I did not like the molded on roofwalk on my 40' boxcars, so I started working on a modification to make them better. This is the first car I did. I put a new roof part on, then the laser rastered roofwalk: Here is the second car I did with a new roof. The first car had a .020" thick roof, and this one has a .015" thick roof. Both received .010" thick rastered roofwalks: Here you can see through the roofwalk to the roof on the modified car on the right. On the left is another car I will be reworking, which still has the thick molded on roofwalk. I could have done this with etched brass, but the slot pitch would be much wider due to the isotropic etching charactistics of FeCl etching. This I learned of from Chris's etching work. You can see under the new roofwalk between the slats now, which was my goal:
Robert, That looks great. Did you actually replace the roof or just grind off the old roofwalk? Dan S.
Dang, I was over here snoozin' and wake up to find Robert killed 2 birds with 1 stone. I sort of lost interest because I didn't want to file down the old roof walk and make it match the roof contour. I could probably do one car to show off, but doing it over and over would be a lot of work. So that is 1 bird. Bird 2 is the roof walk. The raster rascal 1 Chris' laboratory 0 :teeth: Before long you will have that laser doing rapid prototyping... and chewing bubble gum! Nice work
It is funny. When I first read this post I thought ok, how much difference can a roofwalk make? Then when you go back and look at the pictures it really hits you. Much like lowering the hieght, the differneces are so subtle, yet the overall appearance is enhanced, and make the car look so much sharper. It makes the model less of a toy and more real. It really makes me look twice at my rolling stock as well as my loco's.
Thinner sheet brass Chris I recall seeing your etchings of the roofwalk. If I remember, were you having problem with the chemical etching of the small design thru the brass! Am I correst? I was just thinking if you would have better results using a thinner brass sheet. K&S makes a Shim pack with several very thin brass sheets. Most are 3"-4" square. Have you tried this? Just a thought! Hobo Tim
Fan-Freakin-Tastic! Robert, as always, never fail to amaze the Z community with the works of you and your laZer! Superb job. If not you, it is Kim with his laser who is amazing us. If I didn't know better, I'd say you two are working together. When one is working on something Z, the other is showing something Z to the groups and then you switch. Always amazing us with your talents! Awesome!!! Keep on Z'ing! Hobo Tim
What I did was to make a template out of cardboard, and I drop the boxcar in a hole in the template. Then I focus the laser on the top of the roofwalk, and have the laser cut the roofwalk out of the center of the car. Next I sand the roof on 400 grit paper on a hard surface to make the roof flat and pitched just above the rivet lines visible on the car ends. So far, I am into the project about 10 minutes total. Now I vector cut out a new flat roof out of .015" clear modified acrylic, then vector cut the peel and stick .003" acrylic bowtie roof pattern, and finaly raster etch a new roofwalk out of .010" modified acrylic. The rastering part is the hardest, because you have to place lead weights on each side of the roofwalk lengthwise, ot the plastic will expand and distort the rastering. That makes the roofwalks a 1 at a time proposition, at about 2 minutes each for rastering and setup. Next I peel the .003" thick bowtie pattern off and stick to the .010" thick roof part, and cut the overhang off with scissors, then sand the edges quickly. Then I superglue on the roof, mask the car, and spraypaint it. I also spraypaint the roofwalk, but not while it is attached, or the holes will fill with paint, and I want the seethrough effect. Last I use a needle to apply small amounts of superglue on the ridges of the bowtie roof pattern, and place the roofwalk on. Ready for weathering. About 1/2 hour and very easy work per car. Do several at a time. -Robert
I can make some roof kits and brakewheels available to those who want them. I can make other type roofs than the Bowtie style, like Stanray diagonal panel too. Or for you Modern guys, no roofwalk at all!
Well, I'd surely like to get three or four roof walks. How would you do a "no roof walk", other than sending a car to you - or am I missing something. ...don
Well, what you can do Don, is sand the roof so the car has a flat pitched roof, but no roofwalk. Then you peel and stick the .003" thick acrylic roof pattern onto the .015" thick acrylic roof piece, and trim the excess material that hanges over the sides with scissors. Light bevel sanding to look good. Next you superglue the roof on, mask the car and paint the roof. If you are modeling a boxcar that has no roofwalk, you are done, else paint, then superglue on the new roofwalk. What I did beyond sanding the roof flat, was to use the laser to cut the roofwalk off, so there would be much less sanding required. The new roof part is scribed down the centerline, so a slight snap after the roof pattern piece is peeled and stuck in place will give the roof the sloping pitch of the original roof. I'll do another car and take photos of the complete process this weekend, to better illustrate the procedure. It's real easy. I did one with a Mill¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ file, just to see how easy it was once the laser cut most of the roofwalk off, and it only took 5 minutes filing at most. David, If you know what type of roof you want from a prototype picture, I can draw it up easily enough, and make peel and stick acrylic roof patterns for them. Also, if your car has the wrong brakewheel, I can make whatever kind you want. Have an 22" Ajax but need a 20" Miner brakewheel? Not a problem. I prefer to trade for stuff, and am currently looking for Z Scale people and animals. None here at all my LHS's
Roof Walks Nice Work Robert! Just to let you know, we are getting ready to relase the PS1 40' Boxcar without Roofwalks in a few months. This ought to make it easier for you to refit these!! I am testing doing etched metal roof walks, but we have a long way to go before I can do something like that in production. Cheers Joe Brand X
