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3D Printed N Gauge Pendolino and On Track Plant


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  • RMweb Gold

It has been reported that the 'new' Kleer can be used the same way as the previous product. It’s just cloudy at the start and takes slightly longer to dry but does dry clear. I've also seen this product come highly recommended, and some even say it is better than the original Kleer:

 

http://www.lakeland....ne-Floor-Finish

 

The Pendolino is looking great David!

 

Tom.

Edited by TomE
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Thanks guys,

 

I will get some klear tomorrow and have a play.

 

I now need some advice on adding pickups to the driving coach bogies. I will redesign the base plate to allow for the gaps needed for them to pass through, and presume its just a simple case of soldering the lighting feeds to the tops of the brass pick ups?

 

Now, big problem, how to alter a Farish mk4 bogie to incorporate pick ups?

 

Would the Farish 91 bogie pick ups be of any use here, or am I going to have to design and laser cut bespoke ones?

 

David

 

post-6666-0-20705300-1351017510_thumb.jpg

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Phosphor bronze wire (not brass) and two tiny bits of scrap brass. Solder the wire to the brass, solder a fine wire from the brass to take the power into the vehicle, glue the brass to the bogie under side.

 

You'll get almost no friction from phosphor bronze wire and unlike brass it won't gradually keep losing the springiness.

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  • RMweb Gold

Hello David

 

Now you are using your own floors and bodies, do you particularly need to use the Mk4 bogies?

 

I wondered whether instead you might use Dapol super voyager bogies, which I believe are available as spares and incorporate pick-ups.

 

cheers

 

Ben A.
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Tanks Alan,

 

Just to clarify - the brass goes under the bogie and the phosphor goes from the brass to brush against the wheels?

 

David

 

Yes. The brass is basically there so you've got something to glue.

 

You can also fashion the entire thing out of phosphor bronze and fasten it to a tiny screw tapped most of the way into the bogie frame (take a look at pictures of old Tri-ang Hornby motor bogie to see how to fashion it for that style - but basically its two long arms to the wheels with a 'U' in the centre with the open end facing inwards. The pickups spring against the wheels and push the closed end of the U against the screw thread with the head stopping it springing off.

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Thanks Alan, got it now, seems simple enough so will give it a go. The voyager lighting set up I will use handily comes with the wires readily installed from the chip, so they can attach directly to the brass.

 

Ben, problem with the Dapol super voyager bogies is that they are separate to the coupling system, so I'd have to design and build in a bespoke coupler and pivot onto the model, which would push the price beyond my budget. The mk4 bogies work pretty well as they already have the couplings, and have a similar end of coach underframe panel that pretty much matches the 390.

 

I will of course be able to swap in any newly designed bogies if I decide to model them more accurately at a later date.

 

David

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  • RMweb Gold

Excellent work David, with the one you sprayed as received did you wash it first? The print I bought reacted strangely on one end with a sort of orange peel where there seemed to be more resin residue and required a gentle scrub with a toothbrush to stop the paint reacting. The nose is certainly going to be the challenge so you don't lose the lights in sanding the layers smooth. Might be worth making one in this way then casting it in resin to save sanding lots of noses.

Edited by PaulRhB
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Hi Paul, yes washing them does seem to help.

 

I'm still playing with finishes and am getting there. This is the test body sanded down again then painted, with cleaner decals applied though the door doesn't quite line up with the masked off pains behind now as its a slightly different shape now.

 

I've also switched to satin black paint rather than matt.

 

Next test is how the klear applies to the rough surfaces before any paint has been applied

 

David

 

post-6666-0-04323100-1351096905_thumb.jpg

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Testing in on the intermediate cars is now complete, I've made a slight adjustment to the base plate by moving the bogie centres in by 1mm to give slightly closer coupling, and given an extra 0.5mm to the lip inside the bodyshell where the base will glue into place.

 

Paint testing is also done, the klear made a sight difference, but to be honest, sanding down between coats did just as good a job. May use it for a nice finish though.

 

Everything is effectively on hold now waiting for the driving car designs, which will move on quite rapidly after half term once I'm back on my evening course. Then I can place one bulk order for the 8 coaches and start to construct the finished train.

 

Here are the two tests coaches side by side - on the left is the misprinted 2 piece design ( effectively the final version), on the right is the banana shaped all in one piece, which has the best quality paint finish on it, and is how I will treat the entire train.

 

Excluding bogies and pantograph detailing, I've worked out the train will be made up of 36 separate parts.

 

David

 

post-6666-0-53305300-1351172973_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi David,

Firstly apologies for sort of like hijacking your topic. Tom very kindly advised me to seek help from people who have had an experience with 3D Printing etc. I found your thread most appealing and interesting.

 

Secondly, from where did you get these models done for you? I need to build a cab for my 4mm scale model and I had done some rough sketches by hand, however I had no experience with 3D modelling or 3D printing and I need help. My thread is also online - http://www.rmweb.co....__fromsearch__1

 

Can you please help me? :help: BTW Your pendolino models look really good. :imsohappy:

Edited by Jeremiah Bunyan
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Hi Jeremiah,

 

I'm using Shapeways.com for the printing of the models, they're pretty reasonably priced. Best advice I can give is that if you want to build things in 3D, the only way to do it is to learn, as I have. Download sketchup and play with the tutorials, its not that difficult to get the hang of.

 

David

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Right, the work on the driving car has commenced!

 

Last night on my course I basically spent 3 hours exploring file compatibility between the different modelling software, and establishing a plan for how to get these complex nose shapes built.

 

At the end of it, I only managed a tiny bit of actual design work, but having successfully imported the file from Sketchup into Rhino, I have at least been able to complete the first complex curve on the roof.

 

post-6666-0-69614600-1352282922_thumb.jpg

 

This week I will be preparing for a full on session next Tuesday by drawing out all the profiles and planning the different individual facets I need to model.

 

David

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To get the complex nose shape has actually turned out to be simpler than I thought (well, to start with anyway!).

 

Basically Sketchup isnt up to handling the complex surfaces, whereas Rhino is. Being new to Rhino though, I'm not finding it as easy to use, and so am completing as much as I can in Sketchup before importing it.

 

The steps to getting the basic nose profile is as follows:

 

Firstly, take a photograph of the side profile of a Pendolino, and rescale it to N gauge. Then import the photo into sketchup and align down the centre of the model:

 

post-6666-0-83891400-1352284844_thumb.jpg

 

Now I can draw the basic profiles in Sketchup over the image, so that when deleted, the profile is still there.

 

post-6666-0-23761700-1352284903_thumb.jpg

 

When I import this back into Rhino next week, I can use what is called a Sweep to select the cross-section profile, and effectively drag it along the longitudinal one, thus creating the nose profile shape. I will probably have to break it down further into smaller sections so I can get the slight changes in curve as it goes down the nose, and then get the curved bottom end, but the principle is quite simple, so hopefully wont take too long to get a decent basic shape.

 

After that will be adding details and cutting the window aperture into the front.

 

David

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Progress has been made on the driving car tonight. Still a long way to go, but I'm getting the hang of the complex curve functions in Rhino.

 

Here's how things are looking at the moment:

 

post-6666-0-46653400-1352843795_thumb.jpg

 

I've also decided to order a test of the finished intermediate car in frosted detail (resin). This is double the price, but should give a much higher quality finish. If I decide to go with this material, it will add an extra £90 to the price of the 8 car set. Hopefully if I can sell just a handful of sets through shapeways, that would pay for it though.

 

Lots more to do!

 

David

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  • RMweb Premium

Hi David,

The progress is astonishing, certainly I'd personally be looking for quality in a version of this iconic set and having looked over time at pricing on Shapeways - in particular the '95 tube stock and Virginian electrics developed with posts on this forum - I've been well aware of the implications in that.

Once the quality is realised I'd probably have to buy cars peacemeal, probably as pairs at a time, but I do believe the set deserves that level of commitment to prove viable.

 

Regards, Gerry.

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Thanks guys,

 

I've done a second run on the nose, this time much more wedge shaped at the lower end. This is proving quite tricky - the train is actually quite flat at the end, but when you draw it as such without the livery on it, it looks wrong, so you then make it more curved, but then that looks odd too...

 

A very clever design overall - you can tell the livery and bodyshape was designed as one concept (any future TOC of pendolinos note - don't change the livery lines or you'll ruin the shape of the train!).

 

I'm not sure this is 100% right, but I may persevere and get the window and lights in, then it will help me critique the final shape

 

David

 

post-6666-0-64787800-1352927379_thumb.jpg

 

post-6666-0-67840200-1352927367_thumb.jpg

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  • RMweb Gold

Hi David

 

The side profile looks good. I think the top down view shows that there is a subtle curve missing across the front "edge".

 

You can see better here:

4390049763_6b4b1e4f37.jpg

Outside New Street Station from Pinfold Street and Navigation Street - Victoria Square House and a Virgin Pendolino by ell brown, on Flickr

 

The beauty of Shapeways is that people can buy as and when they can afford things. You could also offer people choices of material (though personally I am not sure that any material other than FUD offers a smooth enough finish, though possibly some of the polished material).

 

Looks great anyway and I'd love to get my hands on one!

 

Cheers, Mike

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This morning I've been doing all the design work for the transfers and vinyls for the model. Things should move very swiftly once I've completed the driving car design, as basically everything is just then ready to print, paint and detail.

 

Vinyls will be used for masking the shape of the bodyside paint curves on the driving cars, and also for the 1st class roundels on the coach windows. Everything else will be printed as a decal sheet.

 

I've decided to number the unit 390 026 - Virgin Enterprise, but I can't figure out which coach has the name plate on it, so if anyone knows where it is in the formation, information gratefully received!

 

David

 

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