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Post by tjdreams on Sept 7, 2015 22:14:55 GMT -5
You want one. But no one makes it, not in Z scale. Not even in a kit form. So what do you do? You Build it from Scratch Yourself.
So the project Begins. Well actually I've bin working on it for several months now. Its just that I haven't had anything worth while to post about till now I built the first prototype using Plastruct and strye shapes and stripes. But it was too week and flimsy and collapsed under the slightest pressure. So I opted for something a little more ridged Brass and to insure a solid connection I decided to Solder it together
But what is it? You ask Here are a few pictures. See if you can figure it out.
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 7, 2015 22:24:58 GMT -5
Cut and Solder the Supports together A couple scraps and some spring clamps made a nice jig to hold them in place while soldering
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Post by Rob Albritton on Sept 8, 2015 14:41:10 GMT -5
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 8, 2015 15:44:17 GMT -5
LOL and that Made me laugh Ok OK before I send the rest of my milk and cookies across the room through my nose I'll post a few more revealing pictures
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 8, 2015 16:01:47 GMT -5
So once I got the bracing finished I soldered them onto the uprights For the few who notice it, Yes I used a "I" Beam instead of the traditional "H" Colum Mostly because that's all I had on hand the day I was building it. Also Because the H columns I had (Too Big)were not as ridged as the I Beams I used.
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 8, 2015 16:20:07 GMT -5
Once I got all the braces soldered to the Colum's I added top and bottom plates and soldered the main rail on top along with a piece of scrap to the bottom to keep it all together. Next step was to solder together a 2nd set of colum's with top tail and bottom holding plate. Finally I added a couple of strips on the bottom and a rail on one end at the top to hold it all together. I also made a removable rail to fit the other end with tight fitting tabs to hold it in place.
At this point I knew I was going to have to build a base to sit this thing on and since it will be sitting into a hill a simple flat board would not do so I started work on a base frame with a step on it for this thing to sit into. Sorry no pictures at this point. I'll resize a few and post them after dinner
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 8, 2015 17:40:01 GMT -5
After building the stepped base, I went to work on the Loading Dock. Now I wanted that old school Wood Loading dock look so I cut and Glued a little over 500 pieces of wood together to create the dock as well as the support wall. As You might imagine it took a few days to get it done working and gluing a little more each evening. It's a little bigger than I needed I will cut it down to size after the glue has had several days to dry
The new plank here and there to replace a old rotted or broken one turned out better than I expected.
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 8, 2015 18:45:36 GMT -5
While the glue dried on the loading dock I started work on the Bridge Beams and Hoist Trolley. Yup that's right it's a Bridge Crane Now I did a little research on Bridge Cranes and I could not find one set size or standard. It seams Most are built to suite the needs of the customer. With the number of supports their size and location all dependent on the maximum amount of weight to be lifted and the with that the Bridge beams must span. Now I could go into all the specks and load charts and structural requirements to get the exact number of supports and their proper size, location and all that stuff. But this will be my Bridge Crane and I'm using what I have on hand so some of the beams and such may not be the perfect 1:220 scale. Ie I used I beams in place of H Colum's. Now I wanted to be able to slide the trolley on the bridge and the bridge on the main rails so I could position it where ever I wanted to get pictures of it in different positions. I tried several different things from just sitting it on top to using a set of bearings off a z scale roller test stand, none of which worked. After taking a brake for a few days I opted to use some C channel and solder it on either side of both rails which held the beams in place and allowed them to slide with out falling off. Not exactly prototypical but hay it works. Now that the bridge and trolley are both sliding nicely Its time to mount it to the base and add some track and the loading dock. And since I building this from scratch Its time to try my hand at hand laid track (with a little help from fast tracks)
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 9, 2015 16:56:18 GMT -5
On to the hoist. After searching for the right parts I came across a old broken RC Truck and scavenged some of the gears along with a piece of the roll bar to make a Hoist Drum. Next I added some sides to the trolley and the slide spring from a 3.5 floppy disk to create enough friction to keep the drum from turning on its own yet still allow me to turn it by hand. I wrapped some twisted string around the drum to create the illusion of a full spool of cable I'm not entirely happy with the size and looks of this part but it is functional and will do for now. Hopefully once I fabricate a roof for it, It wont look so bad. I may try and redo this latter on. Now on to making the hook, But first what is the crane going to be lifting. In a word "Coils" When I saw the first AZL Coil Car It was all the inspiration I needed. The Idea hit me and I knew right then and there I had to build this to go along with AZL's coil cars on my layout. Anyway one common method of lifting and moving these big heavy coils is a large C shaped hook with the cable on the top of the C the bottom can be slid in the middle of the coil to lift it. Now again my research showed that the size of the hook depended largely on the size of the coils being lifted. Now scaling this down proved to be a waist of time. By the time I got it to size it was too week to be of any use. So I fabricated a "C" hook as small as I could yet still strong enough to lift a coil. It was so small and light I had to epoxy on some powdered tungsten to make it heavy enough so the hoist cable would hang start down. For the coils themselves I picked up some Aluminum craft wire from AC more and wrapped a few pieces into small coils Then I used a couple scraps of wood to make a stand for the coils
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 9, 2015 17:41:41 GMT -5
Now for the warehouse and industries that will sit behind and adjacent to the Crane I turned to Micron Art. I picked up a couple of their brass buildings along with a few of their scratch building frets. After cutting some walls I added 2 large sliding doors to one section similar to those one would find on a old building at the old Bethlehem Steel plant in Sparrows Point, Maryland. I'll be ordering a few more Frets so I can add more doors and windows. Now remember this is still a work in progress and it still needs to be painted and a bunch more details will be added But here are a few pictures Oh the forklift is one Randy Brown's kits.
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Post by Curn on Sept 10, 2015 0:41:46 GMT -5
Well all my guesses from yesterday have gone out the door. I was thinking a rail car/engine service shop but was hoping for a covered submarine base. Great work! The wood dock must have been a challenge, but looks like it can hold alot of weight!
For the coils, have you thought about using spacers? McMasters has 1/2 or 3/8" OD spacers in a variety of lengths and wall thicknesses, in brass, aluminium, stainless steel, or plastic. They would be perfectly round, but are about $1 each. Not sure if one of those sizes would look right for the scale.
Keep up with the updates!
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 13, 2015 11:38:28 GMT -5
Well all my guesses from yesterday have gone out the door. I was thinking a rail car/engine service shop but was hoping for a covered submarine base. Great work! The wood dock must have been a challenge, but looks like it can hold alot of weight! For the coils, have you thought about using spacers? McMasters has 1/2 or 3/8" OD spacers in a variety of lengths and wall thicknesses, in brass, aluminium, stainless steel, or plastic. They would be perfectly round, but are about $1 each. Not sure if one of those sizes would look right for the scale. Keep up with the updates! Thanks for the tip on where to get the Brass steel and alum spacers at, Curn. I will order a few of each for testing. I already tried Plastic but they were not heavy enough. I'm still having trouble with the hook not being heavy enough to keep the hoist line straight. It tends to want to coil or spiral kind of like a fishing line dose when its not being pulled tight from the weight of a sinker or with a fish on the line. I picked up some other types of string/thread at a craft store yesterday but haven't bin able to test them yet. I tore the top end off yesterday to make some adjustments to the Bridge Beams and Trolley so they slide easier as well as make it easier to raise and lower the hoist for Photographing it in different positions. This morning I'm taking the building walls off so I can frame out the rest of the building whenever the rest of my Scratch building supplies arrive. In the mean time I'm experimenting with different paints and colors on some scrap parts to get a idea what will look better. It's taking longer to get it done than I thought espically when it comes to the wood parts. I've found out the hard way it's better to glue & clamp just 2 or 3 pieces at a time and let the glue cure overnight, than it is to try an glue a bunch of pieces at once.
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Post by ztrack on Sept 13, 2015 11:57:51 GMT -5
What an awesome project. I love it!!!
Rob
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Post by Curn on Sept 13, 2015 19:18:38 GMT -5
Model ship builders will use beeswax to coat cotten threads used in rigging so that they keep their shape even when loose and to control stray fibres. There is some debate about using beeswax on model ships as acids in it can degrade the thread on the 50-100 year time scale. Some prefer to use paraffin canning wax or conservators wax because of this. Coat the thread and then run it over a heat source (Low wattage light bulb, the side of a hot cup of water, over a flame) to get it to melt and soak into the thread.
Since this thread is functional, you may need to go with a lower viscosity paraffin, like petroleum jelly.
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Post by tjdreams on Sept 13, 2015 21:50:53 GMT -5
I already tried paraffin wax and beeswax along with dragging the line across a citronella candle as well as some bars of soap. I just couldn't get the right combination to keep the line straight yet flexible enough to slide through the block on the hook and wind on to the Drum. It kept wanting to swing and stick straight out to the side when I would turn the drum.
Initial testing with the stuff I got from the craft store is looking good. The thread came in a Hank about 4 inches long so it doesn't have the tendency to coil like the stuff that comes on a spool dose. I cut a 8 inch piece of the thread with the spot where it was folded in the middle slid the hook on and glued both ends to the drum with the hook hanging in the spot where it was folded. While I'm loosing the functionality of the 2 part hoist line actually going through the working block on the hook, (Yes the block on the hook really did work) I can now stuff that area of the hook with some Tungsten putty to add some weight. It will still appear their is a block with a 2 part hoist line, It just wont be functional any more. And as a bonus I will not have to turn the drum as many times as before to raise or lower the hook. I'll try to take and post some updated pictures later this week once I get finished tweaking and reinforcing the top end so it slides on the rails easier.
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