Office of Steam Logo_1

Author Topic: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit  (Read 1824 times)

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #15 on: July 09, 2021, 12:37:27 am »
The Base:
In this enlargement, the base turns out nearly 9 1/2 inches long, even the 100# paper is floppy in this large size.
    This is my first time working with mat board, it is slightly thicker than 1/16 inch and The mat board liner really did The trick to stiffen the base.
The color is better than my photo shows as I have Very poor lighting, I hope to add a good light for better photos.

No feet yet, but holding shape well now, quite heavy as well with all the mat board added.


[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

What the underside looks like with the mat board reinforcement, I only went for about 96% coverage to save time, but you can get as fancy as you like here, you can even ad ribs as the mat board is thick enough for edge glueing.
 It takes me 3 passes to cut thru it with a used #11 hobby blade.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #16 on: July 09, 2021, 09:27:01 am »
Update:

As this is an experimental build, I thought to try taking the reinforcement to the next level, I made a grid pattern of sorts out of 3/4" tall mat board ribs. I now can place a full gallon of milk on the base without stressing the base! This is overkill but fun to see what can be done. I believe milk is heavier than water.
  While the glue on the ribs was drying, I had the base weighted down to a glass cutting board I use as a work surface for paper model construction, this gave a VERY flat outcome, I very much want to run this engine on my aquarium pump and the crankshaft of this model has 4 bearing supports due to the turbine hidden inside the firehouse, I want all those bearings to stay in alignment for low drag.

The Ribs:


[ Guests cannot view attachments ]


I looked it up and a USA gallon of milk weight approx 8.6 lbs

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

txlabman

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3589
  • Location: Plano, Texas
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #17 on: July 09, 2021, 09:44:02 am »
The Big Enlargement of the parts is great.

It would also make an interesting wall hanging. 🤠

Thanks for the explanation on the tools.  I was wondering what you used.

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #18 on: July 09, 2021, 11:10:07 am »
The Big Enlargement of the parts is great.

It would also make an interesting wall hanging. 🤠

Thanks for the explanation on the tools.  I was wondering what you used.

The wall hanging is a good idea, this art is old enough to possibly be considered historical. Simply pin to a hobby room wall would look good, but properly framed would look pretty fancy! :)

Dampfopa

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 740
  • Location: Lennestadt, Siuerland, Germany
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #19 on: July 09, 2021, 12:17:26 pm »
Hello Ben,

a really great build report. I have printed out the template in the meantime. Until my build starts, I will relax in my armchair and read your report, especially the improvements you make. So, as I build, I need not worry much about how any problems that arise will be solved. Just watch and read. Nice...  ;D
Cheers
Jürgen
Dealing with steam is one way of having fun in life.

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #20 on: July 09, 2021, 01:37:10 pm »
Hello Ben,

a really great build report. I have printed out the template in the meantime. Until my build starts, I will relax in my armchair and read your report, especially the improvements you make. So, as I build, I need not worry much about how any problems that arise will be solved. Just watch and read. Nice...  ;D

Thank you for the kind words, I think perhaps only you and txlabman are following my build thread, but that is enough to make it fun and worth while!
  I am only a beginner at paper card models, some take it to an art form, but as this model can be made to run, and stationary horizontal steam engines are my Favorite, so I don't mind putting my heart into this fun project. My goal is to get it to run on the quiet aquarium pump, but I believe if well built I may be able to step up to my airbrush pump and actually be able to power some of the smaller accessories, this will make the build more fun for me than simply constructing a display only model. I am happy to have you guys along for the journey.

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #21 on: July 09, 2021, 11:33:23 pm »
Update:
Very little progress to report as I had to fix the wash machine today, however I thought I might share a couple paper model build tips.

The first is I highly recommend spraying your kit with some sort of clear art spray before you build, there are a couple of reasons for this, it adds a small amount of stiffness but the biggest reasons are it helps prevent warps in humid weather but even if you live in a dry climate, the BEST reason for the spray is when you make a sharp crisp 90 degree fold the surface of the paper often has tiny hair line cracks, (right on the fold line) these will show up white in color and the darker your model is, the more noticeable the cracks will look. These surface only cracks do not go thru the paper it is just the surface skin is separated from being stretched (you can try different size needle score tools to minimize this)
The fix for this is to run a color marker lightly along the crack and color it to match the ink on the artwork. Easy enough fix, but unfortunately un-treated paper will soak up the marker ink aggressively and bleed into the art possible giving a bad appearance. The treated paper bleeds very little or not at all so it helps a great deal.

The second tip is as you cut out your nice artwork paper parts the edges will be white so the model builder also "paints" the thin white edges with the appropriate color marker, this is just a simple swipe with the marker on the thin paper raw edge and goes Really fast but will make your finished model look twice as professional.
  Some guys get fancy and use watercolor colored pencils, these are special colored pencils with softer colored core and when you dip them in water you can kind of "paint" with them, the advantage is if you don't have the perfect color match you can blend with 2 or more pencils to get a really great match. (I just use markers)
  A more simple approach is on models that are supposed to look old you can just repair the cracks with some shade of grey! If you go back to the early posts and study the model built by thumb dog you will see he has a grey shade on almost all the edges even if  there was cracks to hide or not, this gives the effect of shadows and age but it really helps not having to match a color perfectly.

I have my base up on feet now but if you zoom the front of base the fold just over the word "vapor" along the front has a white crack I have not colored yet, this one is small but they can be quite large.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #22 on: July 09, 2021, 11:44:38 pm »
This is the spray I started off with but I am not recommend this brand, it protects well but anything more than a single light to medium coat will start to make the art look cloudy and if you really put to much on the art will look like a milk jug cloudy.
  The good stuff that museums and charcoal artists use to protect old documents and charcoal pencil art you can put several coats on and the protected work looks the same, you don't need several coats but you do not risk covering the artwork of the kit.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #23 on: July 10, 2021, 12:08:29 am »
In the upper RH corner I have reinforced that foot with the mat board making it very strong, you can see I have colored the white edges that will show (on the foot) with black marker but grey would have looked good as well.
The loose kit part in the middle was supposed to have run on a 45 degree angle and closed in the corner foot, I choose to leave it off (More like a Wilesco) as the mat board has really made the corner strong.
  The other 3 corners need mat board yet, but I feel certain the base will still support the gallon of milk after the feet corners are all reinforced.
  The little Right triangle in the very corner just helps keep the L shape corner nice and square.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Dampfopa

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 740
  • Location: Lennestadt, Siuerland, Germany
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #24 on: July 10, 2021, 08:05:09 am »
I'm still there, sitting in my chair and reading. 😊
Cheers
Jürgen
Dealing with steam is one way of having fun in life.

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #25 on: July 10, 2021, 09:13:31 am »
I posted the question about corner cracks to my paper model forum, a neat trick they told me is if you want to eliminate cracks, is just before you make your fold, you "paint" the back side of the part right where the fold will be with a q-tip soaked in rubbing alcohol, this temporary softens the paper and you make your fold, then the alcohol quickly drys and the paper gets hard again. This step is not necessary but may give a better looking model.

RedRyder

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4310
  • Location: Connecticut - USA
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #26 on: July 10, 2021, 02:38:16 pm »
Very impressive!

Until now, I did not realize such nicely detailed model engines were made from paper and cardboard cut outs.

Gil

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #27 on: July 11, 2021, 10:07:05 pm »
Update:
Finally back at the build table tonight, while the last 3 base feet have been reinforced and glue is drying, I wanted to make a good test of the alcohol trick to soften paper temporarily to make the folds.
  I had 2 identical spare parts and I used the same needle to scribe them, the one on left is alcohol treated and on right was dry folded.
  This is my Very first test fold and I noticed right away it took considerably less force to fold the alcohol treated paper! They both still have cracks but the alcohol treated is approx 80% better!
  The advice I got from paper forum suggested I was over scoring as well and I now believe this is true, I felt I needed a deep score as the 100# paper takes a good bit of force to fold, but now I feel with Alcohol I can use a 50% or even lighter score as the alcohol really helps. I believe with the lighter score the cracks will be 100% gone.
  I will start using this method for the rest of the build.

First test photo:

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Second test photo:
The new part on the far left was scribe with only 25% force of what I had been doing, I gave it about 3 fast swipes with Alcohol on back side and let alcohol soak in for 10 to 15 seconds and make fold....the alcohol is gone in under 1.5 minutes. The new test part has only 2 Tiny dots near center that the white shows thru, this is good enough for me but as I continue I am sure my technique will get better.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #28 on: July 11, 2021, 11:46:59 pm »
Here we have the base on its newly mat board reinforced legs, I only have 1/2 USA gallon of cream on it (this time) for weight as my gallon of milk is half gone.
  This test is actually more impressive to me as on the un-footed base the weight was resting on the internal ribs, in this test the center of the base is in free span....I really like working with the mat board.
   Also of note is the base does not rock at all on my counter top....I have a current production Wilesco D10 that requires a 1mm shim under one of its feet to be stable, I may have just got a bad one as other of my Wilesco engines have much more flat bases, but I feel that building on my glass cutting board has helped a great deal to get these results.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]


PS: Cold stone coffee creamer is delicious, which is why I purchase it 1/2 gallon at a time ;D

ShadetreeMotorcycle

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 855
Re: Olde Spanish paper toy steam engine kit
« Reply #29 on: July 12, 2021, 12:51:30 am »
I wanted to take a break from the base, so I moved on to the boiler, it's worth cutting and folding one of the end caps first to make sure you glue up the boiler body to the correct diameter, my kit enlargement required me to overlap my glue joint nearly 2mm(extra) to get a tube that accurately match my end caps. The more you pre form your boiler tube, the better the outcome will be.

In the photo I have just wet out the glue flap with a rolling pin, but you can use a wood dowel, you are trying to avoid the glue flap being a flat spot on your tube.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]