Continuing on with the Heywood Brake Van in 1:12, here are a couple of renderings of the axle box I just finished drawing up. Original dimensional information is courtesy of Mike Decker (http://www.deckerstrains.com/). I'm planning on having these printed up by PAP in three pieces as you can see in the exploded view: the axle box frame, axle box itself and the lubrication hatch. The retaining bolt, bushing and rubber "spring" (as used on the prototype) I will add as separate parts. Next step is to draw up the Heywood coupler and the truss rod brackets. Plan is to sprue all these small parts together into one assembly for printing.
(https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Froughboy.net%2Fimgs%2FHeywoodAxleBox%2FHeywoodAxleBox.jpg&hash=b01eecddad3c1fbcf3ea4f6c58198c0b0b1529d6)
(https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Froughboy.net%2Fimgs%2FHeywoodAxleBox%2FHeywoodAxleBoxExp.jpg&hash=ffc3f98a3fd55e9b7d3008b79b9d206942482ad1)
Paul
As I posted to your Facebook post .. DAMN those look good! Most Excellent.
I agree!
Will the bolt & nut be actual hardware?
Drawing looks awesome too!
-Marty
Man I need better CAD. That is gorgeous. And the parts looks reasonable and well-designed. I bet similar would work in my future 1:13.7 cars, resin cast with a sintered insert. This ought to be a good one.
John
Thanks guys... Moving up to a pro-level CAD application opens up many more 3D modelling possibilities and rendering options. However, the cost is usually very high and you have to weigh the cost factor against your actual needs. The current version of Cobalt (http://www.ashlar.com/), the CAD program I use, is $3000, and forget about free upgrades. It would cost me $1300 to upgrade to the current version. I don't think so...
Marty: yes, the bolt and nut will be actual hardware. A 1mm bolt and nut should be just about perfect for 1:12. I'll probably make the bolt because of its length and only being threaded on the end.
Paul
I don't suppose you would be interested in running off a few extra axleboxes etc in 1:24 for my new Gn15 layout?
You could also make a small side income selling this stuff to the UK 16mm modellers.
Love how this is progressing. And making your own nuts and bolts! I have 1mm threaded nuts and bolts here - I would be happy just to use them on my models as I doubt many of us would have the eyesight any more to tell the difference especially once the rolling stock is rolling.
I guess that's why this forum is called finescale and not gnatterbox!!!!
Yes I would consider that Ian. This is starting to develop into a cottage industry. I've received several requests to draw up other Heywood parts, produce masters in other scales, and am considering releasing a CD of the Brake Van 3D drawings once they're all complete. I draw everything full scale, so it's a relatively simple process to convert to whatever scale is requested. Early days yet, but never know where this is going to lead.
Paul
Draw full scale?!
After spending a lot of time modeling parts and going thru the scale conversion process it only then occurred to me to draw in full scale. I have not done it yet, I can't see why not to, have you found any problems with that method?
Thanks,
Paul
None whatsoever Paul. I draw one master file full scale then generate whatever scaled versions are needed from that using the scaling function in the software. I let the computer do all the math. Accuracy is not an issue as I can set the scaling factor up to 8 decimal points.
Paul