While taking a break from modeling I was reading some of the discussion forums. There was one on cutting styrene tubing to make pipe bends. Although I print mine I thought my method would be helpful to those Using tubing.

Most large size pipe bends are created by making wedge shaped sections that have a 22.5 degree angle from vertical. These sections are together to form the bend. Two sections for 45 degrees and four for 90 degrees.

As anyone that has followed my blog knows, I do a lot of modeling using a 3D printer. I create my objects using the DesignCAD software. There are two ways to create an object. The first is to create a 1:1 scale drawing the re-scale it so the 7.25 actual feet equals 1 inch. The other is to convert scale feet into decimal dimensions. This is the method I use most often as I work from photos quite a bit

I have been using a calculator, but entering the values to do conversions got to be tedious and I created a scale calculator that cut down some on the data entry.

Well being cooped up with this virus has made me think I'm attention deficit as I bounce between projects. I actually started rebuilding a portion of the layout that I considered done. As part of this I needed some high-voltage power poles. I wanted the Z-shaped poles you see a lot in the midwest, couldn't find them, so out came the printer.

As part of the ADM project I need some grain trailers with the tarps open. Therefore, I needed something to represent corn kernels that was near scale size. Now your significant other probably won't appreciate this but I appropriated a jar of ground mustard to represent the corn as it has that bright yellow color and is the right size.

I just used diluted white glue to adhere it to the surface. once this dries out I will go back and touch up areas where the mustard didn't stick.

Since I was out of filament for my printer I took another break for the ADM project. A while back I came across a picture of a BN gondola that had had the gravel, dirt, and junk in it for so long that grass and weeds were growing in the car.

I had an old Roundhouse NW Gondola so I set about weathering it and creating the load. My load is not removable but it could be easily done that way.

Over the years, and through many different layouts, I have tried to model street running track using various methods. Most of these used some sort of plaster and turned out with mixed results.

I have seen styrene used for roadways with good affect but was faced with an area 18 x 44 inches with two curved tracks running through. 

This morning I came upon a whole string of the cars below on a storage siding in Cedar Rapids, IA. The cars look a lot like well cars but have bottoms so they are more like gondolas. The are marked as MOW Equipment and appear to be brand new. 

Anyone have an idea what there intended use is?

Recently I read, on a number of sites, new people to the hobby that are dismayed at the cost or freight cars and such. They where asking for advice on getting started in the hobby without spending a lot of money.

Back in November a friend took me to Caboose Stop Hobbies in Cedar Falls, IA. It is one of those hobby shops that you can spend hours pouring over the stock as they have both new ad used equipment. Something we all wish we had in our town.

Well printing and assembling the ADM elevator has been a time consuming process. So far I have created drawings for 175 individual objects which were all printed on a 3D printer. Although the elevator is not a faithful reproduction of the prototype it is close to it. I found that trying to reproduce all of the detail was near impossible.

Trying to build something this complex has been a real learning experience, I have found a lot of ways to not do something. If I were to do it again there are features of the model I would do differently.

Since Joe asked for some layout pics in a previous post I though I would make a new entry. As with most layouts the Chippewa is under construction.

The picture below is base on the old Kate Shelly bridge her in Iowa. It was constructed from Evergreen Models structural shapes (ordered in bulk). It is 14.5 ft long and stands 60 inches off the floor so the center can be used as a duck under. This took about a year to build.