Neon Noir Designs

[cteno4]

OMG, Joe you have really outdone yourself in railing designs! None of the detail makers have gone t9 the lenghts you have on details like this, your manhole covers and lanterns for both attention to detail and variety!  Kudos as usual!

 

your packaging is already more perfect than anything I’ve gotten from japan and very cool no plastic! I expect, though, with your attention to detail and design the next round of shipping boxes will be bamboo that unfold like an origami piece if you look at the packaging design book I referenced!

 

jeff

[cteno4]

What about fishes and scallops? Love the marine themes! 
 

jeff

[Kamome442]

Thanks jeff, I do get a little obsessed with details, turns out that can be put to good use.

I am not sure I will be creating any origami boxes, I am terrible at maths 😄 I have tried to limit the use of plastic with only the lanterns coming in plastic bags but these are the bags the LED's originally came in so effectively it is being given a second use.

 

I love the marine theme too, all the designs so far were complete before I found the scallops which will be in series 2 of the guard rails. I am constantly searching for more images of the fish designs to work out how each of the different lengths look. I am holding off on more fences now until I have at least one design to add. Really I would like to add all three.

[cteno4]

Joe, but there are not enough options in your fences! LOL! Just thought the scallop and fish were cute. You have the birdie-fish one, not demanding them! Really is a stunning lineup and so far past anyone I’ve seen do details like this. Kudos!

 

jeff

 

 

[Kamome442]

Don't worry jeff, I know you were not being demanding I really want to finish them too. I can picture a diorama with a little road bridge over a river and white fish fences along the sides of the bridge. I think that would look spiffy with a mountain background.

 

I just found some more fish fences outside Miurakaigan Station and for a second I thought I had a complete set when I saw this little fishy without a tail:

Source: Google Streetview

 

However it is more likely a custom section. When I tried to match it to the one meter section it lost more than it's tail. I also tried to compress the design but it needs far too much shrinking and looks distorted:

I imagine there is no 1m section in this design, unless they just use the middle section without the head or tail to carry the curved shape across all the sections. back to the drawing board Streetview.

 

[Kamome442]

Finding Nemo Fences

 

I have been scrolling along Route 9 for around half an hour every day looking for the 4th fish design. Today I landed in Hamada and found the little critter. It looks like this:

 

So far I have found examples of 1.5m, 2m and 3m sections. I'm not sure if there is a 1m or if a standard section with a single horizontal bar would be used. Tomorrow I will step of Route 9 and check the streets in the city.

[cteno4]

Octopus?

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

18 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Octopus?

 

Oh that would be good! Not found one yet but I will keep looking.

[cteno4]

There is a prototype for everything in japan! Gotta figure it’s somewhere as octopi are all over japan.

 

https://weburbanist.com/2015/11/22/suckers-japans-ubiquitous-octopus-playground-slides/2/

 

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-osaka-japan-march-dotonbori-konamon-museum-osaka-easily-identified-its-giant-octopus-billboard-place-where-people-can-learn-image30111602

 

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-billboard-takoyaki-restaurant-dotonbori-osaka-image37178471
 

I really want to make one of the little Takoyaki restraints!

 

who knows if you make one maybe some city in japan will pick it up and make a prototype one!

 

jeff

[tossedman]

Here's one. Not Japanese though, I think.

 

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jysTgS5Qpqk/TY683et-LrI/AAAAAAAABAo/NxoQhBPML-Y/s320/OctoGate.jpg

 

Todd

[cteno4]

Oh man, now I want to install a driveway gate to install one like that! Really fun! 
 

maybe a simplified 

 

https://www.pinterest.com.mx/pin/27936460183116990/

 

jeff

[tossedman]

A few more here: https://everythingoctopus.blogspot.com/2011/03/octopus-gates.html

Don't even need a driveway gate. Check out the third one down.

 

Todd

[cteno4]

Cephalopods are just amazing (Railsquid included)!

 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/octopuses-redesign-their-own-brains-when-they-get-chilly/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=health&utm_content=link&utm_term=2023-06-12_top-stories

 

jeff

[railsquid]

Did somebody call?

[Kamome442]

18 hours ago, cteno4 said:

who knows if you make one maybe some city in japan will pick it up and make a prototype one!

 

Oh no are we moving into fantasy fences now 😁 It could be an interesting range.

There are a lot of intricate fence designs I have seen, presumably the metal is cut with a laser or water jet.

 

I quite like the crossing fences using bent sections of tube as it means designs have to be distilled down to a few lines.

Also the design would need a limited number of parts and shapes that could be bent cut and welded from 1 inch pipe to look plausible.

 

An octopus would be incredibly cool, I would have to think about. I am sure you could create a bunch of fun sea creatures.

 

 

3 hours ago, railsquid said:

Did somebody call?

 

 

[SL-san]

On 6/22/2023 at 3:36 PM, cteno4 said:

Cephalopods are just amazing (Railsquid included)!

Not a fence but a manhole cover!

[cteno4]

Oh fantastic! Cephalopods are my favorite class of critters. Just astounding creatures.

 

thanks 

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

Thank you @SL-san that is a fabulous looking lid. I will definitely have a go making one of those.

[Kamome442]

1/150 Scale Ruler

 

Firstly, thank you to @cteno4 for this suggestion. I am more than happy to have a go at an N scale ruler with metric and imperial measurements. I have been playing around with a design since jeff mentioned the idea. This is what I have come up with so far.

 

Metric side:

 

Imperial side:

 

The ruler is 15cm long and 2cm wide. At this length it should be pretty easy to etch and clean off any burrs once removed from the etch sheet. I can make it longer if that is preferred however that might make it tricky to etch as it would probably need to be in a thicker metal. As the detail is always etched to half the thickness of the metal for anything over 0.25mm thickness lettering and fine lines start to get a little sloppy looking. I would also have to think about what material to etch it in likely stainless steel.

 

I could make it in thin steel so that is does bend easily to measure curved or uneven surfaces. With a thin metal I could also include fine holes along the ruler every scale foot and 50cm to make accurate marking and curve drawing easier.

 

Please do let me know your thoughts.

 

Joe

[cteno4]

Wow, just plain wow! You da man Joe!

 

hmm don’t know how often it would need to be curved for measurements and a printed ruler could always be used in those strange situations. But the idea of holes or slots to use fine mechanical pencil in for marking is interesting idea. I have a set of incra rules I use in the show with lots that is very handy at making a nice straight mark, not having to set the lead just right next to a marking and draw out perpendicular! The bonus with the slots is on fine stuff I will put the pencil lead in a major mark then just bump it over one at a time thru the minor ticks to get to the fine measurement counting along the way. Much easier than doing that with just eyeball and zeroing the lead in on the fine measurement.

 

what about doing a butt end on the measurements? Would that be too hard to etch accurately and reproducibly? Usually easier to line up the end of the ruler for start point that a mark on the ruler and allows you to measure out from a corner situation which you do a lot in modeling.

 

150mm is just right for n scale modeling as most stuff is smaller measurements and in tighter spaces where a longer ruler would be in the way. The three sheeps is only about 10cm and just on the short size to easily use and just the right size to disappear on the workbench or in a drawer! For longer stuff it’s fine to just use a mm ruler and divide by 2 as longer measurements rarely need to be super clean an are usually just rough.

 

thanks so much Joe for working on this! One of those odd niche things, but super handy. Sadly the three sheeps design one is hard to get and expensive with shipping options. Your mind takes hints like this to whole a different or refinement and use!

 

kudos Joe!

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

Thanks @cteno4 I have made a few alterations:

 

 

 

I have added the 1:1 scale equivalent for some key measurements. At 2cm wide I could only fit circular holes for mark making. If you think bar to make a line would be better I can change the width to 2.5cm.

[cteno4]

Joe,

 

looks great. For the imperial maybe it could be marking be in feet. Few think in yards (outside of us football) and dividing by 3 is an extra step.

 

jeff

[Cat]

3 hours ago, cteno4 said:

looks great. For the imperial maybe it could be marking be in feet. Few think in yards (outside of us football) and dividing by 3 is an extra step.

And even then we only really think in 5 or 10 yards.

[cteno4]

Joe,

 

Here is a better shot at the three sheeps design. In looking at it, my brain registers 2 feet numbering better than 3 feet markings. I think our brains work closer to base than base 3 and I vaguely remember some study that said folks dial in on even numbers faster than odd numbers, if memory serves me correct. Could just do the numbers like they do and leave off the ‘ mark, most all rulers do for a bit more breathing room around numbers.
 

Your is nice as not as cramped as the three sheets which takes a moment of focus to get on a side. Possible to make the imperial and metric label a bit bigger to help visualize which side to flip to?

 

I know picky picky picky! Just ideas, it’s your baby you are the master!

 

jeff

[Guest]

3 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Joe,

 

looks great. For the imperial maybe it could be marking be in feet. Few think in yards (outside of us football) and dividing by 3 is an extra step.

 

jeff

That’s why imperial sucks for anything involving precision.  While I don’t live in a metric based region, the engineer in me always uses metric.