I would encourage you to go take a look at Shapways for farm equipment and tires. Shapways prints 3D models that customers have drawn up. Look at farm equipment in all scales because you can ask any of the shops if they would print it in HO scale. This is very easy for them most of the time to change scales within their drawings. There maybe the issue that it is too small for HO but if you look at some of the Z scale items I doubt it. Over the past year there has been a lot more models added and the site is getting easier to search than it used to be.
Pay attention to what material it is printed with and the fact that a lot of the models do not show a built model just the 3D rendering. Once you see a built model you will understand. "Smooth fine detail plastic" is smooth and "natural versatile plastic" has a sand paper texture but costs less. You can see the difference between some of the pictures. It is your choice how to have it printed most of the time. Pay attention to what scale you are looking at as scales larger than HO scale will cost less and N and Z will cost more to have it printed in HO.
Just do a search using Farm Equipment to start with. You will then go through builders pages to see what they have. There are some things from Europe that look interesting but need translation. There are some models that are listed as HO.
If you are scratch building the amount of tractor and implement tires that are out there is huge now. There are even a few motors now being printed like flat head V8, V6 and small diesels.
I wish that someone would do a 12hp Briggs and Stratton that I need for the Mayrath grain auger I want to build. The next thing would be a plain old 15" tire and rim. There was lots of equipment that used this type of tire. It was common to put 2nd hand questionable tires on certain things.
The pieces that I am most interested in and looking at are the thrashing machine, Ford 8N snow tractor, the bale elevator if it can be done in HO, some horses with harness, birds, some interesting older Gleaner combines, NH side delivery rake and combine headers.
I wish I could draw 3D because there are some other smaller things that I would like. I now have access to a laser cutter so there are some things like my diamond harrows and cabs for the JD 4010 tractors that I will get done using that. Yes I am cheating with the 40 series tractors for my era by a year.
Here are some links and by no means this is all of them but it will give you an idea and a start.
www.shapeways.com/shops/dennys3dtrucksandfarmacc
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/lazyffarmtoys
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/nvrr49?li=pb
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/tracmodel
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/modelsupplies
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/baldyloxdesigns
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/cb-customs-farm-models
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/verses
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/catzpaw-innovations
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/cb-s-designs
Saturday 26 January 2019
Saturday 19 January 2019
Grain Elevators Part 2 National
As I am working my way around my layout finishing the scenery from the small shelf up to Waldron. Waldron has two elevators a P&H and a National that I have to complete by adding the driveways and some other details. I thought I would give a post on these as they get completed. I finished the CAD drawings for the driveways.
Here is a picture of what they are or have been for a while. I didn't get the rest of the building built because at the time I at least wanted the main body modelled so that a train passed something. You see that the National has a square false front which really was not that common. The National decal was custom made and the decal for the P&H came from a Microscale set. Other details of note are the wood roof hatches. Agents would shovel the dust that accumulated on the floor at the top of the leg where the distributor was out this opening. On the National there are some singles that have been patched. I put a piece of tape over that section of shingles before I air brushed the weathering on the rest of the shingles. The body colour is light iron oxide which was used a lot because it was cheap and held its colour well. To paint an elevator today it would cost $$$$. This scene is loosely based on Ernfold Saskatchewan were the track went through a similar kind of cut so the entry to the driveway was at ground level which is not very typical in Western Canada but is more common in the US.
Here is a picture of the back side. The only disadvantage to having the elevators set up like this is uncoupling cars can be a bit of a challenge but it does put the driveways next to the isle. You can see the folding platform that is at door level with the car. The rail above that is the track for the doors.
Here are the pieces laid out after being cut out. Going clock wise from the top left. The paper cut out for the back hopper, the black piece is the 4'x8' chalk board, the driveway floor with the metal slats installed over the unloading pit, the doors for driveway entry at both ends, the roof for the little extension next to the scale and the driveway roof panel with the paper with the shingles line glued to it. The same is on the little roof. The stick on the little roof I glued on so I had a handel when I was spraying the styrene with glue befor attaching the paper.
In the next post I will show the painted, shingled and partially assembled parts along with other details.
Here is a picture of what they are or have been for a while. I didn't get the rest of the building built because at the time I at least wanted the main body modelled so that a train passed something. You see that the National has a square false front which really was not that common. The National decal was custom made and the decal for the P&H came from a Microscale set. Other details of note are the wood roof hatches. Agents would shovel the dust that accumulated on the floor at the top of the leg where the distributor was out this opening. On the National there are some singles that have been patched. I put a piece of tape over that section of shingles before I air brushed the weathering on the rest of the shingles. The body colour is light iron oxide which was used a lot because it was cheap and held its colour well. To paint an elevator today it would cost $$$$. This scene is loosely based on Ernfold Saskatchewan were the track went through a similar kind of cut so the entry to the driveway was at ground level which is not very typical in Western Canada but is more common in the US.
Here is a picture of the back side. The only disadvantage to having the elevators set up like this is uncoupling cars can be a bit of a challenge but it does put the driveways next to the isle. You can see the folding platform that is at door level with the car. The rail above that is the track for the doors.
Here is what my cad drawing for the driveway looks like. Some of the parts on the right are for an extension that you see on some driveways and will be on my next elevator. My drawings are not meant to be professional as they are not for sale.
Here are the pieces laid out after being cut out. Going clock wise from the top left. The paper cut out for the back hopper, the black piece is the 4'x8' chalk board, the driveway floor with the metal slats installed over the unloading pit, the doors for driveway entry at both ends, the roof for the little extension next to the scale and the driveway roof panel with the paper with the shingles line glued to it. The same is on the little roof. The stick on the little roof I glued on so I had a handel when I was spraying the styrene with glue befor attaching the paper.
This picture shows the outside wall for the driveway with the man door and extension installed, the back hopper and the template that it was cut out from, the front leg from the unloading pit, the end walls of the driveway and the center section that has the hole for the leg and the walls for the bins.
So I drew out the hopper in CAD, printed it, cut it out and glued it to .01 styrene sheet and cut it out. Then folded the hopper and glue it together one side at a time. I also then added a scale 12" high extension to the top of the hopper that is not shown. I just cut out another paper to show what it would have looked like. The one that was glued to the styrene is lost when I wash it off.
In the next post I will show the painted, shingled and partially assembled parts along with other details.
Friday 4 January 2019
"Model Railroads" the book 1954
My friend Brian Small gave this book Model Railroads that was printed in 1954 which would have been nice to have a long time ago. Brian thought I would find it interesting and a good fit to have a book writen close to my era. Having said that, if I had seen it for sale I most likely would have dismissed it as being too old and maybe plain. Here is a picture of the cover and on the spine the only words are Model Railroads. The copyright is 1954 and the Library of Congress number is 54-12466.
The part that amazes me about this book is that the operations portion of the book could have been written in the last 10 years. It is amazing to see the vision Frank Ellison had for modelling operations that advanced back then. The only thing that would give this books date away to the reader would be some of the rolling stock and some of the scenery techniques.
I guess my point is that if I had had this book I could have skipped a lot of the other reading that I have done around track planing and operations. I also could have skipped the fatal error that just about everyone makes by not paying attention to operations. We really have not invented anything new over that time period, Frank Ellison really had a grasp of this topic with his diagrams, text and pictures. It is too bad that it is not available as an ebook or PFD because every person who is starting a layout or rebuilding one should get to read this book. It did use some reprinted material from Model Railroader magazines from 1949, 1950 and 1951. It is another gem that I happen to have in my collection of books. I have started putting it out during operations sessions for ops to look at during down time.
I guess my point is that if I had had this book I could have skipped a lot of the other reading that I have done around track planing and operations. I also could have skipped the fatal error that just about everyone makes by not paying attention to operations. We really have not invented anything new over that time period, Frank Ellison really had a grasp of this topic with his diagrams, text and pictures. It is too bad that it is not available as an ebook or PFD because every person who is starting a layout or rebuilding one should get to read this book. It did use some reprinted material from Model Railroader magazines from 1949, 1950 and 1951. It is another gem that I happen to have in my collection of books. I have started putting it out during operations sessions for ops to look at during down time.
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