Scratch building with Inkscape 1: The absolute basics 

Thank you for your comment! It’s always a balancing act between what is useful for as many people as possible but I’m glad that my focus on beginners worked for you. If you have any Inkscape questions please let me know and I can incorporate them into a future video.

Thank you so much Peter. The timing is good. I have a bit of Inkscape in tomorrow's video. I am still trying to decide the best approach for a series of (very) short Inkscape videos that will help as a learning path for newbies interested in the very basics up to the completion of a simple building. Maybe with downloadable files as we go. If you have any suggestions/ideas, or anything along those lines, please drop me a line at hello@chandwell.uk

There are more on my channel and I intend to make lots more too - thank you!

Thank you. And welcome to Chandwell!

You're very welcome! I hope you find it useful.

Thank you Martin! I owe everything I have made to Inkscape - it's an astonishing piece of software!

@@Chandwell If you could improve one aspect of the software, what would you fix or add?

Since you asked! :) I find the snapping can 'feel' buggy, especially when dragging the resize handles of rectangles... they can suddenly jump to bizarre locations and be impossible to resize without turning snapping off. I've never worked out if it's my misunderstanding of how it's meant to work, or if it is buggy. And sometimes, definitely clicking on one thing will select the thing beside it. I assume it's when you're zoomed out, it's making the best guess as to what you are probably clicking on, but when it gets it wrong it can be a pain. But still.. these are definitely not gripes... I love the software!

Glad it was helpful! Go for it! I was fancying doing a TT scale diorama myself at some point.

Thanks for watching - means a lot.

Thank you! Good luck! Have fun!

Thanks so much Alan. I’m glad that the Inkscape series is useful to some. I’m working on the next episode at the moment. It takes about 30 minutes to edit 6 minutes of the video, and that is after recording it!! The next one is a long one, so it is taking ages! Hopefully it will be ready next Saturday.

Hello Rose and welcome to Chandwell! You will find a lot of scratch builds on my channel that start with drawings done in Inkscape. Please ask if you have any questions! Michael

Thank you - that is very kind. Enjoy using Inkscape. Once you learn its quirks, it is a very useful tool indeed.

Good stuff Peter. Have fun with your railway. Thank you for watching mine!

Brilliant Doug! Thanks for letting me know.

Thank you! So glad you got there in the end !

Thank you Chris - and not only for calling me a "youngster" at almost 45! Inkscape is not fr everyone, of course, but I am pleased you found it interesting. I've worked with IT for my whole life - the BBC Basic computers were just coming into schools when I was there. One computer shared amongst the whole school, wheeled about on a trolley. I already see my children learning to code at the age of 7, and marvel at the speed they pick it up. I already do feel the twinge of being left behind in my own time, as we all do, I expect.

Hello Chris, I don’t know your age, I am 64 and bit the bullet, took a few lessons on computer basics, I now use Cubase for music, moviemaker for animation work, and Microsoft office for writing, don’t let age be a barrier give it a go, by the way I still have to go back to tutorials when I forget things Alan.

Hi Alan, like you I am 64 but to be honest I am finding it difficult to spend any time up in the loft on the layout let alone do a computer course, maybe when I retire, that's if the government let me. Yes I have a large PC in my study and do virtually everything I need to on it, other than that taxing the old brain cells from now on it will be left just to the model railway. Who knows I might change my mind later but |I doubt it. Regards Chris

Cool! Thank you! :)

Good stuff. I am planning a proper series to take beginners all the way through to making a building, but I've not decided the best way to achieve that yet.

Great to hear! It can be a steep learning curve, but it's worth sticking to it. Good luck! --Michael

You're very welcome! Inkscape can have quite a steep learning curve, but it is worth persevering. Try to boil everything down to simple shapes - rectangles and circles, and you will start to make progress. I am putting a new Inkscape video up next week, so keep an eye out for that! Michael

Hawkmoon! I've been trying to contact you. I used to enjoy a particular video on your channel very much -- I don't know what happened to everything you'd posted, but could I trouble you, if you've at all got it backed up, to share with me your video of High Germany by Martin Carthy? I really would appreciate it.

@@georgethakur Hello George. I have only got the MP3 version now. There are other uploads on RU-vid though. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-S59lpPAu2iM.html is on. There is also a live version ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L5qk-TzwHsI.html. Enjoy both versions it is a good song and a piece of social history. Quite a poignant story though the tune is fairly jolly.

Thank you Alan. Give it a go and let me know how you get on... good luck!

More to come Mike! Thank you. Is there any specific aspect of Inkscape you'd like to see? Would you prefer to watch an end-to-end build, or smaller, more focused "how to" videos?

Thank you!

You are so welcome! I hope it is of some use to you! :) --Michael.

Thank you Tony!

Glad you liked it!

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful! I've not made an Inkscape video for a while, so it's definitely about time I did another one. --Michael

Thank you! And welcome to Chandwell! Watch out next Friday (11 Feb) for a long step-by-step view of how I use Inkscape to build a building. Michael

Thank you John! Inkscape is a wonderful tool and I use it all the time for everything I scratch build.

I am really happy to hear this. Thank you for sharing. Good luck with your build!

Thank you Clive! I appreciate the feedback. Is there anything specific you'd like to see in future? An end-to-end build, or shorter how-to type videos perhaps?

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you Tim. I have used Sketchup from time to time. It’s a wonderful app and so easy to use. I tend to think in 2D rather than 3D believe it or not, and find Inkscape preferable most of the time. Can Sketchup “unroll” a curved piece of roof into what would need to be a flat shape when printed? Michael

@@Chandwell Hi Michael, the big advantage of Sketchup, in my view, is the ability to work in full size, using real world dimensions if reproducing an actual structure. This can then be textured and scaled down to your desired scale. There is not the ability to "unroll" a curved structure in the free version of Sketchup but I am positive that this is possible using one of the many extensions available through Sketchucation, mostly free of charge. As a retired joiner, I have used Sketchup for many years, in particular for staircases, enabling an accurate 3 dimensional model to be constructed, allowing precise dimensions to be ascertained in 3d space. My first project is to make a card model of my own home, to test methods of construction, which your videos have helped with enormously. One other huge advantage, especially at smaller scales, is to be able to project textures (photos) of real life buildings onto your model, or even construct from photos using the Match Photo feature. Keep up the good work. Tim

Thank you Dan! I have made a few that are in a Playlist on my channel - have you seen them? I always intend to make more, but my current project is taking all my spare time! Thank you for watching! All the best... --Michael.

Thanks for watching - means a lot!

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful Samuel! I will add houses to my list. There will be a lot of buildings on Chandwell, and I will be scratch building most of them. Next Inkscape video will be on a small road bridge and then mocking up some factory-type buildings to go next to the river.

Good stuff, John! Give it a go and let me know how you get on! :)

Thank you Paul. I certainly can show some approaches to getting the textures assigned to outlines in such a way that they maintain their position and scale within the object and without leeching out - I will add this to my list of future episode ideas.

Really? Cool... I’ll have to check it out. I hope in a good way!!? Inkscape is an awesome tool. I also use Vectornator on the iPad. I do all my channel graphics in that, including drawing this class 47 logo.

@@Chandwell They were talking about how amazing your viaduct is. I found Inkscape because I was looking for something to compliment Gimp and Davinci Resolve 16, all free programs. It is amazing what is available without paying for Adobe.

Great to hear! I am so pleased that I inspired you to give it a try. Lots more to come, starting with a small bridge and then some mock-ups of some warehousing to go next to the river. Is there any specific aspect of Inkscape you'd like to see? Would you prefer to watch an end-to-end build, or smaller, more focused "how to" videos?

In this video it was no problem to follow what you were doing in Inkscape. So more end-to-end builds would be fine. I do like seeing the built results. Having said that, one basic thing that had me stumped for a while was how to draw a simple line with arrows at both ends to show the size of an object eg . I concocted something in a text box in the end but, there's probably a better way. Regards, Geoff

Thank you! Inkscape has quite a learning curve but it is very rewarding once you find your way - good luck!

Glad it helped! There is a playlist of all my Inkscape videos on my channel. Give me a shout if you can't find it. --Michael

Thank you! Michael

Glad it was helpful, John. I was expecting most people to be put off by this very specific subject. I've not used Addinity before, but I hear it's good. I use Vectornator on the iPad for all my channel graphics. I used it to draw the class 47 logo on my channel too - it's a wonderful app.

Thank you! Michael

Thank you!

Thank you Brian. Yes, it is similar to Photoshop, but whereas that is for photo editing, Inkscape is more for line drawing. I’d love to have the skills to hand-draw, but I can’t ever get two lines the same length, never mind right angles!

It's brilliant that you found this video and that it was useful to you - thank you very much indeed for letting me know! :)

Thanks William. Is there any specific aspect of Inkscape you'd like to see? Would you prefer to watch an end-to-end build, or smaller, more focused "how to" videos?

@@ChandwellI personally would like to see the more focused how to videos it allows my one brain cell to soak up the information

Haha. You have half a brain cell more than me!

Brilliant - really pleased you tried this with success. I’m not sure on the difference between PC and Mac. I was using version 0.9.something and only just upgraded to version 1 just before the video, and it opened like that, which was a bit different from the previous version. Your “click everything till it works” approach qualifies you as a professional right off the bat though! I’ll add something to the next vid about screen setup. I’m thinking the next tutorial will be about constructing arches. I’ve had a LOT of practice with that!

Go to object then go to Align and distribute this way it'll appears on left. I think it's needed for the first time

I've never really considered a circuit maker. I find the cutting relaxing, and perhaps the main part of my sense of achievement once I have build something. I like the ever-so-slight not perfect look of the finished hand-cut parts. I am sure my attitude will change though once I start getting arthritis in my fingers. :/ --Michael.

Thank you 🙂

Thank you Darren. I love making the videos almost as much as building the layout!

Go for it! It would be great for rocket making.

Thank you!

Glad you think so!

It certainly can! Tell you what... I will do a video in a couple of weeks showing ho me I used it for the control panel of Chandwell. Would that be of interest?

@@Chandwell That would be excellent if you could. I have the panel built and all the switches, leds, etc have just arrived, so I'm keen to get on with it. I can use the time to try and familiarize myself with Inkscapes functions. Thanks for your kind offer. Regards. Trevor

Today’s video has a segment about control panels, Trevor. Hope you find it useful. -Michael.

You definitely have so many choices when you make the buildings yourself. There are many examples on my channel. I just finished a five-month build of an enormous hotel and it cost very little. The software is free and you can get free textures. Printer ink is the biggest outlay. Thanks for watching! Michael

Thank you for your comment and I am please that you found it useful. You have interpreted the thing at the end correctly - I just packed the slices of curved road bed with some rectangles of card to pad out the width. 👍

This made me chuckle Ken! Thank you for your comment. I have done some other videos about adding textures (eg cobblestones) to buildings, so have a look out for those. All the best and thanks for watching! -Michael

On the Fill palette just under the colour and next to the opacity and blue sliders is a drop down with all the different blend modes. You have similar on the Layer palette if you want to affect everything on the layer. Hope this helps! Michael

Thank you John. I print to paper and then use glue stick to stick the paper to card. I think I have the subject for my next tutorial video! Watch out for it!

Glad you got there Justin. Yes, this video is quite old now and Inkscape has moved on a bit. I will re-record it one day, with luck!

Thanks Dave. Yes, I stick the whole page to card, or if I;m only printing a few components, I stick a rectangular slice to card, i.e. just one horizontal cut across the portrait-orientation A4 sheet. This is because if you cut around parts, especially skinny ones, then you risk the part bending in the process. I use a wallpaper seam roller to really make sure it's all stuck down. I use cereal packet, 0.5mm greyboard, 1mm greyboard, and sometimes, 2mm greyboard. Cereal packet is great for mock-ups and small detail, but its thickness varies by brand so you can't do work that requires fine exact measurements. The greyboard I buy in bulk from eBay and works out at 6 pence a sheet for 0.5mm and 13 pence a sheet for the 1mm. If you watch the Hotel build series, I think Episode 3 or 4 shows details of this. Happy building! Let me know how you get on! :) Michael

@@Chandwell thanks for taking the time to reply! It is appreciated!!!

@@Chandwell could you link the eBay item please? I have had a look and can’t find anything close to the great price you mentioned. Thanks Dave

Hi David... Sorry if I misled you. I only got those prices because I bought a lifetime's supply! 500 sheets of 0.5mm for £29.00 and 200 sheets of 1mm for £25.99. Prices have gone up slightly since then, but these are the ones I bought: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131244225212 www.ebay.co.uk/itm/183893552028 Michael

@@Chandwell no probs! I expect to do the same

I have no idea.... Are you going to try it!? --Michael

Hi Alan, not at the moment but you’re not the first to ask. I’ll make a short episode on arches (there are a LOT of arches on my layout!) as my next video so keep an eye out for it. All the best, Michael.

Thank you! Yes, Inkscape can output files in the formats that laser cutters use, I think, although it isn’t something I have tried. Next update will be me answering some questions, then after that a bridge build.

Thanks for your kind words, Paul. Funny you should mention that viaduct as I spent an afternoon walking all around that part of Sheffield whilst researching bridges and the river. The iron arch bridge, although based on one in Dewsbury, is very similar to that exact one you mention. I took a lot of photos of the underside of that bridge. The Chandwell river is going to be heavily influenced by the river that runs beside that viaduct in Sheffield, and which curves around between big industrial buildings, with the path on one side. There's also a weir there, and I am in two minds whether to model it or not.

I’ve had lots of practice, Euan!! I had a similar app on my old Acorn Archimedes when I was 16 years old. That’s almost 30 years ago!