I'm new in this forum and I wanted to exchange some experience with the experts among you on how to scratch-build metallic train models made of copper, brass, steel, aluminum, etc.
On the attached photos you see the bodyshell and underframe of a hi-nose hood diesel locomotive, which is one of my very first challenging experimental project without bending machine and without any other tooling machinery.
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I've made a few cars...but none lately...
http://www.littleglitterhouses...ingTinTrainCars.aspx
Howard...florida...USA...
I've made a few cars...but none lately...
http://www.littleglitterhouses...ingTinTrainCars.aspx
Howard...florida...USA...
A small dill press with clamps or a vice to hold the material would probably help with your hole drilling problem.
Bill
A center punch mark may also help since most drills are not actually pointed on the end and will "walk" before they bite into a the material.
btw, that is a nice little diesel you are working on. It would look great on a pair of Marx E unit diesel trucks!
I posted a scratch tinplate (well, brass) 0-6-0 on the 3-rail scale forum. I have zero problems drilling .020 brass with decent, sharp drills. A center-pop is essential. For me, so is a magnifier lamp. I use the inexpensive Harbor Freight small cast iron drill press - I own four of them installed in various places.
I'm new in this forum and I wanted to exchange some experience with the experts among you on how to scratch-build metallic train models made of copper, brass, steel, aluminum, etc.
On the attached photos you see the bodyshell and underframe of a hi-nose hood diesel locomotive, which is one of my very first challenging experimental project without bending machine and without any other tooling machinery.
Very cool 
A year or so ago I mentioned why someone hasn't made a tinplate modern diesel....well I guess someone has !
Very cool diesel! I haven't scratchbuilt any tinplate, although I do the occasional repair and kitbashing projects. As far as making holes in tinplate, I would recommend this punch from Grizzly.
This raises a question I've been wondering about for a while. Does anybody know of a punch to make the slots for the tabs that hold tinplate together? There are lots of round punches around, or you can use a drill, but I've never seen one to make the slots.
...
btw, that is a nice little diesel you are working on. It would look great on a pair of Marx E unit diesel trucks!
on the subject of punching window openings in tinplate and aluminum...it can be done with simple tools...wood chisel, hardwood block (with end grain up) and hammer...(probably won't want to use you good woodworking chisel though)...a block of plumber's lead can be used in place of the hardwood...
howard...florida...USA...
Old school way to punch slots. Practice on scrap tin first. The die is the jaws of vise. The punch is the sharpened screwdriver tip. A hammer drives the punch. The trick is to line up the position of the slot location over the space between the jaws. I'm sure a jig to align the punch could be made. But I never made one.
howard...florida...USA...
on the subject of punching window openings in tinplate and aluminum...it can be done with simple tools...
You might want to check this out....
http://www.littleglitterhouses...ingTinTrainCars.aspx
This is a great site with a lot of information...it includes how to videos
Heres another building I never quite finished..the entrance to a Walgreen's store. The printing is paper and brick, windows etc are found at the "glitter house" site whose link I posted. The paper is coated with a semi-gloss sealer to give it that tin look.
Something I made a few years ago - check http://www.tinplatetimes.com/M...01694/DuthieIVES.htm
Colin, I remember your article. That was some fine work you did there! It is a great representation. Great job!
Not really tin, tinplate inspired. I've been drawing structures on the computer and printing them out on cardstock to assemble. I call it "paperplate." LOL
That's impressive work 
!
Not really tin, tinplate inspired. I've been drawing structures on the computer and printing them out on cardstock to assemble. I call it "paperplate." LOL
NortonvillePhil,
Those look "spot on" too me. I like.
"Rick of the Gap"
Hi Beta NuSignma Phi
I am a Lionel Layout but I do have one Lionel Tin Plate Engine from my Father-in-law, from the 1930's and two Tin Plate buildings, that I shared with my brothers, when we were kids. A.C. Gilbert American Flyer, Station & Yard Tower. They almost look brand new. I have been reading this thread, also looking for How Too Work with Tin Plate. You have a lot of skilled modelers on this thread.
Good Luck with this Project & Cheers from Michigan
Wish I had the ability to scratch build my own tinplate.
One of the guys in the Standard Gauge Module Association has been making "paperplate" buildings using photopaper. The results look very similar to lithography.
One of the guys in the Standard Gauge Module Association has been making "paperplate" buildings using photopaper. The results look very similar to lithography.
Been spraying mine with gloss acrylic spray, but I think I might try photopaper for more gloss. How does the printed parts look?
Nice. Looks glossy even where it's printed. I figured the ink would kill the gloss.
That's a great looking idea.
How did you manage the curves on the top ,near the end of the roof towards the front ?
Also a little off topic, but here are some "paper plate" structures built by Standard gauge Module Association members
Compound curves in sheet metal are my nemesis.
Slowly progressing projects, mounting trucks and fueltank to the underframe...
Compound curves in sheet metal are my nemesis....
A while back I saw an article about the craftsmen who make the nose cones for Japanese bullet trains... since they're ordered in batches of 50 or less, it doesn't pay to try to build a die for each model, so they're made by hand instead, usually fit to a wooden form. One craftsman was quoted as 'I learn something new about metal working with each one of these I make".
BTW, we need to talk, WindupGuy. I own a Robinson steam tractor I think your dad had for a while (my apologies in advance for the minor thread hijack).
Wrong in so many ways, but basically made from an aluminum water bottle.
Wrong for other reasons. Wood bodies on brass frames, but the toy like quality says tinplate to me. Looks better behind a MARX too. Sorry..Don't know what happened to these pics focus.
Just testing my scratch-built tinplate loco on our club layout...
...the O-43 Ross switches may be too tight for the 6-wheel-trucks, but on O-72 curves there should not be any problem...
...Kadee couplers still must be mounted...
...and the cab/nose must be re-shaped...
...and finally compared to a chinese-made loco...
Recently I was studying MTH's Leipzig tinplate station, (external dimensions and what is included in the announced price). It is a replica of Märklin's historic original. It is just the main bulding and you need to build additionally several parallel 40"...80" long platforms. So, I made a 'paperplate' mock-up before I produce a tinplate platform...
The language and the text style inscriptions can be changed according to the station main building, because it can be the altered Leipzig station or the Canopy station or whatever tinplate station building (original or replica)...
The platform consist of several queued modular pieces with various stone textures.
The German text is typed in Gothic or Fraktur font just to indicate a pre-WWII era...
The height of the platform fits nicely to the Lionel tinplate tracks...
The length of the platform can be stretched or reduced depending on the available space of the layout and also depending on the length of the parked train.
Since I could not find anywhere any complementary B-unit for my MEC E-3 A-A diesel set I made my B-unit out of sheetmetal...
Man dude you do great work ,always impressed !
Man dude you do great work ,always impressed !
Thanks for your positive feedback and for the "Like"s from other fellow forum members. I'm just experimenting with different techniques and hopefully the above photos inspire other forum members to try themselves something similar. What I like most are the fake rivets on the printed coating just to fool the rivet counters by creating false 3D effects. The next step in this project right after summer break will be to figure out how to build the underframe with mounted 6-wheel trucks and hi-rail couplers. I will report later about the progress of this and of further tinplate projects.
These projects look great!
Jeff C
These projects look great!
Jeff C
Thanks, Jeff.
Is someone else doing scratch tinplate?
Just wondering...
Not yet, but sheet metal work itself seldom goes a year without me building something, so it is inevitable.
I just have too many other projects to "clean up" first.
Are you printing directly on metal, or on something else applied to the metal?'
Closest I've come to a tin build, is a Marx Commodore Vanderbilt to Crusader bash with .040" (1.02mm) mirror stainless. Talk about a "hard" metal to work with, drill bits dull themselves looking at it. I bent up (ruined) a small metal brakes clamp edges with it too 
It still needs some finishing parts added, and freshened paint.
Here, Bruno is seriously guarding it from the Swiss Bandogg, named "Puppy". He likes watching my trains with me from atop his ottoman.
Are you printing directly on metal, or on something else applied to the metal?'
I print with inkjet either on glossy/matte adhesive paper or on adhesive vinyl sheet.
Then I clean the sheetmetal surface from greasy fingerprints or dust or other disturbing microscopic microbes.
Then I attach the colorful adhesive printout onto the clinical clean thin sheetmetal by avoiding bubbles between surface and coating material.
Then I cut carefully the outlined 2D shape either with scisors or with a sheetmetal cutter.
Finally I bend the 3D bodyshell of a B-unit.
Are you printing directly on metal, or on something else applied to the metal?'
I print with inkjet either on glossy/matte adhesive paper or on adhesive vinyl sheet.
Then I clean the sheetmetal surface from greasy fingerprints or dust or other disturbing microscopic microbes.
Then I attach the colorful adhesive printout onto the clinical clean thin sheetmetal by avoiding bubbles between surface and coating material.
Then I cut carefully the outlined 2D shape either with scisors or with a sheetmetal cutter.
Finally I bend the 3D bodyshell of a B-unit.
Are your projects O scale or Standard Gauge?
Jeff C
Are you printing directly on metal, or on something else applied to the metal?'
I print with inkjet either on glossy/matte adhesive paper or on adhesive vinyl sheet.
Then I clean the sheetmetal surface from greasy fingerprints or dust or other disturbing microscopic microbes.
Then I attach the colorful adhesive printout onto the clinical clean thin sheetmetal by avoiding bubbles between surface and coating material.
Then I cut carefully the outlined 2D shape either with scisors or with a sheetmetal cutter.
Finally I bend the 3D bodyshell of a B-unit.
Are your projects O scale or Standard Gauge?
Jeff C
All projects in O gauge , but not exactly in scale
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