bcs Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Hi everyone, I have been working on the N gauge 15t fish van while ago and though I would share with you guys. It was a job ordered by someone but not completed then. I was thinking if anyone would be interested if I develop it to the stage where I can offer on the market. Nothing big, maybe some small batch 3d printed. I might be an owner of the 3d printer soon with decent quality of print. It all depends on demand, so this is the question to all of you. I'm open to all of your suggestion, thoughts and requests. I can also consider in designing and producing other types of wagons, coaches, accessories or even locos in different scales. I'm currently working on O gauge Coal Hopper HUO 24.5t, but cannot post it here as it is a specific order for one of my clients. Anyway, I appreciate any feedback from you. Pictures below: 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGR Hooper! Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Nice work. If you plan on offering 3D printing services anytime soon and if you have samples to show I'll be happy to try it out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Rixon Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Looks very good. Will you include the buffers in the print? Where do you intend to have this printed? It will need high-quality printing to do it justice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard i Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 You have my attention. Would the printer cope with the original design with its more complicated side vents? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcs Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 Nice work. If you plan on offering 3D printing services anytime soon and if you have samples to show I'll be happy to try it out. I will see how the things are going, but definitely need to do test prints to tweak and adjust the project if required. As a first I will probably use some service (Shapeways, iMaterialise etc.) but I'm after the own printer eventually. Looks very good. Will you include the buffers in the print? Where do you intend to have this printed? It will need high-quality printing to do it justice. This is an early stage development, so buffers, brake gears and other details will be added later on. You have my attention. Would the printer cope with the original design with its more complicated side vents? Will see how the test prints turn out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard i Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 I have 3D printing here if you want a free copy made as test print. Can do down to 0.2 mm tolerance. Also I know it is in n gauge but it looks like it would scale up well for 4mm as you have a good level of detail on it. I am a 4mm man myself. Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcs Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 I have 3D printing here if you want a free copy made as test print. Can do down to 0.2 mm tolerance. Also I know it is in n gauge but it looks like it would scale up well for 4mm as you have a good level of detail on it. I am a 4mm man myself. Richard Hi Richard, Many thanks for your offer. I assume you have FDM printer. I'm afraid that PLA or ABS has to many disadvantages for n-gauge. I'm looking for DLP or SLA technology. Form2 printer would be ideal, but it is too expensive. Luckily there are some alternatives from China already. I just need to read a bit about it to avoid buying a pig in a poke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Rixon Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 You have my attention. Would the printer cope with the original design with its more complicated side vents? I've printed louvres at more-or-less true scale in FUD for 4mm scale; it worked well enough. In 2mm scale some compromises would be needed, probably forming the louvres with triangular section rather than as proper slats. I think they could definitely be printed better than they can be etched, and most people are happy with the etched approximations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard i Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Hi Richard, Many thanks for your offer. I assume you have FDM printer. I'm afraid that PLA or ABS has to many disadvantages for n-gauge. I'm looking for DLP or SLA technology. Form2 printer would be ideal, but it is too expensive. Luckily there are some alternatives from China already. I just need to read a bit about it to avoid buying a pig in a poke. We have 7 or 8 onsite and I know another updated one is on the way. I would have o doublecheck types. I just give the files to the techies and they sort out its printing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcs Posted February 23, 2018 Author Share Posted February 23, 2018 Does anyone know the n gauge wheel sets supplier? I'm bit new to this hobby and can't find anything. 4mm and 7mm is plenty. I found wagons and coaches wheels in n gauge from Graham Farish but also I'm thinking to start another project where I will need 4ft diameter 10 spoke wheels for 0-6-0 loco. Appreciate any help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Rixon Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 You could buy wheels from the 2mm Scale Association and gauge them for N gauge. They would have narrower treads than typical N-gauge wheels but would probably work OK. Association wheels are designed for split-frame chassis. I suspect that the N Gauge Society would sell you a back-to-back gauge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcs Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 Finally got the printer and spent about a month on learning how to use. It is definitely not a plug and play machine. After some adjusting and tweaking the printer itself there is a plenty of trial and error work on preparing the model, such as setting the orientation, supports and plenty of other factors which gives better or worse effects. My first try to print the fish van was only ok, but mostly because of the insufficient wall thickness and some details were to small. But that gave me knowledge of limits of this printer. The green resin supplied with printer works fine, but at the first look does not give very visible details. Primed with grey expose much more. Now I ordered grey resin and will see how it goes with it. Raw and primed I also experiment with some scenery items. Really great fun to see the tiny details. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Rixon Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 The fish van looks good, particularly for 1:148. The stepping on the end vent can presumably be sanded off easily. Is the raised band down the middle of the roof part of the model or a printing artefact? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcs Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 Yes, the stepping on the vents is too noticeable to ignore so I'm thinking to separate it from main body and print vertically. All the slopes got the stepping. Also will try in higher resolution of layers. This one was printed at 50 microns. I can go down to 25 microns, so hoping to get better finish. The raised part of the roof is a printing artefact. I'm working on improve that part. As well as on frame front beams and bumpers which were to thin and failed to print. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvrattler Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Hi Bcs, This morning I came across a website selling .stl files for model aircraft building and several youtube videos with assembly instructions. Reading through the post , it crossed my mind of a niche market for someone like yourself with CAD skills to produce railway related items, and sell as .stl files for those who have a 3D printer but lack the CAD skills. Kerry in OZ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcs Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 Hi Bcs, This morning I came across a website selling .stl files for model aircraft building and several youtube videos with assembly instructions. Reading through the post , it crossed my mind of a niche market for someone like yourself with CAD skills to produce railway related items, and sell as .stl files for those who have a 3D printer but lack the CAD skills. Kerry in OZ Hi Kerry, I was thinking about it but once I saw the prices for STL's (ready for 3D printing) with a mark around $300 I thought that it is way too expensive for someone who wants to print it once or even few times. So I believe that better service from my side is to produce a cad model, store it and sell the prints at convenient price. Also before I release the item for selling it is checked throughout by printing prototypes few times to get a best results. Daniel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted July 5, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 5, 2018 (edited) Only just found this thread. The fish van looks really good and well done for mastering this skill from scratch. If you want to develop this into a business, I have some items that I would be interested in commissioning. I think it better not to 3D print buffers. Metal ones far more robust. May be able to help you on the wheels question. Edited July 5, 2018 by Joseph_Pestell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard i Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Hi Kerry,I was thinking about it but once I saw the prices for STL's (ready for 3D printing) with a mark around $300 I thought that it is way too expensive for someone who wants to print it once or even few times. So I believe that better service from my side is to produce a cad model, store it and sell the prints at convenient price. Also before I release the item for selling it is checked throughout by printing prototypes few times to get a best results.DanielDefinitely a market either way. Have seen cad drawers expand their market by offering items in a range of scales.Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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