In Model Railroader March 2014 page 38 there is an article on 'How to scratchbuild a handcar shed'. They furnished the info that it was 'ratio 1:64 S scale'. The only dimension given on the drawing is for the 9"sq. wood base. When I questioned them about this they stated in so many words to use a copying machine to change the drawing to other scales or use a multi scale ruler. On page 6 of the magazine it is stated that one can visit their web site and download dimensioned drawings for the structure. I always thought that dimensioned drawing meant that the dimensions would be given. Am I wrong and what is one to do if they don't have a multi scale ruler or copying machine? Al
Yeh that's MR said but why should I have to go to all that trouble when they could have put the dimensions on the drawing as stated on page 6. Some further reading: http://www.me.umn.edu/courses/me2011/handouts/drawing/blanco-tutorial.html#dimensioning Al
not meaning to be rude not trying to be mean just saying: what would you expect from MR? I gave up buying any of their products years ago the same with the other game in town sorry this is the reality and that you have to deal with it they could be so much better in so many ways sincerely Gary
If you have one dimension on the drawing you already have all the information you need, you can figure out the rest of the dimensions pretty easily with a ruler (or calipers) and some math. It's kind of tedious but I find it easiest to scan a drawing and do the math on the computer with illustrator (or photoshop, or the free GIMP or whatever). Real life blue prints for things sometime don't come with all the dimensions for every piece but you can figure them out with the information on the drawing.
I repeat -- WHY should I have to do any of the recommended solutions( which I knew about) - just put the dimensions on the drawings as stated on page 6. I really wanted opinions on the practice of leaving dimensions off a dimensioned drawing. Al
While it's handy to have a drawing reduced to N scale, it's not always that easy to work with. Is that 2" or 4"? Hmmm. Hard to see. How wide are those windowframes? For that reason, I have a really simple solution; while I may cut materials in N scale, I measure in the native scale of the drawing. I have a variety of scale rulers including HO and architectural scales, and it's a lot easier to measure in a bigger scale, and few drawings are published in N. I rarely if ever convert the drawings down to N, only exception is if they are just too darn big to work with - like the blueprints for La Posada.
Because it's laid out like a 3-view drawing and scaled (the scale is given), it's not really necessary to give the measurements. The dimensions are given, just not written. A few seconds with a ruler and calculator can get you them quickly if you're unable to scale it any other way (although multi-scale rulers are pretty common and inexpensive). Otherwise, the only way to give them would be scale measurements, which would require conversion to use anyways, and they would just clutter the drawing. Because they were given in S Scale (I suspect it was the largest scale they could get to fit on the page), it means most modelers who would use it would have to resize or convert it anyways, so if they were given they'd have to be scale measurements, not actual, so why not just throw down a ruler at that point? Alex
