Previous Progress noted in Womack Wire blog

So I might have mentioned the Depot and the Freight Shed that will go right here...

Perhaps not.  Well, here's an artist's cartoon rendition of the finished structure.  You can see the mail crane to the left and a semaphore the right.

I then drew up the plans for hte interior walls, since they are easy to build.

Back to wood staining...

I then started fooling around with it, but as I started looking into windows I held off.  My dimensions are a bit off here and there.

So I then went to easier tasks... the decks, the floors, the rebuilt speedter shed, the Jordan mail truck, the mail crane and the 20 trusses for the two roofs.

 I went back to the definition of scratch building and realized I couldn't use lasercut windows even if I wanted to unless I owned the laser myself, so it wasn't a problem that I couldn't find 2'x4' windows.  I then tried jigging one up...

I've decided this is an absolutely boneheaded way to make windows in the year 2011...but anyhow...

I put the window thing to the side and went back to the walls. The window to the left is for a bathroom - it's high and thin. 

I made my walls by first sticking the end pieces to my paper and then building it on the plan, much like one would a peanut scale plane.  This is very easy work, despite any perceived complexity.

I then test fit my windows in place.  It might work out., who knows.  I have to make better windows first.  These will probably be scrap.

The moving window can be done just as easily with a laser...

I took those windows out and ignored the whole issue while I finished the rest of the walls.

I then revisited my trusses and made a frame to string them up so the roof can be removed independently from the structure.  Simple enough

I have a couple things to iron out, but it's going together...

And here's the building in it's place, with a standin shed nearby...Semaphore planted, mail crane nearby  to the left but not installed, yet.

Not much more and Bowie will be finished!

Very nice!

Benny,

That's a great building and I admire your building skills!  Thanks for sharing.

Rick

Accessibility

Thanks, Rick!!

What I really like about this model is it's accessibility to any modeler, any where, regardless of Budget.  The wood comes from Northeastern Scale Lumber Company; In bundles of 10 or 20, anyone can get a decent stack of scale timber for really very little money.

Other than that it's a simply matter of time - the reason on pursues a hobby in the first place, is because they have too much time on their hands!!

Anyhow...I'm still worried about my windows...that part I can't so easily come up with a solution, although I did get an idea from a mid 1950's/late 1940's MR that might work!

Framing and planking

Oddly enough, I didn't make mention of this earlier, but I learned how to frame walls when I built a couple Peanut Scale wood-and-paper airplanes from Sig years ago.  I suppose you could say that the construction of a roof out of trusses is again very similar to building up a wing.  These lessons were reiterated when I started the Submarine Chaser, where not only did I learn about the basics of good framework, I also picked up planking.  Both skills are of huge consequence on a project like this.

I quit work on the submarine chaser when I hit a road block when I got to the Wheelhouse.  Now that I have constructed this station, I do believe I have discovered what I need to do to finish that project! But that will be another day!!

 Anyhow...On with the Station!

Before I started this station, I put together this Lasercut station for Benson.  I've decided that my station at Bowie will follow similar trends, including color scheme and overall construction style.  As a smaller station, it will have a stovepipe, hence it will be of the size and persuasion of the stations of middle Arizona, such were they that they were moved around as needed!  The station from Drake, for example, currently resides in Prescott.  The station from Cherry Junction [Dewey] went to Skull Valley, if I remember right - either way, it's not where it started out!!

There will be some subtle differences, of course.  The side window will be a simpler design.  There will not be the extra piece in the gables, and the roof itself, while it will be the same color, it will be less ornate and thus be straight tin.  Heating will be done with stoves, while the windows...well, I'll have to get on that project when the time comes!

Planks...

I ma really enjoying the effects of my new photo booth - it was well worth the money and effort that went into it!  I may buy another light, just so i can get light in from another angle.

As you can see, I let the wood overlap the length of the wall, in some cases, and then came back with a sharp exacto and removed the overlapping excess.

The rough unpainted timber will ultimately be boxcar red, along with all other trim pieces, while the areas above and below will be Depot buff.  The trim will be painted before it is applied.

This structure would be a prime candidate to leave in a "partially built" mode, but I'm going to finish it...

The boards above and below the bathroom window were notched and then fit into place, so that they overlap the main structure.  Pieces of trim will finish the sides, and that will be it for this opening, minus the window.

The Roofers Arrive...

I used Evergreen's roofing material for the roof, the same material I used on pumphouse No. 2.

Here, the roof will be painted Zinc Chromate Red instead of Battleship Gray. It's quick, it's easy, and it makes a nice square base!

A Quick Trip to SASME...

I then decided to see how the structure would look in it's place - I also needed a couple elements that are at the club, mainly the boardwalk.

It looks about right... now that shed next to my station is supposed to just be a standing - it's the classic Atlas tool shed, where the Checker players sit. Ironically enough it's the size and shape of my intended Post Office /Freight Shed, and now... well... this WOULD put me hours ahead of schedule...

The Post Office / Freightshed

And so I took the shed home.  At first, I was thinking I could just cut in the double doors, and add a new front door, put in a new window and I'd be happy... Or I could just add the main piece of wood trim all around... or...

I decided I'd be happy with nothing less than full effect... so I added the wood siding to the structure.  I also fitted my previously made floor into the plastic structure, where it fit well in it's place. The front door had a plastic lip that helped out a lot with making this new floor work so well.

It's a lot less work than what I had planned, but... this will work well... 

And then I went about finishing the planking on the station, somewhere between here and there. I'm having some geometry issues with my main structure, but I do believe this floor along with the new foundation will work wonders into straightening everything out! I just have to cut it to shape is all.

The roof will be painted the same as the main structure, and then reweathered, so it will fit right in like it's supposed to.  Alternatively, I make look into redoing my roof color scheme all over again and use a gray base instead of the Zinc Chromate Base.  Eitherway, it will work!

Blowing off the Dust...

And with my new laser cutter in hand, I can now at long last blow off the dust on this project!!!

I made the design file in MS Paint.  That's right.

They're Just barely big enough.  If I made the trim one pixel wider, I think it would be cleaner, but as is, I'm very happy with the appearance at the moment.

 Alas, I must now get ready for work - the real work - because I'm now on midshift.  May this project quiver in it's boots...the laser is coming!

A Break from the Tower...

I've had my laser cutter now for about five months, and in my quest for better laser cutter output, I played around with a couple programs while using the Frisco PB Tower as a guinea pig.  As my practice closed with the completion of the design file and a round of production, I resolved that the time had come to take a break from the tower and return to the project that started this whole quest for a laser cutter in the first place, Bowie Station.  

I took my SketchUp lessons gained from tooling up the Tower file and did the same with my station; the design file took perhaps two days in all, at most.  I then pulled it apart and made a 2D cutter file with all the detail parts on one plane.  This is all very easy to do in SketchUp.

And then I cut out the file...I mean, my laser cutter cut out the file!!  It makes it look so easy!

And then I tried out my New Lasercut parts.  All in all, they looked and felt like any parts you'd get in any other laser cut kit, with one exception: they came off my home machine.  I went ahead and painted/applied a couple to see how they look.

I will say the parts are quite fragile, whereas they will crumble if you put enough pressure on them. At first I almost though I'd "rescue" one part and glue it back together, but then I laughed and threw it in the discards pile, whereas I can make new parts in seconds versus what it would take to "repair" a part!

You see here the trim around the large picture window is missing; it broke.  You may also not my Bayside, which I cut on the fly as I needed it.  I dare say this Laser Cut piece is far more precise than anything else on this structure...all future small stations will be laser cut, or at least use lasercut jigs!!

I want you to imagine trying to building that large window from scratch - NO THANKS!!

Here's the backside of the Depot, with all parts minus the trim applied.  I'll probably use Northeastern angle for the corners, it's the easiest way to do it well.  Yes, I have gone back and overlaid the roof with a patterned roof that better matches the station at Benson.

The rest of the parts are sitting here, awaiting a moment when I have more time after work!

What Benny's been up to...

Oh, is this exciting times!!

So for the last couple of months my primary diversion has been a science fiction novel.  Yes, I decided to see just how far I could get if I actually applied myself to doing it, and I'm quite pleased with the result where the whole story is now kinda-sorta put down on paper.  It's 160,000 words and with another month it will be what I could actually call "Round 1: Done."  So with this great milestone passed, I had a week here where the last thing I want to think about is this writing I have done, so I've shifted back to the laser cutter - just as my temperature/flow meter gauges came in.

With these upgrades [and the faulty water pump now replaced] it is immeasurably easier to start up the laser cutter on a whim, where before i had to finagle with the pump.

Hence, I returned to this Station project with a vengeance.

When I finished my windows the first time, I realized I was putting golden trim on a rotten frame.  All of my construction imperfections magnified themselves, and thus I decided it would be better if I simply cut the whole structure on the cutter - it's easy enough to do!!

Here's the results of a weekend of cutting, fitting, preparing and returning to the cutting board.  Yes, I have a rather large pile of cuttings now, but the experience has been invaluable.

I get the feeling these cuttings will make very nice scrap load/piles when I get done, so there's really nothing to lose at this moment.

There's been a couple developments.  For starters, I know if I ever produce kits, the windows will be cardstock.  Wood windows are fantastic, yet they are super fragile, hence why I made so many extras for this run through.  I will say it is very liberating to know if I break one, I can make a new one in all of how long it takes to hit "Print."

The digital calipers has become my very best friend.  I can make a part, print it off, test it, and the make adjustments as I need to do them.  I mainly use the calipers to measure thickness as I get ready to assemble corners.

I learned that the knerf is operationally about 0.005" and I have learned how to account for it in the design file as I work.  It was not that difficult to do it, it just took a second to think about it.  I also had to think about how I'd do the millions, as I discovered they very neatly clean up the bottom sill, so I revisited the issue and discovered card is think enough to be implemented without changing the windows or the window frames.

The first round of window frames had an offset of 0.010, which turned out to be too much - 0.005 is more like it!

So here is the exciting moment: that's right, the first fully assembled end, minus edge trim, painted and then glued together.  I'm quite pleased with my results - and from here it just gets easier!!!

Alas, work and dinner get in the way, or else it'd be done by now!!

The Whole Album [because the picture links are broke to the earlier posts...grr...]:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100509813341872.2794292.10111629&type=1&l=824ca7bc62

Impressive

Benny,

That's quite a contrast between the two buildings. Looks very professional. I'm impressed. Can't wait to see the finished building.

Bernd

Critical Mass: Achieved!

So, last night I cut almost all the parts I thought I would need, and this morning after work, I went to town with my new "kit."

The laser may reduce overall scratch building time, but it will not reduce it below however long it takes to paint and assemble any other "craftsman" style laser cut kit.

But I worked fast.  Hence, in short order, I now have this: my very first "Scratchbuilt" Lasercut Structure!

Now this won't win any awards, but it accomplishes the task at hand, and if I had actually scratch built this, this is perhaps where the structure would end.  I have learned a couple minor things.  First, all future windows will be cut form cardstock, at the very minimum, with trim being bumped up to manilla folder at the thinnest and perhaps cardstock at the heaviest.  Mullions would perhaps be more transferable if they were in manilla as well.  I did not bother with glass on this model, but future models would need it. 

I will probably also experiment with using a thinner wall versus the 1/16" stock I used on this round.

And you may ask what I did with the prior structure I started with.  Well, to put it simple, I burned it up to ensure I didn't waste anymore time playing around with it!  I still have the roof, so there's hope for that part yet...

I then went into super speed and very quickly finished up the freight shed/post office, mainly by using what parts I had leftover from the station and by resizing gaps to use standard parts, such as the large 16 pane window.  In the end, all I had to cut were the new doors, as I even recycled the trim file and used scissors to cut the parts down on the fly.

The back is ugly, but this scene is up against the wall.  No big deal.

Conceptualization:

Realization one step away from scenery:

This project I safely declare Done, at least to the standard that will be suitable for where this structure goes on the layout!  If I were to go after competition, I'd have to do it again, and if I were to produce it, again, that would be another consideration altogether...  Next time, we put it on the layout!

Lookin' Good

Bernd

Final Installation

Tonight I took the structures down to the layout and put the station and the post office / freight house in their places.

The only piece I'm missing at this point is the REA Sign, which I'll put up once I find one that's of suitable size. It would go on the wall next to the schedule board, as detailed in the initial sketch.  A couple people would also be nice.

All in all, I'm not too worried, though.

That's the last piece missing from this section, seeing as how the junkyard, the Refinery Delivery system, Womack wire, and the back corner modules are all equally in place.

Onward!~

Somebody is having too much Fun

Benny your scene has really shaped up very nicely! I can't remember what scale your Railroad is HO or N ? either way your corner is really looking good. It is Busy but not too crowded and your little Bowie Station looks very nice and fits the scene perfectly. Keep up the fine modeling.

Dan 

Scratch buildt windows

Scratch windows... I wonder how ​ (or why) we did it. Back in the late 50's very early 60s the most realistic way to do windows was to get 1/32" wood and cut 'splinters' off and then cut them to size. Then we carefully put a tiny drop of glue on each end and put those itty bitty mullions in place with tweezers. I recall I didn't like the mullions printed on acetate in my FSM Black Bart Car Shop kit and set out to replace them with 'real' windows. I never thought I would finish that one. I do remember that I looked for plans that didn't have very many windows or 6 panel doors in them. 

Today, my scratch building ends at windows since I am quite willing to 'scratch' around Caboose Hobbies for some of those great windows available in plastic.