Scaling Mercury Spacecraft -Help!

[lancer525]

I have Ton's great 1/24 Mercury Spacecraft, but I'd prefer to build it at 1/12 instead. I know I have to scale it 200% to get to the 1/12 size, but even after downloading Adobe 9.0, I can't get it to scale the print.

How would one go about reorganizing the parts in say, PSD format, or even JPG format, to print them out at the proper size to end up 1/12?

Or better yet, since I am practically still a total neophyte, does anyone have the Mercury Spacecraft already done up at 1/12?

I also have Bob's Wally Schirra interior, and I'd like to use it, but there are no instructions, or anything else that shows what the parts are, or where they go. Anyone? At 1/12?

Oh, and once I get the build going, count on a photopost!

Thanks!!

[michaelwlf3]

I ought to have my head examined (or at least my eyes) but I am going to try the 1:24 interior with Delta 7 Studio's 1:24 Friendship 7.

The interior sheets have drawings that show you where the components go, more or less - I figure that once you get to working with the 3D parts the spatial relationships will come together better.

I have built several of the Delta 7 1:14 scale Mercury capsules (the parts are bigger) so no cigar on the scale thing. I have thought about simply sticking a high resolution print into a copier and enlarging it, but you'd waste a lot of paper that way.

I have heard about people using plotter printers to scale things up, but I don't remember the last time I saw one. Hopefully one of the guys will come up with a simple solution. That Sigma 7 ship you were talking about is a picture, isn't it? Can't you edit the sheets with Photoshop or one of the free photo manipulation tools and scale it up that way?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/michaelwlf3/Picture012.jpg

[lancer525]

Hey, Michael! Thanks for the reply!

I found (and I don't remember where) a converter of sorts, that you punch in the scale you're at, and the scale you want to go to, and it tells you what your "print factor" is to get it to come out to the right scale. I plugged in 1/14 and it showed that you'd have to print at 116.7% to get it to come out at 1/12. Which I think is doable. I just don't have any clue how to "readjust" all the pieces onto one sheet to make them come out on a single 8.5"x11" page. Hmmm...

I played with Bob's skin a little in Paint Shop Pro, and discovered that there's no way to make it fit on one single sheet (8.5"x11"), so I had to split it into two pieces to get it 1/12. It took a deuced long time, and I have zero confidence in getting all the other parts from the other sheets printed out at the right scale. I'll keep playing with it, but I don't see having much success. I am exceptionally math-challenged! LOL

The only way that I can think of to get the 200% larger parts on one sheet, would be to blow them up and then "cut" them all out in the photo-editing program, and then paste the larger pieces onto "blank sheets" and print. I might try that. I don't have any confidence in it, but I am going to try it.

Geesh, I'm going to need some new printer cartridges!

[michaelwlf3]

You know, I have been reading about this very thing over on Zealot (http://www.zealot.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=359). It seems as though people do this fairly often. The scaling part is easy - what I can't figure out is how to print the damn parts out in the scale I want.

Anyway, I haven't found the exact procedure for noobs yet, but I'll keep looking.

[billy.leliveld]

Actually guys, if you want to know how to resize - just use this formula:

Take the bottom number (i.e. if your moving it from 1/48 - you use 48) of the first scale divided by the bottom number of the second scale (i.e. if your moving it to 1/72 you'd use 72) and you have your percentage.

Example: Convert 1/48 to 1/72

48 ÷ 72 = 0.666666... or 66.67%

Works the other way too!

72 ÷ 48 = 1.5 or 150%

be sure your printer is not set to " resize to fit" or shrink to fit..

[michaelwlf3]

Actually guys, if you want to know how to resize - just use this formula:

Take the bottom number (i.e. if your moving it from 1/48 - you use 48) of the first scale divided by the bottom number of the second scale (i.e. if your moving it to 1/72 you'd use 72) and you have your percentage.

Example: Convert 1/48 to 1/72

48 ÷ 72 = 0.666666... or 66.67%

Works the other way too!

72 ÷ 48 = 1.5 or 150%

be sure your printer is not set to " resize to fit" or shrink to fit..

Yeah, but how do you get the printer to scale up? I can scale down but not up.

[Ashrunner]

If you are using an Epson printer, to upscale, when you hit Print in Reader, go to Properties next to you printer, then open the Page Layout tab, select Enlarge/Reduce then Scale by percentage and set the percentage at the amount you want to scale up or down.

Other printer's software should be similar, though I don't have one now, I recall Canon had a similar setting when I was printing with a Canon.

[michaelwlf3]

I was looking to do something like that and had no settings like the ones you describe, even with my new HP printer.

[avro202]

Here is an idea I have played around with:

When fooling with MS Exel, I noticed that when you created a spread sheet too large for a standard sheet of paper, then when to print it out, it would spread the spread-sheet over however many sheets you need, and will also build-in an overlap so you can paste it back toegther.

I thought that was very interesting, so I tried blowing up to 200% a JPEG picture in photoshop that I knew wouldnt fit to a 8 1/2 by 11 paper, then putting it into excel and seeing if it held the scale. Turned out fine. Excel printed it out onto 4 seperate pages with a nice bit of overlap. The scale looked about right.

I never went any further with that little experiment, so I cant say if the scale was still Exactly 200% of the orignial after porting it into excel and printing it out, and I was printing in "draft" mode so I also can't say how much detail may have been lost, if any. A certain amount probably was lost (I think it almost always is when moving from one software package to another like that), but if you start with a high enough resolution, I dont think that would be a problem.

So if you have access to MS Excel (and who doesnt) and something like Photoshop or the Gimp, you should be able to print to any size you want. I say should. Please remember this is an unfinished experiment; dont blame me if it blows up! :-)

[michaelwlf3]

Thanks for the tip - I'll give that a try.

In the meantime, while I was playing around with my printer, I figured out how to scale down, and printed out two Delta 7 Gemini models, one at 1:48 and the other at 1:96.

I also happen to have Titan II and Titan III/MOL models as well in 1:96, so if I don't go blind building a 1:96 Gemini model I can have a highly detailed capsule for the top of both of those launch vehicles.

Amazing how your imagination goes crazy when you have done this a couple of times...

[michaelwlf3]

I found this description (http://www.zealot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137457) of the process over on Zealot.

[avro202]

Sounds kool. You've inspired me to go back and re-start those excel scaling experiments. I always wanted a launch vehicale for the Delta7 Design Gemini. Its in 1/24th scale. There is a decent Gemini-Titan on the Hudson Valley website for downloading and its 1/48th. Just gotta scale it up to 1/24th, save into a jpeg, and stick it into excel so I can get it printed across multiple pages. Oh and I also want to try to have both the doors open. And maybe see about building some kinda launch pad. Yep; these things do have a way of snow-balling on you!

[michaelwlf3]

1/24 Gemini/Titan II (http://www.vatsaas.org/rtv/arsenal/burlrocs/gemini/titan.aspx)

This is a flying model, but you get the idea. If you use cardboard tubes, it's still paper!

Right now the Saturn V is as ambitious as I was to get, except for the 1:24 Sigma 7 and interior, the 1:96 Titan III Gemini/MOL...

[lancer525]

Michael:
I can agree with that sentiment! That huge beast is way beyond my ability, and would only serve as a source of frustration for me! You da man!

I'm still playing with going to 1/12 on this Mercury, and will keep everyone posted.

[surfduke]

I stumbled across this post while I am putting together info. for Mike V.. Lancer I think I have the missing puzzle parts, (If you are still working on this project). The interior files are complete and numbered. Mike should be able to make more sense of this now for a instruction set. The proto-type astronaut will not be republished. I am deleting it from the published kit.

Surfduke

[airdave]

Hey, Michael! Thanks for the reply!

I found (and I don't remember where) a converter of sorts, that you punch in the scale you're at, and the scale you want to go to, and it tells you what your "print factor" is to get it to come out to the right scale. I plugged in 1/14 and it showed that you'd have to print at 116.7% to get it to come out at 1/12. Which I think is doable. I just don't have any clue how to "readjust" all the pieces onto one sheet to make them come out on a single 8.5"x11" page. Hmmm...

I played with Bob's skin a little in Paint Shop Pro, and discovered that there's no way to make it fit on one single sheet (8.5"x11"), so I had to split it into two pieces to get it 1/12. It took a deuced long time, and I have zero confidence in getting all the other parts from the other sheets printed out at the right scale. I'll keep playing with it, but I don't see having much success. I am exceptionally math-challenged! LOL

The only way that I can think of to get the 200% larger parts on one sheet, would be to blow them up and then "cut" them all out in the photo-editing program, and then paste the larger pieces onto "blank sheets" and print. I might try that. I don't have any confidence in it, but I am going to try it.

Geesh, I'm going to need some new printer cartridges!

I too stumbled across this discussion and forgive me if I don't understand the topic...

but based on your comments, you are absolutely right.
To resize your model, you must enlarge all the parts 200%...and to do this, you will need to load the files or pages into an editing program. Once upscaled, the individual model parts will have to be re-arranged on 8.5 x 11 pages for printing (within the same program). It will require producing about twice the original number of pages. Resave the new pages in a similar format to the original.

Keep in mind that just resaving as jpegs will most likely cause a loss of quality..and when upscaling you do not want any loss of image quality!
The upscaling itself will cause pixelation and lower reprint quality, so you need to improve the file quality, if you can, for the new pages.

One problem with upscaling is that some parts may not fit on a 8.5x11 sheet anymore and will require some major modifications. You will have to "cut" these parts into sections and create a method to rejoin them during assembly.

Just my 2 cents...hope it applies (and helps in some manner).

[lancer525]

Surfduke:

Yes, I'm still working on it, although it is on one of the very far back burners. I've been fiddling with Scott's 1/4 Mercury, but I've hit a point where I just don't see how the pieces go together, and I can't get a clear enough answer for me to visualize the fit.

So, I'm actually planning on going back to the 1/12 Mercury/Gemini/Apollo craft, in order to have a set of models in the same scales. Your work with Mike V. is going to come in bigtime handy... I knew there was a reason I was so ecstatic to see you back!!! LOL

[surfduke]

Surfduke:

Yes, I'm still working on it, although it is on one of the very far back burners. I've been fiddling with Scott's 1/4 Mercury, but I've hit a point where I just don't see how the pieces go together, and I can't get a clear enough answer for me to visualize the fit.

So, I'm actually planning on going back to the 1/12 Mercury/Gemini/Apollo craft, in order to have a set of models in the same scales. Your work with Mike V. is going to come in bigtime handy... I knew there was a reason I was so ecstatic to see you back!!! LOL

Things will be moving quick over the next few weeks. I should have you some answers soon. I am very happy to be back in the saddle again, (and not in a real saddle in Montana). Not that I don not like my clients or the mountains, (Great place to visit). I am glad to be able to now telecommute and work on my fun projects at home again.

Surfduke

[2Kamser]

then youu have the program PosteRazor, wher you can split a pic on several sheets, 2by2 3by3 and so on
if you skip overlap then you can do large things (provided the pic withstands upscaling)
did a try on Frienship 7 (one of the free ones, don't know which) and did it 3by3.
my used it as a hat at school :)
the pic did not withstand upscaling as it became rather square-ish
/Håkan