N Gauge Model Railway - Episode 8 - Viaduct and Archway Shops

Documenting my journey into model railways.

Building a model railway layout in any scale is a challenge.  If you are not an experienced railway modeller and are coming at this without the benefit of many layouts under your belt it can seem a bit daunting.

What are the challenges when building a model railway

1. Buying Your Track - This is a key barrier to progress, as track layout and more importantly what track you need to purchase, is going to determine how quickly you can build your layout. 
   
   Fortunately, I had a few scraps of secondhand flexitrack which meant I could get a rough idea of how many loops of continuous running track I would need and how many points.  This created a shopping list for eBay and Aliexpress and I could get on with some other critical elements of the build whilst I awaited delivery.
   
   
2. Track goes on top of some things - Where my particular layout is concerned I have two items which need to be built before I can lay any of the 2nd and 3rd loop track.  This comes in the form of a viaduct whihc pulls double duty as a tunnel.  Fortunately, I have access to a 3D printer and so after a few hours searching I was able to locate an STL file which met my needs... somewhat.
   
   
3. Building to a Budget can delay a Project - Model railways are expensive things and if you are not made of money then assembling your critical items might need to be spread over many weeks depending on your budget.  This can be a challenge when you are buying lots of points or turntables which can cost a fortune.  This can introduce delays which slow the process down and can suck all the fun out of the room. 
   
   We can all fall into the trap of prevarication but keeping up the momentum is key and there are lots of smaller projects which you can bring forward at little to no risk to the project as a whole.  Smaller scenic items which can be dropped into a layout at the right time are a godsend.

3D Printed Viaduct and Archway Shops - Cults 3D - £3

Whilst I waited for all my track components to arrive, I needed to build the elevated section of my layout (loop 3) and I had enough track to test the incline and build the up and down ramps.  The layout is intended to be viewed from the front and I wanted something a bit more visually interesting than a grassy hill.  This meant I needed to set the height of the tunnel so I could determine the height of my track and then put in place the loop 3 roadbed.

I found the perfect STL file on Cults 3D and shelled out the princely sum of £3.  I then set about  printing out a couple of these sections on my Photon Mono M5 to test on the layout.  They are huge chunky models which benefitted from hollowing out and adding some drain holes.  However, even after doing this I ended up with quite a lot of trapped resin which leaked out slowly... very slowly. 

Without realising that the designer had created a Low Relief version of the viaduct, I sliced the fronts off in Meshmixer to create fascias for all my arches.

Over the course of a week or two I printed off several fascias and infills to create a curved section of viaduct which hides the tunnel.

Archway Shops and Real World Inspiration

Ottley's Coffee & Catan - Inspired by my colleague and fellow boardgame fan Stephen Ottley.  Stephen is our resident coffee afficianado and also runs the tiktok channel TableTok Games.  

Sam's Sounds - Sam Buckley is our resident muso and part time punk. He will of course now be referred to as the punk pickle.

Lejava Journeys - Tom Lejava is one of my longest serving colleagues and is never happier than when he is on holiday in some exotic destination.  A travel agent was the obvious choice and Tom has the dubious honour of having a name which is super easy to cut out.

Just A Girl - Impeccably attired Elena is honoured on this layout with a fashion boutique specialising in the latest street fashions.  "Just A Girl" is her catchphrase and fits this shop front like a glove. 

Neale's Yard - Sales Director David Neale got a discount warehouse on this layout.  If you look very closely through the open door you will see the man himself pushing the Ark of the Covenant into the back of the warehouse. 

Anisha's Snack King - Anisha's snack drawer is legendary and so having an international snack store was a perfect addition.  If you are the King you need your sign made out of gold... real gold.  I knew I would find a use for that gold leaf I bought from Aliexpress all those months ago.

Loop 3 

Determining the height of Loop 3 was a simple case of tracing between a couple of sections on all three sides of the baseboard scribing a horizontal datum to work to.  On the left of the layout loop 3 climbs up to meet this datum, tracks level across the back of the layout and then falls down more steeply on the right.  The road bed was superglued in place with some MDF supports.

I threw in some track and tested that my engine would fit and with a small amount of support trimming it did.  I then tested that the same fully engine could climb the incline easily with a rake of wagons behind it.  It passed the test sufficiently well for me to continue. 

Using a wooden curve template I drew on the rough arc that the loop 2 tunnel track would take avoiding any of the vertical supports which will form the retaining walls for the loop 3 track. 

Magnetised Scenery

This entire section of scenery needs to be removable yet tie into the layout at each end where the tunnel mouths (portals) are.  This would seem like a perfect task for those tiny but incredibly strong neodymium magnets.   The ones I have are about 10mm diameter by 1mm thick.

The magnets were glued onto small offcuts of MDF on the back of the viaduct facias and matched to magnets on the viaduct supports.

As you can imagine this was a fiddly exercise and I broke the viaduct several times.  I used some car body plastic bumper filler to strengthen the combined fascia structure.

Obligatory Running Video

N Gauge Model Railway - Episode 7 - Laying Track the Bob Ross Way

Documenting my journey into model railways.

The Wait is Over... Time to lay some track.

My Aliexpress order of flexitrack finally came through.  For £15 I got 5 50cm long lengths of really flexible concrete sleeper style flexitrack with gold rails.  Not a huge price difference to PECO track but when you are combining with other orders you can make significant savings on the shipping.

I did not skimp on the points and managed to pick up 2 x ST-5 (RH), 2 x ST-6 (LH) and an SL-E393F short crossing for £50 all in. 

Establishing Loop 2 and Casualties of Construction

Putting in the large Loop 2 was the first priority.  This goes all the way around the layout and through a tunnel / viaduct and allows rail traffic to move between the loops. 

This was also my attempt at laying cork underlay.  I bought a roll of self adhesive underlay (that's not going to bite me in the arse in a few years time, LOL) and cut 1 inch strips which I then cut in half about 2 inches from one end.  This creates a head and two tails which can be more easily bent to conform to the radius of the track. 

I joined two of the flexitrack sections together using the very substantial joiners provided and connected it to one of the RH points.  This established the first run of track on the left side of the layout allowing space for the platforms which will eventually service the station and passengers waiting at loop 1 or loop 2.  Things went swimmingly until I began fixing the track under the elevated section.  I could not get a tool in to drive home the track pins.  

With a sigh I proceeded to rip out the elevated section.  In truth, I was not 100% happy with it and it will allow me to custom cut a roadbase which conforms to the curve of the viaduct and provide a solid mounting surface for the points which will be needed if I decide to put a small siding on the left.  The right side of the viaduct is going to be getting a signal box from which the signalman can see the entire layout. 

The First Rail Disaster!!

Everything seemed to be going according to the vague plan I had in my head until I got down to the return set of points which reconnect Loop 1 and Loop 2.  I think I got mixed up and ended up putting them too low down on the layout.

However, as Bob Ross might say "It was just a happy accident" and chance purchase of the short crossing changed the direction this layout was going in a big way.  Gone was the idea of another set of 4 points connecting loop 2 with loop 3 and back again.  Instead the crossing would permanently link loop 2 and loop 3 in a moebius strip like arrangement.

I'm sure you will agree that this introduces a large amount of fun to the layout and saves me £60 in points that I won't have to buy.  This will also reduce the number of DC controllers I need to buy to have continuous running throughout the layout.  Double Whammy!!

Thanks to this unplanned change the layout lines I had marked on the layout could not be followed and so I strapped on my big boy pants and began cutting underlay and laying track in small sections.  I can always trim it down later.

By now I had pretty much used up all my flexitrack, but don't worry I put in another order a couple of days ago just in case.  

Obligatory Running Video

This weeks running video showing the layout in its new improved Bob Ross inspired shape.

The archway shopfronts have been removed for photographic purposes but don't worry they will make a return shortly.

N Gauge Model Railway - Episode 4 - All aboard for Upper Carrom

Documenting my journey into model railways.

It's high time that this layout got a name and it seems appropriate to call it Upper Carrom as it is quite literally above the Carrom Table.

Of course it wouldn't be a real railway station if it didn't have a railway station sign.  There are plenty of places you can download but I wanted to model one myself and the technique I used to make my badges and the famous Okey Dokey sign is a great fit for what is a very simple design. 

Use The GIMP

I have been a GIMP user for many years ever since Photoshop 5 and it is an awesome free alternative.  Yes it has it's quirks but once you get used to them it's pretty much plain sailing and has everything I need in a bitmap image manipulator / Photo editor.

On a transparent layer floating above the white background layer, I added the station name using the text tool making sure that this was 100% black.

The basic name plaque lozenge shape is easy to create using the circle and rectangular select tools to create shapes on seperate layers filled with 100% opacity black.  These were then merged together to create a single "half" which could be duplicated and flipped and then merged to create the whole lozenge.

The middle lozenge was just a repeat of the steps above.  Do not merge the full width lozenges together at this stage.  You shouls have 4 layers (from top down) Text, text lozenge, middle lozenge and finally the white background.  Hide the text layer temporarily.

For each of the lozenges, select the black area and use the select > shrink command to reduce the selection to an appropriate size then fill this with white.  Merge Down the sign lozenge onto the middle lozenge to create a single lozenge layer 

Unhide the text layer.  You should now have a black and white railway sign.  Export this for Tinkercad as a png no larger than 1000px wide.

Finally select in the lozenge layer select everything outside the lozenge using the fuzzy select tool, invert the selection and create a new layer above the white background fill this with black.  Turn off the layers above and export to png.

In Convertio

Convertio.co is a fantastic free web based converter tool.  Just upload the two png files and convert these to SVG.

In Tinkercad

Import each of SVG files you have just created as "Art".  Modify the height of the text layer so that the text and the border of the sign protrude protrudes out of the background.

Export your model as an STL for 3D Printing.  Import this into your slicer (it will be big) and scale to your needs. 

Obligatory Running Video

The first running of the newest addition to the ready-to-run rolling stock collection, a cheap aliexpress Canadian Government grain wagon... it's on loan okay. 

N Gauge Model Railway - Episode 3 - Loops, Points and Elevation

Documenting my journey into model railways.

As I mentioned in the first episode of this series, my wishlist includes 3 loops of track which requires a significant number of points if one is to return a train to any one of the loops.

The largest radius I can realistically run on this board without the whole layout  turning into a helix is going to be 12".  I printed out some tracksetta style gauges to help me lay the random collection of secondhand flexitrack.  I also made a rudimentary  curve compass out of a strip of hardboard to help scribe the radii on the baseboard and also to cut sections of track bed which will be elevated.

Where we're going we don't need... plans

I am not following any plan with this layout.  It's a case of design on the fly based on what track I can scrounge together.  In fact the layout has changed and will continue to change based on the age old philosophy of do I really need 11 sets of points!!

At this very moment the plan looks something like this:

Notice the addition of the first scenic items in the form of the viaduct fascias.  All will b e revealed in the fullness of time or when the 3D Printer has finished printing them off.

3 Continuous Running Loops

What is the point of a coffee table layout if it doesn't have continuous running.  My 3 Loops are loosely defined as follows:

Loop 1 (Purple) - A 9" radius (1st radius?) with the smallest points I have turning this into an oval.  I could really do with replacing these points for a matched pair of 1st radius curved points so that I can properly form the fiddle yard.  At the moment I am not confident that the southern tank engine can make a tighter radius curve.  Fingers crossed I can get the little black shunter working as it has a set of tiny little wheels in an 0-6-0 configuration.  Being a diecast body it's got some weight to it unlike the Southern which is made of plastic. 

Loop 2 (Green) - A mix of radii from 10" to 12" and traverses the entire layout from the staging area at the bottom up the left side and into a tunnel which runs underneath the viaduct and then emerges on the right side of the layout.  This is essentially a branch line and will be running a mix of small 4 wheel coaches (when I buy or make them) and goods wagons.  This will be the preserve of the Southern Tank Engine unless something better comes along.

Loop 3 (Yellow) - The largest loop (but not by much) and is a squared off 12" radius circle.  It takes you all around the layout rising on the left to the viaduct and falling back down on the right to rejoin the staging area bottom left (blue).  I have tested the gradient with the only working loco I have and it can pull a full rake of 6 wagons weighed down with nuts and bolts.  This will be the main line and hopefully I will be able to run larger coaches and goods wagons with articulated bogies.

Power to the People

With all this going on and the potential of having 3 simultaneous running loops and accessories, I am going to need to get some more controllers and isolate each loop with those isolating fish plates all the cool kids use.  This of course is going to be a whole other ball game, but I am going to stay DC rather than go DCC as I just can't justify the complexity at this stage.  However, there is nothing to say I won't change my mind further down the line.

Talking about Tracks but specifically making a point about Points

There are a lot of joblot auctions on eBay for collections of track and it is somewhat daunting to a beginner to try to find exactly what you want to fit in a given space.  Flexitrack is your friend as you can essentially lay track from point to point.  Track is so goddam expensive and I'm trying to keep the cost to a minimum, I'm not a Rothschild you know (only when I'm Bunty), so I buy what looks right, even if in the end it might not be.  False economy I know.  Especially when you don't know that PIKO track is a completely different connection standard to PECO... fortunately this only cost me £10 to learn.

However, when we get down to the tight transitions between the curves I think I might need to bite the bullet and buy specific radii turnouts.  Wouldn't it be awesome if each manufacturer published a set of photocopiable templates of their set track and turnouts so you could literally try before you buy.  If you know of any please do pop a comment in the section below.

Points Theory

Finally, there is some points theory to consider (which I am also slowly learning) behind designing a three loop continuous running layout.  I will cover this in a future episode as it is driving me insane trying to visualise what I need to buy compared to what I want for the layout and my available space.

Obligatory Running Video

N Gauge Model Railway - Episode 2 - MDF uh huh uh huh!!

Documenting my journey into model railways.

If you read episode 1 of my carrom table layout build then you will have heard me rant about how the "big box" DIY stores in the UK have fully transformed into soft furnishings stores.  

What you probably don't realise is the markup is significant.  Two pieces of 12mm MDF required to make just my baseboard would have cost in excess of £32 leaving me to buy extra wood for the side panels.  However, a whole sheet of MDF custom cut to my requirements by an oldfashioned builders merchant was £40 and left me with so much extra from the full sheet that I have MDF coming out of my ears. 

Building my N Gauge Layout Baseboard

With all my wood precut to approximately the right size it was a fairly easy task to trim the panels to final size and screw together.  The whole structure sits neatly on top of the carrom table and can be lifted off in case carrom needs to be played.  The carrom tabletop is hinged to allow access to the storage bin below and this can still be operated with the layout sitting on top although any loose items like rolling stock will need to be removed first.

What did the Romans ever do for us... The Viaduct

This week also saw the addition of the first scenic item to the layout in the form of a viaduct.  I purchased the single track viaduct model by Crafty 3D from Cults3D  and threw it on the printer.  

Whilst this is a scenic item, adding this to the layout early on is crucial as it dictates the height of the elevated Loop 3.  Working out the exact gradient of the incline from base to viaduct is going to be a process of trail and error, but I would like a train to be able to pass from Loop 1 to Loop 2 and ultimately to Loop 3 and back again.

I will not be printing these viaducts en masse as my viaduct is also a front for the Loop 2 tunnel.  I don't fancy carving a hole through 8 or 9 of these bad boys, to say nothing of the wasteful use of resin in printing something just to cut it out.  The future is here, there is a better way...

My solution is to make these into removable fascias, allowing me to extricate any trains which may have derailed inside.  The plan is to print out a series of these fronts which can be linked together to form a long fascia.  The fascia will be magnetized to stick to a solid shelf which will carry the Loop 2 track and allow wide access for said emergency train extraction.

This is a fairly trivial task to open the STL in Meshmixer and use a plane cut to remove all the unwanted model leaving you with just a thin fascia.  Taking this approach is doubly advantageous as it also allows me to spread these fascias around a curve.

Small Businesses

The viaduct model also comes with a selection of arch inserts ranging from shop fronts to a warehouse.  These will of course be magnetised to allow for easy swapability and add a bit of variety to the layout.  

The exact nature of these businesses remains to be seen and will be covered in a future episode.

Obligatory Running Trains Video

To ensure that I keep up the momentum it is important for me to keep a section of the layout in running order.  The layout is in my front room and so it is everpresent and what good is a model railway if you can't play with it.

Mega City Block Upgrade - Arduino Nano MAX7219 Display

A while ago I built a Mega City One Miniature Cary Case for my Judge Dredd miniatures and it was always my intention to have some sort of digital display which I could display random "in game" messages and to send instructions to the players such as ROLL FOR INITIATIVE.

The Components

Arduino Uno / Arduino Nano

I'd been itching to mess around with an Arduino microcontroller for years but never had the courage to just dive in.  However, there are so many people on ebay and Aliexpress selling ridiculously cheap arduino kits that there really is no barrier to entry. 

I plumped for an Arduino Uno Rev 3 Starter Kit which included a breadboard, jumpers and a whole pack of additional resistors and what nots.

The goal here is to make a small form factor self contained device so migrating from the large Uno dev board is essential.  I ordered a random Nano board from Aliexpress before realising that they come in 3 varieties with different board to PC connectors.  the cheap one I had picked came with an old style mini USB B connector and no lead.  Fortunately I had an lead from an old digital camera to use in the meantime, but I quickly ordered a bunch of nanos with USB C connectors for this and other projects I have in mind.  

MAX7219 8x32 Dot Matrix Display

The perfect lo-fi display for this project is a MAX7219 LED 8x32 dot matrix display.  It's small enough to work as a standalone unit and can take its power from the Arduino itself.  I bought one from AliExpress for only a couple of pounds. 

Wiring the MAX7219

I grabbed a bunch of dupont wires (these are the handy dandy push pin connectors which you get in your arduino kit.  I chopped one end off each wire and soldered them to the MAX7219 pins:

• VCC - Purple - 5v
• GND - White - GND
• DIN - Black - Digital Pin 11
• CS - Blue - Digital Pin 10
• CLK - Grey - Digital Pin 13
  

Wiring the Button

The button is wired into:

• VCC - Red - 5v
• OUT - Orange - Digital Pin 7
• GND - Yellow - GND
  

Entering the The Matrix Code

A bit of googling discovered the perfect code in the form of MAX7219 Message Selector on the Arduino Forums by user groundFungus.  Some tweaking later and I had a bunch of messages which I could toggle through with the addition of a button push on PIN7

// Program to demonstrate the MD_Parola library
// button select canned messages
// MD_MAX72XX library can be found at https://github.com/MajicDesigns/MD_MAX72XX
// by groundFungus AKA c. goulding

#include 
#include 
#include 

const byte  buttonPin = 7;    // the pin that the pushbutton is attached to

// Define the number of devices we have in the chain and the hardware interface
// NOTE: These pin numbers will probably not work with your hardware and may
// need to be adapted
#define HARDWARE_TYPE MD_MAX72XX::FC16_HW
#define MAX_DEVICES 4

// Scrolling parameters
#define SPACE_IN      A5
#define DIRECTION_SET 8 // change the effect
#define INVERT_SET    9 // change the invert

#define CLK_PIN   13
#define DATA_PIN  11
#define CS_PIN    10

MD_Parola P = MD_Parola(HARDWARE_TYPE, CS_PIN, MAX_DEVICES);

// individual messages in strings
const char msg_1[] = "<< WEATHER ALERT>> RAIN IN 10 MIN <> SECTOR 237 RIOT IN PROGRESS <> HOTTIE DAWGS ARE GOOD TO EAT <> BE GOOD CITIZENS LITTERING IS A CRIME>>  ";
const char msg_2[] = "<> ROLL FOR INITIATIVE>>";
const char msg_3[] = "<> GET UGLY GET OTTO SUMPS OIL OF UGLY TODAY!! >>";
const char msg_4[] = "<> HEAVY TRAFFIC ON THE BIG MEG CHOOSE ALTERNATE ROUTES >>";
const char msg_5[] = "<> THIS AREA IS IN LOCKDOWN >>";
const char msg_6[] = "<> CLEAN UP CREWS IN TRANSIT >>";

// an array of pointers to the strings
char *messages[] = {msg_1, msg_2, msg_3, msg_4, msg_5, msg_6};
byte messageNum = sizeof(messages) / sizeof(messages[0]);

int buttonPushCounter = 0;   // counter for the number of button presses
int buttonState = 0;         // current state of the button
int lastButtonState = 0;     // previous state of the button

void setup(void)
{
   Serial.begin(115200);
   Serial.println("\nParola pick a message program\n");
   P.begin();
   pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
}

void loop(void)
{
   if (P.displayAnimate())  // time to show next frame?
   {
      P.displayText(messages[buttonPushCounter], PA_CENTER, 50, 3000, PA_SCROLL_LEFT, PA_SCROLL_UP);
   }
   checkButton();
}

void checkButton()
{

   static unsigned long timer = 0;
   unsigned long interval = 25;
   if (millis() - timer >= interval)
   {
      timer = millis();
      buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);
      // compare the buttonState to its previous state
      if (buttonState != lastButtonState)
      {
         if (buttonState == LOW)
         {
            // if the current state is LOW then the button
            // went from off to on:
            buttonPushCounter++;  // add one to counter
            // if counter over number of messages, reset the counter to message 0
            if (buttonPushCounter >= messageNum)
            {
               buttonPushCounter = 0;
            }
            //Serial.println(buttonPushCounter);
         }
      }
      lastButtonState = buttonState;
   }
}

Debugging the Code

Unfortunately this particular code only reads the button state at the end of each scroll.  This is where an interrupt is going to be necessary.  The arduino Uno and Nano boards that I have access to are only enabled for interrupts on digital pin 2s and 3 and will necessitate a bit of a rethink in the code 

MAX7219 Case - Thingiverse: Thing 6809712

No one wants to live in a run down cyberpunk world with exposed wires everywhere, so I needed a case for the display with enough depth to house the nano and the button which would switch modes.

I found a simple MAX7219 8x32 case on Thingiverse which I could easily embed magnets into to affix to the top or side of my Mega City Block Storage Case.  Sadly this did not fit my particular MAX7219 board as the pins came out sideways.  

This was easily fixed with a bit of modelling in Sketchup and if you need a case and have side exit pins feel free to download this from Thingiverse using the link above.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 48 - Judge Dredd Shuggy Table

This week, I are mostly been printing... A Shuggy Table!!

Shuggy Table - Thingiverse Thing:6804108

Those of you who aren't Judge Dredd fans (there can't be many of you), Shuggy is the futuristic equivalent of billiards (aka pool) which is a popular pastime among the permanently unemployed citizens of Mega City One.

15mm Shuggy Tables (5p coin for size comparison)

Tracing its origins back to the original 21st century ball and stick games, Shuggy is played on a table with 22 holes which are distributed around the surface atop small mounds.  The object of the game is to "pot" balls into the holes to score points.

A complete run down of the rules is provided by Judge Macus L Rowland in the Wally Squad briefing 041204-2103 also found on pages 50-51 of the Judge Dredd Companion.

This particular 22 hole variant of the game was scaled for use in the print-and-play boardgame Shuggy Hall Brawl published in Issue 11 of Warlock Magazine, but it can be easily scaled to suit the larger Judge Dredd Miniatures Game or the many variants of the Judge Dredd RPG

Mega City Block Upgrade - The Okey Dokey Chef

Once you start pimping out your Mega City One Block Storage Case it's hard to know when to stop...

The Okey Dokey Chef Animated Sign

I wanted my sign to be an advertising hoarding and one of the most famous signs in Mega City One is the Okey Dokey Chef as featured in the Supersurf 7 race story Midnight Surfer (progs 424-429).  I was also inspired by the famous Vegas Vic neon sign whose arm waving welcomed gamblers from all around the globe since 1951.

He wold make an excellent starting point to learn about how to control low voltage RC servos with Arduino.

The Chef

I found a nice piece of clipart online which had the vibe I was going for and imported this into GIMP for editing.  

I cut out the "Chef's Kiss" hand using the lasso tool and moved this over into  a seperate file.  This is going to be the sweeping hand which we will animate later using a servo.

I added a speech bubble with some appropriate text coming out of the side of the chef's head. 

Preparing for Tinkercad

I have learned that Tinkercad is a pretty simplistic modelling tool and it does not particular like creating complex curved or polygonal shapes.  The easiest way to solve this conundrum is to simply create a solid black mask version of your line drawn artwork.  This can be used as a background and because both shapes are exactly the same image size, they will register perfectly together when you import them into Tinkercad.

When I was happy with both files, I and exported them (and their solid black mask counterparts) as a PNG then converted into an SVG using convertio.com.  Each line drawn SVG is imported into Tinkercad for extrusion into a 3D object using the same technique I used to create my badges and Index Card RPG Card Back Stamps. I use an extrusion height of 30mm.

The black mask variant is then imported and the combined shapes exported as a single STL.  This gives me an STL file for the chef and a file for the arm which can be printed on the Anycubic Photon M5.

The Electronics

The core of this project is an Arduino nano.  These little boards are stupidly cheap and really easy to start your coding adventure.  Seriously, if an idiot like me can do it then anyone can.

The bit doing all of the moving is a 9g 5v 180 degree hobby servo which I bought in a twinpack from Ali Express for £1.79.

This was superglued across the gap between the Speech bubble and the chef's arm.

The Wiring and Code

I used the excellent How to Control Servo Motors tutorial on the makerguides website.  The servo has 3 wires Red (5v Power) goes to the 5v pin,  Brown (Ground) goes to the GND pin and the Yellow (Signal) goes to Pin 9.

The code example given is perfect for my purposes, but I did need to customise the start and end positions for the hand as it does not need to run the full 180 that the servo is capable of.  I also added a 500 millisecond delay at the end of each travel.

#include 

Servo myServo;  // Create a Servo object

void setup() {
  myServo.attach(9);  // Attach the servo to pin D9
}

void loop() {
  // Move from 30 to 135 degrees
  for (int pos = 30; pos <= 135; pos += 1) {
    myServo.write(pos);  // Tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
    delay(45);           // Wait 15 milliseconds for the servo to reach the position
  }
  delay (500);
  // Move from 135 to 30 degrees
  for (int pos = 135; pos >= 30; pos -= 1) {
    myServo.write(pos);  // Tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
    delay(45);           // Wait 15 milliseconds for the servo to reach the position
  }
   delay (500);
}

Troubleshooting

In my naievete I thought that the Arduino nano would be able to power this whole project.  However, the little servo apparently draws too much power to run continuously causing the nano to reset itself and creates some erattic animation.

I tried to mitigate this by adding increasing the dealy to 45 thereby slowing down the move, but sadly this was not enough.  It would have been nice to know all this from the start as an alternative board such as an ESP32.  

Anyway that is another story.  In the meantime check out the final result

Download the Files

I have also uploaded the Okey Dokey Sign STL files to Thingiverse if you should want to make your own version of this iconic comic book sign.

Let me know if you found this useful or if you have made your own animated signs for your own games

Jessie's Prints - Episode 30 - Mr.Blobby

This week, I are mostly been printing...  Blobby Blobby Blobby

Mr Blobby - Digital Taxidermy

As soon as I saw this model I had to have it.  For those of a certain age growing up in the UK our childhoods were indellibly etched with the presence of Mr Blobby.  Spawned by a creative monster he graced (or rather bumbled) onto Noel Edmond's House Party on Saturday evenings circa 1996.  This was a time before streaming and there wasn't even channel 5!!  Options were limited and most people flocked to the most popular variety program of the day.  

Sadly Blobby could not be contained in just a 1 hour TV slot and soon there were comic books cartoons a pop song and Blobby took over the UK.  Of course this stratospheric rise to fame took its toll and overexposure led to a meteoric collapse in Blobby's popularity.  

Needless to say this makes him ripe for a Judge Dredd appearance.  I imagine that the residents of the Noel Edmond's Annex of Thatcher Block (Sector 55) are itching for a House Party with those Smurfs from the Jean Claude Van Damme block.

These are multipart minis with lots of options for arms and weapons.  I printed some test pieces at 15mm and realised that I was going to have a hella fiddly time gluing individual arms on the blobby bodies.  I resorted to loading the files up into meshmixer and created 10 different poses which I could then print en masse at 15mm scale.  Meshmixer For The Win!! 

Zorg Industries Wall Art - Thingiverse:4815231 

To further embellish my Mega City One Miniature Storage Block I thought I would add a couple of signs which can be magnetically attached to the side or top of the case.  This wall art was perfect when scaled down for miniature use.

Mulder & Scully - Maco3D

A commissioned print for my Dragon's Keep Roleplay Club chum Kat.  We are currently playing in a Delta Green (Cthulhu meets the X-Files) game as special agents and being the world's biggest Gillian Anderson fan there was only going to be one FBI agent she wanted to play.  

I was a little dissapointed that these models came as rar files and when opened I could see that they were designed in a statuette scale for multipart printing.  They are both very nicely sculpted and I managed to support the files easily enough.  Mulder also came as a one piece print and Scully came as a two part print with options for skirt or trousers which was also very nice.  I would have preferred a complete model in both skirted and trousered versions making it easier for 28mm printing but this is a minor gripe.

However, the biggest problem with scaling statuesque prints down for tabletop games is that they are anthropomorphically correct.  This means that they have spindly ankles, wrists and gun barrels which snap off at the slightest glance.  To try to combat this I made them 5% bigger in the X and Y dimension in the hope of fattening and strengthening them up.   

As you can see they don't look at all overweight.

Judge Dredd: The Case of the Miniatures Block

Regular readers will know that my scale of choice for Judge Dredd miniatures is 15mm.

I chose this scale because it is cheap, easy to paint and the legendary Laserburn Lawmen are a perfect proxy for my favourite era of Judge Dredd, the 80s.  The problem is of course as with any tabletop game storage and transportation.  Taking a leaf out of the old Kenner Star Wars playbook I resolved to create a miniature storage case in the shape of a city block which could add some play element to my games whilst hiding away all the neat surprises I have in store for my players.

The Framework 

Fans of Aldi (a German discount retailer) will be familiar with the wonders of the middle aisle, and one such grocery shopping trip resulted in me bringing home this cheap plastic crafting drawer unit.  This was swiftly clad in sheets of foam core on three sides and a carry handle printed on my FDM printer was bolted to the top.

Balconies

I wanted to extend play in 3 dimensions so the inclusion of some elevated features was essential.  These consisted of 25mm wide strips of foam core hot glued at regular intervals up the block.  Most of my minis are based on 1p coins so this is perfect for stationing high level snipers or as a launchpad for boingers or skysurfers.

Exterior Features

I always picture these smaller blocks as being the work of brutalist architects.  They are concrete monstrosities more akin to prisons than homes but they attempt to offer at least windows and air conditioning.  

I modelled a couple of "skins" featuring a door and windows which could be 3D printed and then attached to the foamcore facade conveniently hiding some of the wiring from the lights.  This could easily be made from mountboard, cereal packet or even thick paper if you do not have a 3D printer, but I have made the files available on thingiverse for free just download Tower Block Apartment Front Skins.

Greeblies

No sci-fi model is complete until it is festooned with greeblies.  Some are necessary to hide wiring but all of them break up that monotonous concrete facade.  I downloaded some air con units from Thingiverse which were then printed out and positioned in the space between the apartment skins.

If you are interested I have written a blog about printing some of the Judge Dredd Greeblies.

Lighting and Signage

One of the core features of any block is its plethora of crappy.  Battery powered christmas lights are perfect for this and can also perform double duty as balcony illumination.  These were strung in a zig zag pattern and then embedded in the underside of the balconies.

I then modelled some light covers to hide the tiny LEDs which added a certain amount of light diffusion aswell.

Block Name Signage

I then modelled a light box and frame to house paper block name signs for each of the blocks in my sector.  This is a versatile system which incorporates 5mm magnets and magnetic strip so you can attach the sign to either side or top of the case.  The hand drawn lettering I feel really sums up the art style of Judge Dredd during my formative years and they are super easy to knock out.  Here are just two

I also modelled the infamous Peach Trees Block sign which I printed in transparent resin on my Photon Mono 4K.  

The lightbox design incorporates hollow areas in the corners for the magnets to attach the frame (also magnetised).  The inside of the box is covered with aluminium foil to aid light reflection.  Signs are easily attached and detached in seconds as your scenes change. 

The Roof

The top floor of the block would inevitably invite play so I made sure to create a 1" grid in the roof which was then further emphasized with short clippings of PLA filament to create a grid.  

This was then painted and covered in some flock to make a rooftop garden.  The carrying handle sticks out a bit but it's form over function 

It's Magnetic Man!

Storing miniatures is the key goal, so it was crucial to make sure that they didn't move around during transport.  I stuck some A4 magnetic sheet into each tray which has enough holding power to stop my minis from skating around uncontrollably.  This is quite cheap on eBay and a good solution for smaller minis or ones which don't weigh much.

For those of you using 1 pence or 2 pence pieces to base your minis, make sure that you use only pennies from 1992 onwards,  These are made of copper coated steel and are therefore magnetic.  If, like me, you were using up your penny jar and didn't know this when you based them, then you can use thin steel foil or more of the sheet you used to line your trays.

Posters and Grafitti

No block would be complete without the plethora of posters and block grafitti.  For my block This is still a work in progress which I have detailed in a seperate article - Judge Dredd: Miniature Posters for a Miniature Mega City One.

Is it Finished?

Whilst this is always going to be a work in progress, I think it is sufficiently finished to post this article with some photos.

Video Tour

Apologies for the vertical video but this thing is pretty big.

Judge Dredd: Miniature Posters for a Miniature Mega City One

One of the things that makes Mega City One come alive is the signage.  Consider this my attempt to gather some in-universe posters to adorn my Mega City One Storage Block.

In the metropolis of the future 96% of citizens are unemployed (some even unemployable) and so the only thing left to them is either crime or consumerism.  There is always a new craze sweeping the streets and these things don't just sell themselves, they require the efforts of countless marketing droids to dream up the latest zarjazz ad campaign.

One of the things I loved about the Dredd (2012) movie was the attention to detail that the production designers went to in populating the walls and foyer of Peach Trees to make it look like it was really lived in and dystopian.

I think there should be a juxtaposition between the official Justice department signage which features slogans like "The Law is Watching You" or "Obey the Law" and the rampant consumerism posters of the mega corps.  It should feel like a living nightmare between the movies "1984" and "Idiocracy".

Posters on the Web

I've created posters for my games a number of times and even did one for Fratellis Pizza Truck Sign when I needed signage for the side of a Pizza Truck.

I did some research and found only a handful of ready to go posters such as this Psi Division recruitment poster by Miguel Mercado.  The Judge Dredd pages of Wargaming Girl's Blog is a treasure trove some beutiful 28 mm minis and scenery builds including this Get Ugly Billboard which is definitely what I am leaning towards.

Judge Dredd (In Universe) Posters

Cal is Watching You! - Who could forget Judge Caligula, the mad tyrant whose reign of terror brought Mega City One to its knees and sentenced an entire city to death.  Part of this story would form the basis for the Judge Dredd (1995) movie plot in which Dredd is framed for murder and sentenced to life imprisonment on Titan The locations may have changed but the sentiment is there and produces the memorable showdown with Mean Machine Angel. 

Cal introduced one of the greatest Alien species to have graced the pages of 2000AD, in the form of Kleggs.  They have to be one of my favourites, the crocodile headed, 8 foot tall monsters whose only thought was killing and eating raw meat.  I of course modelled these as one of my Mega City Gangs.

Get Ugly! - This mock advert graced the cover of Eagle Comics Presents Judge Dredd #25 (Nov 1985) and a bit of manipulation removes the Title leaving the gorgeous Brian Bolland artwork.  Whilst Otto Sump's Ugly Clinics are long past their heyday, the Ugly craze still has its devotees who wouldn't dream of changing.

Otto Sump is one of the most prolific entrepreneurs of early Dredd stories and the creator of the tasty and nutritious food substitute made from industrial waste known as Gunge.  

Gunge was an instant hit, being twice as nutritious as the current food alternative Munce.

I came across this Gunge image which was easily converted into a poster with a little bit of slimy text.

Otto Sump is such a goldmine of great imagery that it would literally be a crime to not include his tasty sewage in a can for my citizens to salivate over.

Sadly the Justice Department quickly put the kybosh on Otto Sump's culinary empire and outlawed the product and repurposed it for their own unflavoured Justice Department Rations.  Sump was unconcerned as there is nothing better for a businessman than having a steady stream of income from a Government contract.  

Uncle Umps Umpty Candy was another classic Dredd storyline and a pastiche on Willy Wonka.  Ump was just a kindly old man whose crime was to make candy which was deemed dangerously delicious by the Justice Department.  Uncle Ump ultimately wound up in a maximum security penal colony in space, far away from Mega City One and the many millions of potential addicts 

Homebrewed Advertisements

Ladies Night at Aggro Dome - The Aggro Dome is a popular venue for the upstanding law abiding citizen to vent their rage on a regular basis.  Why not have a good old fashioned bar brawl without the beer (because that's an illegal stimulant).  

Settle those neighbourly disputes in a safe and legal way by bashing each other over the head with a cricket bat.  All protective equipment available at a small rental fee.  Juveniles ages 5+ welcome.  

Bring your wife, mother, girl-friend or grandmother all are welcome and all ladies get in for free on Friday Night.

Landrover the Mega City Car You Can Rely On - The Land Rover City Car was one of the iconic vehicles created for the Judge Dredd (1985) movie.  

It came in a couple of different versions, 31 were made for the movie including 2 fully road legal ones.  Based on a Land Rover Forward Control 101 chassis.  I remember seeing one of these as a teen at the Model Engineers Exhibition where they had a Judge Dredd movie display featuring the ABC Robot which demonstrated pneumatic animatronics.  It was pretty freaking awesome.

I am still looking for a good model that I can add to my collection of 15mm Judge Dredd Vehicles so if you know where one is please drop a comment in the box below. - https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/cursed-earth-taxi

Boing! - An old favourite and guaranteed to keep even a Dark Judge at bay, The all new Strawberry flavoured Boing! is the latest craze to hit the shelves.  But don't get carried away kids as you can only legally and safely use Boing! in your local Palais de Boing!

Boingers featured as a random encounter in my last Judge Dredd game and I custom crafted a couple of the sproingy fellons out of christmas decorations.  They worked out really well and I definitely should make some more now I have access to a resin 3D printer.  Check out my 15mm Boingers

No Illegal Aliens - Brian Bolland artwork to the rescue.  This cool mashup of Judge Dredd and a Mars Attacks alien was for a crossover comic by IDW.  This is a great cover and lends itself really well to a quick bit of photoshop to remove all the text.  This will look really great stuck to the side of my Block Storage Case.

Mantic Games published a 28mm wargame in the Mars Attacks universe and I would love to print off some 15mm aliens to be one of my Mega City Gangs.  

All I could find for free was a mars attacks alien head and I think there are some 15mm Horde of The Things minis out there which would do a better job. 

Marty McFly's Mopads - If you can't trust a used mopad salesman then who can you trust am I right?.  This was an experiment in AI generated content using the Text to Image art generator Marty McFly's Used Mopads Poster.

Ignoring all the controversy, I thought this was an excellent starting point although it took quite a few prompts to get something I was truly happy with as a starting point for this image. 

I'm looking at utilising AI more during game prep in the future and its use in games at my regular friday night sessions at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club is on the rise.  I for one welcome my new robot overlords.

Emphatically Yes trousers are one of the many Mega City corporations who hare handpicken to suppy only the best services and products to the Justice Department itself.  Avid readers of 2000AD will of course recognise the name or more likely recocnise the name of it's owner Phillip Janet Maybe.  

PJ has to be one of the greatest criminal minds of his era and one of Judge Dredd's erstwhile protagonists having murdered his way to being a millionaire and managed to outwit Dredd on many occassions.  However, just like the RCMP Dredd always gets his man and PJ Maybe finally met his end falling from a zoom car and exploding at the same time. 

Killdozer / Landcruiser One of the greatest toy merchandising deals of my childhood was the 2000AD & Matchbox "Adventure 2000" range of diecast vehicles which came out in 1977.  This was the vehicle of choice for Judge Dredd's famous excursion into the Cursed Earth in a bid to deliver the antidote to the 2T(fru)T virus to the inhabitants of Mega City Two.  

This cross country road trip was inspired by the Roger Zelazny Novel "Damnation Alley".  It was a rip snorting adventure which saw Dredd's team face challenge after challenge and steadily get whittled down to just one man.  Along the way we saw the Jolly Green Giant defeated, Mt Rushmore destroyed and were introduced to greats such as the Doomsday Dogs, the Angel Gang and Satanus.  The Killdozer of course was destroyed fairly early on in this mammoth trek, but it went out with a bang and was immortalised forecer in thousands of diecast toys around the country.

Not Dredd but the Sentiment is Right

Better Dead Than Red - Sums up all that post Apocalypse War, Sov Bloc hatred that followed the almost annihilation of Mega City One back in 2103.  There will be few alive today that remember those times but surviving Pre-Atomic blocks still carry the signs and scars of battle.

These will most likely adorn the walls of the Black Museum or perhaps some long forgotten bomb shelter or underground evacuation center. 

With its roots in the Communist Red Scare of 1950s America, this is a classic example of Cold War Propagandism which 2000AD emulated so well during the 80s when the news papers and TV were all consumed by the threat of a Russian disctator with access to a nuclear arsenal.  Nothing changes much then...

Offworld - The off world colonies are out of reach for most of the inhabitants of earth as they don't meet the strict genetic requirements.  For others it is a chance to start afresh and make a mess of a new planet.  At least you will be able to live side by side in peace with those pesky replicants we all hear about.

I love that the corporate creations of Ridley Scott's Bladerunner and Alien universes have taken on a life of their own beyond the movie franchises.  You can see it all across geek culture in the huge number of T-Shirt designs that you can buy featuring the Weiland-Yutani or Tyrell Corp logos.  Other great sci-fi movies have followed suit with a plethora of tourism posters and fake corporate adverts for holidays on Tattooine or cab rides from Corbyn Dallas. 

Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave - The catchphrase of Torquemada the Grand Inquisitor and the villain of the 2000AD sister strip Nemesis the Warlock. 

When I was a regular reader there was a huge crossover with the ABC Warriors and Nemesis which was one of the first sightings of artwork by Simon Bisley.  The most famous of these robots being Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein who made their debut in the Pat Mills penned Ro-Busters strip.  I have a particular penchant for this pair who I swear must be inspired by R2-D2 and C3-P0.

Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave is one of those great lines which blends the sinister authoritarianism of Orwell's 1984, the quirky establishmentarianism of Empire and the British Ministry of War posters of WW2.  It's also a fitting title for 2000AD creator Pat Mill's book about the comics industry he helped to form.

12 Monkeys - If you haven't seen this fantastically trippy Terry Gilliam movie starring Bruce Willis then you should.  A central theme to the story being the proliferation of the mysterious 12 monkeys posters and grafitti in a pre-apocalypse New York.  Who is posting them up? What are the 12 monkeys? 00 What does it all mean?  The story unravels piece by piece as you are convinced that the main character is losing his mind as his reality and his future crumble.

Terry has always been a visionary when it comes to dreaming up dystopian futures.  My favourite has to be the amazing Brazil.  I should really get around to creating a storyline around guerilla plumber extraordinaire and bane of Central Services Harry Tuttle.

Download These Judge Dredd Mini Posters and More

If you need some quirky Judge Dredd Posters for your game and don't want to spend days scouring the internet like I did...  I've put all these and more together for in one Judge Dredd Miniposters JPG below which you can download below.

If you want me to make more posters or find some great Judge Dredd poster images to share, please feel free to comment in the box below.  Enjoy