Bluebell Model Railway

Tampo printing is generally the standard method of decorating models most will go through a colour spray booth... Masked with templates.. Then various passes through the tampo machines, can be a lot of work pending on how complex the livery is. There are various other ways depending on complexity seen various different ways Hornby had a dmu I can't remember which but it was a slid over the side and took the form and shape of the complex side. Was very interesting.

That's a bit disappointing I saw this on the photo and looked a bit unfinished not something I would be expecting from a high end model... Surely there is a way around the complex shape having seen various livery applications at factors... I am starting to have concerns...

As I said on the other topic.. Still work to do nice model looks elegant like the prototype. Running plate colour is off... Too red, also like to see more of the polished brass work on body itself as this is a key feature on this locomotive. Not bad but plenty to improve upon.

@John Tomlinson These are just bog standard Bachmann Bulleids... I haven't done anything to them.. OK apart from new bogies on some and the new NEM pockets I make. However the later releases from Bachmann featured a darker green for some odd reason... The lighter were older releases which were a lighter shade.

Thanks to Andy for the more official photos of the model. I've ordered the SECR version so most interested in that particular model... For me there's a few things I'm sure will be resolved and fixed in a future sample.. Things that stand out the darker red on the running plate / chassis is too red looks more brown in natural light... Some lining missing along the saddle and top of the frames.. The brass work is very dull Matt which is a shame hopefully can brighten that up a bit... Thr letters look yellow rather than gold spacing doesn't look quite right either... But certainly not bad for a 1st decorated sample. And yes the southern version is a bit pea green rather than olive green.

That will certainly add up to being rather expensive... I'll pass.

Good to see the bulleid carriages are on to tooling... Sadly a bit out my budget range.. So will be upgrading older versions.. I noticed a few are fitting Kadees as have I with an NEM pocket converter... Got it down to a 20 minute job.. OK not a coupling cam but its a simple job opening other coupling options.

This is looking promising... Like the look of it have one on order... Fingers crossed it can be produced to a great standard.

Yes I have a saturn it's a good printer certainly a step forward however I know of course others will soon be doing the same Anycubic is also now doing one which looks promising, lower price point.. Believe the saturn will be £599 when it gets to Amazon in November. However as I said else where... Screens are not cheap $250 and also non standard FEP sheets for the Vat is going to cost... So in reality best getting a few more Mars printers. I just got off the phone to a member of the IWSR, discussing various things, believe most of the events will be cancelled however this depends on government advise... So it changes weekly... But I imagine if they do it will limited on numbers... Think they can get away with steam days they aren't particularly busy.. The shapeways issue of layer lines are still there which is why I'm moving away from Shapeways as the costs are rising, meaning to stay competitive I have very little margin to work with in terms of profits... $40 over 4 - 5 months... Where I'm hitting 4 figures per month £60 resin costs... So no competition really... At the moment I'm not using shapeways at all only for large carriage chassis... Which in that material there isn't too many issues. Cheers Matt

As long as the idiots control themselves and we don't have another lock down... Hopefully yes... First trains will run on the 12th July, booking only via the website. So hopefully if things remain stable then should be running in October. Yes I expect hotels will be limited on capacity, I know there was a fair few issues last year one of the organisers Tim wasn't happy but apparently he does that every year... So who knows problem is I expect will be getting everyone to wear a mask... In September it's my hope to make body shells available when the bigger printer arrives, which is a fair bit quicker.. The SER shells took 36 hours to print.. And I have an Oldbury printing now been on 12 hours is at 50% so not really quick. Enough to produce body shells at numbers that is needed but hopefully in September I'll be in a position to do so. Cheers Matt

Hi Ray, I spoke to branchlines before I started designing this as they don't do one of these... They do a Saloon as you say but different to this one... Finding any drawings for 172 was challenging... I thought I had found a kit on a well known auction site but again that was different but similar to this.. So only one option which was to design my own. This particular carriage is awaiting restoration and was a bungalow I think from memory... Yes I'll be popping over to Havenstreet today... Should be open again on the 12th July they are probably better set up for the new way of life compared to some railways... Yes beer and buses and various events being cancelled will certainly hurt this year, pubs and railways although was talk of last year being the last then changed their minds again... Mainly due to complaints mainly due to misbehaving. Yes it's sad with no exhibitions I was invited to a couple this year with various bits and pieces which would of helped with a bit of advertising but sadly shall have to do it online instead. Hopefully some normality next year? Thanks for the kind words Cheers Matt

Saturn is 25% quicker, its bigger, z not so much, its faster due to its Monochrome LCD, however there is a cost associated with this LCD as they are not as common, $250 for a new one if it gets damaged however they are longer lasting, compared to the mars £25. Also due to its size FEP liner film supply is also costly as its not a standard size. Overall the beta test units seem good, hit Amazon in November, possibly around £599 those who pre ordered will get theirs in August, and September.

Another carriage body designed a few months ago, SER - South Eastern Railway Family/First Saloon 172, Not many measurements or drawings available for this particular carriage so working from photo's of what's left and some helpful measurements and pointers by Bluebell C&W team I managed to create a CAD model. This was printed on a development printer which isn't exactly fast taking 36 hours to print. I designed 2 shells an earlier and a later version where the side windows moved to the back of the carriage. Early version 1) Later version 2)

Interesting thread, I have had Elegoo Mars since November 2018, was one of the first ones to get one, mainly for feedback and some development notes and to be fair it hasn't missed a beat, over 2,000 prints and not 1 failure. Have a couple of others including a development Saturn, which looks to be good printer 3 times the size, Z axis a little disappointing and thought the z rails could be improved as it's not as robust as another printer I own. Hopefully improved the Z calibration also. Saturn maybe 4k but actually is slightly lower resolution than the Mars but it's only small. But looks promising I expect mono lcds are the next generation Anycubic announced one a week later about the same size.. details a bit limited at present.

Thanks Les I will touch base with them and have a look. Thank you.