[REL] Kriegsmarine Wiz-Wheel templates released!

[jimmie]

Originally Posted by klh

Hitman,

Just wanted to say thanks, and to show you the final result. It's really no different than Puster Bill's except for the nut/bolt used for the axle, and I used a thermal laminator (laminated the clear pieces twice for rigidity).

Front:



Back:



Now to practice using it...

That's awesome -- and your ship rec book!!

[klh]

Just in case you didn't see this in the forum, I released a handbook on how to use the attack disc. Nothing original, but I tried to put all the information in one place for myself and thought I should share it.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=126824

[Puster Bill]

Originally Posted by klh

Just in case you didn't see this in the forum, I released a handbook on how to use the attack disc. Nothing original, but I tried to put all the information in one place for myself and thought I should share it.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=126824

Nice work. Just took a look at it, and learned a trick or two.

[Puster Bill]

OK klh, you inspired me to make another wheel.

My first one (pictured earlier in this thread) used cardstock and transparencies, and I used the self-stick lamination. It works fine, but it did get bent up a bit in my desk drawer.

This time, I did things a little differently.

First, I made it smaller. The new one is 6" in diameter. Being smaller, for a given material thickness it will be more rigid. Also, the smaller size makes it easier to take along. I play on a laptop, so being able to take the wheel along is a big plus.

Secondly, I used an Elmers glue stick to glue an extra piece of cardstock on the back of each wheel. That makes it more rigid, especially now that the main center wheel is 4 sheets of cardstock thick. I laminated each wheel front and back.

Third, instead of just laminating the transparencies twice (once back, once front), I did it four times (twice front, twice back). They came out pretty rigid. Not as much as I would have liked, but acceptable.

I still used the push-pin technique, but I must admit I am pretty much at the limit for that technique: The wheel is now so thick that I couldn't use a pin with the tip cut off. I had to use a pin with the tip intact, and hammer it into a de-pinned head.

I plan on changing that at some point, however. I'm thinking of either doing what you did with a small bolt and a nut, or seeing if a rivet of some kind would work. I haven't made up my mind yet.

It took me roughly an hour and a half to do the whole thing.

When I get a chance, I will post a comparison picture of the old and new wheels.

[Puster Bill]

OK, as promised, here is the new wheel compared to the old:



Notice how the inner wheel on the new small one is thicker.

[NealT]

Goodness me...I wish I had one of those...

[Puster Bill]

Originally Posted by NealT

Goodness me...I wish I had one of those...

Make one. It isn't hard.

Go down to the local Wal*Mart and buy some inkjet cardstock, some inkjet transparencies (not absolutely necessary), and some self-stick laminating sheets*.

Should cost you all of $10 or $15.

Download Hitman's file, print it out, and assemble it. Pretty simple. There really is no excuse not to have one.

It makes manual targeting *MUCH* more accurate, at least it did for me.

*You can thermally laminate them also. If you have a thermal laminator, you're all set, and it will make a somewhat stiffer and more durable wheel. You could also have Staples do it for you.

[NealT]

My problem is I am not 'mechanically inclined' if you know what I mean.

So far, in the last 6 months, I have broken perfectly good car, DVD player, microwave, and dryer...not to mention electric razor, and who knows what all else...

'sigh'.

[Puster Bill]

Originally Posted by NealT

My problem is I am not 'mechanically inclined' if you know what I mean.

So far, in the last 6 months, I have broken perfectly good car, DVD player, microwave, and dryer...not to mention electric razor, and who knows what all else...

'sigh'.

Unless you are so totally inept that you can't use scissors, that's no excuse.

[Abd_von_Mumit]

Hitman - could it be possible to get the source file containing the curves? It would let me scale it without fear of getting pixel-staircase on some lines (I keep getting them now; softening doesn't help a lot as it causes intolerable blur). I'd really appreciate that.

Also I have some size problems. The inside wheels seem to be a bit too little after printing - they don't fill the gaps in the bigger wheels, leaving like a 1-2 mm free space. I'm not a graphics magician, but I think I've did the scaling in a proper way (all the pics scaled down with the same factor, in both horizontal and vertical dimensions, proportionally).

Any tips?

[Puster Bill]

Originally Posted by Abd_von_Mumit

Hitman - could it be possible to get the source file containing the curves? It would let me scale it without fear of getting pixel-staircase on some lines (I keep getting them now; softening doesn't help a lot as it causes intolerable blur). I'd really appreciate that.

Are you scaling them up, or down? I scaled mine down with no problems.

My original wheel came out to 16 cm in diameter, the new smaller one is about 12.5 cm in diameter. I made a temporary 'pocket version' of the back side (the slide rule/"omnimeter" part, and it was usable (in good light!). I didn't seem to get any aliasing.

Originally Posted by Abd_von_Mumit

Also I have some size problems. The inside wheels seem to be a bit too little after printing - they don't fill the gaps in the bigger wheels, leaving like a 1-2 mm free space. I'm not a graphics magician, but I think I've did the scaling in a proper way (all the pics scaled down with the same factor, in both horizontal and vertical dimensions, proportionally).

Any tips?

That I can't really help you with. I've had the same sort of effect, except that my printer 'drags' ever so slightly with cardstock, so that the wheels are *VERY* slightly out of round. This is less of a problem the smaller I go, of course. It is very annoying and noticeable when I try and make a full size circular slide rule.

My best advice is to either be a little generous in cutting with the scissors, or go ahead and fiddle with the sizes of the inner wheels, scaling them *SLIGHTLY* larger (it won't affect the accuracy).

[Hitman]

Hitman - could it be possible to get the source file containing the curves? It would let me scale it without fear of getting pixel-staircase on some lines (I keep getting them now; softening doesn't help a lot as it causes intolerable blur). I'd really appreciate that.

Also I have some size problems. The inside wheels seem to be a bit too little after printing - they don't fill the gaps in the bigger wheels, leaving like a 1-2 mm free space. I'm not a graphics magician, but I think I've did the scaling in a proper way (all the pics scaled down with the same factor, in both horizontal and vertical dimensions, proportionally).

Any tips?

The sources files is what you have already. I worked using directly the BMP However, rescalling with any decent graphics editing program shouldn't give you bad results. If you don't have one and don't want to buy one, just download a free trial version of Photoshop, it will be OK

[Abd_von_Mumit]

Originally Posted by Hitman

The sources files is what you have already. I worked using directly the BMP However, rescalling with any decent graphics editing program shouldn't give you bad results. If you don't have one and don't want to buy one, just download a free trial version of Photoshop, it will be OK

Oh, I see, will have to retry the procedure. I used my mate's Photoshop, I'll have to ask her for some assistance. Thanks for the answer.

[Puster Bill]

While we are on the subject, I have a suggestion to "improve" the slide rule/omnimeter portion of your most excellent wheel, Hitman.

On several occasions, I have found that my relative bearings between two different observations had less that 6 degrees of difference, and this can cause a problem with using a standard sine scale.

Usually, I see this happen when the target is moving slowly, or I am at a very small AOB relative to the target, or because of circumstances (low visibility, an escort heading towards me, etc.) I have to use a small time period between sightings.

When this happens, I pause the game and go through the tedious procedure of converting the ranges from meters to yards so that I can use the US IS-WAS/omnimeter that you made. It has an 'ST' scale that allows you to use two observations with less than 6 degrees of difference.

If I don't have my US version with me, I have to either do the whole procedure on my linear rule (which introduces more possibility of error: I sometimes screw up the speed calculation), or more likely I try to guesstimate where the particular ST value would be on the S scale.

The other advantage of having an ST scale on the wheel would be that it would allow you to do fully manual range estimates. In other words, you look up the mast height, use the reticle to find the angle, then use the wheel to figure the range, which you would enter manually into the vorhaltrechner. You can't do that with the US version, though, because the scale is very rudimentary and only shows whole degrees.

Just something to think about.

[Heibges]

Someone could start a business, making these and selling them to other kaleun's.

Hint hint.

Nudge Nudge.