Looking good Joe! Keep up the great work! I want to see a string of these by the time of the show next month!
Stuff Thanks,,, Yes that's the pattern for the Smooth Side Hopper, again, first pass. And the engine is the gp-9 with the light tunnel attached for testing. If I am building for myself then first shot is no problem, but if I plan on sharing the cars, then I usually do a second pattern with all the problems fixed from the first on. Old trick I learned that if it is wrong, don't try and fix it, usually it's easier to do it again because it will look better. Here I am happy with most of it so I can use the pattern and not start from scratch. The brass will be re-drawn as well so that the end and the side ladders are joined with small tabs so they can be folded over and attached for a cleaner look. I also plan to make the horizontal lips thinner and round the outside of the braces. With this car I will just take a few pieces off and rework them and call it good, I think it captures the feel and look of the car. Joe
Chriss, can you focus the background like they do in the movies. Maybe we can see what are the future releases. I always think of Joe as the riddler. He will leave clues to let you see what he wants you to see. Now I wonder what he is hiding under the tape.
Joe, The Ore car is coming along good. A string of those would definately look cool. You will be the envy of many a Z scaler. Dan S.
Here is a screen shot of the brass art. I made the first pass with seperate ladders, this time I joined them so I could fold them and the end sides can hang as does the prototype. This will make assembly and application of a number of units a bit less stressful. I drew the art in Corel Draw (my favorite) and am etching using the Micro Mark system.
Wondering how wide those lines are? I try to keep things around .015" because of my cheap printer the artwork is harder to line up. I use AutoCAD 2005, here is a shot of the screen: This is it printed out on teh clear film: My ultra high tech light set up: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/etch4.jpg http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/etch5.jpg developed: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/etch6.jpg taking a bath: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/etch7.jpg
Chris. Looks great! I keep them around.015 here at home. When I send these and some other projects off to Indiana Micro-Etch I can cut them down to .008 on .005 brass stock. That .015 tends to be more like .012 once all is said and done here at home. Joe
Chris.. I really like your light set up...off to the Hardware store. Right now I have a single source and just flip the brass and glass frame around...but your set up makes sense...duh!! As for the etching, I use some of the plastic boxes from my MTL cars or small tupperware and only use enough chemicals to cover the brass plus some. I use a soft brush to brush the surface clean so I get uniform etching on the surface and flip the brass from time to time. I tride the big plastic box and the gallon of etchant, but after one or two processes the Ferric Cloride gets contaminated and starts to loose it's umph! This way I can make the chemicals last a lot longer. Also, you can use regular Mineral Spirits as a developer for the exposed brass and you can order a gallon of acid from any Electronic's Speciality store for the price of a Pint from Micro Mark. I use Clear Overhead Film for my negs, that I get from Staples or Office Depot at a fraction of the price of the sheets you get in the set. To save the cost of that material even more I first print the image on a piece of paper, then cut enough clear to cover the art and surrounding area, and tape it to paper and run it through the printer again. Even though I'm a West Coast Guy, I still have a Yankee Spirit I guess...hate wasting stuff....again I love your light set up. Are you using 100 Watt Bulbs or Black lights? I've tried both with good success...the kids love it when I use Black LIghts! Great stuff Chris Cheers Joe
One of the things I hated was waiting and flipping the work over so I made the set up with 2 bulbs. They are 100 watts each, I didn't know black lights would work. I get the film from Walmart and yes it's waaaaaaaay cheaper. I was just checking local stores for the Ferric acid. No body had it so I will order online in gallons. Good to know mineral Spirits will work in place of the developer. We have tons of it at work so I will try it. I still use the Micro Mark tank with a full bottle of echant. I rigged up the tank with 2 more airstones (bubbles) and while etching I slosh around the container. I would like to make a tall skinny tank someday: http://www.computronics.com.au/kinsten/images/et10.gif As for the acid loosing power. I read about it, but so far all 4 bottles of etchant I have will still eat metal. I try to make the artwork so the area to be removed is as small as possible. I was heating etchant in the microwave, but the bottles would start to melt at around 50 sec. So now I pour it into glass cups and nuke it for 2 min. Here is a simple sheet I made: built: The BIG one is N scale!
You guys are blowing my mind! So what do you use to assemble the brass models? Cyanoacrylate, or solder? Something else? Amazing! :thumbs_up:
Chris, Good looking stuff! Hey, get a heating pad and place it under your etching tank, it will keep a constant heat in the chemicals and it will be a bit more efficient..and you don't have to worry about the fumes doing bad stuff to your Micro Wave. My old one in the shop had etching marks on all the metal surfaces in the vents! I have considered a skinny tank and I think with stones or even the hose with a lot of holes or slits cut in it would give you great surface flow. Joe
Assembly Generally on this stuff I use Superglue, the thick stuff. It varies all over the place...some folks are really , really good at using Solder, but I just make a mess of it!
Resist film Has anyone found another product (or at least a better price) for the resist film that is supplied with the Micromark kit? Micromark sells them separate, but as usual, they seem to be a bit costly. I like to prove my designs before sending them off to the professionals and having a photo-tool made. -Eric
