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Lazy designing


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​Hiya


Here are some of my 3D-printed items over the past few years (mostly in 3.5mm scale) :


I have designed and had printed various Portsmouth units – 4Cor, 4Buf and 4Res. My cunning plan to use Prime Gray for the motorcoach bodies and FUD for the window frames went awry because I had not allowed sufficient clearance, hence the window apertures had to be opened out in order to fit the frames without them distorting. The trailer cars (other than the Buf buffet car) were done in FUD, which gave less trouble but considerably more expense. The underframes are generally WSF braced with brass tube and furnished with Tenshodo motor bogies and Fleischmann trailers. Jumper cables and roof details are from Dart Castings or the scrapbox.


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A 2Hal is similar in composition but fortunately didn’t require separate window frames. The Fleischmann trailer bogies were so costly that I designed my own.


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Years ago, I decided to attempt a Class 86. I cynically used Prime Gray for the body, mainly because the stepped finish on the roof dome would require considerable filling and sanding which would in turn correct the badly-represented roof shape which doesn’t look right from certain angles. Unfortunately, the design also seems prone to developing a bend during printing, which then requires further correction. The underframe and bogies were originally FUD but since other FUD items have deformed under load I use WSF for chassis now. For bogies I usually use an internal – inside bearing – WSF stretcher with a cosmetic FUD sideframe. But in the case of the Class 86, the bogie frame is WSF and clips to the Tenshodo bogie. I also designed the Floyd Rail variant but lost interest in it and converted the print to a conventional 86 using parts from a failed print. All will be 86/4 since having spent my formative years on the Southern, a train looks incomplete without a mass of jumper cables on its front.


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Having acquired some scratchbuilt LMS coaches (Reidpath?) on Ebay, something would be required to haul them. Without building a steam engine, there was only one credible option – the Ivatt diesels, 10000 and 10001. After several false starts, reasonably representative bodyshells were designed for FUD and married to WSF chassis and bogie frames. I couldn’t find a motor bogie that would allow an A-1-A-A-1-A configuration so ended up rebuilding some BEC / KW Trams bogies (by remounting the motor on edge to allow for larger wheels) to give a 1-B-B-1 arrangement. On tests this seems to work and negotiate required curves.


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I have also attempted a wagon – the Open AB. One example uses a WSF underframe with a High Definition Acrylate body. After I removed the internal tiebars intended to maintain shape during printing, the body developed a camber in the floor which consequently rotated the sides outwards, a defect that necessitated cutting away of the floor. So that wagon will have to run with a load to hide the damage. Another, all-FUD example does not seem to have suffered from the same problem. Buffers in both cases are WSF for strength.


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In order to convert Lima Mk.2 coaches to air-conditioned types, some substitute window strips were printed in White Detail plastic, but the doors were not altered (to include the distinctive grilles whose absence is fortunately disguised somewhat by the livery) and I have not designed underframe equipment (yet). New B4 bogies are in WSF.


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