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//-->N Scale Modellerwww.nscale.org.auIssue 14 ~ March 2013Issue 1 4 ~ March 201 3________________________________________________________________________________www.nscale.org.au1N Scale ModellerEditorialWelcome to the 14th issue of N Scale Modeller.The2013 N Conventionis now only a few weeks away.Apparently there has been a good number of registrations to date. Besides learningthe latest techniques in modelling, conventions are a great opportunity to meet newmodellers and to renew old friendships.More information about the 2013 National N Scale Convention begins on Page 16.Some interesting new structure kits by Olddog Authentic Model Railway Buildingshave recently been released. See the Product News section in this issue.As always, we welcome your feedback and the submission of any articles or picturesthat can be shared with the railway modelling community.The publication team members look forward to meeting many of the NSM readers atthe N Convention.Publication Team: Graham CocksDavid BromagePublished by nscale.org.auEmail ............................................ nsm@nscale.org,auArticles may not be copied or reprinted without the permission of therespective authors. Original articles in this publication may not becopied or reprinted without the permission of the publisher. Thepublisher accepts no responsibility for articles submiited bycontributors.Modellers wishing to submit articles should take note of the followingtechnical requirements. Photos must be forwarded as separate items:1. Text may be submitted using Word or plain text by email if it's a shortitem. We can do the formatting.2. Photos to be in JPG (JPEG) format. 300dpi or better. We can reducethe size if necessary.3. Text should indicate where a photo should be inserted, eg (Fig 1placed here).Assistance with article preparation is available from the Team ifrequired.While advertising is not accepted as such, N Scale Modeller welcomesrelevant product news from manufacturers.All correspondence and submissions is via the publication's emailaddress: nsm@nscale.org.auContentsHigh Definition Camera Car .............................................. 3 Product News ...................................... 11 The N Convention Logos .................... 1 8Bachmann 'Spectrum' Norfolk & Western Class J 4-8-4 ... 5 Using N Convention Decals ................ 1 5 Exhibitions ........................................... 1 9A Massive Pair ................................................................. 1 0 201 3 National N Scale Convention ..... 1 6 Upcoming Exhibitions .......................... 202Cover:________________________________________________________________________________www.nscale.org.auIssue 1 4 ~ March 201 3Head on view from the camera car while in motion, taken on the T-TRAK layout at the2013 Sandown exhibition.Model train camera cars are not new and these days tiny cameras are available forunder $100. The problem is they are not always great quality, quite often lowresolution. This article describes one way of recording high definition video from amoving N scale train.My camera car uses a Replay XD1080 camera. This camera is designed mainly for usein professional motor sports and extreme sports where it can be attached to a car ormountain bike without being obtrusive or adding much weight. It is very similar to theGoPro Hero line of sports cameras but with a far better form factor for mounting on atrain. They cost around $300 which did seem like a lot at first. That's why I went with acheaper Chinese camera for my first attempt. But I really had my heart set on makinghigh quality on board video happen, plus I use the camera on my bicycle as well. Youonly need to think back a few years when some modellers were prepared to pay $300or more for an on board camera that transmitted grainy, low resolution video to anearby television.The Replay XD1080 is 95mm long and 28mm in diameter at its widest point. It weighsabout 90 grams. This is slightly larger and heavier than some other cameras, butremember this one will record professional quality high definition video. The battery willlast 110 minutes and generally takes 2­3 hours to charge. There are several modesavailable, the most useful being 1080p and 720p (wide screen), The viewing angle isabout 110° in 1080p and 135° in 720p. I generally use 1080p for video. Everythingdefaults to NTSC format at 30 or 60 frames per second, but it can record in PAL formatat 25 or 50 frames per second. The camera has a high quality internal microphone.The setup is very straightforward. The buttons on the back are for power,starting/stopping recording and for changing the video resolution. The video is saved tothe camera's MicroSD memory card and later transferred to a PC via USB cable. You canstream the video live, but this requires a HDMI cable to be plugged into the back andobviously this is problematic for a moving train! Make sure you have a fast MicroSDmemory card for recording, ideally a "class 10" card. The cheap memory cards soldonline or provided with mobile phones are usually only "class 4" and cannot write dataas fast as the camera is creating it. A 2GB memory card will hold about 60 minutes ofthe highest resolution video.The manufacturer makes an alternative threaded front cover that can attach any 37mmcamera optics. This is what I use to add the macro lens. I purchased a cheap set oflenses on eBay and tested different combinations to see how they looked. A +1 and +2diopter lens used in combination gave the best results. The macro lens makes the up­close details a lot crisper and adds depth of field that you don't get with just the normallens. The video taken was without the macro lens due to the clearance constraints andThe Replay XD1080 camera (right) compared to an earlier effort (left) using a cheaperbut larger Chinese camera.________________________________________________________________________________Issue 1 4 ~ March 201 3www.nscale.org.au3even then the camera managed to hit some low tunnels and trees! The clearance andthe macro lens would not be a problem in larger scales.The camera car was put through its paces on the T­TRAK layout at the 2013 Sandownexhibition. Some of the video is available on Youtube:www.youtube.com/watch?v=53GevnSx9X0(best viewed on the High Definition 1080p setting and full screen)While this is not the cheapest way to make a camera car, it is possibly the cheapest wayto record high definition video from a moving N scale train. Undoubtedly the price andsize of such HD cameras will continue to drop.The Replay XD1080 camera mounted on a flat car.Head on view from the camera car without (above) and with (below) the macro lensfrom the same location.About the author4________________________________________________________________________________www.nscale.org.auIssue 1 4 ~ March 201 3My brother and I got into model railroading at a young age when our dadbuilt us a table for an HO layout one Christmas. After a while the spare roomwas needed and the layout was dismantled. Fast forward 20 years and mybrother told me he was going to get back into model railroading, this time inN, and I decided to join him. That was roughly a year ago and my layout isstill in the early stages, but it will be a fictional subdivision of the earlyBurlington Northern (complete with plenty of pre-merger rolling stock) set ina dense alpine forest. The layout is being constructed on two 1x2m tables, butI am also gaining an interest in T-TRAK modules.I will continue developing the idea. I am currently working on permanently attaching amount to the car so the camera can be attached or detached quickly.(all photographs by the author)Issue 1 4 ~ March 201 3________________________________________________________________________________www.nscale.org.au5 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]