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Festiniog Railway Rolling Stock in 16mm


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This is a test to push the limits of lots of Shapeways material! First off, if you haven't already, check out the dedicated thread to Van 116 in the Narrow Gauge section (here) which features the model that kicked this all off, a One12 Models kit for a goods van which ended up getting so many new components I may as well have printed the whole thing. And if I may as well have printed a whole van...what else could I print?

 

Starting off simple: A 2 Ton Slate wagon. Based on Stewart Baker's drawings in NG&IRM and a whole lot of head scratching and consultation of other sources (including a Slaters etched kit I was building at the time) I drew up the CAD in Fusion. The axleboxes initially followed the Slaters method, printed separately and a set of securing square nuts also printed separately. The body was done in Shapeways Premium WSF (Versatile under the new naming scheme), the Axleboxes in FXD (Smoothest Detail) and the Nuts in Brass. Wheels and bearings from Slaters were used. 

 

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No problem with those, the rough texture was toned down a bit with high build primer and a fibreglass pencil, which also took care of stepping on the curved portion of the axleboxes. The whole lot too from starting the CAD to finished model in less time than it has taken yo build the Slaters etched model! I'm very happy with it, but it is a little light, being as it is all plastic. I've gone back and lopped off the coupling and buffer and replaced with an interlocking brass item which can also be used to replace the Slaters ones in their kit. This should add weight. Another tweak concerned the axleboxes - rather than butting up behind the solebars I've now fashioned a socket, which makes assembly an absolute breeze in theory. To test this theory out I have ordered...

 

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.... an LNWR Slate Wagon! I thought it would be a doddle to amend the 2 ton wagon CAD to represent the LNWR, it wasn't, it took a week to convert! But it is ordered now, and in a few weeks it should arrive, and within a few hours of arrival it will be finished...hopefully.

 

After that, there are some more wagons in the queue I'm working on, like this Gunpowder van, of the Oakley/Llechwedd type:

 

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Then there is this wooden Slate wagon which will likely have a body from i.Materialise Standard resin rather than a Shapeways material. 

 

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Then there is this Bolster which I am working on:

 

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And I hope to add some slab wagons too!

Edited by Quarryscapes
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  • 2 weeks later...

2nd Instalment! 

 

The LNWR Slate Wagon has arrived with its plug and socket axleboxes and bronze couplers, which have all worked worked very well. 

 

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I'm not 100% sure what LNWR Slate wagon livery should be but I'm going for a dark grey as for SG wagons.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The LNWR wagon is finished. It's livery is Phoenix Dirty Black.

 

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And I've just received a Resin print of a Wooden Slate Wagon body from China, very respectable indeed though it is supposed to be 50microns it appears to be at 150. Either way, the finish is pretty good. 

 

Here it's just had a blow over with Humbrol Matt 100, which looks a little alarming as it's a light coat over white!

 

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On the way from Shapeways is the complete set of parts for a Slab wagon. I'll need to order the parts to complete the Wooden slate wagon next. 

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The long slab wagon - just waiting for the couplings and axlebox pins to dry (having been blacked) so I can fit them. As with the Slate wagons, body is WSF (plain this time, not polished) and FXD axleboxes and wooden strips. I had oriented these to give a wood grain finish but shapeways screwed that up so I've had to add it in with a scalpel and razor saw.

 

Weathering was achieved by painting the whole thing in rust, then painting the livery on over the top and whilst still wet, attacking it with cotton buds, sponge and a steel brush. AK rust streaks was also dabbed in with a tiny brush and allowed to blend in to the wet paint. The wood strips were painted first with a cream colour, then some grey. This was then dry brushed at random with white, grey and browns to give a varying shade of weathered wood. They are actually 3D printed plastic, not wood! 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Finally some tangible progress on the gunpowder van. I've been agonising over how best to print it, since it is quite large and very expensive to print. I took a slice of it and had it printed in good old WSF from Shapeways and I'm actually amazed by how good the results actually are, I'd expected much more stepping on the curved roof, but it's in fact very good indeed. Under a coat of paint it will perfectly portray the texture of the real thing.

 

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I've also printed a coupling in WSF to see how it compares to the bronze in strength and appearance. It looks like it will be perfectly functional and the finish is pretty good too. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ordered the Gunpowder van, and mistakenly set the orientation as I though the test piece had been set... terrible finish! I'm now in the process of scraping it all smooth and reinstating the lopped off rivets. Oh well. I also had to do some surgery to the bronze couplings, which had come out solid because of a support that hadn't been removed, you should be able to make it out in the pics below.

 

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  • RMweb Gold

Very impressed! Looking good.  Were the bronze items created in Fusion then sent to Shapeways too?   Did you give any thought to having the wooden wagon laser cut out of thin Birch Ply or MDF to keep the essence of the wood grain?

 

How did the bronze nuts and bolts turn out?  I have been playing around with Fusion for ages and had a few bits printed with Shapeways, been very impressed by the detail and finish so far.

 

Rich

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On 02/02/2019 at 19:46, MarshLane said:

Very impressed! Looking good.  Were the bronze items created in Fusion then sent to Shapeways too?   Did you give any thought to having the wooden wagon laser cut out of thin Birch Ply or MDF to keep the essence of the wood grain?

 

How did the bronze nuts and bolts turn out?  I have been playing around with Fusion for ages and had a few bits printed with Shapeways, been very impressed by the detail and finish so far.

 

Rich

 

Yes everything is designed in Fusion. The Bronze is on the whole fantastic, but expensive. Now I've built a few wagons I'm looking at doing away with pinning the axleboxes and relying on push fit/glueing them instead now that it has become clear that decent tolerances can be achieved and actually they are not likely to just drop out! 

 

Laser cutting for a the wooden slate wagon has been tried by One12 models. It doesn't work, ply looks like ply and it's only available in the wrong sizes. It's also a complete faff to put together. I would receommend however that it is not printed in a Shapeways material, Once I've had chance to try it myself through i.Materialise, I will be making it available in their standard resin which will be much more suitable. 

 

It's actually very easy to wood grain plastic models, as the Slab wagon shows (I used a fine tooth razor saw dragged along the surfaces, the end grain is designed in)...

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

A few more shots of the completed 2 ton wagon now the axleboxes have been pinned in place and the whole thing weathered: 

 

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The Wooden wagon has had it's printed axleboxes too, though they are not attached yet. Next up the 2nd test print for the Oakley Gunpowder van. It looks good though I have had to make a few tweaks in a few areas just to make it spot on. It's not a cheap model, but it will have working brakes and doors. I intend to wood line the inside too. 

 

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Several developments have been made over the past couple of weeks in between other projects. Axleboxes have now received extra detail to better represent the real thing:

 

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Several new prototypes are being worked on - Iron Bolster wagon, LNWR Coal Wagon, Maenofferen Tank Wagon and the latest - a variation of the 2 ton Slate wagon but representing a later condition with the central spine replaced with old double headed rail and new couplings to match. 

 

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Edited by Quarryscapes
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  • 4 weeks later...

One day, one day...!

 

A little more progress - 

 

FR Iron Bolsters are the first of the new, even more detailed axlebox designs...

 

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Bit of a cruel close up there of unfinished, as printed items but they still look pretty good!

 

Still with axleboxes we have the Bronze inside bearing axleboxes for the wooden slate wagon, I'm going to tweak these so that there is less sideplay in the axles, as it is I've turned up and pressed in some bushes and will be making replacement 3mm diameter axles instead of the 4mm of the Slater's wheelset. More work but it should look that little bit better when done. 

 

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Thankyou folks...all dead easy stuff to make as well, apart from the machined bits but they aren't even necessary, it's just me faffing. In this last batch I have been experimenting with Silver as a coupling material, as it will at least look the right colour should paint get scratched off...

 

 

 

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Pretty much finished the Inside Bearing Slate Wagon. The Silver couplings have been darkened by immersion in a hard boiled egg. (I probably should have cleaned them first, then they might have gone all the way black, but good enough for now. 

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