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1:32 Laser Coach Kit
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 Posted: 2 Sep 2008 11:24 am
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W C Greene
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Here are some photos of a beautiful laser coach kit done by Daniel Caso. He had several made for himself and sent me one to see how badly I could mangle it. Daniel did the cad work and had a gentleman in Argentina do the laser cutting. My thanks to Daniel for the great gift and I hope my workmanship won't detract from the quality of his efforts.



Here are the parts, everything except for an underframe and roof, but I made those with 1:64 ply for the roof and various spruce sizes for the underframe.

The coach is coming together-all parts fit exactly. The kit is made from thin MDF board which has no grain. Finishing requires priming and light sanding to make a smooth surface for the paint.

The shop foreman hammers on the roof pieces.  The body is painted with Model Master Intermediate Blue and white. You can see the bench seats inside. Even the little step stool was supplied!



Here's an end view to show how narrow the 2 foot gauge coach is.  Brake wheels and rods are yet to be added, but the fine little coach is already in service on the Mogollon Railway. Also shown are some of the miners riding inside.



And here she is. The coach rides on some Bachmann On30 leaf spring archbar trucks which scale out fine for a 2 footer in a larger scale. Now the miners have a nice ride to work and the railroad has a new piece of equipment. Thank you Daniel Caso for such a wonderful model.           Woodie 



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 Posted: 2 Sep 2008 12:43 pm
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ytter_man
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OOOOoooo pretty :)


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 Posted: 2 Sep 2008 01:24 pm
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Trebor
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Nice kit and an excellent job putting it together.



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 Posted: 2 Sep 2008 05:13 pm
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Sullivan
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Yep, that is one fine little coach!!:apl:

Daniel and his friend in Argentina did a really fantastic job on it.

I count myself as blessed to have seen it with my own squinty eyes before Woodie had a chance to try mangling it. Those parts were just be-a-u-tiful. No grain to get in the way, all the cutting nice and clean.

I was over to Woodie's the other day and got to see it in all it's glory, though I didn't get a chance to put her through her paces on the tourist line or nothing.

Hmmm...wonder how long that interior stays pristine with all those drunken miners being transported?:mex:

James



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 Posted: 2 Sep 2008 09:02 pm
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Herb Kephart
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Must be wet in the Lone Star state- that "new" coach has rusty handrails already!

Great job Woodie and Daniel!

How did those "old tired eyes" do such a nice job cutting the color line between the body color and the sash?

I want a ride!


Herbie:old dude:

Last edited on 2 Sep 2008 09:04 pm by Herb Kephart



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 Posted: 2 Sep 2008 09:27 pm
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rich
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Well done that,s a :moose::moose::moose::moose: job in my book. Congrats to both of you.

rich

http://www.rslaserkits.com

 

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 Posted: 2 Sep 2008 10:47 pm
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Dave D
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Oh yeah that's nice!

Outstanding work from concept to build, well done all! :thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:



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 Posted: 3 Sep 2008 05:53 pm
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W C Greene
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Herb-Daniel did such a great job on the design, painting was a no brainer. The window sashes are separate pieces that fit so well, I almost didn't have to use glue! And the rusty handrails, well that's what I like. They were white but with constant use and dirty miners' hands...you get the idea. As I suspected, there is a lot of interest in this model and Daniel may just make the kits available. The US guys could use this and the Euro guys can build one also. What a wonderful design.  Woodrow



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 Posted: 4 Sep 2008 12:47 am
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acousticco
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That's an awesome coach! Excellent looking laser cutting as well. I'd buy one!

-Cody

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 Posted: 4 Sep 2008 05:43 am
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Daniel Osvaldo Caso
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Hi Woodie and all:
                            Thank you ALL for the  nice words. Indeed, this first try with laser cuttings has left a wonderfull experience and a new monster: how to get home one of those laser cutting machines? It is really just amazing!
                            I designed the coach with  Google's 3D drawing Sketchup program and it was translated to CAD by Lucas Gargoloff, the Argentine friend who also arranged the cuttings in Buenos Aires  (who is presenting this days a new range of (sorry) 0n30 kits representing two coaches of "La Trochita", a 750mm gauge line in south Argentina. still steam operated by Henschel and Baldwin Mikados from 1922.) Without his and Ernesto Ceriana's help there would be no coach kit  at all.
                            The coach is designed after shaking in a dark box averything I've seen about narrow gauge and everything I've been imagining about it.
                            It was unavoidabkle to consider going commercial with this and other kits, but after several reflections and comments on the matter I concluded that it would be the faster way of destroying the pleasure of my hobby and turning it bitter. So I desisted. But: with no commercial intentions at all I would be very pleased to make a small production of this coach -and possible other kits that  I've been designing for myself- and just sell them for the costs + posting. I am now looking for a laser cutting company here in Holland and once I have a clear idea about how many coaches  must let be cut I will come up with a real price. So if someone here would like to order some of the coaches, please let me know so I can have an indication about the total number to be ordered.
                           
                            Why do I do it this way?
                            Well, 1n20  is not the most popular scale/gauge one can imagine. In terms of commerce one would do better at thinking in 0n30 or even H0. So not for me. But since I still really want to see  running in my layout the things I am designing and will keep doing them, there is no reason not to share the results with other modellers. Not  being able to reach the same quality in every area of the hobby, I would really appreciate if other fellow modellers would do something similar and share here so we can enjoy also the products of their talents. Finaly, it is a great pleasure this kind of scale-tourism: to see the coach born from my imagination running for example on the Mogollon Ry tracks that I so often contemplated through this and other forums. It is just amazing!

                          Thank you all.

                                       Daniel
                           

                           
                           



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 Posted: 4 Sep 2008 06:08 am
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Daniel Osvaldo Caso
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Woodie:
             You have made a very nice job. (I suspect your colours choice is reflecting something comming up from you heart since they are those of our Argentine flag.)
             Are the coupler pockets you've installed comercially available? From who?
They look very well.
              I also like the rough finish of the roof edges. That is what I saw everytime Iooked at small gauge material here.
             The figures gives it a very special realm.
             Thank you for the privilege!

                                    Daniel
            
             
             
           
            



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2) Calm down.
3) Calm down.
4) First calm down.
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 Posted: 4 Sep 2008 07:58 pm
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W C Greene
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Daniel-the pin & link coupler pockets are made up of styrene pieces on this model. For equipment like heavy ore cars and locomotives, I will solder the same thing from brass. I make the links from small brass strips with an elongated hole in each end and I use Model Shipways 10MM eyebolts for the pins. The roof was made from 1/64 aircraft plywood and covered with "scale" tarpaper strips made from coffee filter paper painted with black paint and glued down with white glue.

Running a railroad using link & pin couplers is not as "user friendly" as operating with automatic knuckle couplers....but I love the couplers and even my operating buddy Mopman has come to appreciate the hassle now. Mr Sullivan got to run a bit, but he will have to put in a few more hours to get the "hang" of them. Each operator has a pair of tweezers to aid in the coupling and when things go right, it is a joy to behold...when things go wrong, well you get the idea.

I was not thinking about the Argentine flag when I painted the car, the blue is a "standard" Mogollon Railway color. The ore cars are painted this color and the insulated boxcar is blue also. What a happy coincidence the colors turned out to be. I had originally thought about dark green(I painted it that color first) but really hated how it looked. So, blue it is! Thanks for the pleasure of building this kit of yours, I know that you will have to make many more, the guys are "hot" for it!

               Woodie



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 Posted: 5 Sep 2008 12:43 am
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Daniel Osvaldo Caso
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Woodie:
             Thamk you once more.
             Probably it's again me with my niwbie's questions, but why not use for the links brass rings a bit "flattened" at the sides?
             Coincidence  with the colours! I understand that green was much too neat and conventional for Mogollon Ry. Your colour scheme fits perfect the III world athmosphere of Mogollon.
             Yes, the kit is being appreciated. That is very stimulating. I hope I'll find soon a way of arranging the cuttings here. I am now pretty unpatient to see the other designs also done!

                                Daniel
            
   



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1) Calm down.
2) Calm down.
3) Calm down.
4) First calm down.
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 Posted: 5 Sep 2008 08:57 pm
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W C Greene
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Daniel-I have made links using 2 of the eyepins soldered into a piece of brass tubing which is then flattened but have found that just cutting links & drilling them is easier and I love easier. As for third world paint schemes, that's what I go for. The real Mogollon, New Mexico is up in the mountains and is/was very "rough and tumble" even today as an old almost ghost town. The medium blue color is something I like and an old photo of a Silver City, Pinos Altos, & Mogollon ore train(my inspiration) which had been hand colored in 1914 shows the cars to be this very color! My replica of the SCPA&M caboose is painted in a "mineral red" color, again like the hand tinted photo.  The real railroad never had a fine coach like yours, but my version of the old railway is very proud of the new passenger car. Be assured it will travel many, many miles on the twisty old track.

             Woodie



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 Posted: 6 Sep 2008 12:54 am
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Daniel Osvaldo Caso
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Woodie:
             Well. it seems that it will be a long way until my to rollingstock will be operating decently. Until now link/_ Pin operatin in scale is just theory for me.
            Originaly I planned to use Kadee´s  and when laying the track for the )until now only' module I installed  four `under the track`Kadee magnets. They do their work good, but they do some unwanted and unasked work too: Wrightlines skips tend to dance Salsa when slowly passing the magnets. That is because the no/nonmagnetic axles, I asume. But I wouldn´t even consider to alter those wonderfull wheels. So Kadee must go. I´ll need to do a lot of work now to remoive /from beneth/ the magnets. Otherways I would need to install those terrible noisy Kadee electromagnetic uncouplers. I still have two of them but I´ll give first link & pin operation a try.
            I´ve received yesterday a mail from Lucas Gargoloff, the Argentine friend who translated my Sketchup drawings to CAD and arranged the laser cuttings in Argentina. He has just joined Free Rails and tells me  he is amazed by your work with Mogollon Ry..
             I understand that very well.

                                       Daniel
            



____________________
Extract from "THE FOUR STEPS METHOD" by Ching Pang Tsè:
1) Calm down.
2) Calm down.
3) Calm down.
4) First calm down.
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 Posted: 6 Sep 2008 01:35 pm
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Trebor
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Daniel,

I have a small layout with the under the track magnets. I had all sorts of problems until I changed over to plastic wheelsets. Now it works just fine.



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 Posted: 7 Sep 2008 03:45 am
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Daniel Osvaldo Caso
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Trebor:

           Yes. I understand that.  But I have a dozen of those wonderfull 1/32 scale Wrightlines skips. They are white metal and epoxy glued. They are just PERFECT in every aspect. No way I am going to try to remove the wheelsets for replacement. Among other things because even their tiny wheels are prototype (curly spoked, rigth size, right profile, etc); but most of all because they run as Swiss watches.

          I thinki I will give link & pin operation a seriuos try and then see. One of the most interesting aspects of our hobby is that we are constasntloy learning, changing, re-starting, adapting,etc. May be, if link & pin operation becames too frustrating, I will reconsider it. But first I want to give it a chance.

          I am a bit confused now and don´t know if I have picked up the idea here or somwhere else: a few days ago I saw someone had installed under the table magnets but  with a sliding mechanism that alows it to stay out from track except when needed. I like that idea a lot. But still remains the fact that a 20` gauge railway with automatic couplers seems not too prototypical.

         I must confess that if Woodie hasn´t saved the whole thing with his roll as  RCC Guru, I´d choosed for giving up every operation and concentrate on building static models. Some guys as Marc reusser are doing wonderful work that way.

          But don´t misunderstand me: NOTHING IS DEFINITIVE in this hobby.

 

                               Daniel

       



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Extract from "THE FOUR STEPS METHOD" by Ching Pang Tsè:
1) Calm down.
2) Calm down.
3) Calm down.
4) First calm down.
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 Posted: 7 Sep 2008 10:20 am
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W C Greene
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Daniel-the plastic wheels and axles are one way, the sliding magnets or maybe electro magnets are another way. As for prototypical, when I was in Clifton, Arfizona-the "cradle" of 20 inch gauge railroads in the US-I saw a 4 wheel ore car with knuckle couplers. At the Phelps Dodge mining office, there is a display of mine cars and an electric trolley loco, also 20 inch. While looking at the stuff, I noticed that one of the cars had the knuckles. I took a photo(which I will have to find) with my cap nearby to show the size. The couplers were as small as some I have seen on miniature railroads in parks, but there they were on this old piece of mining equipment. So, there is indeed a prototype for everything. I know that many modelers who use link & pin couplers don't really operate their trains, being content to watch them run around. When you get into operations, making trains, setting out cars and picking them up, and other switching moves, things can get kind of crazy. At times, I have thought about installing knuckles on my stuff but I know that these wou't stay coupled on twisting, jumpy, roller coaster track so I stay with l&p's. Another idea is to remove the magnets and use a pointed stick like a bamboo sqewer used for grilling. The sticks can slip between the knuckles and uncouple the cars very easily. Sometimes, old technology is better suited than high tech for solving problems.

         Woodie



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 Posted: 7 Sep 2008 11:20 am
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Daniel Osvaldo Caso
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Woodie:

           Hmmm....

           One thing is sure: the magnets must go.

           Another aspect is that in your case, Mogollon has just a small depth you must reach for coupling/uncoupling. My modules are 2'deep and also if in most cases the track don't reach that distance from the viewer my bad eyes may become an issue with l & p couplers.  Anyway I won't decide without a realo experience, so you know what I am going to do next.

           I really really like the look of l & P couplers. May be we need some expertise here to design a cheap, good working link & pin RC coupler system.  I've just met someone here who has been working for years with mini-servos. A retracting pin is not unthinkable...

         HYmmm...

 

                               Daniel 



____________________
Extract from "THE FOUR STEPS METHOD" by Ching Pang Tsè:
1) Calm down.
2) Calm down.
3) Calm down.
4) First calm down.
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 Posted: 7 Sep 2008 05:25 pm
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W C Greene
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Daniel-it's something to think about. Yes, the narrow sections are ideal for "pulling the pins", there are a couple of areas on the layout where it really is a pain. I have found that the links need to be longer, at least 1 scale foot, for backing operations as the small links tend to bind up on tight curves with grades when being pushed. I am running ore cars and other equipment with 2 trucks(bogies) so the push/pull loads are a little different and the sharp curves are possible with longer links also. Some kind of "automatic" pin puller via r/c could be made...anything is possible. But then, each car would need to have this feature when cutting cars, etc. If only there were a race of 3/8 scale humans who would love old trains....what a thought!       Woodie



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