Shapeways, Bandai and Kato

[Bob S]

I recently discovered an OO9 section on Shapeways, a 3D printing service where people submit their designs to be printed and sold. Lots of good stuff there! Anyway, amongst their offerings were some locomotive shells. They are designed to fit onto existing N scale motor units. I dove headfirst into this. I hope my observations i'll share here are of value to you!

 

The shells are meant to fit on Kato or Bandai motor units. In the case of Bandai, they were to fit under their B Train Shorty line of N scale Japanese passenger trains. A few years back, I bought a bunch of these  trains and motors. The motors ran around twenty dollars or so. They had all wheel pickup and drive. To my unpleasant surprise, they have been largely discontinued. Ebay lists some, but at exorbitant prices.

 

Kato makes motor units meant to replace Bandai's. I ordered one, and received another unpleasant surprise. They only drive one bogie, and given their light weight, are barely able to pull OO9 rolling stock. and, they are also very expensive.

 

Enough whining. Following are three examples.

[Bob S]

The first one I bought was a mini Deltic. I've been using it with a Bandai motor as a test train on my layout under development. It was printed in white plastic, with a medium detail resolution. One thing I learned after I'd gotten my shells is that one can select a fine detail option for more cost. Too late for me, but I hope you benefit from my experience.

[Bob S]

The second is a vertical boiler locomotive. It's meant to fit onto a two axle motor unit. Bandai's are out of stock, and my Kato unit is enroute from Japan. It's sitting on a 4 axle unit for now.

[Bob S]

The last one came out the best, a freelance center cab diesel. Also medium resolution, but satisfactory from 2 feet away! Although these shells do fit, you may need to carve a piece here or there. In this case, the bogie frames hit the footstep, so I shaved a bit off.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Bob S

[HonestTom]

I have one of those vertical boiler engines and they represent pretty good value for money in my opinion. I added some extra detail to mine - controls and pipe work. I also extended the skirts down with a bit of plastic strip to hide the motor bogie.

[Bob S]

10 hours ago, HonestTom said:

I have one of those vertical boiler engines and they represent pretty good value for money in my opinion. I added some extra detail to mine - controls and pipe work. I also extended the skirts down with a bit of plastic strip to hide the motor bogie.

Very good!  I think a future project will be to do the same, starting with a fine detail version. I have a few photos of full scale ones to work off of. It'd be great to see a photo of yours.

 

Oh, I've since received the two axle Kato motor chassis.  Now this one works like I'd expect; smooth and nearly silent. Kato 11-109, replaces their 11-103 no longer produced.

[Bob S]

I recently received another body shell from Shapeways, of a freelance steeplecab locomotive. This time I ordered the fine detail plastic version, which is much better than the basic version. I put it on a Kato 11-109 two axle motor chassis. The body was so short I had to remove the ends holding the coupler pockets. Even so, I had to cut into the body t make it fit.  The red protrusion is the metal motor mount.  I’ve asked the designer to make a modified shell to fit on the 109. For now, it looks acceptable if one overlooks any detail!