BRM Poll - The future

[Andy Y]

For our March issue of BRM which explores modern technologies within the hobby we'd like to get your thoughts on the future.

[BlackRat]

More use of 3D printing, with simple downloadable plans etc available from the manufacturers or individuals.

 

This would allow the more eclectic items to be able to be produced, and printed off as a basic model at home.

 

The modeller can then spray, letter, weather etc to their hearts content, including a choice of wheels and couplings.

 

It could also allow a reasonable sized train to be built up, to individual needs with variations on a theme.

 

Could also be used for figures, scenic items and buildings........

 

Just a thought.

[Karhedron]

Etched Pixels already offer some very nice mixed-media kits with things like 3D printed bodyshells with etched overlays. Below is an ex-GWR O.13 milk brake in departmental use.

 

 

At the moment 3D printing struggles with smooth surfaces and fine details but I suspect it is only a matter of time before the technology improves to the point where it becomes both comparable and cost-effective when compared to traditional media.

[grahame]

I don't think that modern technology will completely 'replace' traditional methods but will 'supplement' it, giving a choice and opportunities to enhance and simplify modelling.

 

As already pointed out, multi media (more than one material type) kits are already currently available and I guess most people use a mix of materials in their modelling.

 

G.

[Tricky-CRS]

3D printing is unlikely in the next 5 or so year's to replace injection moulding and cost not likely to improve enough. So mixed media is the best way forward I suspect, certainly for the next few years.

[Dunsignalling]

I consider it unlikely that the new technologies will wholly displace more traditional modelling methods and materials in the foreseeable future. To cite an earlier example, how long did it take for Airbrush painting to become commonplace?

 

In other fields, without and within railway modelling (where DCC sound provides an example), many early adopters tend to be as much (or more) interested in the process as the product. 

 

Beyond that group, I think that take-up will initially be largely confined to more prolific modellers who are able to reap sufficient benefit to justify the investment.

 

Most of the rest will remain on the side-lines until the likes of Currys and Argos start selling the equipment at prices to seduce the mainstream market.

 

John

[St. Simon]

Hi,

 

My outlook on technology such as 3D Printing, Laser cutting etc, is that it should only be used to do very complex stuff that would be very difficult if done using traditional methods, it shouldn't be allowed to end up as the solve problems solution.

 

I also feel that people go for a technology option because it is there, not necessarily because it provides a greater benefit over the 'traditional'.

 

I think it should be viewed as a 'helper' rather than a 'replacer' to the traditional modelling methods.

 

Simon

[Karhedron]

My outlook on technology such as 3D Printing, Laser cutting etc, is that it should only be used to do very complex stuff that would be very difficult if done using traditional methods, it shouldn't be allowed to end up as the solve problems solution.

 

What if new technology allows us to do our modelling more/faster/better/cheaper than "traditional" methods? Some people will always prefer to stick to skills they have spent years honing but I don't think we should reject the introduction of new technology. Just because something can be done the "old way" does not mean that is always the best way. Some great innovations have happened simply because when people try to do something novel.

 

I think new technologies add to the repertoire of skills and techniques available to modellers. If someone is more comfortable programming a laser cutter than picking up an Xacto knife then I see that as an opportunity rather than a problem.

[St. Simon]

What if new technology allows us to do our modelling more/faster/better/cheaper than "traditional" methods? Some people will always prefer to stick to skills they have spent years honing but I don't think we should reject the introduction of new technology. Just because something can be done the "old way" does not mean that is always the best way. Some great innovations have happened simply because when people try to do something novel.

 

I think new technologies add to the repertoire of skills and techniques available to modellers. If someone is more comfortable programming a laser cutter than picking up an Xacto knife then I see that as an opportunity rather than a problem.

 

I totally agree with you there, I was thinking more about the very simple stuff, I have been asked to design stuff to 3D Print which are far cheaper / easily to produce by simply cutting a piece of plasticard in a couple of places. I've seen people go automatically to get something printed, when actually it doesn't bring any more benefits than traditional modelling.

 

I don't think it should be a lazy modellers cope out, which so far I'm pleased to say, hasn't happened.

 

Simon

[Steamport Southport]

I think we'll have a stage where 3D printing will be a fad where many people will buy the printers and attempt to make things with them. Then get frustrated or bored with the technology and then it'll largely disappear apart from a few specialists and dedicated amateurs.

 

It'll have a place, but not to the extent that we'll all have 3D printers in our homes printing out the latest models.

 

 

Jason

[chrisf]

I voted for mixed-media.  3D printing has given some astonishing results when applied with skill and imagination but there is one huge unknown in that technology, namely how long the printed results will last.  Put another way, how biodegradable is it?  It is too recent a development for us to know.

 

That said, it has always been the case that some jobs are better done in one way than in another.  The early whitemetal kits had some parts - cabs, for instance,- that would have been better etched.  Today some plastic injection moulding is scarily frail.  What about the screen printed coach sides made by PC which made panelled prototypes look so two-dimensional but would have been perfect for flush-glazed steel coaches?  It will always be the case that there is more than one way to skin a cat.  Remember that a cat is said to have nine lives!

 

Chris

[Nearholmer]

Given that cutting up cardboard with a knife, or wood and brass with a saw, have not been completely replaced by all the other techniques and materials that have come along since our hobby started, it seems unlikely that the latest techniques and materials will replace all that have gone before ......... hence I voted "supplement" ........., and then discovered that a many others have too.

 

Kevin

[The Fatadder]

My view is that 'modern technologies' will never replace brass for the top end of kit building, it cannot come close to the thinness possible with sheet metal.

 

White metal on the other hand....

 

 

What I expect to see more of is that the castings for details in an etched kit will be prototyped (or even produced by) ALM etc, while more large curved components such as boilers will be produced in plastics and resins, coming to an optimal use of sheet metal for parts that need to be strong and / or thin, while ALM or castings from CAD designs will be used for the more complicated curved parts.

[phil_sutters]

There will always be builders and collectors. Some people build locos, some rolling stock, some landscapes and some buildings. It is unlikely that everyone will want to build every aspect of their layout. I am sure very few in the last decade or two have. Not everyone has the skill to finish the work once the 3D machine or the laser-cutter has done its job - adding the mechanism - setting the wheels right - painting - lining - glazing. As with all tools some people can work out how to use them others can't. Model making has always ranged from the very simple to the heights of engineering and artistry. In the amateur world you do what you want to do.

 

As far as new technology goes, I am far more interested in developments in remote control and battery power. One only has to look at the rapidly expanding drone market and the ever smaller and cheaper remote controlled helicopters to see their future. My grandson bought a small helicopter for £7.50 recently. It flies very well and is surprisingly controllable. I think that the days of wired control are numbered.

[Enterprisingwestern]

There will ways be a need for mixed media, no one system can tick all the boxes.

3D printing will soon be old hat when the new "next big thing" comes along.

 

Mike.

[hmrspaul]

 

What about the screen printed coach sides made by PC which made panelled prototypes look so two-dimensional but would have been perfect for flush-glazed steel coaches?  It will always be the case that there is more than one way to skin a cat.  Remember that a cat is said to have nine lives!

 

Chris

 

 

That is what Mopok did 40 plus years ago for a series of steel sided non panelled parcels coaches, and ABS followed with some suburban coaches.

 

Paul

[The Stationmaster]

Noting the preponderance of votes (including mine) for 'mixed-media'  i wonder if we're basing our decision on experience (witness several posts above) or just as much a wish to continue with the familiar?

[81C]

Having bought a few 3d models I'm not in a rush to buy more till the quality improves, once the orange peel effect is cured I can see more interest will be shown in it's use.

[APOLLO]

I think as Stationmaster says "Us old uns" more or less like mixed media as something we are familiar with.

 

I'm not against the new (DCC, 3D printing etc) but I don't embrace / utilise it, and probably never will. Too many articles in the modelling press (dating back to the 60's etc) forecast the demise of our hobby - but they were ALL wrong -  just look at where we are now with choice (albeit at increasing price - but that's another subject already flogged to death !!).

 

I have no crystal ball for the future. I'm sure the hobby will survive / morph / embrace new technology / continue with old methods etc. It's a very personal hobby to most, and we all have varying degrees of skill / wants / needs / you name it. That is the value of our hobby - we all do our own thing.

 

So for me, I look forward to new developments and technologies (but probably won't utilise many of them), new products (but probably won't buy much more). 

 

Brit15

[Dunsignalling]

What if new technology allows us to do our modelling more/faster/better/cheaper than "traditional" methods? Some people will always prefer to stick to skills they have spent years honing but I don't think we should reject the introduction of new technology. Just because something can be done the "old way" does not mean that is always the best way. Some great innovations have happened simply because when people try to do something novel.

 

I think new technologies add to the repertoire of skills and techniques available to modellers. If someone is more comfortable programming a laser cutter than picking up an Xacto knife then I see that as an opportunity rather than a problem.

Though no laser cutter will ever compete with the X-acto on price! 

 

Many people enjoy playing with new technology for its own sake whether or not it's "better" (let alone easier) than what went before.

 

Others will just go on using the skills they already possess with some getting their models built and painted before the neophile finishes learning CAD.

 

I tend to agree with the advice that, just because one can do something, it doesn't automatically follow that one should. There are also plenty who spend all day slaving over hot keyboards, and want nothing more to do with one when they get home! 

 

For one-off models, new technology offers little more than a different route to the end product, but I can easily envisage 3D printing displacing resin or metal casting where a few dozen of something is needed, if only because of the ease with which a few more can be produced.

 

Laser cutting will really come into its own when it becomes affordable for individuals (and, for that matter, kit producers) to cut their own brass kits direct from a CAD file without the need to go through the expensive and long-winded etching process.  

 

John

[nick_bastable]

a laser is like a lathe or miller or 3d printer good for some jobs but not all  many "traditional" modelers will often own a lathe and or miller the other two items are exactly the same 

 

although I confess too owning three of the items ( 3d at the moment I think is best sub contracted )

 

Nick

[Kris]

There is a place for all technologies in the hobby, and there is likely to always be so. Card and plastic modelling require different skill sets to get good results however a lot of these skills are simililar, however these skills are very dissimilar to those needed to create 3D printed models (if you are designing them).

[PaulRhB]

New techniques are just another tool, some things will be used less much as the power drill replaced the hand drill in many jobs but didn't replace it completely. Sometimes you need the flexibility and finesse of hand tools.
Will 3D printing replace mass volume injection moulding? I doubt it purely on speed, printing however does make sense for complex shapes especially inside that would require multiple slides or compromise on the design.

[griffgriff]

For our March issue of BRM which explores modern technologies within the hobby we'd like to get your thoughts on the future.

... like time travel! Not had Christmas yet and it's nearly Easter already

[Andy Y]

... like time travel! Not had Christmas yet and it's nearly Easter already

That's nothing, I am working on stuff for September at the moment!