Fen End Pit - 3D printed U skip
Entry posted by Fen End Pit
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While on holiday in Cornwall over Easter I visited the bookshop of the Launceston Steam Railway and purchased a copy of the Robert Hudson Light Railway catalogue from 1915 as reprinted by the Narrow Gauge Railway Society. I decided I'd try to draw up and print a U skip more as a scenic feature than as a working piece of rolling stock. I trust one small picture is allowed under 'fair use' rules and I'd strongly recommend the book.
The 3D model took me a few hours to put together, modeling the skip body, chassis, wheels, bearing carriers and end supports. I'm getting better at this 3D modelling lark, I've decided the vital piece of equipment is a pencil and paper to work out the order I'm going to draw things. I know it sounds mad but thinking about which surfaces you are going to draw and then how you are going to extrude or otherwise manipulate them before diving into CAD saves an awful lot of time.
The resulting models were printed out on my Wanhao, the process wasn't fast, the skip body taking about 6 hours to print! The wall thickness is only .8mm but it is surprisingly strong. There was a fair bit of surface finishing to do in order to get rid of some of the banding associated with the layers of printing. A bit of filing, filling and a couple of coats of primer have covered most of the them and by the time I've applied 2-part rust compound I think it'll look pretty good.
Every item in the catalogue has a telegraphic codeword so, if you want to buy one all you need is a TARDIS and send the word 'Porfidos' to 'Foundry, Gildersome'
David
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