Shay #2

[kentyler]

I've made a couple of starts at designing models...here I go again.

This is the oldest existing Shay locomotive. I made a trip up to Redding to take photos and I have a set of plans... so I should have everything I need except time and energy.

Looking for a couple of test builders. The model will be as large as I can fit on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, and even at that I'm cheating a little with the frame. I'll know th e exact scale in a day or so.

I plan to supply pdfs, although if the builders have corel draw and want them I can supply the corel files as well.

[Darwin]

This looks to be interesting...you are off to a good start. You still need test builders, I'm game for it.

[kentyler]

Darwin,
Great. I expect to have the first files ready at the end of the week. I'll being doing the frame first, then the trucks, wheels and drive train

[KCStephens]

I see another mixed media sculpt clay build in the near future
Can't wait.

[kentyler]

Kevin,
I am going to use bamboo in this one for "pins" to hold everything together structurally.... bolt and rivit heads will be applied separately, but everyplace there is a bolt in the original you will be able to use a bamboo pin in the model. I'm hoping that, aside from making a very strong model, this will act as an accurate locator for all the parts, since they will having matching "bolt holes" and pinning them together should position them exactly.

I am still at the stage now of finding and reconciling differences in the plans (or perhaps in the way I am interpreting them) the drawing with the black circles shows where, when I combine the drawings of several parts I get, in one case, bolt holes that don't align, and in the other, a cross member that comes out a little to wide for the space between the frames.

I'm going to have to refer to the dimensions I took off the real engine and figure out which drawing to believe.

[kentyler]

last night I got most of one frame rail done

since the plans are bigger than my scanner i have to use 2 scans and then "join" them the red line represents the element on the frame that I overlaid to fit the 2 scans together

this is the side and top and bottom of the frame, which is a big channel iron

you can see that there is a slot cut into the frame right where I did the overlap

[Darwin]

This is going to be a challenging test build, to say the least. A new trick for assembling paper models...I hope this old dog is up to it. I'd better check my stock of bamboo skewers and brush up on my sprue-stretching technique. Just may have to build one of the p*****c kits cluttering up the workshop to make sure there is plenty of sprue handy for the stretching.

[kentyler]

darwin,
i've been thinking about the bamboo
since all the ends will be capped, it doesn't have to be round
in fact, if it was more or less square, and just a little oversized for the hole it would work better... the 4 corners would lock the bamboo into the round hole... sort of like a full length carriage bolt

so i think most of the holes can be drilled the same size, and the bamboo quickly splits into square "rails"

next step is to print the right rail and try to assemble it... i'm almost ready to send you a couple of sheets of plans

[kentyler]

figuring out how to make a generous supply of rivet and bolt heads will be another question

[kentyler]

managed to print and make a frame rail
the scale turns out to be about 1 to 14
this rail is about 1/2" high, the real one is 7"
have to glue 2 pieces together for the rails... i think i'll move the design to 8.5 X 14 paper
I glued the paper onto some .040 card and used an embossing punch to punch out the holes
I found I could make a light punch and check that it was centered... and then correct if
necessary when punching the rest of the way thru
i made sure and put some alignment lines on the three sides so that the bolt holes will
end up in the right position in relationship to each other
the paper channel had to be straightened a little after gluing
when i worked with real 7" channels we sometimes had to straighten them a little to