All this sitting around non-modelling got to me so I built this little diorama. The painter will actually be painting the side of a house when he makes it to the layout but I just stuck him here for now as those rusty railings really did need a fresh coat of black. [:D]
Thanks guys, the video quality is obviously cr@p but you get the idea, here are some better quality vids, and one that shows the drive mech. Sorry if you only have dial up[V] some may take a while.
Crandell : yes Sir it’s my mini cam, but its sitting taped on a flat car just now till I figure out where I want it, it’ll probably just stay where it is though.
Trainfreak409 : All I did to weather the fence(and truck) was to basically ‘semi’-drybrush raw sienna in splotches. Fence took 30secs truck about 2 mins.
It took 3.5 hrs to build and then configure the motor/gears and linkage mech, 15mins to build the 3"x5" box and I only spent 10mins total scenicking the top including weathering the fence&truck and painting the details for in the back of the truck. (The tree was already made)
I think I may give the guy a longer brush stroke when I install him on the layout, otherwise he’ll be at this jobsite forever[:D].
Now I need to come up with some more animation ideas to create, input is appreciated.
So far on the list and designed are:-
The usual boring playground equip -swings, roundabout (don’t think I’ll bother with these)
granny on the porch in rocking chair
2 men, one on each end of one of those big saws
blacksmith - hammering at an anvil or using the bellows
guy with axe, tree chopping
rail fans waving at passing trains, triggered by approaching railtraffic
Great job Karl. I would like to see a thread just for animation ideas similar to the one Joe Fugate has for scenery. Your efforts make it obvious that animation does not have to be jerky and toy-like. I load live coal at two tipples on my railroad and plan to unload at a power plant. I previously used suction via a hood soldered together from tin that lowered over the hopper car. It had the effect of both holding the car on the track and providing a chamber to contain the suction while emptying the car. I plan to use gravity this time if I can get my Walthers rotary dumper to actually work reliably.
Details like drawings showing how to hook up linkages and gears would be a great addition to the thread. Again, great job!
Karl, a cow head lifiting as the train passes, a conveyor lifting parcels at a shipping depot, water wheel, old-fashioned tower wind-mill… I met a fellow yesterday who motorized his roundhouse doors. If yo had styrene roads, and if they were clear below them, you could use magnets to move them along the roadway for a short distance.
Instant preliminary solution to the cow head raising would be a tortoise switch machine linked to the neck, trigged by a switch in the track a: to raise the head on approach and b: to lower the head after train passes, love that idea!! thanks.
I have plans to motorise one of the WS aeriator/windmill thingies if possible, and I was also thinking on similar lines for the conveyor but it would have been a coal conveyer at a mine, but I guess thats not very original and has been done many times, I think I now prefer the parcel idea.
I thought long about the vehicular concept but decided to put it off until the future layout was finished and I had nothing else to do (like that will ever happen) I’ll probably revisit it in the future.
mecovey : let us know how it works out, it sounds great and I would love to see it if possible.
Thanks for the input and great ideas. I’m off to go order me a tortoise ( and a few other bits and pieces[:)] )
