Aid to scratchbuilding.....

[rue_d_etropal]

When I first started in 3D printing , not that long ago, compared to the professionals, someone desribed it as an aid to scratch-building. I was still learning, and trying out ideas, seeing what I could do, so I was using it as an alternative, not an aid to scratch-building. Nothing wrong with this, until what you are trying to 3D print starts to cost far more than reasonable. Some might put the figure very low, but it has to be based on comparisons with ready made or professionally built(kit or scratch-build), and these can seem high for some people.

I hit one of the limits today. I had been hankering to build a traditional LMS type coaling stage. Available r2p from both Bachmann and Hornby, but now difficul to find, and then there is the Superquick kit. I had bought one of thes a while back, planning to use it to help scratch build one in plastic, and had taken dimensions etc. These notes and measurements I found, so thought , why not see just how much a 3D printed one would cost. Well it was not cheap. I had to leave it to finish uploading and processing over night, but when I saw the price today, I knew it as not practical.

The main problem is the amount of wasted space, so I set about splitting the design up, and this did help, quite a bit in fact, but not enough. I even did a skeleton (basic)version, and I could then overlay this with thin card, but this was not cheap(more the sort of price I would think OK for a complete one).

This only leaves one option, scratch building. Most of the structure is easy, but the bases of the hoppers are a funny shape. Granted it would be possible to cut out, but it would also be an ideal item to 3D print, assuming it was not too expensive. The winch ramp might also be better made using 3D printing, but might be too expensive.

 

It might therefore be only one small part, but I am definitely thinking that 3D printing can be thought as an aid as well as a alternative to 3D printing. It also now helps that , having done the CAD drawing for complete coaling tower, I have drawings to help me build it using plastic, or maybe wood. It might even be possible to build it in a bigger scale. Ideally I need more info, showing how the winch parts work together. It would be nice to make a working one in a bigger scale. I think 3D printing might be even more useful then for the small parts of the inch gear.