a Z scale loco chassis, is an early scratchbuild of mine. It's primarily index card. The stack, domes, etc. are dowel turnings. The tender tank is a balsa block. Boiler bands are aluminum foil. The bell is a store bought detail part. I believe the Nn3 tender trucks were made by Micro-Trains. It was inspired by the article "An Exercise in Nn" in the January 1975 Railroad Modeler. To display an N scale brewery model, the author built a small Nn3 layout, and a similar mogul and reefer.

[sleepmac]

Roy, nice work!

Dan Weinhold

[Roy]

Thanks, Dan. I built that in the early '80s. I'm contemplating an inexpensive O gauge multiple-reduction rubber band drive model, and am again considering cardstock construction.

[chuck]

Wow! very impressive build period. When you throw in that it's "cardboard" its amazing.

[Roy]

You're very gracious, Chuck. Did you check out Colin Binnie's cardstock section? I notice he used a car side lamination construction somewhat like the one you described. Also, he used cloth to upholster his passenger seats.

I'm still contemplating a Hogwart's goods train - possibly of cardstock. I'm thinking you can have some real fun, coming up with product names and paint schemes for the cars. How about a Holy Grail Converted Newts tank car?

[chuck]

I didn't scroll down on the modeling sections on the second line of the menu, I just looked at the impressive photo's at the top. I just looked at the coach cars and saw the techniques you are posting about. That's not the usual "card stock" techniques I'm used to with a thin printed layer on the top and something more sturdy (like matte board) as the structural elements. He was almost making "plywood" out of laminated thin stock. Very interesting, I will be reading the text more thoroughly to see how he laminated the material without the cardboard warping or worse.

I remember a really old issue of MR that had a technique for making streamline passenger cars on a wooden "master" mold with many layers of tissue paper and model airplane dope. I also have a reference book from the 50's on making brass stream liners out of sheet brass and using brass wire for the fluting. There are lots of techniques out there, many trade time for the cost of materials and/or skills required. Trick is taking what you can and adopting it for what you know how to do. Bottom line is this stuff always takes time.

I bought a Cricut "Maker" and am trying to learn how to adapt it for model train building. The tool can do what I want/need, computer driven X-Y cutter with enough force to cut styrene/thin wood. The software is not geared for model making, it's set up for craft/sewing. I have the a running "Note" file on adapting the procedures for cutting the parts for the HE Express cars. I have the side walls for the brake coaches down because the size fits within restrictions for the software (apparently there are internal memory limits for print/scan and cut). The machine can handle up to 12"x24" sheets but print/cut techniques are much smaller, something like 9"x6". I have the window patterns for the main coaches in scale and the overall side panels size. It's the placement of the windows I have to work on. The "drafting" tools are not meant for this type of work and I'm having to use old school stack operations to build up the panel (aka make building blocks that will be used to place a window and then deleted). I'm up to the tenth iteration on the side panels. I look forward to using the machine to make structures like the Hogsmeade station, complex frisket masks for space ship/aircraft modeling and maybe some build up models from card stock patterns converted to bass/styrene (e.g. 1/48 Titan 2 for a Gemini Titan model and the Disney 20,000 Leagues Nautilus I have sectional diagrams for). When I have something to show, I'll post. It's a slow slog. Two steps forward, 1-1/2 back.

[Roy]

Glad you mentioned the 20.000 Leagues Nautilus, Chuck! Here's another site:

https://www.disneyexperience.com/services/models_index.php

There's even a Main Street train station model. Lots of paper models that can be used, or adapted, for model trains.

[chuck]

This is the image I have somewhere in my digital library, scaled for 11x17 paper

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Very cool, Chuck!

[Roy]

...not the usual "card stock" techniques I'm used to with a thin printed layer on the top and something more sturdy (like matte board) as the structural elements. He was almost making "plywood" out of laminated thin stock.

I used two-ply index card on the Nn3 mogul cab paneling. I think I used white glue, there. I also used a ply layering construction, using Elmer's Craft Bond spray adhesive, on a cardstock Lost in Space Jupiter 2 model. It gave a kind of terraced, topographical map look. I then sprayed it with automotive filler primer. After sanding, it rendered the curved surfaces of the special effects hero miniature quite well.

When cardstock is plied with the right adhesive, it produces a remarkably strong, hard shell construction. You can say the same thing about ordinary typing paper. I've rolled model rocket bodies from such paper, using white glue.

[chuck]

It was something I "found" about 20 years ago when the web was less crowded and you didn't have "help" (Google/Yahoo) searching for stuff. There was a lot of nice material on TV/motion picture models (original Battlestar Galactica, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea). Some of this stuff you had to mine from usenet news and then follow file transfer links to gain access.

[Roy]

I bought a Cricut "Maker" and am trying to learn how to adapt it for model train building.

Interesting. If you could inkjet print on plastic sheet, then cut out parts...hmmm.