Pragmatic Pre-Grouping - Mikkel's Workbench

[Schooner]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

...the land of milk and honey and saddle tanks?

 

Just when I thought today couldn't get any better...!

[MikeOxon]

One day, when I escape from this pre-1850 hole I am currently in, I must return to these Dean 4-4-0s.

 

My wife's ancestor drove Badminton-class no.3299 'Hubbard', for which his record states that, in March 1899, "he was walking along the framing of Engine 3299 when he slipped and fell between the engine and the platform at Paddington."  Fortunately, he got away with nothing worse than bruising to his right thigh and legs.  I have it on the list for creating a model 🙂

 

 

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, heraldcoupe said:

The kink in the footp;ate is already there, as is the step which I'm afraid you don't need...

 

Aha - so what I took to be damage in service is actually the narrowing of the footplate, seen at an angle! But no wonder @MikeOxon's wife's ancestor was caught out, step or no step.

[richbrummitt]

6 hours ago, heraldcoupe said:

 

I have a 7mm print of a straight frame Bulldog on the shelf at the moment, I've previously done some of my Dukes in the same scale.

No reason why I can't configure the curved frames for a 7mm print. When enlarging them, I've filled in the boiler underside and opened out between the frames as these are dictated by the Bachmann mechanism on the regular product.

I wish for a 2mm version 🙁 My wife’s maiden name is Starling. Seems like too good an opportunity. 

[heraldcoupe]

32 minutes ago, richbrummitt said:

I wish for a 2mm version 🙁 My wife’s maiden name is Starling. Seems like too good an opportunity. 

 

Scaling down is sadly a lot more difficult than scaling up.

A lot of the details in 4mm sit at the limit of what can be reproduced. Increasing size means features can sometimes be further refined, but they're there and will stay there.

In 2mm scale, things have to be beefed up before they'll print at all. I did some trials of an unmodified Duke in 2mm scale and while the overall shape was recognisable, all the fine detail turned to mush, or was too fine to support itself.

It can be done, but it's essentially starting again, with a lot more compromises to be made.

[Miss Prism]

I feel the radii in your footplate kink are a bit too small - here is the Finney etch, where there is nearly no straight part inbetween:

 

 

[BWsTrains]

4 hours ago, heraldcoupe said:

Personal contact at the moment, but I am trying to get more organised in terms of a website. As well as my full-time job, I run a (very) small part-time business making classic car parts, however making locomotive bodyshells has become a much more in-demand activity. 

I've only ever formally listed my development reject shells on ebay, but I am about to put list of the finished products as it's a more straightforward sales route than expecting people to find me online. As something that's growing organically, there's been little planning...

 

There is a remarkable and ironic aspect to your developments.  Several years ago I was asked to provide input for a Strategic Business review in a large well known box shifter/ developer. One comment I made was that when planning new business directions and  projects, it wouldn't be that long before 3D provided a significant manufacturing alternative which they needed to take into account.

 

That idea was dismissed pretty much out of hand as trivial. Well several years on the idea rapidly is becoming a new reality and the Box Shifter the smile on a Cheshire Cat! Funny World!

 

 

 

 

 

[heraldcoupe]

9 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Above is the Bulldog body on the Bachmann Dukedog donor chassis, for which it has been designed.  If I understand correctly, Bill's body shells represent latter-day Bulldogs, modelled after particular prototypes.

 

 

This one was something of a one-off, a two-off I suppose as this was the first attempt which had the aforementioned defects. Most of my subjects are later examples, but this one was based on this 1920s image of 3330 Orion and has many earlier features:

 

http://www.gwr.org.uk/440-pics/3330-orion.jpg

 

[heraldcoupe]

56 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

I feel the radii in your footplate kink are a bit too small - here is the Finney etch, where there is nearly no straight part inbetween:

 

 

 

There seems to have been variation from what I can determine in photos, though finding any images taken from a helpful angle is a challenge.

[Miss Prism]

3313's footplate kink

 

[Miss Prism]

3338 - topfeed but seems like no box/cover for the firebox side! Still with polished splasher beading and wooden roof but I can't detect any lining, so maybe 1917-19?

 

[Jol Wilkinson]

9 hours ago, BWsTrains said:

 

There is a remarkable and ironic aspect to your developments.  Several years ago I was asked to provide input for a Strategic Business review in a large well known box shifter/ developer. One comment I made was that when planning new business directions and  projects, it wouldn't be that long before 3D provided a significant manufacturing alternative which they needed to take into account.

 

That idea was dismissed pretty much out of hand as trivial. Well several years on the idea rapidly is becoming a new reality and the Box Shifter the smile on a Cheshire Cat! Funny World!

 

 

I think that 3D providing a significant manufacturing alternative may still be some way in the future.

 

So far in railway modelling it hasn't yet gone, AFAIK, beyond small volume kit and component manufacture or producing intricate master patterns for casting (usually in resin). The latter in particular requires very high quality, expensive 3D prints. Kit sales are in relatively small numbers compared to what the RTR manufacturers produce.

 

3D printing is also still at that stage which early photo etching went through, which is that some enthusiastic exponents are still learning about the limitations of the process and what it is suitable for and what it is not at this time.

[billbedford]

1 hour ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

I think that 3D providing a significant manufacturing alternative may still be some way in the future.

 

 

The one thing that will change this is the ability to print with a coloured surface layer, allowing liveried models to be produced. It is possible to do this now, but the material used is not particularly robust. It's fine for static models but has problems with models that are likely to be handled. 

[BWsTrains]

2 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

I think that 3D providing a significant manufacturing alternative may still be some way in the future.

 

I suspect senior management at Kodak /Polaroid said that when the first digital cameras came out, Ditto IBM re Apple and PCs. Nokia re iPhones. Where are those older companies now?

 

The rate of change for new /emerging technologies is notoriously difficult to assess, not something at all simple to forecast.

Edited March 10 by BWsTrains

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, BWsTrains said:

 

I suspect senior management at Kodak /Polaroid said that when the first digital cameras came out, Ditto IBM re Apple and PCs. Nokia re iPhones. Where are those older companies now?

 

The rate of change for new /emerging technologies is notoriously difficult to assess, not something at all simple to forecast.

I have a 3D printed yard crane courtesy of @Harlequin and the detail is amazing.

 

The fact that there can also be 3D loco, just blows my mind. 
 

The rate of change is amazing and of course if you were to say Kodak / Polaroid to the woke generation, they probably wouldn’t know what you are talking about.

 

Change at this level is good and to be encouraged.

[Asterix2012]

22 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

I have a 3D printed yard crane courtesy of @Harlequin and the detail is amazing.

 

The fact that there can also be 3D loco, just blows my mind. 
 

The rate of change is amazing and of course if you were to say Kodak / Polaroid to the woke generation, they probably wouldn’t know what you are talking about.

 

Change at this level is good and to be encouraged.

Polaroid is back

 

https://www.polaroid.com/en_gb/collections/instant-cameras?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx-3c8eHphAMV85JoCR3uZgB2EAAYASAAEgJUbvD_BwE

[Mikkel]

6 hours ago, Miss Prism said:

3338 - topfeed but seems like no box/cover for the firebox side! Still with polished splasher beading and wooden roof but I can't detect any lining, so maybe 1917-19?

 

 

Similar condition as this view of 3317 on Mike Morant's site, which seems to have faint shadow of lining on cab when enlarged:

 

https://mikemorant.smugmug.com/Trains-Railways-British-Isles/GWR-and-BRW/GWR-4-4-0s/i-RdxP6NZ/A

Edit: But 3317 has screw reverser cover, which I understand was fitted from mid-1920s.

 

Edited March 10 by Mikkel

[BWsTrains]

9 hours ago, Asterix2012 said:

Polaroid is back

 

https://www.polaroid.com/en_gb/collections/instant-cameras?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx-3c8eHphAMV85JoCR3uZgB2EAAYASAAEgJUbvD_BwE

 

Not really, just in name. Prof Wikipedia reminds us of the ugly end(s) to the Original Corporation. He who ignores technological change usually has a "behind the woodshed" reconciliation!

 

"In February 2008, Polaroid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time and announced it would discontinue production of its instant films and cameras, shut down three manufacturing facilities, and lay off 450 workers. Sales of analog film by all makers dropped by at least 25% per year in the first decade of the 21st century. In 2009, Polaroid was acquired by PLR IP Holdings LLC, which uses the Polaroid brand to market various products often relating to instant cameras. Among the products it markets are a Polaroid branded Fuji Instax instant camera, and various digital cameras and portable printers."

 

PS. sorry for the detour Mikkel. Your project sounds amazing and I'm a little amiss by deflecting from it.

Edited March 10 by BWsTrains

[Simond]

9 hours ago, Asterix2012 said:

Polaroid is back

Edited March 10 by Simond

[Simond]

MG are back too, but bear little relationship to the original marque - just “Badge Engineering”

 

 

(sorry, don’t know what happened to the quote)

Edited March 10 by Simond

[Donw]

I think the real benefit of 3D printing is that it is suited to low volume customer tailored out put.  it would be possible to offer say a 517 body with all sorts of variations  just specify your needs.  For an injection moulded body the tooling costs are much higher. Whether 3D printing will be suited to volume production is another question.

 

Now if Dave @wenlock could convince  you to do  a 7mm River (GWR) circa 1900 I couldn't resist.

 

Don 

[billbedford]

4 hours ago, Donw said:

I think the real benefit of 3D printing is that it is suited to low volume customer tailored out put.  it would be possible to offer say a 517 body with all sorts of variations  just specify your needs. 

 

That is one thing that has not happened, maybe because it needs proficiency in CAD that is difficult to obtain quickly.

 

Quote

Whether 3D printing will be suited to volume production is another question.

 

Companies are working on machines based on the techniques used in offset litho printers, which might be the way forward. 

[heraldcoupe]

11 hours ago, Donw said:

I think the real benefit of 3D printing is that it is suited to low volume customer tailored out put.  it would be possible to offer say a 517 body with all sorts of variations  just specify your needs. 

 

It's good in theory, but many (most?) people offered a choice don't relish the complication. I've patterned and printed all 10 of the Dukes which survived past nationalisation, most customers have just asked me for wide or narrow cab variations, the rest is just unwanted noise. SImilarly the Bulldogs, beyond straight/curved/deep frames, not that many people are concerned.

Cheers

Bill

[Mikkel]

Perhaps it is not so much the details that people focus on, but the time period?