1/2" Scale project still in progress (somehow)

[Chuck Doan]

Now that would be an amazing thing to find today!

I decided to try scratchbuilding my gas pump. Slowly making progress:

[nalmeida]

Nice progress Chuck, are you going to print any parts on this one to? How about the transparent parts?

[Chuck Doan]

Hi Nelson,
Most everything will be printed except the tie rods and probably the piping. Mark Layton generously supplied me with a couple of 1/2" OD glass test tubes for the cylinder. I got a hold of a tubing cutter but I haven't tried it yet (fingers crossed).  At least I have enough material to scrap a few. The hose material is yet to be determined.
I'm basing it on a 1928 Wayne 615 pump that has fairly simple details (for ease of sanding). One thing I have learned is that I do not like sanding the RP parts.
Of course all plans subject to change without notice!

[finescalerr]

Up to a point, I'm willing to spend more money if it saves tedious, boring work. Designing windows on CAD and sending them out to be laser cut rather than spending hours fabricating them is one example. So, in your case, I, too, would evaluate a hi-res rapid prototype option to avoid tedious hours sanding parts.

None of us here seems to spend the thousands of dollars on our hobby that some guys with huge layouts do. So the additional couple of hundred we may "squander" on higher quality components often makes a lot of sense.

Please report back on the service you choose and the quality of the output.

Russ

[Craig_H]

Chuck,   On your gas pump I'm surprised your not useing a R&D Unique gas pump as a starting point there a nice quality kit.....i thought you had some? or are you just showing off again useing PAP         Craig

[the other Craig]

Hi Chuck,

A few pages back there was talk of doing a two sided "flying Pegasus" sign. A method I use for 1/48 truck mudflaps may be of interest. The downside is it requires he use of a laser cutter. Start by printing the desired color-in your case red-on both sides of some double-sided-matte paper. Etch the design and the white shows through. Cut a reverse of the design in the paper, remove waste, flip the original, drop into the hole you just made and etch that side. The cut doesn't need to deep, only enough to get through the color. This reduces discoloation of the white underneath and makes it look painted not etched. You should be to put tape over the top of the paper, if desired, before cutting. I seal the paper with dullcote or whatever and haven't experienced any problems with curling of the mudflaps(leave it alone Russ ). Hope this helps. I know it gave me some new ideas. Guess that 's why I hang out here.

the other Craig

[DaKra]

The flying pegasus is a really nice sign, but I'd question its use in this diorama.  It goes back to Russ's nice commentary on consistency over in another thread.  Chuck is building a model of a mundane gas station; its visual impact comes not from the artistic quality of the subject matter, but from his photo realistic execution in miniature.    A mundane station calls, IMHO, for a mundane sign.   I would think the shield is the more typical sign for a location such as this one, and would not call too much attention to itself, letting the rest of the scene sink in.   Which is not to say that Chuck couldn't pull it off perfectly in any case.

Dave
   

[finescalerr]

Sounds like a good technique, Craig, but I'm really confused by your description. Specifically:

1.) Print the color with an inkjet? Or does it matter what kind of printer you use?

2.) By "etch the design and the white shows through" do you mean laser cut the design into the printed paper? If so, then see my fourth question. And if not, then how would you etch it?

3.) "Cut a reverse of the design in the paper." How? What design? This is completely unclear to me. Maybe a photo or a sketch would clarify it.

4.) When you again refer to etching and to discoloration, are you suggesting the laser would scorch the paper. Because, if it does, how would the laser cut paper retain its original white color?

Got a photo of the mudflaps on your truck? That would help, too.

Russ

[the other Craig]

Sorry for the confusion...

1.) I've only used Epson double sided matte paper for this project. I chose it because of the thickness, the way it takes ink and it's printable on both sides. I suppose any paper would work but when doing a two sided object(haven't tried it yet) the thickness may be needed to keep from cutting through. Yes, I used an inkjet printer and printed on both sides.

2.) Sorry, used the word etch as that's what most people call what I do. Engrave or cut is a better term. Engraving would not cut all the way through the object, cutting will. Yes I would engrave the white parts of the design, in the example of Pegasus, the white parts of the wings, facial features, etc. and then cut the outline releasing the design from the paper.

3.) The reverse cut would be the outline of the design only. Remove the first design, turn it over, drop in the hole ( for lack of a better word ) you just cut and engrave that side.

4.) My job involves engraving and cutting acrylic mostly. The mudflaps were done after hours (that what the boss thinks) a couple of years back. I don't remember if the paper discolored or not, if it did looking at the two flaps I have here, I don't know how I would have filled the white in. The power involed for this job would be minimal, so I don't think discoloration would be a problem.


Now having said all that, I'm going to have to try this when I get a chance The two sided part is the only tricky thing about it. If that didn't work you could always cut two designs-one reversed-and glue them back to back.

Hope this helps

the other Craig

[Chuck Doan]

Russ, I will investigate the more expensive process, perhaps for an article on same? (I will call re my expense account needs)

Craig, I was going to use the RD Fry pump, but after looking at reference pics I decided to try a more full bodied pump.     We'll see how it comes out.

Other Craig, that sounds like an interesting process. I'll keep it mind for future applications. Dave is correct about my mundacity in this dio, so I will attempt the boring sign first.

I finished the pump design up to the hose and nozzle:

[finescalerr]

Re. the drawing: Wowsers.

Re. an article: DEFINITELY!!!!! This is something I really want to pursue in print. Money is no object; I'll have my cats print up some new hundred dollar bills for you at once.

Ideally I would try to incorporate the experience and information from you, Havard, and Marc in one very comprehensive article. If everyone is up for that, we could run it in the December 2011 book. I would place no limit on its length; whatever it takes to tell the story. At the very least I want a full report on your experience with PAP and any other service bureaus you try. By that time the entire diorama may be complete and we could do a separate article on it in the same book.

On a related topic, maybe I could do a sidebar article with Dave Krakow on how he's pushed the envelope with lasers, concentrating on his brickwork and those amazing wrenches and gears.

I hope this won't be wishful thinking because we never did cobble together that multi-author article on modeling bricks ....

Russ

[Hauk]

Ideally I would try to incorporate the experience and information from you, Havard, and Marc in one very comprehensive article. If everyone is up for that, we could run it in the December 2011 book. I would place no limit on its length; whatever it takes to tell the story. At the very least I want a full report on your experience with PAP and any other service bureaus you try. By that time the entire diorama may be complete and we could do a separate article on it in the same book.

It  is an honor to be asked to contribute to the annual.
I say that without a hint of irony.

Regards, Havard H

[Chuck Doan]

I received my gas pump "kit" yesterday (the square-ish parts are an electric meter). The pump body is just under 3" long and is hollow to use less resin.

I gave the gallon indicators a quick spritz of primer; I should have cleaned them first so there's a touch of wax residue still on them. Wayne pumps had 3 sets of cast aluminum indicators so there are 30 tiny bits to keep track of.  They are .010 thick, .07 high by .125 wide. The numbers are .006 thick. It looks like maybe a good cleaning and a coat of Mr. Surfacer (gotta get some) should take care of these without further sanding. These sit on tiny sprues and are very fragile...high marks to PAP for cleaning these without dislodging them.

Looks promising!

[Gordon Ferguson]

That is impressive and a fine advert for your drawing skill as well.

Look forward to seeing this one develop through construction and paint .... was thinking of doing a UK pump of the 1950's but think I may be getting out of my league, or two !

[Malachi Constant]

Your drawings look great and glad to see the resolution on the tiny parts came out so well.

Stupid question:  the gallon markers are numbered 0-10 from top to bottom ... I know that's correct (after looking at proto pix to try to sort this out) ... but never seen one of these old pumps working and it seems counter-intuitive.  If you put a gallon of gas in a 10-gallon cylinder, there should be a gallon of gas at the BOTTOM of the cylinder.  Did they use some sort of floats for the counters or ... howzat work? 

On further thought, maybe that's the gravity-feed aspect ... if they had to FILL it with 10 gallons and then mark off how much is drained from the cylinder, then the top-down numbering makes sense.  Still, since at least a couple of you guys actually KNOW things about these pumps, I'd be curious about an actual explanation to replace the guessing to understand the fine modeling going on here! 

Duh,
Dallas