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Blender, GWR Bench, Grantham Steam Car, Broad Gauge Rover


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I've been wanting to learn CAD for a while but never really had the spare time. Over the past few months I've been reading the various tutorials, and JCL's brilliant thread, but it wasn't until I broke my toes and had an enforced two weeks of sitting down that I finally got the hang of blender (or at least I think I've finally got it)

 

I've made loads of mistakes. Firstly I was modelling things in real life scale then attempting to scale down so the thinnest parts were well under the acceptable standards. Seems to be better to build things in the final scale in mm and always keep the minimum thickness in the back of your head. I also had more internal faces than Worzel Gummidge, which proved to be a problem with a few things I was working on.

 

Anyway, the bench. I've no idea how to do screenshots in blender and the F12 render I've not got the hang of (as the camera is too far away?), so here's a normal screenshot.

 

post-28891-0-72146500-1465126212.jpg

 

At first I couldn't get it through shapeways in 4mm, and due to various problems while building it, I deleted a large part and started again but in 1/12 scale (so at least it could get some use for a dollshouse). It only took a bit of fiddling afterwards for shapeways to accept it in WSF. The price is working out a bit high, but with the planks removed it's much better. I did make a sprue of 2 bench ends, thinking that would be cheaper than buying 2 individual ends, but it worked out a lot more than double the price of one.

 

The order's placed, plus a few other bits and bobs I was working on. I haven't actually seen anything 3d printed yet and I've read enough about the quality to not be expecting it to look exactly like the renders.

 

Also, after placing the order I had a thought about scaling it down to 7mm. It only needed an extra 0.1mm of thickness to get it through on FUD, which surprised me.

 

I've still got another week or two of light duties, so the next things I'm 3d building are a Rover class Broad Gauge bodyshell, a few wagon sides and maybe an underframe for 7mm narrow gauge. I'm already halfway through a simplex (I think everyone does a simplex!), a Kitson Tram and a couple of GWR carriage sides.

Edited by Charlie586
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Looks great Charlie! The GWR on the ends look very intricate. I did GNR benches in 00, but just bench ends in 0 as I though it would be easy enough and cheaper for people to use microstrip for the planks.

 

I'm pleased the tutorials, otherwise known as "don't do it like this" helped you along. If you want to keep the learning going, I'm in the middle of Learn 3D modelling, the complete Blender creator course by Ben Tristrem on the Udemy website. It starts assuming you know nothing, and gets pretty involved about 2/3 of the way through. I've learned a lot from it. Usual disclaimers. :)

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I'm already halfway through a simplex

which one, there are a few out there already, I have done the original WW1 versions.

Resizing should be easy, if not, then not using right software to do design. Someone will always ask for a model to be done in a different scale.

Finding time to learn is key to getting on. I decided to buy my software(it was not as expensive as some out there), and it had a free 30 day trial. As it has its own training package, I allocated that time to teaching myself how to do a basic design, and find out what could be printed. Still learning, and hopefully getting better.

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Looks beautiful!!

 

Thanks MGR Hooper!. It passed the checks and arrived today...

 

 

post-28891-0-63955400-1465388939_thumb.jpg

 

post-28891-0-63807700-1465388968_thumb.jpg

 

This is obviously the dolls house 1/12 scale and the photo was only taken on my phone. I'll be taking some better pictures later, not least to put on the Shapeways site.

 

I've got some wooden plant labels that I think will work as planks, if not then I'll have to buy some ice lollies.

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Looks really good. Which tutorials would you recommend for a complete beginner?

Would you rescale the bench ends to 10mm/ft? My order would go in immediately!

Ralph

 

Hello One32. I think it was the combination of all the tutorials rather than one in particular. One of the hardest parts is finding your way around blender (getting used to using the right mouse button and the mouse wheel takes a while to get used to as intuitively you try to left click). The blender tutorial which is 2000 pages long is actually very good in helping with that side, but you don't get to actually build much for the first few hundred pages which leaves you frustrated. I started by making a milk churn. Sometimes It's only when you try to upload to shapeways that you realise what you're doing wrong, so I'd definitely recommend trying something small and uploading before (like me) you get halfway through a Sentinel steam wagon and realise everything's far too thin.

 

I've rescaled it to 10mm to the foot, so it's just under 3 cm tall in real world scale. This is 2 bench ends on a sprue as this would be the cheapest way of making it in FUD. I will upload the full bench later but I imagine it will be quite a lot more.

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/72F8TXCAU/gwr-bench-ends-10mm-scale

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Looks great Charlie! The GWR on the ends look very intricate. I did GNR benches in 00, but just bench ends in 0 as I though it would be easy enough and cheaper for people to use microstrip for the planks.

 

I'm pleased the tutorials, otherwise known as "don't do it like this" helped you along. If you want to keep the learning going, I'm in the middle of Learn 3D modelling, the complete Blender creator course by Ben Tristrem on the Udemy website. It starts assuming you know nothing, and gets pretty involved about 2/3 of the way through. I've learned a lot from it. Usual disclaimers. :)

 

Hello JCL. I keep meaning to post on your thread but I'm about halfway through and don't want to jump to the end and lose my place. I owe you a big thank you as I wouldn't have started this without your thread. I'll look out for the Udemy website. At the moment I'm still working vertex by vertex and don't use anywhere near half the tools and modifiers. I'm wondering which buttons will wear out first on my keyboard, the E or CTRL and Z :)

 

I keep meaning to do just the ends for 7mm, to get the price down a bit. Also some of the benches I've seen in photos used 3 ends. I haven't tried rescaling to OO yet, but I think the details would get lost. It's worth a try though.

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which one, there are a few out there already, I have done the original WW1 versions.

Resizing should be easy, if not, then not using right software to do design. Someone will always ask for a model to be done in a different scale.

Finding time to learn is key to getting on. I decided to buy my software(it was not as expensive as some out there), and it had a free 30 day trial. As it has its own training package, I allocated that time to teaching myself how to do a basic design, and find out what could be printed. Still learning, and hopefully getting better.

 

I've just looked and there are loads, I wish I'd done a search before I started. I was doing a 20hp open cab curved frame, yours looks much better than my attempt! It's been good practice building it though. I learnt a lot from building the curved frames.

I agree about needing time to learn. Without my broken toe I wouldn't have had enough time to even begin learning and keep track of everything else.

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snip...

 

I've got some wooden plant labels that I think will work as planks, if not then I'll have to buy some ice lollies.

Have a coffee in 'Costa' or 'Starbucks'.  The seats/sleeper strip/fencing is free...;-)

 

Regards

 

Ian

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One of the hardest parts is finding your way around blender (getting used to using the right mouse button and the mouse wheel takes a while to get used to as intuitively you try to left click).

That aspect really annoyed me so I gave in and changed the setting in the preferences so I could use the left mouse button instead. I also changed the setting so the zoom in/out was centered on mouse location.

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Have a coffee in 'Costa' or 'Starbucks'.  The seats/sleeper strip/fencing is free...;-)

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

Thanks I never thought of that. Funny because I always take and hoard stirrers and other freeies, but forgot all about them!

 

That aspect really annoyed me so I gave in and changed the setting in the preferences so I could use the left mouse button instead. I also changed the setting so the zoom in/out was centered on mouse location.

 

I wish I'd changed it, but am now used to it. Zoom in and out on mouse sounds handy, especially as I'm working on a laptop so it's only a small workspace anyway and I have to constantly move around when zooming.

 

 

I've managed to scale the sides down to 4mm in FUD. The base needed thickening along with the width (0.6mm wide excluding the base was the lowest I could go to keep the ridges and internal width) and some of the internal detail needed fiddling with. I suppose the next step is to try 2mm, but if that gets through I'll be more than surprised.

 

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/L3UJ84FVJ/gwr-bench-ends-4mm-oo-scale-sprue-of-6

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After another week of messing round, I managed to get the bench in 2mm scale

 

post-28891-0-16628300-1466409552.jpg

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/EBKVAB7JK/gwr-bench-ends-2mm-scale-6-sprue

 

Obviously a few comprises had to be made, the base looks well out of scale to me but was necessary to get it through (though it could be sliced off and replaced?). Also the width of each bench side is approaching 0.5mm which in 2mm world is 3 inches, not massively overscale but still overscale. Lastly, it really is small. I wouldn't trust my poor eyesight and shaky hands to attempt making it into a bench.

 

The toe is improving, though the tendon damage seems to be taking ages to get better, but I am more mobile now. I've got an allotment full of weeds that needs sorting before I'll lose everything planted so I guess my playing around with blender is slowing right down if not ending. There's a few other bits and bobs I've been working on for my future narrow gauge layout, the Kitson tram for one, but I think the quality isn't quite there yet for coach sides and loco bodyshells. I'm seriously tempted to buy myself a cheap 3d printer as I've enjoyed messing around, and for certain aspects of modelling it would come in useful and be cheaper than shapeways, I can see the quality and speed improving in the future, so I think learning cad will end up being useful. Obviously anything I've made and uploaded to shapeways is in a shapeways shop as it would have been silly not to have made it available for sale, I don't expect to be retiring early though!

 

Here's the Kitson style tram, it's not built to exact dimensions but more to accommodate a Hornby 0-4-0 chasis. I'll probably end up scratch building it out of plasticard instead of getting it printed due to the cost, however if I can get it through on PLA it's coming out much cheaper.

 

post-28891-0-81201900-1466410950.jpg

 

 

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On the benches, if it helps. My 7mm GNR bench is just the bench ends to save money like yours, whereas the 4mm version is a whole bench as I wanted the ends to be as fine as possible.

 

Your tram looks v impressive.

 

On the printer, someone on the "is 3D printing overhyped?" thread seems to be using a printer that costs around £300.

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On the benches, if it helps. My 7mm GNR bench is just the bench ends to save money like yours, whereas the 4mm version is a whole bench as I wanted the ends to be as fine as possible.

 

Your tram looks v impressive.

 

On the printer, someone on the "is 3D printing overhyped?" thread seems to be using a printer that costs around £300.

 

Thanks JCL

 

I've been on that thread, there is a cheap 3d printer kit on ebay for 170 odd which is very tempting.

 

I thought the planks in 2mm would make it look too overscale because of the 0.3mm minimum, but if I get a minute it's worth a try to create the finished item and upload it.

 

The tram still needs a boiler and chimney adding inside but is almost there. But it's the grainy finish I'm not sure of, that's why I was tinkering with PLA as it's much cheaper if it does end up being a scratch aid then it's a more affordable one.

 

I've been trying to catch up on your Wainfleet thread, up to page 31 so far.

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  • 3 months later...

It seems a few months have flown by since I started doing this, so apologies for lack of updates. The toe is now nearly as normal, though I think I'll always have a limp and be affected by damp, but after spending all those weeks housebound I've been outdoors a lot doing things mostly unrelated to railways and computers.

 

On the blender / shapeways front, I've had a few more items printed.

 

post-28891-0-23966200-1475744149_thumb.jpg

 

This is the 4mm GWR bench ends in FUD which the picture doesn't really do justice to. I'll try to take a better photo, there must be a setting on my camera for small things. Next step is to actually make it into a few benches. It worked out roughly the same price to get 24 done as to do 6, which is why I did more than I'll ever need. I'll probably sell any leftovers on ebay.

 

post-28891-0-85667900-1475757228_thumb.jpg

 

The kitson style tram done in PLA as the cost of even WSF for 7mm scale was a bit much. It's a bit grainy and needs cleaning up a lot, but will do the trick.

 

post-28891-0-62932600-1475757535_thumb.jpg

 

Kitson again, with the Hornby donor chasis that needs some destructive work doing and the chimney and dome I did in WSF. After messing round with a boiler shape I soon realised it would be cheaper to just bend a bit of plasticard and use that instead of getting that part printed.

 

post-28891-0-62361500-1475757070_thumb.jpg

 

A vertical boilered loco, not really based on a particular design more a mash up of a few designs, that I did in something approximating 009. Not the scale I'm planning on working in, but I did this more to get the hang of adding objects onto other objects. I have no idea how to go about motorising it, I'm not sure how high kato chasis are and whether they would work.

 

post-28891-0-99359200-1475758008.jpg

 

Finally, a railcar similar to a Tralee Dingle, haven't had this one printed yet. I couldn't find dimensions for this so had to just work off 2 photos which weren't from helpful angles. The cost is coming out fairly high for 0-16.5, so I may just make it from plasticard instead or see if it can be easily amended for PLA.

 

Now the nights are drawing in, I'll hopefully have time to finish some of the above. I've got a few other ideas for 3d bits and bobs that I'll try out, but firstly I need to get cracking on my layout. Anyway, it was fun to learn blender and 3d design, and may come in useful again one day.

 

 

 

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  • 9 months later...

Quite a while since my last post, but I keep going back to blender and making more bits.

 

post-28891-0-68534900-1500837294.jpg

 

GWR bench to the later design

 

post-28891-0-77787900-1500837334.jpg

 

A GER bench I found a few pictures of

 

post-28891-0-14717800-1500837393.jpg

 

And what has been the longest one to do so far, a Grantham Steam Car in its Wantage Tramway guise. This will come in handy should I ever get round to actually modelling Wantage Road in the late 1870's instead of spending my free time playing with blender and looking at other people's layouts on here.

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I fancied seeing what high def acryIate looks like so I spent a few evenings adjusting the Grantham Tram Car to get it through. I had to lose the window detail, but I'll eventually recreate that on a fret or sprue in FUD. One advantage is that by splitting the roof off the price came down by a tenner for both HDA and also for FUD.

 

post-28891-0-60438100-1506448632.png

 

Anyway I've ordered it as I'll need it for the layout eventually. I'll post pictures when it arrives,

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  • 3 weeks later...

The roofless Grantham in HDA wasn't a complete success. The side nearest the chimney bowed in and one of the window frames was broken, I guess it was just too thin even with support material. They tried to reprint, but it had the same problem.

 

However it's not a complete disaster as it will bend in place with a bit of bracing. Fitting the roof itself will also help. Not sure yet how to do the glazing for the windows, or for that matter fit a motor small enough (maybe a micro remote control car motor?) There's also the ladders to do as well...

 

post-28891-0-53844100-1507836210_thumb.jpg

 

post-28891-0-15796300-1507836345_thumb.jpg

 

I've been fiddling with carriage sides for a while to get a few rough and ready GWR broad gauge diagrams that aren't already in brass. First is a 40ft third to D2.

 

post-28891-0-07117100-1507837553.png

 

Now the main structure's done it's easy to change compartment size, add more compartments etc so I should be able to do others when I get time. I also need to do the clerestory roof to match it. However, someone's asked me to make something non railway related via 3d print for a christmas present, so everything will be taking a back seat until that's done.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

I've been fiddling with carriage sides for a while to get a few rough and ready GWR broad gauge diagrams that aren't already in brass. First is a 40ft third to D2.

 

attachicon.gifUntitled.png

 

Now the main structure's done it's easy to change compartment size, add more compartments etc so I should be able to do others when I get time. I also need to do the clerestory roof to match it. However, someone's asked me to make something non railway related via 3d print for a christmas present, so everything will be taking a back seat until that's done.

The eaves panels look a little shallow, they should be 12". Great Western Dean coaches are so easy to do once you've got the basics right as they were almost modular.
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The eaves panels look a little shallow, they should be 12". Great Western Dean coaches are so easy to do once you've got the basics right as they were almost modular.

 

Thanks, you're right I checked and they're only 3.2mm. After seeing the Silhouette thread, I think that will be a cheaper way to go for all the sides I'll eventually need. I'll still print this (after correcting) to see what it comes out like.

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  • 1 month later...

I did some back up frames in blender for the broad gauge rover I'm scratchbuilding in case either the frames take too long or I just generally muck them up.

 

post-28891-0-69080500-1511904473.png

 

Then I got a bit carried away with the splashers and cab and ended up doing most of the thing with HDA tolerances in mind. Still a lot of rivets left to do obviously as well as the smoke box door, springs, etc etc....

 

post-28891-0-75784700-1511904527_thumb.png

 

I thought of taking advantage of the free postage offer and getting it, but am struggling a bit with christmas, and without a tender it's not a great deal of use so I've just gone for the frames for now in both HDA and WSF plus some other bits. Delivery estimate is 15 Dec, but I'm sure it will arrive before (they usually do)

 

I'll probably finish it eventually but I'll see how the rivets come out first on the frames before adding any more. I will do a tender though as it will no doubt come in handy, even as a temporary one. Once the basic tender shape is done I should be able to adapt it for other classes I'm looking at.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

The shapeways bits arrived on time, but I got caught up a bit with xmas so haven't had a chance to post pictures until now.

 

The D2 carriage side in FUD

 

post-28891-0-24381100-1514927063_thumb.jpg

 

The photo makes it look grainier than it is ( I guess being transparent doesn't help), it's actually quite smooth. The other side is a mirror image (one of the reasons I chose this diagram). I'll give them a spray and take some more pictures. I haven't yet done carriage ends so I'll have to get cracking on them.

 

 

The Rover frames in WSF

 

post-28891-0-37597200-1514927258_thumb.jpg

 

As expected, the rivet detail hasn't come through reliably. Nothing really wasted as they might come in handy for templates or even the inner part of the sandwich.

 

Rover frame in HDA

 

post-28891-0-38612900-1514927605_thumb.jpg

 

Apologies for the photo. Rivet detail has come through well although it needs slight bending into shape, but is more than flexible enough to do it. I'll do a few more rivets in blender for the smokebox and frames,but I think printing it as one piece might be asking too much so I'll look to break it down into parts. That should keep me busy for the rest of the winter.

Edited by Charlie586
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  • 4 years later...

So I've badly neglected this thread, didn't realise it was anything like 4 years since last post. I got a photon printer (the original version) about 3 years go and started posting the results on my layout thread. As the photos are still lagging a bit I thought I might as well resurrect the thread.

 

Some bits done over the years include:

 

various carriages

 

20190912_131547_Richtone(HDR).jpg.434aa8b29b104809f23e68e1c22243d4.jpg

 

Rovers

 

20191023_145943.jpg.8421ca376d44c2e1dce8c8b8c9f35f2d.jpg

 

Apart from the usual misprints and base not adhering and that, other things started going wrong a wile back. The Queen class below has dents / holes / vertical lines in it

 

20211026_102532.jpg.99d836cbf3c1fce2f6779c97c5002d7a.jpg

 

more recently it's been happening more often

 

20220429_185917.jpg.ea8cdfe51e7205e843026ad381e8bf5e.jpg.475cd45b96ccd29074b566ace4576fde.jpg

 

I changed some settings, installed latest chitubox, replaced the fep, slowed down the peel lift speed after advice from chuffinghell (of this parish)  and gave the glass screen a good clean as I'd had a leaky fep film at one point and there was still some residue on the plate glass above the light.

 

20220509_165552.jpg.5def558af4c9ce495f03ee5bcb480904.jpg

 

This is two prints of the same thing, the later one the lower one. The holes are better but I'm still getting them. I've also switched back to standard anycubic resin, I was using the eco resin for a while (from the queen class on) as I thought it might be that. 

 

But I'm kind of running out of things to check now.

 

314322368_antia.png.0391e096463816ae8cf05fcef5ef8276.png

 

I have just noticed that anti aliasing is turned on, I can't remember turning it on but I must have at some point. I'm unsure if the original photon can even use this, or maybe it affects the slicing - I don't really know. I'll turn it off and try another print but I doubt it will fix the problem.

 

I'm wondering if the actual screen under the plate glass has marks or resin on it. Other things might be screws coming loose or the screen is on its way out, it is 3 years old now. So I guess I take it apart and look for problems. There's plenty of youtube videos on repairing / servicing it.

 

I am looking, and saving up, for a new printer as they're much faster and print larger areas now. Either the mono X or the m3, the mono would be better for carriages and it's tempting to whack one on the credit card, but I'll try and do it properly and save up.

Edited by Charlie586
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