PHPaul

I searched this forum and the WIP diorama forum and didn't see anything on this topic. If this is old news, my apologies and moderators please delete. To create what I consider to be very realistic stone walls, I pour a slab of Plaster of Paris in appropriate dimensions and let it cure to a "soft set". Then, without removing it from the form, I scribe the stone faces into it with a dental pick. A couple of tips to enhance the realism: 1. Follow the wall builder's maxim of "Two over one, one over two." That is, set the stones so the joints fall over a single stone on the bottom and not over another joint. 2. Scribe the joint in a "V" pattern, beveling the joint to both sides. This will create greater relief and make the stone faces stand out. After you're happy with the scribing, apply a wash of black watercolor. The wash can be quite dark as it will turn grey over the white plaster. This will soak into any imperfections and help the stones to stand out. Next, apply washes of earth tones (umbers and browns work well) to random stones. Then go back and lightly trace the joints to remove the wash and get some of the white plaster back to simulate mortar. You may wish to add some fine ground foam for moss and some chalk mediums to simulate mud splashed up on the lower courses.

Working on a 1:64 model of an Advance-Rumely steam engine for my diorama. Wheels, stack/headlight, front axle and pedestal, steam dome, water barrels and coal box all printed on the 3D printer. The rest is built from various plastic sheet and shapes. Took 4 tries on the rear wheels and 3 on the front to get results I was pleased with. I initially tried to print the wheels and spokes as a unit on the rear, but the spokes didn't always connect to the rim as they were unsupported during the print process. Then I attempted printing the wheels in two halves so the spokes were supported by the bed of the printer which worked, but gluing them together was problematic due to delicacy of the spokes and warping of the rims as they cooled. Wound up printing the rims separately and printing 4 sets of spokes (inner and outer for two wheels) on the bed and printed the spokes bigger than I really liked so they weren't so delicate. The stack came out perfect first shot, as did pretty much everything else. Long way to go yet, but it's getting there. Looking at the picture, the stack/headlight print looks a little out of scale - too big. Might scale that down a bit and re-print it. I've been getting reports that some folks can't see pictures linked from my website. Link if you can't see the picture: http://www.eastovershoe.com/diorama/steamer/steamer3.jpg bee

Very realistic photography, David!

Got the printer Tuesday night late - a day EARLY! Amazing, considering the season and the 'rona. Other things got in the way until Wednesday afternoon, then I put it together, figured out a couple of minor issues with the software and printed a pre-loaded test object. VERY impressed with the finish. While waiting for the printer, I did enough of the tutorials on TinkerCAD to have a basic grasp of it and designed some parts for the steamer. First attempt at printing my own designs. The front axle/pedestal came out well enough to use with a little sanding. The rear wheels were about 90%. Problem was the spokes. The ones that printed directly on the print bed were fine, but the "top" ones didn't have enough support and didn't connect to the rims, along with strings everywhere. Time for Plan B: Re-did the wheels in halves so both sets of spokes printed on the print bed. MUCH better. A bit of sanding and we're good to go. I'll clock them so the spokes alternate and glue them together

My next project/challenge in 1:64 - an Advance-Rumely steam engine to run the thresher. I invested in an entry-level 3D printer to make some of the more complex parts. I went with a Creality Ender 3D V2 and I've been learning TinkerCAD while I wait for it to arrive. I've designed a few parts and sent the file on a couple to a friend to print on his printer as a test of my design. Already learned a couple of things. Being as they're VERY small parts (10mm cubed on one) I'll need a finer nozzle than the one that comes with the printer. Haven't even got it yet and I'm already ordering mod parts for it...

Wow! VERY nice! Lots of little details that really make the scene come alive.

Thank you. I'm not entirely happy with the weathering. I tried something new for the green moss/mildew effect and I like the color but the coverage needs work. There are a couple of other minor glitches that I'd do differently next time, but overall I'm pleased. I think my next project will be a steam engine to drive it. I'm gathering information now.

Thresher is pretty much finished. May redo some of the weathering and paint the drive belts to stand out a little more. Now for a steamer to power it...

Thank you!

Here's where I am as of today. A few more details on the top and the right side and it'll be ready for primer.

VERY Nice, David. The diorama looks good already! I keep thinking 3D printing would be an interesting new hobby, but when you're starting from scratch, the start-up costs and learning curve are a bit more than I have the ambition (or resources...) to take on.

No sure how I missed this, sorry for the delay. That would probably be "cutting edge" technology for the early 50's, but I think it would be appropriate.

Thanks for the link to the wheels. The front ones would probably work, but a bit spendy, I'd need two sets just for the front wheels. LOVE the buzz saw! What scale is that? Did you scratch-build the saw?

I tried the 12 spoke approach. Drilling the holes in the perimeter of the wheel went well, but there's just not enough room at the hub for 12 spokes of that size. Actually, it looks pretty crowded with 8.

Valid questions, peteski. 1. The model is being built out of plastic so strength is something of an issue. Not critical as there's not much weight involved, but a consideration. 2. That's the smallest plastic rod I have on hand. 3. The wheel rims are only 1/2" in diameter, not sure spoke holes every 30° would leave much structural integrity. 4. I'm lazy and "close enough" is okay most of the time. However, you bring up good points and I may try a 12 spoke version just as an excuse to play with my toys.

I've been noodling how to make the spoked wheels for the thresher for a while. To be in scale, or nearly so, they need to be made out of half inch tubing and have 8 spokes equally spaced around the circumference - i.e. every 45°. The spokes themselves would be .063 diameter. I have a 3" rotary table for my Grizzly benchtop mill, but no way to hold the tubing. I took that as an excuse to buy a 3" 3 jaw chuck that fits my rotary table. Got it on Amazon, and with various discounts it was just a hair over $45. High precision it's not, but plenty accurate enough for model work. Next problem? How to hold the tubing in the chuck without crushing it and still be tight enough to work with. Solution? Turn down a piece of wooden dowel to a snug fit and chuck that up and slip the tubing over it: Then just crank the rotary table around in 45° increments and drill through the tubing and the dowel. Drilling all the way through both sides makes alignment pretty accurate and means I only need to drill 4 holes. Worked pretty darn well after a couple of adjustments to get things lined up. Next problem? How to cut 1/8" wide rings off the tubing after the spoke holes are drilled and have them come out reasonably square and centered. Solution: Another piece of dowel chucked up in my mini-lathe and an Xacto knife in a boring bar holder to part them off. Wicked cool. And the finished products. Now all I gotta do is figure out how to glue them up. I have an idea, if it works, I'll post back with the results.

Pretty much the last of the available real estate was taken up by this sawmill. Good opportunity for some detail work around that.

I'm still adding little details here and there to the farm diorama. I decided some time back that a derelict thresher would look good behind the combine shed along with the dead tractor and the old hay loader. I asked around on a couple of ag boards for someone to give me some basic dimensions of a thresher as I've never seen one in person. A guy from Kansas runs one every year at the local tractor show and was kind enough to hook me up with some numbers and pictures of an Allis Chalmers thresher. As an extra bonus, that fits with the AC theme of the combine and tractor. I used this picture and the 1:1 measurements he provided and used my scale rule to interpolate things down to "S" scale (1:64) I used those measurements to produce this scale drawing with several reference lines. That was transferred to some plastic sheet and cut out with an Xacto knife. Those parts were glued together with liquid Testors, using my 1-2-3 blocks and various magnets to hold things square and in position. I have to use VERY thin sheet to get the curve in the rear housing so I glued some forms on the inside. At this point the whole thing is a hair over 3" long and about an inch wide. I bent up the straw blower pipe by inserting some #12 copper inside a suitably sized plastic tube, heating it up with a blow dryer and bending it to shape. I have tubing in various sizes to do the blower housings, and square tubing for the elevators. The spoked wheels are going to be interesting. Not sure how I'm going to do that yet. The various pulleys I can turn on my mini lathe.

Nice! Creative jigs are a big part of scratch building, always glad to see new ideas.

Thanks for letting me know.

Amazing! Scale?

I like the TP tube/paint mixer idea. I too am too cheap to leave a drop or two of paint on the mixer. Besides, it makes it easier to clean.

I don't know how applicable this would be to building vehicle models, but for dioramas and especially structures, it's handier than a pocket on a shirt. You can buy various clamping systems from places like Micromark, but they're way spendy and besides, where's the fun in buying something you can make? Grab a bunch of 10mm round neodymium magnets from Amazon and a few pieces of bed angle cut to various lengths. Drill some 5/16ths holes in the angle, deburr them and press the magnets into the holes. Swipe a cookie sheet from the Cook's stash (you might want to buy her some nice new ones by way of obtaining forgiveness...) et voila', magnetic clamping system for a couple of bucks!

Excellent! The weathering is amazing! What scale is that?

Thanks!