Adam's Workbench - Industrial Modelling and 3D printing

[Adam FW]

Starting out on the Avonside project I had a massive head start as @Corbs helps out at the Bristol Harbour Railway so had already managed to take a load of measurements of Portbury so the usual first step of searching for a drawing or scaling dimensions off of images was skipped entirely. The first CAD model included a representation of the Hornby B2 chassis with rough but to scale bodywork on top

 

 

It was decided early on that the best way to make these kits was to split as much as possible into separate parts for easier painting, starting with the 3 major components, the running board, cab and saddletank/boiler with details like the smokebox door, windows and cab interior added to the main components as the model progressed

 

  

Portbury slowly took shape with the various separate detail parts being designed next

 

 

the biggest headache was figuring out how everything would fit together and locate properly, for the chimney, dome and filler cap I recessed the saddletank so the detail parts could be thicker and used tabs and slots for alignment

 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Adam FW

[Adam FW]

the main components of the Avonside kit just like the detail parts are designed to slot together with recesses in the running board for the cab and saddletank to fit into, this gives a better glue joint, makes alignment easy and hides any imperfections on the bottom edges of the prints. The existing screw holes in the chassis were utilised for the body mounting but instead of screwing into the plastic I modeled some hex shaped sockets for nuts to be glued into

 

 

the cab also has some nice detailing to it, the handbrake, reverser, boiler backplate and regulator are all separately fitted parts with gauges, valves, seats and bunker details printed as part of the cab.

 

 

Riveting was much easier than expected, which was good considering how many rivets are on portbury

 

 

at this point I was ready for test printing

[Adam FW]

the first test print for Portbury was a success but highlighted a few minor issues to rectify, primarily the flimsy running board and cab needed strengthening

 

I also printed off the detail parts for a test fit, I wasn't happy with the sandbox and filler cap fitment so these both changed. I've included an image of the safety valve on top of a cotton bud to give you an idea of scale

 

 

It looked good but was difficult to see the surface finish due to the translucent plastic so I sprayed it with poundland's finest grey primer and assembled everything (I didn't noticed until afterwards that the safety valve had half fallen out of it's socket)

[Adam FW]

After the test print quite a few changes were made and I went through various iterations to get a model I was happy with.

 

 

Alongside Portbury I have also designed 2 different cab variants for the 'round tank' B4 locos, firstly a generic design with standard round rear cab windows which could be used to represent a wide number of locos or freelance designs and secondly Edwin Hulse with it's enlarged bunker and distinctive conical chimney cap which will be an option part with the normal chimney also included. Both also feature a standard running board without the buffer beam extension that Portbury has

 

 

 

This is one of the first set of production printed parts for the Portbury kits that will be sold through www.railwaymania.net in the near future. There's 8 buffers in the kit because although an Avonside loco, Portbury and it's sisters at the Avonmouth docks were serviced by Peckett so they picked up Peckett buffers as replacements as the originals broke, Portbury now only has a single Avonside buffer left so in the kit you get 4 Avonside and 4 Peckett buffers to model any of the Avonmouth dock locos

 

Edited July 16, 2020 by Adam FW

[Adam FW]

I decided that I need to do a full test build and paint of Portbury before letting anyone else have a go so this is my brief build log.

 

I started by cutting free all of the detail parts and cleaning up all of the marks from the support materials that had been left.

 

I drilled out the holes for hand rails, some are so small they get clogged with excess resin during printing so it makes sense to drill them out before they get obscured by paint, most were clear however. The vertical cab hand rails holes that I’m drilling out in the picture are the trickiest as the material is thin so car needed to be taken, for anyone building the kit these holes could be left and the handrail glued on to the knobs rather than into the hole if you’re nervous about drilling them out

 

 

after cleaning everything up I gave the parts a coat of primer and left them to dry. I put the parts onto kebab sticks with blutack for spray painting, I find it’s a good solution to not getting paint on my hands and I can simply stab them into a cardboard box to dry
 

 

The next day I sanded back the primer where I could see any imperfections such as print layers. I print with very small layers so there wasn’t much clean up to do but I had to be careful not to sand off all the rivets as they’re pretty small

 

next came another coat of primer to cover any exposed plastic, I used white primer this time as part of the buffer beam needed to be white for the livery I wanted and the top coat is a pretty pale colour too

Edited July 18, 2020 by Adam FW

[Mike 84C]

Very impressive, your method of printing gives a very clean body and any striations are very hard to see from the photos.  Can I be a bit cheeky and email you a drawing ? Its of a very ,I think, interesting prototype that ran in Ireland in the early 1900's. If you saw it then a use for the Bachmann James becomes obvious!  No offence will be taken if you think "oh no"!

 Mic

[Adam FW]

30 minutes ago, Mike 84C said:

Very impressive, your method of printing gives a very clean body and any striations are very hard to see from the photos.  Can I be a bit cheeky and email you a drawing ? Its of a very ,I think, interesting prototype that ran in Ireland in the early 1900's. If you saw it then a use for the Bachmann James becomes obvious!  No offence will be taken if you think "oh no"!

 Mic

Cheers

 

Feel free to send me a personal message on rmweb with the drawing, I’m always interested in unusual locomotives and suggestions for future models but even if I decide to take it further be aware that I’ve got a lot on at the moment, I’ve got to finish off the square tank avonside design (Just started a test build) and the next 2 completely different designs for Railway Mania are underway

[Adam FW]

Here’s the next Portbury build post

 

the livery I chose for portbury is a bit unusual as I don’t believe that it ever ran in it but was stored in it. I don’t have a picture that I own but here’s a link to the Bristol harbour railway blog with 4 images of portbury in a bluey grey livery with buffer beam wasp stripes 

 

https://bristolharbourrailway.co.uk/locomotives-and-rolling-stock/portbury/#jp-carousel-1078

 

As I understand it after being donated as a museum piece the saddle tank and cab were coated in grey primer but the buffer beam retained its red and white wasp stripes, I’m a big fan of the rusty weathered look which I’ll have to replicate at some point

 

after priming in white I painted the top of the running board black and then masked out the wasp stripes with Tamiya tape before spraying the red
 

 

for the cab I decided to brush paint the interior before masking the cab openings ready for the top coat

 

 

the only other bits that needed masking were the buffers and the saddle tank, in both cases I did the black first and masked off with tape and blutack

 

The detail parts were painted separately but I got a bit carried away with painting and gluing the boiler back plate so painted all the details and added the regulator before photographing the separate parts, oops

 

 

after all the painting was done I had a nice collection of parts to glue together

 

 

I couldn’t find any brass or bronze spray paint for the dome so made my own by layering thin coats of copper and gold until I got the tone about right.

[Adam FW]

With everything painted up I could then begin sub-assembling the main components.

 

the cab already had its side hand rails fitted but needed the windows painting

 

the saddle tank gained a chimney, dome, hand rails, smokebox dart, water filler cap and boiler back head details. The dome and chimney have tabs and slots to help align then but the bases did need a bit of sanding to sit nicely on the tank

 

 

most parts went on the running board, the hand brake and reverser handle into the cab area, the sand boxes, nuts for body fitment, coupling hooks and buffers. I used the 3D printed buffers that are in the kit but I could have snipped off the buffer head and added a metal ones or fitted sprung buffers instead as the running board already has the recesses to suit them

 

 

with that done I could glue it all together and do a test fit of the body onto the peckett chassis. Just the vertical cab handrails and glazing to go.

 

[Adam FW]

The last bit of the avonside kit to assemble is the vertical cab handrails. There’s holes printed into the running board and the cab for the handrail wire to pass through and be glued into place.

 

I pre-painted the wire so had to drill the holes out slightly larger, then I simply threaded the hand rail wires through the holes and held them in place with blutack as I glued them in place. I then cut off the excess wire 

 

 

I then realised I had made a mistake. To strengthen the cab there’s a brace at the bottom of the doorway, this should have been painted to match the cab floor so needed masking off and painting brown

 

 

up to this point everything built on the model bar the chassis, glue, paint and consumables is included in the kit but the windows need glue and glaze or some alternative for glazing. I add a bit of tape around the windows to prevent my clumsiness being an issue

 

 

Now everything on the basic model is done, I’m very pleased with it but have some additional details to add which I’ll cover at a later date and some weathering but I may leave that to a professional

 

ignore the green wheels, I’ll be getting a sherwood peckett chassis with black wheels soon but only had Westminster which is green when assembling the model

 

 

Edited July 25, 2020 by Adam FW

[Adam FW]

I'm very pleased to say that the first 3 variants of my Avonside kit are now available on the Railway Mania Store thanks to @Corbs

 

https://www.railwaymania.net/shop

 

Theres a choice between:

 

Portbury (easily modified into any of the avonmouth docks Avonside locos), I've already built and showcased this model on my workbench

 

 

Edwin Hulse / ISC No2, Corbs has recently released a brilliant build video of this on youtube, why not check it out

 

 

And finally a standard round window loco (could represent a wide number of prototype locos), we're hoping to get you images of a fully painted and lined example in the near future

 

 

I'm very proud of the kit and can't wait to hear what other people think of it and to see what they produce.

 

 

 

[Mike 84C]

Adam, that looks really good and the tutorial shows just how easy it is to build. I hope they fly off the shelves! You should be very proud.

  You mention  the Redruth and Cambourn 4ft gauge , funny, I looked at an Ian Rice type small layout using it as a basis I was very surprised at how much info is out there about it. Lots of photos on the Cornish memory website and  Robert  Tivendale did several articles on it in Practical Model  railways in the 1980's. I thought about using the Hornby/Ibertren   0-6-0t as a basis for  Miner. Hope thats of interest.

  I realise that Irish Baldwin is a bit esoteric but it would be nice if you got around to it some day and  maybe the Railway Mania Store would introduce it and The delights of Irish railways to a wider audience?

           Kind Regards Mick

ps. any pictures of your Miner?

[Adam FW]

I finally got my hands on a sherwood model, clearly pastel colours are in this year shown alongside my unweathered portbury who sherwood will soon be donating it’s chassis to

 

 

if anyone is interested in buying a sherwood peckett b2 body let me know, I’ll likely be putting it up on eBay in the not too distant future as I only need the chassis

 

[Adam FW]

3 hours ago, Mike 84C said:

Adam, that looks really good and the tutorial shows just how easy it is to build. I hope they fly off the shelves! You should be very proud.

  You mention  the Redruth and Cambourn 4ft gauge , funny, I looked at an Ian Rice type small layout using it as a basis I was very surprised at how much info is out there about it. Lots of photos on the Cornish memory website and  Robert  Tivendale did several articles on it in Practical Model  railways in the 1980's. I thought about using the Hornby/Ibertren   0-6-0t as a basis for  Miner. Hope thats of interest.

  I realise that Irish Baldwin is a bit esoteric but it would be nice if you got around to it some day and  maybe the Railway Mania Store would introduce it and The delights of Irish railways to a wider audience?

           Kind Regards Mick

ps. any pictures of your Miner?

 

 

Cheers Mike, here's hoping they're popular, this was some of the first batch I sent out and I've already had to send some more Portbury's and Edwin Hulse's to Corbs

 

 

When I was looking into making a model of Miner or Spitfire I was going to use the new Hornby terrier chassis as its so narrow and works nicely under my Manning Wardle which is similar style of loco but add on some valve gear and cylinders possibly from an Adam's radial. I didn't get much beyond blocking out the basic design as the avonsides took my focus away and I wasn't happy with some of the compromises I was having to make.

 

I presume you mean the Redruth and Chasewater railway where miner ran, I too was surprised how much info is out there considering how many 'normal' lines lasted longer and yet are completely forgotten with practically no info on them.

 

This is as far as I got with the design:

 

 

I'd like to get back to it at some point but now have an even weirder Crampton loco I'm looking into alongside the next Railway Mania kit

 

The Irish Baldwin saddletanks you sent me were genuinely fascinating, the sort of thing you'd expect to find hauling logs in the Rockies not around Cork

Edited July 29, 2020 by Adam FW

[Adam FW]

Minor update on portbury

 

I spent a little while modelling an alfloc water softener chemical feed pump for Portbury. These were fitted to the Avonmouth dock locos to solve the issue of scaling from the hard water.

 

originally I thought this was a lubricator but asking around identified it as an alfloc pump

 

I printed it, gave it a quick sand, and coat of black paint then glued it on to the running board

 

the black alfloc doesn’t really show up that well but it should look better after some weathering

 

I also gave the loco a light coat of satin lacquer to protect the paint work a bit and reduce the glossiness

[Mike 84C]

Adam, it was the Redruth and Chasewater , don't know why I made that little blunder! Without wishing to sound  pedantic I think the water treatment was called Nafloc. When I worked on BR we also used it, Banbury 84 C was a hard water area, it looked like brown cup sized blocks  that used too get tipped into a special meshed holder,where they slowly dissolved, that held 20/30 lbs of them. We only put them in 9f tenders. 9f's seemed very prone to priming when the boiler got dirty the Nafloc put the solids into suspension so the water looked creamy in the gauge glass. When the boiler was blown down into the pit several wheelbarrow fulls of creamy white sludge was ejected. Always done with a very full boiler and the engine blowing its brains out!!  Funnily enough right outside the shedmasters office for preference.

    I shall keep an eye out for progress on Miner!  Ok if I mention the Baldwins now and again!!? I'm sure its a Corbs sort of model having followed him for quite a while.

[Corbs]

I wonder if Nafloc was another brand? Alfloc was a registered trade mark of ICI, there was a little plate on the side of the tank/pump declaring their ownership of it.

Or maybe it was the distinction between the soluble block and the pumping system itself?

Edited July 31, 2020 by Corbs

[Adam FW]

1 hour ago, Mike 84C said:

Adam, it was the Redruth and Chasewater , don't know why I made that little blunder! Without wishing to sound  pedantic I think the water treatment was called Nafloc. When I worked on BR we also used it, Banbury 84 C was a hard water area, it looked like brown cup sized blocks  that used too get tipped into a special meshed holder,where they slowly dissolved, that held 20/30 lbs of them. We only put them in 9f tenders. 9f's seemed very prone to priming when the boiler got dirty the Nafloc put the solids into suspension so the water looked creamy in the gauge glass. When the boiler was blown down into the pit several wheelbarrow fulls of creamy white sludge was ejected. Always done with a very full boiler and the engine blowing its brains out!!  Funnily enough right outside the shedmasters office for preference.

    I shall keep an eye out for progress on Miner!  Ok if I mention the Baldwins now and again!!? I'm sure its a Corbs sort of model having followed him for quite a while.

 

1 hour ago, Corbs said:

I wonder if Nafloc was another brand? Alfloc was a registered trade mark of ICI, there was a little plate on the side of the tank/pump declaring their ownership of it.

Or maybe it was the distinction between the soluble block and the pumping system itself?

 

I'm wondering if Nafloc is just what the crews called it ie: it's a bit naff,

 

going a bit more sciency it could be that Nafloc uses sodium (Na) and Alfloc is a system using Aluminium (Al), I get the sodium as that is part of water softening, the aluminium not so much AFIAK

 

Interesting to hear how they worked Mike, I had presumed it was a fluid that got added into the box not a soluble block

 

 

[Corbs]

A photo of the plate courtesy Christopher Dennison on the industrial locos FB page.

[Mike 84C]

The blocks arrived at depots in steel drums with a plastic bag type liner and a clip on lid Nafloc  printed on the drum. I'm certain it worked well, not at all naff, judging by the sludge that came from the blowdown valve.

  Corbs that is a very interesting photo, the PBA must have been a very enlightened operator.

[Holmside]

1) I would first like to thank all who have contributed to this thread: for both the willingness to share with others their knowledge and expertise, as well as their excellent communication skills. It all  makes for both a fascinating and enjoyable read. 

 

2) As one who would like to gain some practical insight into the matters covered in the thread, I would like to ask the originator (or anyone else) what CAD package(s) were used and what are the requirements for the hardware ( ie the machine and operating system running the CAD). Additionally, please could information be supplied as to what  3D printer was used and what (if any) further computer-related requirements are necessary to drive it.

 

3) I would like to thank, in advance, anybody who cares to respond to these requests.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Holmside
Poor grammar and proof reading (!)

[Adam FW]

1 hour ago, Holmside said:

1) I would first like to thank all who have contributed to this thread: for both the willingness to share with others their knowledge and expertise, as well as their excellent communication skills. It all  makes for both a fascinating and enjoyable read. 

 

2) As one who would like to gain some practical insight into the matters covered in the thread, I would like to ask the originator (or anyone else) what CAD package(s) were used and what are the requirements for the hardware ( ie the machine and operating system running the CAD). Additionally, please could information be supplied as to what  3D printer was used and what (if any) further computer-related requirements are necessary to drive it.

 

3) I would like to thank, in advance, anybody who cares to respond to these requests.

Firstly thanks, I hope this answers your questions

 

I’ve used a variety of CAD and packages Both professionally and as a hobbyist but for hobby work I’d recommend Autodesk fusion 360 it’s relatively easy to teach yourself to use and you can get it free for hobby use.
 

Hardware is a difficult one to judge as simple components don’t need a powerful machine but once you get to complex assemblies with lots of features such as whole locos even my laptop which is basically a windows gaming laptop struggles and needs time to compute any changes in the design history. I presume the software would also work on a Mac

 

I’ve got both an anycubic photon and an elegoo Mars pro resin 3d printer. I’ve found the Mars quicker and more reliable but both give equivalent print quality

 

you will also need a slicer software to convert cad to a file the printer will accept. Some printers require proprietary software due to weird file formats but most accept chitubox which I think is free. This software is also where you add the print supports and set the printer setting for layer height and exposure

Edited August 11, 2020 by Adam FW

[jdb82]

8 hours ago, Adam FW said:

I presume the software would also work on a Mac

 

 

Fusion works great on a Mac and seems to run without having to think too hard - that being said I only tend to model individual components of locos rather than the entire body!

The only gripe I have with Fusion on a MacBook (laptop) is navigating round the model on the mouse trackpad is a little clumsy. Or maybe I'm the clumsy one......not sure which!

 

Edited August 11, 2020 by jdb82
end of a long day!

[Adam FW]

10 hours ago, jdb82 said:

 

Fusion works great on a Mac and seems to run without having to think too hard - that being said I only tend to model individual components of locos rather than the entire body!

The only gripe I have with Fusion on a MacBook (laptop) is navigating round the model on the mouse trackpad is a little clumsy. Or maybe I'm the clumsy one......not sure which!

 

Without a mouse or 3d space ball. All CAD systems are pretty clumsy, it’s not you it’s the need to hold a mouse button and scroll at the time.

 

I’m sure there’s some control scheme that works with a laptop trackpad but I’ve not seen it

[Adam FW]

back to the Avonsides, after spending so long with Portbury and the other round tank locos myself and @Corbs started off pretty confident that we could easily have a line up of square tanks done as after all it's just a different shaped tank, dome and chimney vs the round tank locos, how wrong we were...

 

 

 

to begin with the cab is a different size, it's larger. Most obviously it's wider and sits close to the edge of the running board but it's also longer which in turn pushes the boiler and saddle tank forwards, but the smokebox needs to sit over the cylinders so in CAD the running board moves backwards instead. It's a headache to figure everything out, so much for a simple change.

 

 

The first prints weren't the best, the running board was really flimsy where the cab and boiler met due to the wider cab taking away a lot of the strength but that was resolved with a few minor tweaks leading to this mk1 design