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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 13, 2023 10:10:55 GMT -8
You've not done this before? I would suggest that you try a sample through painting and photographing before committing to all those sides, ends, and roofs. There might be a reason that negative rivets haven't been a common technique for a while. Back in the days of Yahoo Lists, there was a modeling group I followed that had as its masthead motto: Digital Photography Has Ruined Everything!Great post, thank you, 100% agreed. I did indeed conduct various tests on scrap styrene of various thicknesses and then painted, viewed and photographed in varying light conditions. To the naked eye the pounce effect appears quite satisfactory to me. Here are the suggested ultra-close digital photos with two different quick pounces and one scribe line in the middle on test material. Right-side photo is a test shot on a live side wall. More closeups like this on the end sheets coming this weekend.
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Post by slowfreight on Oct 13, 2023 10:59:16 GMT -8
Not liking the "reverse" rivets, but that's me...
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 13, 2023 19:40:44 GMT -8
Per an earlier question, visible parts of couplers except knuckle faces are carefully hand-painted before assembly with home-brew rust mix:
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 14, 2023 4:53:35 GMT -8
Rivet lines pounced. I know all about rivet decals but those become very costly when building many models. So I decided to give the pounce method a try and see how it comes out. If successful, this will offer a great future cost savings in not having to buy all those rivet decals.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 15, 2023 5:44:26 GMT -8
Start drilling for all the small end railings after their spots are marked.
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Post by Christian on Oct 15, 2023 6:08:08 GMT -8
I may have missed this, but are the ends 0.040? I'm guessing from where you are drilling the holes that the sides will butt to the back of the ends?
I looked back at the first post with the prototype photo. That's a lot of rivets! Yes, I understand the cost of doing five with Archer decals. On the sunny side; you aren't using Tichy rivets.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 15, 2023 6:18:09 GMT -8
I may have missed this, but are the ends 0.040? I'm guessing from where you are drilling the holes that the sides will butt to the back of the ends? I looked back at the first post with the prototype photo. That's a lot of rivets! Yes, I understand the cost of doing five with Archer decals. On the sunny side; you aren't using Tichy rivets. Thanks Christian for your continued questions and interest in the thread!
YES to the first two questions. I suspect those rivets and numerous small custom end railings are one of the top reasons we haven't seen many scratchbuilds of these vans over the past 70 years. Prototype photos are also in short supply so most of the post-1953 modellers probably contented themselves with brass or TLT woodies and called it a day.
Yeah I have some of those Tichy rivets here and can see how some of the military modellers use similar. Yikes, tolerance exceeded!
I wish there was a cheaper, easier way but there has been surprisingly little innovation in this space.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 16, 2023 5:09:49 GMT -8
The next few posts will show each step of carving out small windows. Start by drilling out large starter holes.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 17, 2023 5:44:50 GMT -8
Enlarge the holes with exacto blade. You can also use a drill press if you have that setup but lots of styrene shavings will result no matter which method you use.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 18, 2023 4:28:24 GMT -8
Then start rough-filing to further enlarge the holes.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 19, 2023 6:24:54 GMT -8
Windows done along with a few railing holes.
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Oct 19, 2023 16:00:47 GMT -8
A bit behind on my reading, color tour in Mich UP, clouds and rain…
Good progress being made. Good ‘Splainin’
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 19, 2023 17:12:28 GMT -8
A bit behind on my reading, color tour in Mich UP, clouds and rain… Good progress being made. Good ‘Splainin’ Hi, thanks for the feedback and I am happy you are still enjoying the thread. I try to keep the explanations as brief and objective as possible to make them enjoyable to the reader by making them feel more involved. Also, a photo is indeed worth 1000 words. Will keep up with the daily posts but the wine you inquired about earlier may be turning into a "situation".  |
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 20, 2023 4:41:05 GMT -8
Nibble out the top corners, generating even more filings. Clean as you work.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 21, 2023 5:23:48 GMT -8
After nibbling, use a file to smooth everything out.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 22, 2023 5:11:23 GMT -8
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 23, 2023 4:54:46 GMT -8
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 24, 2023 5:19:24 GMT -8
Carefully continue the measurement and drilling process for small railings. Since you've determined the measurements for the holes, I find this is a good time to also build the railings.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 25, 2023 7:10:59 GMT -8
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Post by Christian on Oct 25, 2023 7:22:11 GMT -8
Are you using any sort of fixture or jig for all these wire parts? |
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 25, 2023 7:47:49 GMT -8
Kinda sorta, I have some crude jigs here like small bits of styrene and a block with pins. But I found it was just as easy to do it manually using the caliper jaw spacing as a guide along with tiny needle nose tips.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 26, 2023 4:48:56 GMT -8
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 27, 2023 5:45:44 GMT -8
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 28, 2023 6:08:45 GMT -8
Ends all finished. Not saying this is a rocket science but this was a very tedious process. Your mood definitely needs to be right to tackle something like this. On balance, I still got a lot of modelling enjoyment here and I hope you enjoyed the detailed walk-through as well! These ends are just about ready for primer.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 29, 2023 5:01:57 GMT -8
After checking into how the aircraft modellers deal with rivets, I decided to try their pounce wheel method. Seems to have turned out better than expected for this railway application.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 30, 2023 6:11:44 GMT -8
Major work here, tons of measurements, checking, marking, drilling and pouncing. Very time consuming.
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Post by Christian on Oct 30, 2023 6:30:29 GMT -8
Hint for the next time. Leave the sides together on the sheet while marking and pouncing. From here on out you should be into fun stuff. Well, after nibbling twenty windows! Can you imagine doing those windows without a nibbler?
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 30, 2023 19:06:06 GMT -8
Hint for the next time. Leave the sides together on the sheet while marking and pouncing. What a great idea, thank you for the suggestion, I will def try that next time! |
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 30, 2023 19:07:34 GMT -8
... after nibbling twenty windows! Can you imagine doing those windows without a nibbler? Yes, I certainly can, stay tuned... |
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Post by sd40dash2 on Oct 31, 2023 5:01:45 GMT -8
Side window carving and filing done. No room for nibbler here, this had to be done the hard way. Also, try to do this outside if weather allows. The filing leaves very fine styrene dust everywhere.
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