Bits, Pieces, & Clutter

[Chuck Doan]

HO is the best: 3.5 MM = that medieval foot.  Best of both worlds.

[Frederic Testard]

   Isn't Britain slowly preparing for the metric system ?

   Jacq

No, Jacq, they find it too difficult...

But about these scale rulers. I agree on the ten "inchimals" a dumb choice... I once bought a ruler with inches on one side and centimeters on the other side and found to my great dismay the inches had been also subdivided into ten parts. But wouldn't it make sense to print a 1:35 ruler on good quality paper and fix it to a bit of metal or plastic and get a no-cost scale ruler?

[DaKra]

I have several good scale rulers, but I don't use them much.  Mostly I just multiply or divide by the scale, on a pocket calculator I keep on my desk.  When reducing to scale, I dial the result into a digital caliper.  

The digital caliper is one of my most used tools, extremely precise but only cost around $20 from MicroMark.  You can flip back and forth to mm / in.

http://www.micromark.com/Digital-Caliper-with-Standard-Numerals-6-Inch-Capacity,8094.html

I remember dreaming of buying one back when I was in college, but they cost around $200 then and all I could afford was a sucky plastic dial caliper.

Dave  

[eTraxx]

Dave. I use a 'non sucky' dial caliper so .. so far have only looked at the digital calipers at Lowes. I noticed that they have a 3" "pocket digital caliper" - carbon fiber. Measures in - inches, millimeters and fractions for $19.98. What puzzles me is .. apparently there is a chip in the caliper that converts between inches, mm and fractions .. so .. what occurred to me was .. why the heck doesn't Micro-Mart have calipers that switch between inches, mm and you favorite scale? Seems to me that a simple re-programming of that chip .. change the printing on the handle to say "O scale" or whatever. Suppose I'm just slow .. but .. "I don't get it"

[DaKra]

MM also sells a 6" digital caliper that does fractions.  I also thought a scale converting one would be handy, but I think MM's business model is to search out inexpensive general purpose tools, mark them way up and sell them as hobby purposed tools.  So the low price on the made in Japan caliper sort of amazes me, but the lack of scale converter doesn't.  

But converting on the calculator isn't really a problem.  The 3" capacity of the caliper you show would be too small for me.  

Dave

[eTraxx]

They have a larger one too .. also some kinda fancy digital multi-inch/mm. Just checked my dial calipers .. they're 6". MOSTLY .. that's ok. Starrett has em' up to 40" in digital! I hate to ever guess what the cost would be though. I still have a venier caliper but it's some crazy metric / 1/128" sucker I picked up in Germany. Wish I still had my old Starrett Venier caliper .. it was a 12" model.

[Malachi Constant]

When I was a little kid, they told me that we had to learn the metric system, because the US would be converting in 1976!   So it goes ...

Meanwhile, I sent an email to Expo Tools and got a rather friendly answer ... expressing a bit of surprise, as they've been selling them for a while now and no-one else has complained about the "inchimals" ... but they went on to offer a refund.  (Which, of course, is easier than actually fixing the problem!)

And, I called Scale Card today to order a spare 1:35 wallet card and a couple of their plastic rulers .... maybe I'll paste one of those free printable rules over the steel rule ...

Of course, I still have to bake a cake and apologize profusely for getting Gordon mixed up in this 1:35 stuff. 

Cheers,
Dallas

[marc_reusser]

Hey...you owe me a cake as well....I ordered one on YOUR recommendation. 

Marc

[Malachi Constant]

Oh crap!  Now I have to make biscuits and scones and cakes and a full tea serving to keep all the Mad Hatters in good shape.  I'll definitely spike the punch ... maybe even throw in some of those pills that make you larger, then smaller and all that good stuff ...

Meanwhile, this free printable ruler has TWELVE inch marks to the foot and half-inch marks in-between those ... check to make sure the scaling is right when it comes out of your printer, and you can paste it over top the steelie:
http://www.miniature-planet.com/download/scale_rulers/printable_scale%20ruler_1_35.pdf

Mea Culpa!  (It was such a GREAT *idea* they had when they laid out the rule with the feet, inches, cumulative inches and scale-metric measurements on the other edge ... if ONLY they'd known ... if ONLY they'd know ... we've got 12 smeggin' inches to the foot.)

-- Dallas

[marc_reusser]

Meanwhile, this free printable ruler has TWELVE inch marks to the foot and half-inch marks in-between those ... check to make sure the scaling is right when it comes out of your printer, and you can paste it over top the steelie:
http://www.miniature-planet.com/download/scale_rulers/printable_scale%20ruler_1_35.pdf

-- Dallas

Oh sure...now we have to resort to the finger-in-the-dyke approach.    ...never mind the ingerent innacuracy of paper which expands and contracts with humidity/heat, not to mention age.....probably the same amount as if one just used the inchimeters to begin with.


M (always with the negative waves...)

[Malachi Constant]

Well, we do have to be careful not to make the dyke angry ... er ...

I printed one of those freebies ... and it came out quite accurate compared to a couple other rulers ... BUT ... it has so damn many little marks (every 1/2") that it's a PITA to see what's-what.

Meanwhile ... and DON'T RUSH IN behind me here ( !!)  ... my little wallet-size Scale Card has clearly marked INCHES ... and every third inch mark is a bold line, which makes it easy to "count" visually.  Those marks do NOT go to the edge of the card ... so they're good for measuring (because the card is clear), but not for marking.

I called Scale Card today and asked specifically if the marks on the ruler go to the edge.  They said yes.  So I ordered some ... but let's wait and see what I get before I have to start baking another batch of cakes ...

(Ironically, I don't need the ruler that often with most of the 1/35 stuff ... but I have used the plexi one with white inch marks enough times to get sick of that, and it would be nice to work this out to have a "go to" ruler.)

Cheers,
Dallas

[marc_reusser]

I have the scale card for 1/35, and have found it quite useful...especially while on the hunt for "adaptables"; from things like HO scale porch columns that will become table legs, to match-box trucks that will become cement mixers, and a whole world of wierd stuff at Michaels and the 99C store.

M

[Mobilgas]

Marc,   You shop at the 99 cent store

[marc_reusser]

Craig;
You never know what you find in those types of places.


It's still too cold and wet here for spraying...and the wife was out tonight, so I decided to play around building some trackwork...well, at least 14" of it. Nothing stupendous...but a fun experiment and learning experience. The bolt heads are bit big (about a scale 1/2" in dia)...but they were the closest I could find that looked ok design wise. Gauge is 600mm in 1/35 rail is code-70...I think.  Ties are various sizes of Basswood wet-painted with Vallejo acrylics. The metal tie is one I had made from PAP.









Marc

[jacq01]

    Marc,

     your last photo's definitely pulled me over to building something in 1:35.  I'll give details of my idea's in a separate post, together with some questions about 2D to 3D.

     Jacq