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khaos
05-07-2014, 11:22 PM
So I needed a choo choo. Started building a berkshire 4-6-4. I might switch to a 2-8-4 but I am not decided.

Some in progress pics here:
http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture.PNG

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture1.PNG

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture2.PNG

khaos
05-07-2014, 11:22 PM
http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture3.PNG

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture4.PNG

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture5.PNG

steve_g
05-08-2014, 12:05 AM
Joe...
It looks really cool!
Just out of curiosity, how much time will you have invested in the choo choo?
SG

scottp55
05-08-2014, 07:18 AM
Joe, really nice detail! Scale model? How big is it and what are you going to cut it in? Nice!

mikeacg
05-08-2014, 07:18 AM
All I can say Joe is WOW! Can't wait to see what you do with this!

Mike

ssflyer
05-08-2014, 09:24 AM
Absolutely beautiful and detailed!

khaos
05-08-2014, 10:21 AM
I have about 20 hours in it. There were a few early do-overs. I thought Russ would be sad that I did that to a train. lol. So DO OVER. There is some artistic license in the model to make it work as a relief. Also, I am concerned that some of the edges are straight up and will not carve well. Adding an overall draft to the model could destroy some detail. However, depending on the final cutter that detail may not translate anyway.

The work dimensions are 48"x16"x~2.5"thick the Loco is 22"x~6.7" I wanted to start with a larger model and hope that when I re-size it has a better chance to maintain a quality.

I could not find a model that pleased me so I started making my own.

This will be cut into mahogany as a memorial for a friends Father.

I have further pics to post as well. Thanks for looking.

This train is like one of the polar express trains.

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture6.PNG

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture7.PNG

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture8.PNG

khaos
05-08-2014, 10:37 AM
Also, if anyone wants to know what the craziness :eek: that is my work zone looks like in Aspire here it is. You need all these layers, curves and chunks of stuff. Also remember you can render a shape from vectors but no one says you have to use the whole shape. If you get artifacts in the surface from layers below and you can afford to just delete the model below. Do it. You can see in my early pics I deleted the area below the front 10 wheels. That was because the parts of the wheel had artifacts on them from the 'stuff' below. Especially the spoked wheels.

As you can see there is a tender and a passenger car in my mind as well. Those will be easier because they have an implied detail after looking at the Locomotive. wink-wink. The human mind and the wood grain its self will lend elements of detail to the final piece. I also need a track.

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture9.PNG

One last piece of advice. Save often and make copies of components that are hidden to preserve a particular state.

scottp55
05-08-2014, 11:05 AM
Joe, Just curious. Is this going to be 2 sided machining or a relief carving like the boat designers do? Very well done! Surprised Russ hasn't seen it yet.:) Hope your mahogany is a good piece--be a crying shame to lose your details.

khaos
05-08-2014, 12:28 PM
Joe, Just curious. Is this going to be 2 sided machining or a relief carving like the boat designers do? Very well done! Surprised Russ hasn't seen it yet.:) Hope your mahogany is a good piece--be a crying shame to lose your details.

This is designed purely as a relief. My end goal is a full scene with trees and track. Likely a mountain tunnel.

khaos
05-08-2014, 12:39 PM
I have designed the brakes and think that it looks better without them. Also, the counterbalance on the middle set of big wheels should be larger as in real life but as with the brakes I think it looks better without those elements. Although it makes the piece less technically correct.

Beauty is in the eye of the bemodeler. ;)

chiloquinruss
05-08-2014, 01:41 PM
Your engine is looking just awesome. I think it will be a terrific piece when done

A relief engine is on my bucket list of choo choo projects to do. I want to do an SP cab Forward. Right now I'm cutting out some more stations for another club, this time in 2 inch scale. Plywood sides with sintra windows and frames. Russ

khaos
05-08-2014, 02:09 PM
Your engine is looking just awesome. I think it will be a terrific piece when done

A relief engine is on my bucket list of choo choo projects to do. I want to do an SP cab Forward. Right now I'm cutting out some more stations for another club, this time in 2 inch scale. Plywood sides with sintra windows and frames. Russ

Thanks Russ! That's top honors.

I cant wait to see what you've done! The SP is a 4-8-8-2 isn't it?!? Wow, talk about power.

I threw away some 'bubble-ish' looking starts at first. I want it to stand up to some train people scrutiny. And not look too much like a toy. The real test is when its actually carved, sanded, and finished.

As an aside I think I like the brakes again. When I did a test scale down it looked good. Whew. Also, decided the 2-8-4 would be a new project.

chiloquinruss
05-10-2014, 12:29 PM
The beauty of the things I make is two fold, first for the live steam park we have what we call the 7-20 rule. The trains are going 7 mph and we are 20 feet away so what I do is good enough! :D Part two is the models for the O scale railroad are small and mostly in a dimly lit areas of the railroad room soooo once again I get away with some artistic license. :D I have always loved the looks of the cab forwards especially the early boxy looking ones. Heres a pix. Russ

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/sp3905.jpg

Xray
05-10-2014, 02:51 PM
Nice work.

I'm lucky enough to have this steel beast close by in a museum, hard to gauge how large and impressive these things are unless standing next to one.

http://www.rgusrail.com/album/mihfm/co_1601_01.jpg

myxpykalix
05-10-2014, 03:02 PM
Russ,
What do you think is the reason so many of us like old trains? I can recall traveling by train when everyone slept in bunkbeds with drawcurtains:eek:

chiloquinruss
05-10-2014, 04:16 PM
When I was a kid watching trains, the engineers were the astronauts of our time! We had no space shuttle but we sure had masterful engineering in the form of these giant monsters. The Norfolk and Western built their own locomotives and when they finished one of their locomtives the shop forman would HAND push it out of the shop! How's that for engineering! Russ

http://www.retroweb.com/trains/611lysta.jpg

khaos
05-11-2014, 02:47 PM
There certainly IS an attraction. Its amazing to think that the tolerances and machining so perfect as to HAND push a Loco out of the shop. Just wow!

khaos
05-12-2014, 01:07 AM
So, I fixed two items that bothered me. #1 re-added the brakes. #2 increased the size of the #2 counter balance.

Added a tender and track. I need to make a few cars and then I will be ready to create the complete scene. This model has been test Z scaled from 3" to 1"

I keep trying to use my mouse to zoom/rotate the model in the forum image. :p

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture10.PNG

myxpykalix
05-12-2014, 03:47 AM
Joe,
Excellent work. I can understand the need to get it right. In general most who look at this may not miss certain things missing on the model but YOU see it and know it's not there and in the overall model it may be a small part and it may take you hours to get that in there and it boils down to you just wanting to make it perfect.:eek: leep up the good work!:D

ssflyer
05-12-2014, 06:29 AM
I keep trying to use my mouse to zoom/rotate the model in the forum image. :p


I did too! :o
It's coming along beautifully, Joe!

mikeacg
05-12-2014, 08:24 AM
"I keep trying to use my mouse to zoom/rotate the model in the forum image."

Good to hear that I am not alone in trying that!

Hey Jack! Which one of those guys is you in that picture?

Mike

myxpykalix
05-13-2014, 02:19 AM
i'm the one in the middle....nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!:rolleyes:

scottp55
05-13-2014, 07:36 AM
Joe, Didn't try to do it on your pic, BUT constantly try to do it when TJ gives classes :) Coming along very nice indeed! Can picture in Mind's eye coming out of a tunnel in the Rockies! How is Aspire at doing perspective? Good work.

khaos
05-13-2014, 09:35 AM
Joe, Didn't try to do it on your pic, BUT constantly try to do it when TJ gives classes :) Coming along very nice indeed! Can picture in Mind's eye coming out of a tunnel in the Rockies! How is Aspire at doing perspective? Good work.

Thanks, :) Perspective can be done for sure. The thing is you have to pick the perspective you want in the beginning and be aware of the draft between the work you want the viewer to see and the back of the wood/metal/plastic. For example a handrail will look like a shelf rather than a tube protruding, traversing, and re-entering. So the choices are to undercut by hand post CNC or leave it and allow the eye to 'infer details' like its a handrail not a shelf.

You can 'tilt' and fade the relief components to some degree. Which modifies the appearance of the shelf we were talking about before. But you will always be tricking the eye to some extent. If you design the relief from a 3/4 perspective it will have a 3/4 perspective. It is after all only a relief and not an actual 3D model. :)

Hope this helps.

scottp55
05-13-2014, 10:58 AM
Yes it does Joe. Thanks. Just wondering how much Aspire did for you compared to the warping we do in VCP to get perspective in 2D.

khaos
05-13-2014, 08:51 PM
I had some time to work on this today.
This is a new set of trucks for one of the cars.
The rail is a quick throw away for aesthetics.

Model is 23" x 8".
http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture11.PNG

chiloquinruss
05-13-2014, 10:49 PM
The truck looks good, just need to lighten up a little on the wheel flange. Russ

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Bettendorf_truck_at_Illinois_Railway_Museum.JPG/800px-Bettendorf_truck_at_Illinois_Railway_Museum.JPG

myxpykalix
05-14-2014, 02:09 AM
oh man Russ is that one of your models you made on your bot? :rolleyes:

scottp55
05-14-2014, 08:08 AM
Jack, If so, Then I acknowledge Russ as the master of the blue foam/paint brush universe. Russ, How about a pic of you holding it above your head with one hand? :)

chiloquinruss
05-14-2014, 10:27 AM
By the time you get the epoxy on the foam that sucker weighs in at around 5 tons! :eek:

I admire the amount of time it takes to do the art/prep work for those of you doing these reliefs. I spend tons of time doing research for my buildings, then some smaller amount of time converting pix and drawings into Aspire code and then very little time on the Bot actually cutting out a structure. Like I said before doing one of these releifs is high on my bucket list! This choo-choo relief is really looking good, congrats.

Loading up the motor home and heading down to Maker Faire (http://makerfaire.com/)to join the ShopBot and Vectric gang in thier booth. I have been every year and it is a real fun event. Might even get to go play with some laser and 3d printers too. Russ

khaos
05-14-2014, 10:36 AM
The truck looks good, just need to lighten up a little on the wheel flange. Russ

You are right. I seem to have fallen into a trap. The modelers caught me as I was looking for a closer reference pic of the Bettendorf trucks. Modelers make it look real. Of course in hind sight I know the huge flange is because its a model. :) I will be more careful in the future.

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/lionelbettendorf.jpg

Correction applied. I guess when you do the work yourself there are bennies. lol

I did leave it slightly exaggerated so it will hopefully show when carved.

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture12.PNG

chiloquinruss
05-14-2014, 12:19 PM
"I did leave it slightly exaggerated so it will hopefully show when carved." When doing the model buildings that is always an issue. If it is for outdoor use, then a 1/8 inch trim piece is just not going to work. I believe the term is 'artistic license'! :D The new pix of the truck looks great. Russ

khaos
05-14-2014, 03:48 PM
Added a box car to the collection.

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture13.PNG

khaos
05-14-2014, 05:35 PM
An update. I need a tanker and possibly a spline car.

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture14.PNG

chiloquinruss
05-14-2014, 05:52 PM
Train pest here again, single dome tank car for era of engine and NO spline car but a flat car with an old farm tractor or three would be really cool! Also double the amount if ties under the rail, quantity wise not size, size is perfect. Cheeze this is fun and I don't have to do the work! :D Pretty cool. Box car looks great and is the right era, Pensy S2 round roof box very cool. Also don't forget a 'crummy' (caboose). Russ

http://www.ncryfleet.org/NCRY_Coach_Yard/Tank_Cars_files/AOX%20848%20Tank.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7233/7080763193_cfb14556aa_z.jpg

http://www.trainweb.org/screamingeagle/other/j_larue/tp2500.jpg

khaos
05-15-2014, 01:35 AM
So here is a quick mantle style dish I was messing around with. I tried a few times to get the smoke from the stack but it look like a...err bad. :o

I did do an envelope squeeze to diminish the rear of the train and I definitely lost some detail :( I will have to work on that when I do this scene for real.

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/Capture15.PNG

srwtlc
05-15-2014, 10:10 AM
Excellent job Joe! An irregular shape steeper wall dish with some sculpting to wear away the edges would look good too. Look forward to seeing the final product!

khaos
05-20-2014, 11:35 PM
That's a great idea too. :)

chiloquinruss
05-21-2014, 01:38 PM
Just got back from Maker Faire so need to catch up. The mantle test preview is looking great. Nicely done. Russ

khaos
06-26-2014, 01:08 PM
So I decided that the mantle scene would lose way too much detail at the size I needed this piece. I took some more detailed in progress pics that you can see here (http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/TrainMem/index.html). The file names tell most of the story.

http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/22%20Project%20Complete.jpg

scottp55
06-26-2014, 01:42 PM
Nice Joe. Now I see why you were complaining about pics:) Took me a second (a minute) to figure out out the first few though(the rail). Came out beautiful after all that brain sweat.

khaos
06-26-2014, 01:49 PM
Thanks Scott. Sorry about the confusion. Its takes more time to add commentary to the slide show. :(

I wanted to do something totally different. And i have never seen this done before. There will be a boxcar on the tracks that will hold his ashes.

I will continue to work on the train and more cars as well. I will continue to update this thread.

steve_g
06-26-2014, 02:29 PM
Joe…
Beautiful and thoughtful…
Thanks for taking the time to document the progression!
SG

khaos
06-28-2014, 11:11 AM
My friend is taking delivery of the rail & carving today. Sure hope he likes it.

scottp55
06-28-2014, 05:11 PM
How did he like it Joe? Bet he was grinning from ear to ear:)

khaos
06-29-2014, 10:10 AM
He was pretty stunned and he looked and looked. I gave him a bit of time because I knew it would dredge up some emotion for his dad. Then he said oh my god the train! And he studied the train for a few minutes said how much he liked all the tiny detail.

Then he said "I don't think I can put it on the mantle." I asked why. He said he thought the rail would be too heavy. :D His expression was pretty priceless when I one handed the thing over to him. He thought the rail was real. That it was a chunk of steel! Then I showed him the compartment inside the rail and was SO happy. I also had a short section of a rail half in the shop. He looked at it and the finished piece over and over. He said that he has never seen or heard of anything like it. He loves it. He said his Dad would love it.

I also made him a small box for his sister. That is an "N" scale train inside.
http://foo.joesboats.com/sbTuts/sbimage/LittleTrainBox.jpg
I the sides are square and its an optical illusion from the camera pic that it isnt.

This is one of my favorite deliveries to date. :)

scottp55
06-29-2014, 10:28 AM
Glad for you Joe, What compartment in the rail!:) I missed it too. His comment about the weight made me smile. Well done! So at $60 an hour---What kind of car did you buy?:)

khaos
06-30-2014, 02:40 AM
There is a 1.5" pocket in the middle the length of the rail. It opens from the bottom. :cool:

scottp55
06-30-2014, 05:07 AM
Tricky Joe. :)

khaos
09-10-2014, 09:40 AM
So this bed reminded me I had not finished my train!!

Back to the mines!!! :eek: