Bob, thanks for calling me a rookie. I somehow feel young again...

(sigh) Now, I refer you to the picture I posted above.



You'll recognize the parts where I did just what you're talking about. My circle template is green, as well. I have to say, you're spot on with the technique. It's exactly what I would do if I wasn't going to get 8 resin castings of what I need.
Besides, Stop, Look and Listen is starting tomorrow and I cleaned up my bench for the quick change to N-scale. The build the trucks are going on doesn't get officially started until August, so, I'm not rushing. I am going to knock out three or four S,L&L models and get back to this one. No worries. Besides, I want to take a bunch of Reference Pictures this April at IRM. Trucks, Motors, all sorts of things. You know the bookstore out there is a treasure trove as well.
'sall good!

Cuhail

Sorry, the rookie crack was only in jest{and I had a "mountain dew and finished my ratrod build buzz" @ time of post}...if your going to cast wheels, I can loan you one of my dragon or trumpeter railcar wheels to cast...as a peace offering of course.....

Bob, man, no apology neccissary! I took it like it was given, No worries. And no need for the wheels, I'm in on a deal. There's a guy casting a whole bunch for a couple of people. (I hear, don't quote me)

's all good.

Cuhail

Ah....so my scratch building mentor has resorted to cheating. Ohhhh the injustice of it all!
Actually since you chewed my butt out about the whole wheel / circle / round thing, I've been up to no good searching for plastic round stuff. Plastic soda bottle caps are handy. Also alot of hardware stores around here sell individual punches for around $2.00. I've found quite a few that were close to scale.....as in....1/35 1/48 1/72 etc. Just a thought. Still, if you want to cheat................

Hermon

Are you really bustin me chops about resin copies? Umm, since it's not a kit part, but, a crafted part, how is that not scratchbuilding?

Silly kit builders.

Just kidding. I'm rubber, man!

Cuhail

Hmmmm scratching the master... then making copies... that's still scratching... it's just working smarter... not harder.....

Yeah! What Matt said!

There are many facets to the scratchbuild. Wasn't it you that noticed that you found yourself looking at everything twice to see if it was applicable to a build? Are pen springs usable? Or, do I have to twirl the steel myself? (I have done this...)
Do you see the quaint dance the scratchbuilder has to follow? I use kit parts all the time. There is no limit, up or down, side to side to the "Scratchbuild". The whole kit, or just a part. Or no kit at all.
I am probably over explaining it, but, resin cast pieces are quite often used by scratchbuilders. So are aftermarket resins and PE. Totally normal.

Cuhail

Okay man, you just Knew I was going to agree with you right? Given the amount of work that is involved in casting (a load) vs the amount involved in scratchbuilding (a load and then some) it hardly seems like cheating to me, (especially if you cast what you scratchbuild).
I'm working on the boogie wheels for my 1/24 scale Sherman at the moment and you can be sure that once I get that first one perfect (about 5 hours so far) the rest are going to be cast. I wouldn't even consider a project like this one unless I planned to cast like crazy. The boogies are bad enough, can you imagine trying to scratch each one of the individual track link end connectors?
Wow!

Jim
Large Scale Armory

Hey Murphy.....and Matt.....I was joking guys.
I sort of thought it was funny that you spent all that time custom makeing those itty bitty little pieces and then some smarta** says you're cheating for using resin wheels. My bad. But then your first clue that it was a joke should have been that it came from someone with like 10 minutes total of scratch building experience.
Anyways, I was just joking....as usual. And I AM learning tons of stuff from you Murphy, and Bob, and KSO and many many others.

Hermon

It's all tongue-in-cheek.... hehe

Hermon, I'm Irish. I see humor in everything. I knew that you were kidding, but, I also saw an opportunity to pass on some wisdom. Thank you for that opportunity.
I never take offense at anything said in a forum medium. It's hard to judge emotion through the written word, soooo, I assume EVERYTHING is said in possible jest. It saves me the stress of interpreting.

Don't worry, it was funny.

C