garygfletcher

Thats exactly what I was after, thanks Andy!

is there a standard hight used from the ground to the very top of a platform?

Anyone able to recommend someone or firm to cut 2mm laser ply at around 1m x 60cm?

I won’t be using the mesh, just a method of interrogating/reverse engineering dimensions etc as stated.

I was just curiously wondering if anybody had drawn or printed any 3-D Midland Railway items? Of particular interest anything in n-gauge/2mm or even beyond and even more interested if it was printed by yourself? Be great to see some photos pre/post design/paint stages. Also would be great if there was any interest in sharing work for my St Pancras project, with credit... but more so would be fab to see the art of what people found possible and looking for inspiration

Had a quick play with a MR wagon, but will wait to see how others have approached some of the detail as I feel like I'm guessing too much

It would be great to have a few files to look over, so would love to take you up on the offers @nick_bastable @Ian Morgan @richbrummitt rest assured they will only be used for my personal use to work out the best detail as described below. My email is: garyf3d@outlook.com My intention is to import the stl into fusion as a mesh and then just use your established detailed metrics (for rivet size/depth, plank recesses etc) rather than go through the experimentation stages you have already been through. @richbrummitt how are you finding the printer? do you have any photos? As you suggested it would be great to see some sliced files or screenshots as to what you have found the best orientation/raft options. What resin have you found most successful, I was given some water washable, so will start here, but it seems to have mixed reviews. I do have a was and cure so can easily accommodate other resins.

I see some mention of people willing to share STL files but only see one has made it onto the 2 mm website. I treated myself to “mars pro 2 mono” to have a go at printing some wagons/break vans/general stock as I have a couple of quiet days to enjoy over the break. I wonder if anybody would be willing to share some STL files that they have successfully printed so I don’t have to reinvent rivet size and can work with the recesses in detail that you’ve already established? Of particular interest would be anything midland railway oriented but really I’m just after looking at details and how they’ve been modelled to translate them. Happy to message my email via pm, it’s also in the 2mm directory. Thanks Gary

Andy, thank you so much for this snippet and for the link. I’ve found very few references to the slate. I’ve seen Roy’s website before, he used to do tours during the renovation. It looks like he’s added some great stuff, so I’ll have a read through. I’m very aware the Midland Railway were very keen on only using materials from the Midlands, clearly why they were sourced from Leicester. The brickwork is a separate subject and is fascinating. There are several books on this subject, one with the menacing title of “Clay Stealers to St Pancras“. There are some interesting board minutes as to how the custom sized brick and supply chain was frequently “slowed down” to increase the price! Quite a monopoly was had! I will have a good read, thanks for sharing!

From the research I undertook, it seemed to me some people had achieved very good results in oo gauge wills, and looked very close by my eye. I had no idea one could be so verhmently resolved in their roof slate choices! It’s a good job I went for the slaters 2mm then by the sounds of things. Equally, for clarification I never undermined the skills of Victorian roofers. I’m afraid you read that wrong, however one only need to compare the pictures to see the vast difference between modern manufactured tiles and it’s uniformity in comparison.

Well, the Grand Midland Hotel has been undertaking a roofing over a cold quiet evening. Unfortunately it seems we are not as blessed as the 'oo' modellers who have a remarkably close plasticard from "wills roof slate' that matches the rough hand cut I would presume the slate had on the original build when it opened in 1873. I opted for slaters 2mm roof slate, because Jerry Cliffords Midland Engine shed looks rather remarkable, but the pattern is very much repetitive and is more representative of the renovation of the roof in 2007. For the eagle eyed you will notice quite a few differences between then and now, some parts now titled were not so at the time of the original build - as you can see in the comparison on the towers above the front entrance. I will aruldite/epoxy the card to the skeleton frame after gluing the adjoining edges together with a suitable solvent for this plasticard, I presume its polystyrene. I bought something at a exhibition called "Plastic Magic" I will probably try this unless anyone has any suitable suggestions?

Jealous is an understatement! Do share any pictures if you have some. I was most impressed when someone on one of those tours sent me a picture of the original front awning that was discovered in an undercroft in the basement. The colour of the awning was totally different to the postcards that were hand painted (apparently in Germany) of the time. There were of course no coloured photos at this time and I believed the colour in the postcard was true, however, it as I am told, most unlikely that these can ever be relied on as the painter/producer was highly unlikely to have ever seen the actual building itself and is just a mere interpretation.

With resin printing, suction is a huge factor. This is why a lot of new printers are advertising “low force” techniques. You might find for something like this you might get better results printing the roof separately and joining them together whilst curing. Also try to avoid areas where resin may get trapped in a cavity. Some alternative suggestions as to just print angles. Just something to thing about that might be useful. Looks like this came out very nicely.

thanks, this is useful to know. do you know what sort of problems the ‘s’ suffers from. I note the main difference seems to be the illumination matrix and the z axis. what do you use? maybe better just being patient ?!

I’m missing the printers in the workshop at work. Is the consensus here the Anycubic Photon S?

Any recommendations for a spray tin of undercoat for some brass etches? I plan on using the phoenix precision paints, which are enamel. I’m also considering brushing the final coats instead of spraying. I do have a airbrush, but think it’s perhaps overkill? Appreciate any thoughts/guidance. tia

Lots of prototyping stages here, mostly experimental 3d stuff, this dates back to 2016... I still don't have a working one! It's fantastic that people can do this sort of thing at home now.

That has come out really very nice! What printer are you using there? I think you are quite right, 0.7mm is the minimum wall thickness for handling. However, I find these Midland Engines are very delicate and little. They just do not look right at that resolution, I did try. 10 thou brass/nickel sheet etches are 0.254 millimetres and that requires any print really to be 3 times thicker (x2.75), there isn't really a compromise if you consider how much a model gets handled at an exhibition and I do hope this will be an exhibition worthy model. If you look at the resolution of the commercial printer I have access to, you can see it can achieve amazing resolution and I have played with thicknesses a lot. You can see I have even tried printing in a brass composite in once of the images here, experimentation led to just trying to nicely print the boiler but in reality this wasn't ideal, it is hard to get sharp edges on that printer and the material is surprisingly light. I've come to the conclusion I shouldn't really cheat it by 3d printing the locos. Which may be silly because I need an awful lot of them on St Pancras - they often double headed and there is 8 platforms! When I look at Tim Watson's, Richard Wilson's, Simon Bolton's and Jerry Clifford's little Midland Engines (the later having quite recently having made theirs) its made me focus on 3d printing other things rather than full locos. I'm not saying all mind, but these little Midland Engines in particular. I wonder if others have come to the same conclusion and perhaps why when I looked recently a lot of people have 3d printed wagons but used etches for the under frame, I'm not sure - would love to know opinion. Really I think I might use a hybrid and use the 3d printer for detail and moulds. In fact I have been playing with resin recently.

Here is a class 156, that’s only ever been in and out of a draw and box carefully. If reasonably to scale it’s just too fragile. It is also as light as a feather. It would certainly work well if etched and the 3d cad has been quickly and easily converted for this purpose. In essence you need much thicker frames like the RTR models do and at the moment I don’t think that would look right. It may well work for 3mm, but also may lack detail. Have to experiment!!

To run stuff up north, I need some stock. I started on some carriages. These are the first carriages I've ever built, I'm reasonably happy with them, I'll get better as I practice more! These of course are bain arc roofs, the clerestory carriages look very difficult. There is a lot more to go, and therefore a lot more to practice on. I have a whole box full of etches from different suppliers, mostly just the carriages and no instructions! I've decided this is a tedious process. Once you have a carriages shape that's only the beginning! They need painting on the inside, glazing, seating and partitions in place and then the underneaths done and then of course painting and lining - this is an enormous job. I'm going to try and dedicate the weekend to it, I won't get far!

I'm trying to determine how to model the streets and facade of what was the New Road and then later the Euston Road if memory serves. It seems to be a mix of cobbles and manure and sand/hay. It seems very fine and very variable. It's certainly subtle. It feels hard to achieve. Any suggestions on plasticard suppliers close to anything found here would be grateful, I seem to be going around in circles on deciding. Also flagstone plasticard, seems very hard to find something "right".

What do people use to glaze their coaches? Microscope cover slides maybe? What thickness? Any suggestions for cutting? I guess they would easily score.. ty

So I had a go at making this up this evening. I just dove in and didn’t really think about it. Now that I’m thinking about it I’m wondering if the steps are on the right side (is there a trick to tell or do I just look in a reference book). I’m also wondering how you fix the roof, I’ve soldered it now. But there is no base. At the time I thought the roof would be more difficult hence I done that part first. This is a worsley works etch, no instructions or pictures of it complete from my extensive searching. any tips appreciated, and the first time I’ve soldered a coach... so be kind..

I forgot about track, that is a colossal task and an art of its own that Keith Armes was tremendously generous and helpful with. He looked over a great deal of track plans from many sources with me before we decided on the final plan. There are many double slips, scissors, crossovers on this layout - here are some of the most complex made up and placed in no particular order - all of these are individual pieces. All of the track is hand made from scratch and all the points are fully functional, electrically tested too.

At the moment this is one of my favourites. I only found this a few weeks ago. This is very early as the platform arrangement and glazing later changed. Some of the locos are also in midland green. What is special about this picture is that the Barlow roof painted brown. Legend has it according to the Midland Railway meeting minutes. Upon a director of the Midland Railway visiting the station for the first time he found the brown very gloomy, he was asked what colour he’d like them, he replied “I don’t know, the colour of the sky”. BR had them brown too, but since the restoration they have been blue. That’s how I’ll have them.