Revamping the Tomix Gas Station

[Madsing]

I have used Inkscape (https://inkscape.org) for years and it is a very good application. It may be the best free application I have ever used. One caveat: I am on macOS and at that time (this may have changed now) using it on a Mac was very "heavy".

 

Two years ago, I have purchased Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo (https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/) and never looked back.

- Reason 1: I needed to work with vector and bitmap images. Affinity Designer works with vectors and Affinity Photo with bitmaps. They cooperate very well.

- Reason 2: They are native macOS applications (Windows and iPadOS versions are also available)

- Reason 3: Price. I could not take Adobe subscription pricing for hobby use. I have used Adobe Photoshop Elements for years, then it stopped working as I stopped upgrading. Their subscription price was way out of reach. On the contrary, Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo cost $49.99 each (one-time payment), and they are often offered at 50% discount. That's the kind of price I am willing to pay for hobby use.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Madsing
Added Windows and iPadOS versions

[cteno4]

Madsing,

 

thanks hadn’t looked at affinity, going to have to. My Adobe suite is near its end and I’m not going subscription as my pro work is pretty much done and i really need few, if any, of the new features that have come along the last decade.

 

jeff

[tossedman]

Affinity has a 90-day free trial on now of the Mac and Windows versions of the whole Affinity suite, for anyone who wants to use them (even those who have previously completed a free trial). They also have their 50% off deal going on at the moment.

 

Thanks Madsing, I'm going to check them out. I currently use Adobe Illustrator but like Jeff, don't want to pay for the subscription when I don't need it for work.

 

Cheers eh,

 

Todd

[gavino200]

I was just pondering this project while playing fetch with the dog. I wonder if a Gas station sign could be made with actual seven segment LED displays for the gas prices. These LED digit displays have been on my mind as I'm using them now in my "Arduino LED projects" book. I'm seeing them everywhere. 

 

It wouldn't be possible with the stock-type sign that the Tomix set comes with. That's much too thin. But many stations have a main sign like this  . This kind of sign would be thick enough to hide a small display and also to accept a back-sign. 

 

I think this may be doable. But not with my current skills. I'd have to extend my learning to make this possible. So I may plan on making this a "phase II" plan. First I'll make a conventional sign. Then later as a project in itself, I'll try to make a sign with built in lights. 

 

There are two separate parts of the problem, 1) the number display, and 2) the sign itself

 

I'll search to see what's available in tiny displays, but I don't think this well be a problem. I'm sure it's out there. Any electronics can be under the board with only a screen/LED array in the sign itself. The sketch would be minimal as the display will be static. 

 

The form of the sign is a bigger problem. If I had to do it now, I would hand sculpt and cast with resin. I'm not super-experienced with that process but it's intuitive to me, and I enjoy tinkering. I think I could probably do it. 

 

However........I do want to learn CAD and 3D printing. Lately I've been trying to think of a starter project to use as a learning project. I think this might me the one. I'll be learning about 2D design and printing in phase I. This will take me some time. In phase two I can learn about CAD and 3D printing. By the time I actually get to phase II, hopefully my arduino skills will be ready for the electronic aspect of the project. 

 

Another view of this "oval prism" type sign. Also with a nice view of a canopy underside. 

Edited May 25, 2021 by gavino200

[cteno4]

Should not be a horrid project as I expect there are libraries out there to drive a simple 7 segment led digit display. One issue is I think those led digit displays usually are like 8-12 pin connectors so going to have to get wiring to it. Ok if on a big column like the one you linked. Other issue is size as those numbers are probably like a foot tall so only 2mm high scale. Doubt there are any led digit display quite that small, but maybe fudge at 3-4mm like in the old led watches, but don’t even know if those are made much anymore as lcd had taken them over and now it’s all a bit mapped screen for stuff like this.

 

this is the sort of thing at 2.75mm high numbers. They have an arduino tutorial

 

https://www.electrokit.com/en/product/led-display-7-segment-4-characters-bubble-lens-red/

 

future project could have it go online to the current price of gas somewhere in japan to keep it current!

 

Jeff

[gavino200]

2 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Should not be a horrid project as I expect there are libraries out there to drive a simple 7 segment led digit display. One issue is I think those led digit displays usually are like 8-12 pin connectors so going to have to get wiring to it. Ok if on a big column like the one you linked. Other issue is size as those numbers are probably like a foot tall so only 2mm high scale. Doubt there are any led digit display quite that small, but maybe fudge at 3-4mm like in the old led watches, but don’t even know if those are made much anymore as lcd had taken them over and now it’s all a bit mapped screen for stuff like this.

 

this is the sort of thing at 2.75mm high numbers. They have an arduino tutorial

 

https://www.electrokit.com/en/product/led-display-7-segment-4-characters-bubble-lens-red/

 

Jeff

 

Nah, I think using actual 7 segment displays would be absolutely impossible. This is my little hall effect magnetometer, from my arduino book. See how many connections there are. 

 

 

Two things. 

1. This is a static display. I'm not going to change the price of gas from day to day. So there's no need to wire it for function. Technically a display could have the pins hardwired to light up with only two wires. 

 

2. But that would still be nuts. It would be better to use an OLED display to just show an image that looks like a price lit up on a three digit seven seg display.

 

I know that's not what I said earlier, but I've mulled it over a bit. 

 

 

[cteno4]

Yep faking with an OLED display would probably be easier and get the size just right.

 

Awww I like the idea of it tracking the price of petrol in japan real time! You keep wanting more interesting projects, this is just a little data pull one! Maybe a rasberry pi.

 

jeff

[Madsing]

OMG, you are even more crazy than I am...

The smallest display I have is this one: 0.42 Inch White OLED Display Screen LCD Module

Its width is 12mm = 1.8m. It is ok, but the connector at the bottom is too short. This is the display I have used for this project: 

Here I would recommend this one: 0.91 Inch 128x32 IIC I2C White / Blue OLED LCD Display. Same width.

That said, if it's to have it static, we might as well just make a decal with a backlight (both sides for the same price 😀). I'd go with Jeff's idea. Use an ESP32 with wifi connection to pull real-time petrol prices in Japan from the Internet. So exciting...

[cteno4]

I could have told you gavin is mad, quite mad…

 

jeff

[gavino200]

6 hours ago, Madsing said:

OMG, you are even more crazy than I am...

The smallest display I have is this one: 0.42 Inch White OLED Display Screen LCD Module

 

Those displays of your are amazing. I really can't wait to be able to program displays like that. Setting them convincingly into models, as you have done will be a longer learning curve.

 

Quote

That said, if it's to have it static, we might as well just make a decal with a backlight (both sides for the same price 😀).

 

Yes, simpler is usually better. Convincing backlit signs will be enough of a challenge for me at this time. Baby steps 🙂

Edited May 26, 2021 by gavino200

[gavino200]

I had a closer look at the Tomix gas station store. I was considering priming it and starting to dress it. But I realized that it comes apart. In pieces, you can see that it's really quite a simple structure. I wouldn't be too hard to reproduce. So I may still use this, but considering the difficulty of many other steps, it would be a shame to design the process around this structure. 

 

I think I may try to develop some scratch-build chops by copying the Odakyu masterpiece that Madsing shared. If I achieve 10% that effect I think it would be worthwhile. Probably I'll alter my design, but follow his basic technique. 

 

The first issue I have is that I don't have an actual location for this piece on my layout. So I'll have to think of what footprint would be easy to incorporate into a future urban plan. Really, since I have a blank slate, I could choose any shape for this project and design the road plan around it. But in any case I'm going to give it some thought. 

 

I'll go back to looking for more photos and google earth shots for inspiration. I think I'll focus on stations with an interesting shape like the Odakyu one. That's what I like most about it. 

 

 

 

[gavino200]

This is brilliant. Odakyu seems to be using this kato assy part to make gas pump handles!

 

The full story of this creation can be found on the Odakyu blog here.

Edited May 31, 2021 by gavino200

[cteno4]

Wild, never seen a car mat washer machine!
 

This is what a 3d printer is quite nice for.

 

jeff