Yūrakuchō

[Kamome442]

2 hours ago, Pashina12 said:

If those are the arches I'm thinking of, those are amazing work, and I get why you're not looking forward to it!

 

haha, yes it those arches I have built around 4 metres of arches that I will very carefully need to cut free. 

 

2 hours ago, Pashina12 said:

I've been planning, or at least doing the heavy research, for my "serious project" for close to 8 years now - a recreation of certain parts of the Aizu Line in the late 1960s (Initially I was planning to do the latter days of steam in 1973-4, but in the years of research I've narrowed it down to around 1965 for various reasons - both DCs and loco-hauled passenger trains still, the mine at Aizu-Takinohara still operational, etc It's a fascinating line and I've learned an immense amount about it, but I don't know the difference between Akibahara and Shinagawa... if you're ever bored, this thread is 9 pages of stuff I've discovered about the line, and tangential tidbits (the harvesting of riverine gravel for ballast was banned at some point in the Showa 30s, for example). After having been off in Africa for a year, at the start of this month I decided that since I'm still a ways away from having the space to do the Aizu Line project justice, that I'd commit to building an Aizu Line-inspired shelf layout with which to both keep motivated and to hone my skills: a fictitious spot named Warauchi Onsen Station. (Actually, reading your posts about how you made the bridges actually has already inspired me, to think about using brass for the frame of the filling station sign, and using 3D print only for the actual signage part...). This being my first attempt at a layout of any sort, one thing that I've already realised is that despite having been modelling for a long time, I've still got an immense amount to learn about things specific to railway modelling!

 

Huh, I was looking at your Warauchi thread the other day, may apologies I need pay more attention to users names! I was very impressed with your tunnel construction.

I will check out the your history of the Aizu Line, it will make for some nice reading when I am taking breaks from modelling.

The funny thing about this hobby is how you pick the place and time that is of interest and quickly become an expert. I know a huge amount about the tracks around Yurakucho. I would also struggle to tell you much about Akibahara or Shinagawa other than the former has a bunch of Gashapon machines that I had to pull my friend away from when we visited Japan.

 

An etch would work well for the frame of a filling station sign. Edit I should have mentioned, if you haven't do check out anything by @Madsing the etching he does for Yūkari is truly exceptional.

Edited December 24, 2024 by Kamome442

[UnfinishedKit]

On 12/24/2024 at 2:54 PM, Kamome442 said:

I am using the Finetrax flexi track for the Shinkansen lines I picked it because it is designed for code 40 rail. They use individually moulded track ties that push fit into a milled base for their turnout kits. I contacted the owner to see if he would sell me the ties separately. I used those to make the 3'6" gauge tracks push fitting them into sleepers I had laser cut. 

Fine tracks seems to owe a lot to templot. We’ll see how it works out for me. I may just use it to get the geometry correct and then print my own 7.onitrack taking inspiration from B作 up there. 
 

I was going to ask what rail you used, but I guess code 40. I need to have a look at what’s available to me easily in Australia. Peco Code 60 flat bottom is available at my local model store but I’m not sure what else yet. 
 

I did have a question, did you prebend your curves to take some stress off the ties or just flex the rail in place?

 

the bridges are seriously impressive, I prefer working with metal and paper than I do with plastic so I liked how you etched rather than 3 printed them. I might see what I can do to replicate the n-tram pasteboard track system at 7.1 in the hidden areas. 
 

Happy New Year! おめでとうございます🎉。

[Kamome442]

7 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

Fine tracks seems to owe a lot to templot. We’ll see how it works out for me. I may just use it to get the geometry correct and then print my own 7.onitrack taking inspiration from B作 up there. 

 

That would make sense, it is going to involve an amount of scratch building. Did you see the recent post from B作, it shows one of the jigs they used to make their track. A 3D printed block for sleeper spacing with raised tabs to locate the rails. 

 

It looks like they might glue the rail on the sleeper? I am not sure I would trust just glue but they are short sections of track. 

 

7 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

I was going to ask what rail you used, but I guess code 40. I need to have a look at what’s available to me easily in Australia. Peco Code 60 flat bottom is available at my local model store but I’m not sure what else yet. 

 

Yep, I chose code 40 because the tracks are closer together and I didn't want that to stand out too much, I did consider code 55 for the Shinkansen lines as they are a slightly larger profile in real life. However I chose to use code 40 for those too because it makes difference in gauge more noticeable.

I get my track from here: https://www.clfinescale.co.uk/online-store/Rail-Products-c32907242

I am not sure if they deliver to overseas.

 

7 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

I did have a question, did you prebend your curves to take some stress off the ties or just flex the rail in place?

 

I not prebending the rails but I don't have any tight curves on the layout. I know from previous posts B作 used curved sections of set track and slid the rails off the base on their curves. I am converting to using brass ties now that will be crimped onto the rail so I am not too worried about them breaking under stress.

 

7 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

the bridges are seriously impressive, I prefer working with metal and paper than I do with plastic so I liked how you etched rather than 3 printed them. I might see what I can do to replicate the n-tram pasteboard track system at 7.1 in the hidden areas. 

 

I have been thinking about the bridges since you mentioned them. I probably should think about turning them into a kit I could see them being useful to modellers. I am planning to use something similar to the n-tram in the fiddle yard. I may have mentioned my plans on this thread somewhere but I am happy to go over it again if it helps.

 

7 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

Happy New Year! おめでとうございます🎉。

 

Likewise, I look forward to seeing how you get on.

Edited December 29, 2024 by Kamome442

[UnfinishedKit]

After a stupendously long, but somehow not long enough trip back to Melbourne (long haul travel with a 1 year old is a special punishment), I think I know what I want to do. New thread coming for that but I did have a couple of further questions here, @Kamome442

 

Did you set a standard or use an existing standard for 7.1mm.m? I was going to modify the existing NEM standard but figured I’d follow your lead. 
 

what tool do you use to design your etchings and supply files to the etchers?  Unlike 3D printing this seems like a tool I could pick up quickly and Ntram gave m some inspiration for some etched track gauges and jigs. Any tips and tricks or reading on designing for etching would be much appreciated. 

[Kamome442]

9 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

After a stupendously long, but somehow not long enough trip back to Melbourne (long haul travel with a 1 year old is a special punishment), I think I know what I want to do. New thread coming for that but I did have a couple of further questions here, @Kamome442

 

That sounds like a top tier level of stress! Glad you got back safely. Good to know you have a clear idea how to progess. I saw you started a new thread to share your work as it develops. To any future readers that want to learn more about what @UnfinishedKit is working on, here is a link to his thread: 

 

 

10 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

Did you set a standard or use an existing standard for 7.1mm.m? I was going to modify the existing NEM standard but figured I’d follow your lead. 

 

I guess I set a standard of sorts, albeit unintentionally. When I decided to make my own narrow gauge track I was still planning on building Harajuku Station which must have been around 10-15 years ago. I looking online for a long time but could only find Nj Scale modellers using Z-gauge track which I did consider for while. I the end I felt it was changing one incorrect gauge for another. 

I wanted to get the track as close to the real standards as possible so I started by looking up the dimensions of sleepers and rail etc. used on 3'6" gauge track. This led to me deciding to use code 40 rail. At the time the only place to get code 40 rail was by joining the 2mm Society, a finescale organisation with modellers that build pretty much everything from scratch to very exacting standards, including track.

It was at that time I decided to call what I was making NjFinescale as was a more accurate version of Nj Scale. Not long after I joined the society they started making and selling their own plastic sleepers, quickly followed by FineTracks coming into existence. 

I terms of any particular standards I cannot say I ever set those out in terms of track grades, radii or profile. I have always gone by the standard of making a facsimily of a real world prototype. The curves and gradients on Yurakucho are just directly scaled from the actual station. Additionally the trains will run at the same speed in model form as their real world siblings. 

That is a luxury I can afford seeing as space is not the primary concern the curves on the layout are so gentle they are practically straight. 

It would probably be wise to test minimum radius and speed once a train is converted as it will have more overhang with the narrower wheels.

 

10 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

what tool do you use to design your etchings and supply files to the etchers?  Unlike 3D printing this seems like a tool I could pick up quickly and Ntram gave m some inspiration for some etched track gauges and jigs. Any tips and tricks or reading on designing for etching would be much appreciated. 

 

So I use Adobe Illustrator to do all the drawing work for etching. The format I send to the etchers is .ai which is just a standard saved file in illustrator. I also send a .pdf of the artwork I want to get etched as a backup. The etchers accept a lot of file types from various CAD software as long at it saved as a 2D drawing. 

Illustrator or Coral Draw are probably the most common software used and they are both pretty straightforward to pick up. 

In terms of tips for etching, choosing the right metal is quite important. I tend to use stainless steel for very fine parts such as fences however it is quite brittle as metals go. If I can get away with it I will use Nickel Silver it is softer and performs more like brass you can bend it several times before it will snap. Placement of tabs is also important, where they attach to the part you want but also to the frame. When you cut parts free it will apply a small lateral force so try not to attach to a delicate part of the etch you are making. Also make sure can get to the tab to cut it free! I learn that the hard way

Here is a link to the 'Artwork Guide' for the company I use: http://ppdltd.com/artwork-guide.html

Other companies with differ slightly but not my much.

If you like I can post some screenshots of some etches I have made so you can get an idea of how it works.

Joe

 

 

[UnfinishedKit]

Thanks for both of those. I have a background as a quality manager and have participated in drafting my a few Australian standards so it’s kind of congenital to want to have a definition. I’ll start with the NEM definition of z gauge and work out from there. 
 

As for etching, I’m probably faster in illustrator than any for of CAD these days, so that’s good. I’d love to find somewhere closer than Glasgow to do my work but Australia doesn’t seem to make anything these days. 
 

What nickel silver and not brass if it works like brass? Any specific advantages?

[Madsing]

@UnfinishedKit I went through the same process a few years ago. I live in Singapore and tried to find companies doing photo etching locally. I found a few but none of them accepted small projects (typically a couple of A4 sheets). So as recommended by @Kamome442 I started working with PPD Ltd. They are very responsive, professional and helpful. Just carefully check the guidelines they provide on their web site. FYI, my last project with them was for 2 A4 sheets, the shipment from UK was £18.50.

 

Marc

 

[Kamome442]

7 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

What nickel silver and not brass if it works like brass? Any specific advantages?

 

Model rail is made from Nickel Silver so I am used to soldering to it.

NS is a softer metal than steel and therefore slightly easier to bend.

It is also a silvery grey in colour so looks similar to steels.

I don't have enough experience with brass to know if there any advantages.

A lot of companies use brass to make kits so there is probably a good reason for that.