Feldbahnmodule with ship

[fspg2]

@Rax, @Russ, @Barney, @Bill
Thank you very much!

Almost three years have passed since I rounded the rivets on the portal beams in April 2022:
https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=1424.600

The fourth, outer portal side wall is still missing.


Träger-Montage 78 (fspg2)



In contrast to the inner vertical counterpart, which is only cranked twice at the sides, the two outer L-profiles are now also cranked at two points, both laterally and to the front.

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In the following picture you can see the double-bent L-profile at the top.
In the CAD, I aligned the profile in three parallel sections, paying attention to the new length so that the corresponding lateral L and U profiles run exactly parallel to the floor!
The profiles have the corresponding drill holes for the rivet pins in both sides.

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Two 3.5mm x 3.5mm L-profiles were then inserted into a 1.0mm wide and 3.3mm deep groove in an MDF board with their legs pointing downwards in the middle. Masking tape was used to fix the profiles to the final length during drilling and routing.
The left and right sides with the different 1.2 mm holes were drilled once each in a single pass. The two profiles were then swapped so that the second side of the leg had the correct holes.

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As before, a new Pertinax stencil helped with soldering.

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The two legs were initially only bent sideways into position at the respective positions,

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so I can use the lower part - already completed in 2022 - as a test.

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Now an L and a U profile still need to be "riveted" in the middle section.

The exciting part will follow next - after the double bending at angles in the second alignment: Have I really determined the respective lengths of the three sections correctly

Only then will three (or possibly four) more parts be milled, soldered and the rivet pins wound with the 1.2 mm finishing cutter.

[finescalerr]

At this stage it looks terrific. -- Russ

[Bill Gill]

All of that is very impressive work. (That short, typed sentence looks calm and composed, but my brain is yelling "How does he do all that so perfectly!!!!)

[Stuart]

Dittos what Russ and Bill said. Admirable work!

[fspg2]

Gentlemen, thanks a lot!

@Bill

..."How does he do all that so perfectly!!!!

It's quite simple ...because it usually looks better

With all my projects, there are always delays because sometimes I'm not entirely satisfied with the results so far or I don't have a brilliant idea of how to turn something into a model.

Then I have to try... sometimes it works - sometimes not quite.

That's what happened to me with the window frame from the old weighing house.

When I looked at the pictures of the prototype again yesterday...

Alte_Waage_Lbg_002 (fspg2)


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... and compared it with my previous design, I wasn't really happy.

Alte Waage Lbg 84 (fspg2)



The outer frame width appears much too thick!


Today I started an attempt to mill the window kit frame with a 45° V-milling cutter...

Alte Waage Lbg 89 (fspg2)


...during the last milling pass at the bottom left, the thin tip broke off  

... grrr....

I had selected a feed rate of 80mm/sec in the 1.0mm thick MS58 (hard brass) with a depth of 0.3mm per pass.

So I stopped the experiment here.


Alte Waage Lbg 90 (fspg2)


The result looks very promising by far... only now I had to order new milling cutters - so there's another little delay .... and time for another project

[Bill Gill]

Frithjof, You are right, the thinner window frame looks better.

My question was HOW does he do all that so perfectly? You answered WHY you do it all so perfectly (your goal is inspiring: "because it usually looks better") A bumbler like me studies your posts in awe because they are way beyond my capabilities.

[Ray Dunakin]

That tower is amazing. I imagine getting the double bends right must be quite tricky.

[fspg2]

@Bill

My question was HOW does he do all that so perfectly? You answered WHY you do it all so perfectly (your goal is inspiring: "because it usually looks better") A bumbler like me studies your posts in awe because they are way beyond my capabilities.

Oh, I still owe you an answer!

A little back story:
I remember my first attempts with gauge 0 in 1988, when I wanted to improve a purchased freight wagon kit.
Unfortunately, the dimensions of the long beams of the chassis, for example, were anything but suitable. It looked somehow strange. The wall thicknesses of some of the plastic freight wagons were also far too thick - no doubt due to the production process.
So I bought U-profiles for the chassis from a supplier, which were slightly tapered at the legs and slightly rounded at the top edges. These were really modeled on the original (today you can buy such profiles from Mr. Hassler in Lichtenstein - of course at a significantly adjusted price: https://www.hassler-profile.li/product-page/u-profil-16-ungleichschenklig).

At some point, I started to build my own vehicles based on the originals, because some "bad improvements" often took just as long as building my own. It usually remained a compromise, which I liked less and less as time went on.
In the beginning, there were still a lot of questions to be answered and some tools were not available.
So I am grateful that I have been able to learn many things over the years with the help of several model building friends and expand my skills in many ways!

I often fall in love with a prototype and imagine recreating it in a smaller scale - a "scaled-down original".
For me, this also means not only counting the rivets, but also trying to get the distances and dimensions right.
The time involved is certainly immense, but I simply like the result better.

One answer:
By deciding to be a "rivet counter", I don't find it difficult to make my model realizations a little more perfect.... with room for improvement!
Over the years, I have added a number of my own projects, such as the old storage shed, the old weighbridge, the Münzel crane with bunker, the slewing transfer table with engine shed, the Demag ML 15, the Gmeinder 10-12, the Kemna Gigant 8 roller, the barge (ship for loading sand), the ballast wagon, various workshop facilities...

A second answer:
The joy of many small partial successes certainly plays a major role in keeping me going.
If I simply don't feel like rounding off the 492nd rivet, another project calls out to be continued. So there are always longer breaks in the individual projects.

On the other hand, I also expect myself not to stand still, but to keep improving where possible.

To summarize, things that I create with my own hands satisfy me and just keep me going.


After I received new 45° solid carbide engraving cutters, the outer window frame was milled again. This time the contours of the frame were milled in 0.1mm increments at 80mm feed/minute to save the tiny tip a little.
A 0.25mm thick polycarbonate pane and a 0.4mm thick inner nickel silver frame complete the window.

Alte Waage Lbg 94 (fspg2)


Alte Waage Lbg 95 (fspg2)


The four 1.0 mm holes in the corners are used for precise alignment.

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Compared with the old version, I like this solution much better. The hinged window and the green paintwork are still missing.


I also made some progress with the lifting bridge.

I screwed and soldered the guide rails for the rollers of the moving part to the vertical inner sides of the portal using M1.0mm hexagon bolts and nuts.

To ensure that the assembly/disassembly of the 110cm long bridge section is possible without any problems, I had to slightly chamfer the running rails in the upper section beforehand.

Hauptbruecke_Montage_M (fspg2)


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Here too, a small Pertinax jig in the vice helped to ensure the correct alignment. A grinding wheel was used to machine the four individual parts.

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As some of the nuts on the small screws could unfortunately not really be screwed tight, but slipped through in places, I also milled a "shoe" from an HPL remnant panel.
This allowed me to press the screw heads firmly against the guide rail when soldering.

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Soldering was done with a resistance soldering iron, soldering water and short pieces of 0.5mm solder.

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The first base for the four portal supports was also mounted and soldered... of course with the help of...

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[finescalerr]

You and I must have attended the same modeling school. Just as you, my first lesson about "kitbashing" was that I'm better off building a model from scratch than trying to improve an imperfect commercial kit. Construction takes the same amount of time but the scratchbuilt results usually seem better. Besides, anyone can build a kit so I take more pride in something I design and construct from scratch, even it it has an imperfection. -- Russ

[Bill Gill]

Frithjof,
Thank you for that background information. Craftsmanship like your work keeps me attempting to better what I do.

[fspg2]

I usually try to reproduce the parts that are originally made of metal in metal, even if some things would be much quicker with a 3D printer.
For example, I machined 34 L-profiles, 56 U-profiles, 11 different nickel silver plates, 28 gusset plates and 2 flat profiles with my CNC milling machine.
These were then inserted one after the other into 5 different Pertinax templates and fitted with 472 wire pins and 12 M1.0mm hexagon screws + nuts and soldered with the resistance soldering machine.
Then the wire ends were rounded on both sides to form rivet heads (= 944 times).

I haven't counted the hours - the result is half a side of one of the two portal beams - which means that I have to assemble the same part three more times. All the individual parts fell off the milling machine a long time ago

On February 02, 2025 I wrote:

The exciting part will follow next - after the double bending at angles in the second alignment: Have I really determined the respective lengths of the three sections correctly   

After the first test assembly, I was pleased to see that the assumed lengths had been calculated correctly and that the side L-profiles were actually parallel to the floor.

Träger-Montage 97 (fspg2)



So I was able to solder the first part together.

The following three pictures show a test fit on the bridge module. In addition to the left half of the portal girder, other finished parts were fitted here.

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[Bill Gill]

Frithjof,
More excellent work. I am going to run out of compliments before you run out of rivets to make.
Keep going I'll get a thesaurus and try to catch up.

[finescalerr]

Over time we lose sight of the forest through the trees. The new photos remind us how all those sub-assemblies come together. Satisfactory. -- Russ

[Bernhard]

As always, absolutely perfect work. And really interesting to see the whole project once again.

Bernhard

[Stuart]

Amazing perfect work.

Stuart