rue_d_etropal

The UE chassis is I think same length as the Bachmann GE44, possibly the GE70, so that might fit. If it does then it is a far better chassis than the UE one.

one to keep an eye out for once it is finished and remainders are being offered from China.

The tractive effort is a question often posed for any Garratt loco. In this case having the boiler on top of the front drive unit would help. As the 'tender' is smller than standard, the side tanks become more important, and possibly allow weight to be balanced better. This was the latest of my designs baed on the Q1. The basic Q!type actually uses one of the loco bodies I had already designed with a couple of small changes(not visable). The Air Smoothered version is a modified version (can't remember if shorter or longer!) of one I had already done. Size wize it is based on the Q1 not a WC/BOB loco, which is a loco I have now had a look at as well. That is not to say, someone could not build one simply by chopping up a Dapol/Airfix kit. I think that in reality both designs could have been built, mainly from stock parts, especially the Q1 basic version, much reducing the cost. The Air Smoothed version is simple body covering, and the tender is similar to the Q1 version, with rear look out both sides.

Amazon have just started opening some stores in London, basically a small foot supermarket, where you use your phone to automatically pay for items. No staff needed on site. Something similar has been started in Sweden , with a portacabin sized store, again no staff on site, and that seems to be working very well. I would be concered than any attempt to tax online bsinesses will actually hurt small businesses more. Large companies like Amazon would find a way to avoid tax, or just pass it on. Better to tackle off shore tax havens, but that might hurt some high ranking governmnt figures and suporters. The real losers in the high street are the property owners, but the writing has been on the wall for many years. P&O pulled out of most of their shopping centres many years ago. I thought property owners were paying business rates, theycertainly did at one point, after rules were changed following the Centre Point(London) scandal. Ironocally one of our longest running empty buildings locally used to be the tax office!

I think it was said that Sculptamold was a mix of paper and plaster. I mentioned I simply mixed shredded paper with emulsion paint, and it was quite effective. I tried it because I was looking for something like Artex, but would retain some of its height rather than sinking down when it dried.

I think one difference in views is because I am talking industrial architecture not household, and metal not wooden staircases.

not used it, but my mash is free stuff. Even using toilet roll paper is very cheap, and is easy to use. Not ideal for areas which will be damaged if they get wet! I would rather use something I can easily get hold of rather than finding something specif to model making, an then strugglu=ing to ge hold of it.

I decided to have aother look at my Bulleid Q1 variations again, and this time wondered if I could design a better alternative to the Leader loco. Basically using a stretched Q1 loco body on a Q1 chassis, and a shortened tender on a second Q1 chassis with one set of wheels under the cab. I think a flexible link beteen the 2 chassis would hold it together. Also a second version, this time with air smoothed body, which would not frighten sensitive passengers. In some ways it is half a Garratt, with the flexibility of a Garratt, and the adhesion of a traditional fixed chassis loco.

Based on a 12 step staircase, 6 straight steps would fit in about 3/4 length of diameter of spiral staircase, but a landing would about length of half that diameter, making a total lenth 1-1/4 that of the spiral staircase, not much, but still more . For multi levels an ironwork spiral starcase could be built with exits at each level(steps 11 and 12). It is something I have looked at in model designs, but not sure if anyone ever built one. Even multilevels without intermediate floors, a spiral staircase wouldrequire a smaller foot print than a set of straight staircases. In fact it is not uncommon for steps to be angled to reduce length required, in effect using some of the spiral staircase concept in a conventional straight staircase. From a practical point of view only real problem with a spiral staircae is difficulty in moving large objects (beds, desks etc)up and down, but I have had problem with small straight cases(with odd bends) in small houses in the past.

Thanks for that David, I suspect one of the main reasons full streamlining was not used in France was the limited top speed. Just seems odd that Gresley and Bulleid designed the A4 shape based on the Bugatti railcar, and they also designed specially streamlined coaches to run with it. I think they were impressed by the aerodynamics of the Bugatti railcar, but not so enthused by the petrol engine. Having said that many modern trains have wedge type front ends suggesting that does work. I wonder if the speed record locos in 1955 had been built with a wedged front end , would they have gone faster, or at least used less power to do so.

I have mashed a lot of paper, and worn out a few liquidisers so have lots of experience. Having said that I have been told that cafes can wear out liquidisers as much , so it is not just the way I use them. I have a lot of artwork using mash, as well as a few layouts, some have been exhibited here in north west, and article about my layout(Bangers and MASH) inspired by the film MASH was published in Continental Modeller a couple of years ago.

without water the paper will not mash down. Might also damage the liquidiser. The resultant mash is good stuff. It is true papier mache. It does not need any more glue added. The poorer the quality of the paper, the easier it will mash down,and the better the mash. An alternative method is to sok toilet roll paper(unused!!) in water, no need for a liquidiser. I found that you need to tear up paper, soak it and let it start to break up into a mash, squeeze out some of the water then put it back in (same +) water and it will break up even more and you end up with a good mash. Experiment with different types of paper. I have managed to use this mash , in molds to create things, It takes a bit of effort to force out as much water as possible.

I perfected a technique using a liquidiser to mash up old paper, no need to shred it first. It is a very wet mix, and you will need to squeeze a lot of the water out, but reuse that in next mix. Don't put the water down drain as it actually has a lot of starch glue in it, and it can block your drains! I tend to build up a framework of landscape then press the still damp mash into it. Not so good if you think base etc will warp when wet! It takes ages to dry, but as it dries it can crack and lok like a naturally broken up hillside. I don't add pva. Only advantage would be to speed up drying process. It won't be any stronger. Reasonably lightweight. If you want something like that plaster/paper mix, then use cheap emulsion paint with shredded paper mixed in. I used to use it. Easy to do, but it can be as heavy as plaster. For finishing, and filling odd holes, try Wilkinsons own flexible wood filler, the brown version. Absolutely superb. Very tough, and as it is water based it won't react with anything on model. If it starts to dry up in tub, just adding some water makes it usable.

Whilst doing some research on Bulleid for a project I was working on, I wonderd if any of his design were based on French design. I searched for French streeamlined steam locos, and found a few. Now it is well known that Bulleid and Gresley based the LNER A4 loco on the wedge shape of the Bugatti railcar, and no surprises, both the railcar and the A4 proved they were the fastest in their class, so why did French steam designers not follow the same wedge shape design . From certain angles some of the French streamlined steam loos resemble an A4, but when you look at front end, they have bullet shaped fronts to the boilers and shaped smoke deflectirs whicg mimick the wedge shape. Now as far as I know, the A4 were never fitted with additional smoke deflectors, so the wedge shape must have also fixed the problem of smoke getting in field of vision of the driver. I was also looking for info on French Garratt locos and discovered there were some French built ones for the railway in Algeria. Not for freight but for passenger use, and apparently they were the fastest Garratts poduced. The shape of the front and rear driving units is partly streamline, but I think it could have gone further.The drive units could have been made more like that of an A4, and the boiler and heels could have been covered up. The extra smoke deflectors on this loco suggest this is one area tan could have been looked at more. The locos were tested on French mainlines, and one photo looks like a French loco shed area. Not much info online, possibly because the locos were scrapped in 1951, after poor maintenance during WW2 and poor water quality not helping. I think there might be parts available to build a model in HO(3D printed?), but have not found any scale drawings. I found a couple of websites including these ones https://petervandermark.home.blog/2019/01/10/a-french-built-beyer-garratt-locomotive/ https://www.mylargescale.com/threads/streamlined-garratt-build-log.46450/

I think it is a matter of personal opininion. Some like industrial style architectural items, some don't. It is as simple as that. In some locations the only choice is between a ladder and a spiral staircase. Also my modular system is far more than spiral staircases, as it includes straight staircase sections, and walkways, and these can be combined . Again not to everyone's taste, but just because one person likes to model one theme and someone else wants to model another, then it is up to them.

my original design was based on a classic Victorian metal staircase, with what looked like preformed parts. Style wise I think they fit in with traditional gothic design, probably steam punk as well, so from a modelling point of view they could be more interest.

I already have a spiral staircase invarious scales. In 4mm scale I still think complete staircases are better, and they print pretty well onShapeways in WSF, probably better than attempting to print in finer material,although I have done a finer print version. You are right I could offer different designs, whichwould be an option in future. I have been giving some thought to how to offer this design, and one of my 'raison d'etres' is something to teach novices how to 3D print, so something like a 'part work' format might work, startin with the step surfaces, then the supports, then the posts, and finally the handrails. Each step has increased complexity and helps build up skills of the person . Mention 'part woek' on forums like this and sure to get groans, but partworks are based round 2 different ideas. One is purely collecting, one is about uilding. Now it might be possible to do the building without buying the part work collection, but a well designed part workcollection also teaches how to do something, starting from simple up to complex, and that is how I see my 3D print design working. Complex 3D printed designs look superb, and I think a lot of people get tempted to buy a 3D prin machine to print thes complex designs, then have problems, so give up. The companies producing the machines are happy as they sell more machnes, and it is also compounded by newer better machines being introduced. What is doesn't do is actually drastically increase number of competant 3D print people. As to how to stop people just copying downloaded files, I have some ideas. They sound OK, but then many of my ideas sound OK when I have just woken up. In a nutshell, it would involve each download copy have a unique security code(s) embedded in it which is also on computer that downloaded it. You would 'buy' security credits and these would then be used when you download the print file . You would only be able to read that file on that computer, but anyone would be able to see those files existed, but if they copied them to another computer, they would not be able to actually access/read them on that computer. Each security credit would have a value, so a simple 3D print might only require one security credit, but a more complex one would require more than one. All the security codes would be embedded, and the chances of duplicate codes, especially the multi ones wold be virtually impossible. Checking codes could be done simply by basic data scanning of files,so the codes could be embedded anywhere. It might also be possible to date limit security credis so you would have to use them within a specified time. It sounds too simple, but sometime we are trying to find something too complex. It uses ideas based on what was used on some computer systems in the past. There might be such a system already.

time to reveal my idea. One of my favourite designs has been the spiral staircase, and I have had requests for slight variations, so have been looking at some way of creating it in modular format. Now if I could make those modules/components easy to print, even for a novice, then it might make a good project for someone. Iitially Iwas being both too simple(small parts) and complex(too many differnt bits), and fitting them together would be tricky, so had a rethink last noght and simplified design. Each step made up of a flat plate(completely flat on one side), with supports for corners, again one side completely flat, and no undercuts . The post are fancy, possibly a bit complex, but a simpler version could be designed. The handrails are odd shapes so might need some work to get to print. I plan to also do the steps as flat surface panels so walkways can be assembled(it was this that was making original design far too complex), and the various combinations of walkways and steps can be built. I keep thinking up new ways they can be combined. Scale wize, these ones are in 1/12th scale. I think 1/6th scale would also be interesting, and could be used to build interesting dioramas fo 1/6th scale figures. Going the other way, some dimensons will need increasin for smaller scales . 1/18th and 1/24 should be possible, and maybe down to 1/35th scale. Any smaller and it is starting to get difficult to make components that are strong enough to be fitted together, bu assuing components were glued together, then removing the pins and holes from designs migt make to possible. I think it is better to concentrate on bigger scales. I should add, that I have made a compromise on number of steps. Normal spiral staircases would have 14 steps(which is what I have on my original 3D printed staircase), which is not really so good for modular format, so reduced this to 12, which makes angles a lot easier.

that would be an idea for more complex designs, mainly for experienced 3d printers, but to really get a lot more people getting a 3d printer which they don't give up on because they find doing all the set up and conversion of files so difficult, it needs something simple, which can actually be used as part of a project. That is why I used the Lego idea as a comparison. It has been an interesting idea to work through. In many ways designing something simple is more difficult than a complex design, as each part has to fit together in the real world. I have one more component o work out, probably the most complex, but pretty sure will be the easiest to design. There will then be a range of components from very simple to print(to get people started), up to more complex ones(but a lot simpler than most of the designs seen on 3d printing sites), but even the simple ones will build into something of interest, hopefully enough to keep interest in 3d printing. I have a couple of other ideas, one in effect something I have already designed, and had seriously thought of talking to a manufacturer about injection molding, but with the pandemic getting around not really an option.

traditional manufacture produces stuff which is then sold, and there can be a lot of waste when itis not all sold. Some businesses have done quite well ot of this, taking away excess stuff and then selling it 'cheap'. There is also the transport required, which all adds up. Now obviously 3D printing rquires material, but that can be grown(locally).

can we continue overproducing items in plastic, just in case someone wants it. it is not sustanable . A shift towards producing to order might be possible for traditional injection molding, but 3D printing would be even better as it could either be done local to market, or by home users. As mentioned there is still a problem with home printing with respect to matching holes and pins, so for the moment I would hae to consider that. As I suspect the problem is not a software one, it needs more development of the hardware, and only when people say that is more important will manufactures actually fix the problem. Following on from this, just wondering how much undercut can be handled. I can work around it, and that would also help with the pin and hole issue.

It does surprise me that companies like Lego have not moved more in the direction of 3D printing. Lego already manufacture i different parts of the world to keep it more local to those markets in those regions, so 3D printing would be an obvious next step for them. I had wondered if it was better to design something then see if there was interset from traditional companies but think that would be a dead end, so just looking at the design part for now, which only costs me time, which I have enough of at the moment, and I am learning more tricks with each new design. I already have a couple of items which require parts to interact so adjust make pins slightly thinner than holes. Even them I would expect to do some fettling to printed items. Maybe this is one reason traditional manufacturers are sticking to traditional manufacture. As I mentioned my designs are for small parts,which look simple but actually involve a lot of mathematics which is something I can do and enjoy.

looks interesting, but it is still aimed at market for complete models(complex) rather than a system of simple designs which can be built up by people in real space(Lego style). Minimum prices looks to be 3 dollars, which is near to what I am aiming at. I would need to be able to check out how their website looks from a designer point of view, as I would want to be able to direct people to my designs directly, as I currently do for Shapeways. When it comes to trying to'copy protect' anything online, that is never going to be completely possible, as all files have a design and computers need that desiggn(file layout and file control info) and in effect string and unstring data, so if you have the info you can get into any file. Most people won't have that info, I don't for files these days, but someone will, and you can't stop them.I think they would be more interested in the complex designs, so hopefully I will not be noticed. Also small simple designs will be of less interest to those who do digital cutting up to make printing easier. I am aiming at the majority of people who just want to press a switch and something is printed, as happens with 2D printing . Classic KISS.

that is what I am thinking. I am thinking almost giveaway price for each item, but with lots of items, to build something you will need quite a few different items, each one a separate 3D print file which ha to be downloaded. Just need a reliable safe portal to put them on show.

I was thinking that that would be the way, just need a good recomendation, based on quality of service, not price. That is why I have been using Shapeways as they take the hazzle of production and delivery for me. I already have my own website, so easy to list items in a way I want them, rather than a 'quick build/slow run/wrong results' way which s the way most database searches work (?) online.