Made on Epilog III

[David Fairfield]

Here's some of what I've been up to since my Made on Epilog II thread. Its a homage to Berenice Abbott, a photographer who compiled a well-known photographic study of NYC in the 1930s. Using her 1937 photograph of Stanton Street as a reference, I made this 3D rendition in 1/87 scale. This forum was a huge help, you guys are like my personal help desk and none of my questions go unanswered.

Almost all the parts and textures were designed in Adobe Illustrator and engraved and cut on my 35w Epilog. There's very little I can't do with that machine. Even the pink petunias are laser cut parts. Bricks are notoriously difficult to simulate in small scale, so this was also a test of laser cutting and engraving ideas. I'm especially pleased with the various brick and cobblestone textures, some of which were cut using the 3D feature. A lot of effort and experimentation went into the graphics to simulate the subtle variances of brick walls, and eliminate the software's strong "computery" tendency for perfection. There had been some argument among model builders that miniature brick cannot be made effectively by lasering, I think this piece is proof that they can.

I also made a Plexiglas display case for it on the laser, though I was unable to get a good photo of it. Unfortunately my photography washed out a lot of the subtle detail to the engraving, it looks even better in person! Anyway, hope you like it and maybe find some inspiration or ideas.
:)
Dave

Click 2x on the thumbnails below for full resolution.
http://www.vectorcut.com/images/stanton/bwnight2.jpg

[David Fairfield]

few more photos here

[Matt Sollars]

That's incredible. I'm usually impressed with laser folks that post their work....but this is incredible. Great Job.

Matt

[Frank Corker]

Fabulous work there Dave. Incredible attention to detail.

[Doug Griffith]

That is unbelievably awesome. That could be the smallest toilet on earth.

[Tom Bull]

Ditto from me

[Dee Gallo]

Dave, you never fail to amaze me. Just when I think you couldn't make anything more perfect and awe inspiring, you do! Great work.

:D dee

[Mike Null]

I've never seen anything to match it. Remarkable!!

Thanks for posting.

What kind of material did you use for the bricks?

[Paul Cavallaro]

Dave:
Your work is unbelievable! The attention to detail is fantastic. You inspire us all!

Paul Cavallaro
American Laserworks, LLC

[laura passek]

Good god man ,you must have a lot of patience to do all that work and layout. Fantastic job.

[Curt Stallings]

Dave,
That's the best work I've ever seen using a laser. You obviously have quite an art talent too. Well done!

Curt

[Steve Clarkson]

Absolutely incredible Dave!

[Ray Uebner]

Great job and great Detail. What scale is it. You could make one heck of a HO layout with that kink of talent.

[Stuart Orrell]

David,

That is really Great work and amazing detail! It certainly inspires the rest of us.

Thanks for sharing. You've raised the bar now! Can't wait to see more and how you take things to the next level.......whatever that may be.

[onur cakir]

Perfect ! Great details !

[Daniel Reetz]

What is your base material for this model?

[Dave Johnson29]

David,

I am at a total loss for words. You are an unbelievably talented and skilled person.

[Anthony Scira]

Man that is beautiful !

Your hands, creativity and attention to detail had more to do with that outcome than the laser.

[Juliana Costa]

This is just amazing ! The Details, wow, i basically build models and let me tell u, they arent even close to the perfection of ur work ! Fantastic ! Keep up the good work !

[Mitchell Andrus]

All I can say is.... WOW!

....and, I wish I had that kind of time.
.

[Bill Cunningham]

That's Freakin amazing!!! I wish my attention span was half, what would be needed to do detail like that...Oooo Look a squirrel.....

[Larry Bratton]

Drop Dead Gorgeous!! Unbelievable!

[Cliff Patrick]

Fantastic Job Dave. That is just awesome!

[Gary Nicholls]

That is just awesome. Thanks for showing.

[Roy Nicholson]

That is absolutely amazing.

Well done.

Regards


Roy N.

[Sergio Arze]

Truly AMAZING!! craftsmanship, congratulations.

[David Fairfield]

Hey Everyone;

Thanks for all the replies! Its very gratifying to get positive feedback from laser users who have an eye for cutting/engraving, and know what's really involved in getting from raw material to finished parts. I'll show your comments to my Mom, that will make her day :D

Base material is mostly birch plywood. I use "Laserboard" material for delicate parts like the fire escapes. Its a very strong cardstock material, ideal for laser cutting. This is sold by Northeast Scale Lumber in MA. Wish I knew what its industrial name/application was, I'd like to find the stuff in different thicknesses.

Its funny, I don't have a lot of patience. I hate waiting for glue or paint to dry, sometimes I get into a little trouble because I didn't wait. I think the key to miniature work is keeping high standards, and not accepting something that isn't as good as it might be. Brutal as it might be, for every finished part in this project, there's probably two others in the trash pail. Trial and error is a big part of my method. Fortunately material costs in this scale are minimal.

Thanks again for the positive reviews, doing this wouldn't be any fun without it. :)

Dave

[Darryl Jacobs]

Dave, this work is simply amazing as usual!!

Have you ever thought of kitting these prototypes out to the Model RR community? You have the prototype done, that is the hardest part I find.

As well, do you have any construction photos that you could share. it would be really interesting to see how you layered everything together to give it the depth and richness of the models.

WOW!

Darryl

[Garrick David]

How did you do the layout (what program did you do it on)?

[Chuck Patterson]

Wow, I am impressed!!! Good Job!!!

[Liesl Dexheimer]

OMG that's insane! What a great job!! You must have a lot of patience too!!

[David Fairfield]

Patience is a virtue, but its not one of my virtues. I like lasering, its a thousand times faster than using an X-acto knife.

Layout is all done in Adobe Illustrator, no CAD no 3D, all 2D using my head and a calculator to factor for material thickness, kerf, geometry etc. I'm probably well behind the curve there, but I'm too busy using what I've got to learn anything new. :o

On making kits, I do have a few kits for sale in HO. But kitting something like this would require me to write and illustrate a novel-length instruction sheet. I could do it, but considering the time investment, it just wouldn't pay.

Thanks again for all the nice feedback. I hope I've given some inspiration. Looking forward to finishing and posting my next project.

Dave

[Tom Buzz Bernard]

David, You have heard it over & over, but I have to add my accolades for remarkable detailed work. You are an artist!