3D printed road vehicles

[grahame]

Great addition to available limited options for uk vehicles.

 

Yes, and particularly for the 1970s to the end of the 1990s. The supply of new RTP vehicles from Tomytec appears to have somewhat dried up and ODC seem to avoid the period - the few they have announced some time ago have still not arrived. And traditionally N gauge vehicle models have tended to be cast white metal lumps with solid windows.

 

So it's a matter of making the most of smaller companies producing decent kits and 3D prints, even though I'm not keen on the current quality of 3D prints (the output rather than the design/modelling) and that they take a lot of effort to finish - requiring smoothing the ridges, painting and glazing.

 

G.

[grahame]

A little more colour on the D800 but still plenty to do like the interior, glazing, etc., . . . 

 

 

G.

 

 

 

[grahame]

The model windscreen aperture seems designed to be able to be fit a single flat piece of glazing whereas the real truck windscreen looks like it curved at the outer edges:

 

 

G.

[BernardTPM]

Probably that's at least in part because of the pillar thickness and material prinitng requirements. As you say, much of the curve is at the edges, with just a very shallow curve across the front.

[grahame]

Some effort with the Mercedes T1 van. The white windows are Micro Kristal Klear that hasn't yet dried clear:

 

 

G.

 

[Steadfast]

As ever I'm well impressed with the speed of your work Grahame. The Ford truck in particular looks very neat. I wish my work was somewhere near that speed. Mind you, playing with real trains seems to get in the way rather!

 

Jo

[acg5324]

I see that RailNscale have the Vauxhall Cavalier 3 pack in 1:148 on offer

https://www.shapeways.com/product/3S7J5PYSW/set-3x-vauxhall-cavalier-british-n-1-148?li=shareProduct&optionId=59808290

 

I've taken the plunge and ordered a set plus the Volvo three pack. In addition I found an online voucher for 15% off Shapeways too.

I'll let you know how they shape up.....no pun intended.

Edited August 15, 2017 by acg5324

[grahame]

I see that RailNscale have the Vauxhall Cavalier 3 pack in 1:148 on offer

https://www.shapeways.com/product/3S7J5PYSW/set-3x-vauxhall-cavalier-british-n-1-148?li=shareProduct&optionId=59808290

 

I've taken the plunge and ordered a set plus the Volvo three pack. In addition I found an online voucher for 15% off Shapeways too.

I'll let you know how they shape up.....no pun intended.

 

Damn and blast. I already have a pair of their Cavaliers and paid their full price.

 

Shame they don't do some 80s Ford cars which occupied about 7 positions of the top ten selling cars for that decade.

 

G

[grahame]

Just another pic of the recent 3D printed models I've been mucking up:

 

 

G.

 

 

[acg5324]

The box arrived from Shapeways today so I'll have some modelling to do. I guess these need a good clean prior to any sanding?

The Milk float from Osbourns looks good I'll need at least one and painted as Express Dairies for Olympia.

The Ford D, Merc van and Range Rover look the business too.

Edited August 18, 2017 by acg5324

[grahame]

The box arrived from Shapeways today so I'll have some modelling to do. I guess these need a good clean prior to any sanding?

The Milk float from Osbourns looks good I'll need at least one and painted as Express Dairies for Olympia.

The Ford D, Merc van and Range Rover look the business too.

Yes, thorough cleaning.

 

I covered, in a fair amount of detail, my approach to finishing 3D vehicles in NGS Journal 3/17. Obviously it's not the only way to finish them.

 

The Osborn's milk float is nicely printed with less stratification ridges than Shapeways. They've been expanding their range of 3D printed N gauge commercial vehicles recently. And being UK based the P&P is a lot cheaper than Shapeways.

 

G

[simon br blue]

I've drawn some vehicles and some railway related equipment in 4 and 7mm.

 

Below is a picture of a 4mm shunting tractor and a JCB Loadall.  I've not got round to painting them yet, both printed by Shapeways.  The JCB is printed in WSF and the tractor in HP strong and flexible.

 

 

[rodshaw]

Some very nice models on here.

 

I've just ordered three TT (1/120) items from Shapeways - anyone else got these, or dealt with these shops?

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/8JSJ9UHK4/mack-flatbed-tt-scale?optionId=2797332

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/C6B79R56C/1-120-1x-1977-ford-thunderbird

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/42S9HGRVN/1-120-1x-1972-ford-ranchero

 

The Madaboutcars items were originally in pairs but when I said I only wanted one of each, the guy there made them available as single items. Marvellous!

 

(Edit - just to point out they are for an American-themed layout).

Edited August 24, 2017 by rodshaw

[grahame]

Below is a picture of a 4mm s hunting tractor and a JCB Loadall.  I've not got round to painting them yet, both printed by Shapeways.  The JCB is printed in WSF and the tractor in HP strong and flexible.

 

Interesting.

 

My understanding is that Shapeway's Frosted Detail (both ultra and extreme) material (an acrylic polymer) is usually recommend for models having their finest resolution. However, it is quite fragile.

 

The Strong and Flexible stuff (usualy white) is certainly a lot stronger and looks more like the JCB finish. However, in my experience it has a rough feel finish and is very resistant and difficult to file.

 

I've not seen that speckled grey finish before. Is it the S&F or the WSF which I don't think I've experienced before.

 

G

[acg5324]

 

Well I've made a start on the RailNscale Volvos and Cavaliers. They arrived within a week, not bad. The printing seemed pretty good with very little layering visible. After a clean up they have been sprayed with Halfords Grey primer then given a little sanding where needed. One Cavalier has been sprayed Tamiya sand a nice 70's beige colour. Detail painting windows etc to add. Need a trip to Halfords to get some other colours. I'll probably do the Sportshatch in white as a friend of mine had one in that colour. 

[BernardTPM]

The Cavalier Sportshatch was introduced a little later than the saloon and coupe models, in 1978. Initially came in six colours: white, yellow, orange, met. green, met. blue and met. copper. The white ones had red interiors (More details here, just over halfway down).

[acg5324]

The Cavalier Sportshatch was introduced a little later than the saloon and coupe models, in 1978. Initially came in six colours: white, yellow, orange, met. green, met. blue and met. copper. The white ones had red interiors (More details here, just over halfway down).

Thanks for that link, had found it earlier but forgot to save it. Nice to see Champagne Starfire is a close match for the Tamiya sand colour that I've used.

 

Useful Ford colour charts here

http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/146340/1970s-ford-paint-charts

Edited September 6, 2017 by acg5324

[grahame]

I've purchased a pair of Peugeot 504s (saloon and estate - 1968-83) from RailNscene/Shapeways along with some other items when they had their recent free post offer. Here they are simply washed (with cream cleaner and an old toothbrush in lukewarm water and given a coat of grey printer) to see what fettling is required:

 

 

I've also noticed RailNscale now do Mk3 Ford Escorts (1980-86) in 1:148 scale which I presume are new as I've not noticed them before: https://railnscale.com/2017/09/22/ford-escort-mk3/#jp-carousel-12554

Shame they weren't available when the free post offer was on.

 

G.

 

 

[grahame]

Some rubbing with a shaped fine soft sanding stick, another coat of primer and a top coat from an aerosol leaves them like this (as below in the cruelly enlarged photo). The blue estate seems fine but some more work is probably required on the white car particulalrly aroud the windows and front end - and I'll have to nip the wrongly placed over-thick steering wheels off as well:

 

 

G.

 

[acg5324]

Coming along nicely, my Cavaliers and Volvos are not getting finished very quickly as I’ve been replacing the fencing in the back garden! Any excuse.

[MGR Hooper!]

Some effort with the Mercedes T1 van. The white windows are Micro Kristal Klear that hasn't yet dried clear:

 

DSC_2919.JPG

 

G.

Scale this upto 1:64 and you'll have quite a crowd in the Indian sub-continent to buy it. As is it resembles one version of some model from a company called FORCE. Also long versions and a version with a higher roof are available.

[grahame]

Picking out details in acrylic paint on N gauge cars is hellishly difficult - lorries seem so much easier where everything is twice the size. But I've had a bash and this'll have to do before sealing with varnish and attempting some glazing:

 

 

G.

[grahame]

Here's a 3D printed 1:148 scale Maestro car (which is still available on Shapeways) ; https://www.shapeways.com/product/65CTVZZ2J/nam01-1-148-austin-maestro?optionId=42373118

I obtained it a couple of years ago and was impressed with the design - there are light glazing units that clip in place and a very fine steering wheel (much better than the clunky ones on RailNscale N gauge vehicles) - but had forgotten about it.

 

Oddly I'd painted it the same colour as the more recent Peugeot 504 estate without realizing. However, I've yet to glaze it and the paint job probably needs re-visiting (perhaps that horrid brown colour many seemed to be in) as the black is very messy - these days I can be a bit neater using a paint pen:

 

 

G.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grahame]

The Ford Escorts have turned up: a 3-door version, a 5-door and an XR3i complete with spots and rear spoiler. I've just unpacked them and photographed them (below). They seem a lot 'cleaner' than usual but I hope to get them properly cleaned and given a quick coat of grey primer to get a better look at them later today.

 

 

G.

[grahame]

Here they are after a scrub with cream cleaner and coat of grey primer. There will be some fettling work required before painting but hopefully they can be completed to look good:

 

 

G.