Model Railway Structures

[Kris]

That's a lovely looking foot bridge, shame that I seem to be good at modelling places that didn't have them so I can't justify one. 

[wizmacnz]

I've had a few questions about painting my objects, and as it is a slightly different material from the traditional card or plastic I thought I would give a couple of quick pointers.

Most of my things are printed in a material that Shapeways call "White Strong and Flexible". It consists of a fine nylon powder that is fused together with a laser. It creates a material that is a bit like a sand castle, but with very very tiny grains of sand. The material is slightly porous, meaning any paint forms a good bond with the raw material. It's also possible to dye the product, although I haven't tried this.

The painted finish will have a slight grainy finish to it unless it is sanded smooth. In many cases the grain wont matter or even be visible from a normal viewing distance. But if you are intending to take close up photographs, or view with your eyes from very close to the model, the areas that you want to appear smooth will need some additional attention. Where I want a smooth finish, I lightly sand the material with fine wet and dry paper before applying a primer. I then also sand down after priming and after each coat of paint until the surface achieves the degree of smoothness that I am happy with.

On the footbridge I'm painting at the moment I have lightly sanded the handrails and columns, but left the lattice work and steps "au naturelle". When I've finished I'll post one of those cruel camera close-ups so that you can see the differences in the surface finish.

In general the material is very easy to work with. Painted canopy pictures I posted earlier in this thread were painted with no surface preparation. The cream was brush applied direct to the plastic with no primer and consisted of Dulux test pot house paint. 


There is also useful information on painting this material (complete with video tutorial) at https://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/painting3dprintedsls

[wizmacnz]

 

The N scale lattice footbridge is now available for purchase. The prototype print arrived today. As it's printed in a more fragile material than the OO scale bridge and the cross section of some of the printing is very fine it needs to be handled with a bit more care. 

 

Price for the bridge is US$16.50 (about £9.90 at today's exchange rate)  plus postage and packing plus VAT if you are withing the EU.  

 

 

 

[wizmacnz]

I've painted the "N" scale footbridge to match its' big brother, the OO scale footbridge.

 

Here are the two together.

 

 

Peter

 

 

[wizmacnz]

I am going to be expanding the range of chimney stacks. Currently there are three larger stacks and a small stack. All are intended to be plonked onto the ridge of a 45 degree pitched roof. 

 

If anyone has a wish to see any particular style of chimney stack PM  me or send me a reply with a picture. There's no obligation to buy one if I model it. 

 

Here is a painted version of one of the larger chimney stacks. (The picture actually shows a chimney ex-factory, a chimney primed and a chimney with some colour added.

 

 

The picture is taken under directional lighting which emphasis the brick texture. The factory finish of the "white and flexible" lends itself to the brick texture, so I have carried out no prep work other than the primer.

 

 

Here it is perched on top of a Metcalfe corner shop, which shows two things: 1 - the 3d printed chimney looks more believable than the metcalfe card chimneys and, 2 - I am hopeless at putting together card kits (that's why I have taken to printing things).  

 

Peter

 

 

[wizmacnz]

I haven't posted much recently because I've been busy with a number of different projects on the go.

Coming soon is something new in chimney pots.



The pots are printed attached to the mortar haunching so that they can be glued straight onto the top of a card built chimney stack. It takes away the fiddle of trying to stick individual pots onto the chimney. The sets of pots will be sold in sets to suit particular card kit models, but could also be handy for the scratchbuilder. The range will be available for both OO and N scales.

 

Peter

[wizmacnz]

Challenged to create a tapered brick chimney in N scale, I came up with this test piece; a 30 metre high chimney with each brick modeled for printing. Stretcher bond only, but it is a start.

 

 

 

 

Peter

 

 

[Black Sheep]

What's the mill chimneys actual height in mm or cm?

 

I have a brewery in need of a chimney but the layout is in a glass topped coffee table

[wizmacnz]

It's 192mm tall.

 

Peter

[Black Sheep]

Too tall for my coffee table, 129 would have been fine.

 

To get and cut down or not...

[wizmacnz]

Too tall for my coffee table, 129 would have been fine.

 

To get and cut down or not...

I am working on a shorter one.

[wizmacnz]

I recently added to my S shop a set of 3D components to suit the Scalescenes small terraced houses kit.

 

 

Windows, doors and chimney pots to suit other Scalescenes kits have been added and more will be added soon.

 

Peter

Edited June 3, 2014 by wizmacnz

[wizmacnz]

I set  the tapered factory chimney available for people to purchase on Shapeways in both N and OO scale. You never know someone might need one. Having worked out a technique for modelling brickwork on a curve and slope it is something I will be coming back to at some stage. I'm particularly thinking about bottle ovens.

 

 

Peter

[wizmacnz]

I've modeled a new type of window (mainly because I need the type for a building on my own layout). This window  type has an external surround as sometimes seen on Georgian/Neo-georgian buildings. This window is installed from the outside with a touch of glue to the surround.  

 

For bodgey modelers the surround will hide minor inaccuracies in the cutting of the opening. It can also be retro-fitted into an opening (as I intend to do).




Like all my windows, I can quickly re-size and batch in quantities to suit the customers requirements.

A pack of 20 costs around £9

 

Peter

 

 

[wizmacnz]

I decided to make it even easier to build my platform canopies, by printing fully assembled sections.

You take a couple of section 1's (as picture below)



 

Take  a section 2 (as picture below) and span between the section 1's. Repeat as many times as you want.




 then add a section 3 at the end.




The end sections are available in right hand and left hand to suit the ribbing on the roof.


The sections are available in both OO and N scale.


The OO platform sections are also available without the roofing so you can fit your own card or plasticard roof. (The roofless sections are significantly cheaper, but I have to say the printed roof is pretty good.)





Final check printing is underway and all being well the items will shortly be available for purchase.

Of course you can still do your own thing and buy individual columns, trusses, valance and roof sections.

 

 

 

Peter

[DavidLong]

14 different types of 3D printed doors have been released today.

 

674x501_1816972_2434197_1395907833.jpg

 

These can be made to suit any size you want. Each type is illustrated as a 760mm, 810mm, 900mm and 1000mm wide door, 1980mm high (or two of these when double doors). The pricing is to give an indication of the cost. I will make up individual sets on a customer by customer basis. For example a small terraced house might require a 900mm front door and 5 or 6 760mm internal doors and a 810 back door. As the computer models are parametric it is easy to adjust any size to suit.

 

The installation method is as per the windows. Cut a hole in the card or plastic wall and glue the door into the opening using the architrave flange on the printed door to hold it in place.

 

Peter

 

Hi Peter,

 

I'm really interested in some of these doors in N but they are showing on your Shapeways shop as being 'not for sale'. This also applies to the 4mm versions. Has there been a problem in producing them?

 

David

[wizmacnz]

Hi David

 

I have a test print of each of the N scale doors. The main issue really is to try and make them available in an economic way to customers. Shapeways apply a fixed handling charge to each print job, so it's better to have a number of items in the print to split this charge across each item. You will see that I have made batches of doors of a particular type in OO available in sets of 10.

 

The best thing to do would be to tell me what doors you are interested in (type, size and quantity) and I will load it on to Shapeways as a single batch. You will then be able to see if the price is attractive (no obligation to buy) and if so you can place an order.

 

Here is a pic of a pair of doors in N that I thought might be suitable for a cinema. I'm not an N scale modeler so I'm waiting for someone to tell me how something like that would be glazed. I thought maybe canopy cement, soapy water bubbles work well, but not at all permanent.

 

 

Talking of soapy water, it is very important to thoroughly wash the product before trying to paint it (there is wax in the printing process). I've heard one suggestion of soaking it in acetone for a while (haven't tried this). 

 

Peter

 

 

 

[DavidLong]

Hi Peter,

 

Thanks for the reply. In my case I am mostly interested in the type of doors that are used on traditional railway buildings. Having looked at your Shapeways site I would identify the following as being of interest:

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1816292/door-type-5-4mm-scale.html?modelId=1816292&materialId=62

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1816312/door-type-6-4mm-scale.html?modelId=1816312&materialId=62

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1816478/door-type-7-4mm-scale.html?modelId=1816478&materialId=62

Obviously the types 5 and 6, being single doors, are more common that the type 7 and prospective quantities would likely be higher. I would expect that these three types would have appeal to N scalers if they were available. Although I scratchbuild most of my structures I am not prolific so I would have to leave it to you to maybe nominate some economical quantities.

 

David

[wizmacnz]

Hi David

 

I've already produced some batches of type 5 and type 6 in OO, so this evening I'll quickly knock up some batches (with some Type 7's) which will give you a chance to judge the economics.

 

 

Peter

[wizmacnz]

Hi David

 

I've added some batches of Types 5,6 and 7 doors to Shapeways so you can get some idea of the pricing. The batches vary from 10 doors through to 50 doors. Shapeways fixed charge per print job for Frosted Ultra Detail material is US$5.00 so you can see that there are some serious economies with larger batches.

 

 

I made the doors all 810mm wide (door leaf), the double doors are 2 x 810mm. This is a compromise between domestic and commercial door types (760mm wide doors wouldn't be used often in commercial buildings), but I can change the parameters to make whatever size door you want.

 

Peter

 

 

[DavidLong]

Hi David

 

I've added some batches of Types 5,6 and 7 doors to Shapeways so you can get some idea of the pricing. The batches vary from 10 doors through to 50 doors. Shapeways fixed charge per print job for Frosted Ultra Detail material is US$5.00 so you can see that there are some serious economies with larger batches.

 

625x465_2180858_3408118_1404387648.jpg

 

I made the doors all 810mm wide (door leaf), the double doors are 2 x 810mm. This is a compromise between domestic and commercial door types (760mm wide doors wouldn't be used often in commercial buildings), but I can change the parameters to make whatever size door you want.

 

Peter

 

Thanks, Peter. I have just placed an order with Shapeways for the bulk pack of types 5, 6 and 7. I have some station buildings to make for the new layout and these will be a big help. Appreciate your efforts.

 

By the way, as regards glazing. I'll wait until I see them but it depends on the thickness of the material. In some cases it is possible to put the glazing behind the aperture but if the material is thicker then it shouldn't be too much trouble to put the glazing in the window opening itself. This should be made easier by the aperture being a standard width and to cut strips of glazing that can be then cut to the height of the opening. I'll let you know how I get on.

 

David

Edited July 3, 2014 by DavidLong

[Ian Abel]

I've painted the "N" scale footbridge to match its' big brother, the OO scale footbridge.

 

Here are the two together.

 

15 April 011.JPG

 

Peter

Peter - probably a daft question, and I hope I don't get too many folks chasing after me to beat me up, but, would it be possible to create that footbridge as a 4-track version. i.e. If I purchased two do you think it'd be doable to cut the center section out of one and graft it onto/into the other? How robust are the structures in terms of taking a knife to them (horrors!!)?

I've a 4-track mainline that passes through a station and I'd really like to have a footbridge between the two platforms...

NOTE: I know it's not exactly prototype, but that's what I ended up with

[rovex]

Hi, have only just discovered this thread and I have found it really interesting. I am currently (very slowly) working on a model based on the old Snow Hill station. All four platforms outside the trainshed had canopies which on the model will probably exyend to at least a metre each. I had intended to use the ratio canopy kit which gives a fiar representation of the GWR later style modular canopy.

 

 

However its not quite right for Snow Hill and will involve quite a bit of beefing up. I can see how a "printed" canopy would probably be a lot simpler, involving in effect a few statndard parts, the main support. The photo above gives an idea of the structure.My space restraints mean the canopies will not  be as wide as those for Snow Hill and would probably need the following parts:

 

1 girder support and cross beams,

 

2 central girder support for the roof

 

3 one side girder support for the middle of the roof  - this could probably use the same design as central girder with the vertical support reduced.

 

4 valancing for each side

 

5 valancing for the end

 

6 roof covering.

 

I assume that this would be feasible given the rather more complicated canopy that you have designed. How would I go about creating the masters, given that whilst I'm no idiot in a computer I'm no expert (and have very little partience with IT - lol)?

 

regards

 

Dean

Edited July 3, 2014 by rovex

[wizmacnz]

Peter - probably a daft question, and I hope I don't get too many folks chasing after me to beat me up, but, would it be possible to create that footbridge as a 4-track version. i.e. If I purchased two do you think it'd be doable to cut the center section out of one and graft it onto/into the other? How robust are the structures in terms of taking a knife to them (horrors!!)?

I've a 4-track mainline that passes through a station and I'd really like to have a footbridge between the two platforms...

NOTE: I know it's not exactly prototype, but that's what I ended up with

Hi Ian

 

What scale are you modeling? The OO scale uses a different material from the N scale. What dimensions are you looking to achieve? It may be possible to create a modification to increase the span to 4 track. Here are the dimensions of the current bridge design, would you be able to mark up what you are looking to achieve and send it to me? 

 

 

Do you think you might have room to squeeze in a pair of columns between the tracks if you wanted a slightly more prototypical appearance.?

 

Sorry for the inquisition, but I just wanted to assess if their were alternatives before you reach for a knife.

 

Peter

[wizmacnz]

Hi Dean

 

There is always a balance in modelling for 3D printing between what looks right and what can be printed. The minimum real life thickness I design to in OO scale is 55mm, so lattice trusses etc are always going to be slightly chunkier than they really should be. If you are going to design the components yourself I would suggest using Sketchup as a starting point. (It has a free version). There are two schools of thought as to whether you should model in the scale size you want to print, or model it full size and then scale to suit later. I model everything full size and then use another program to scale the final model to the size I want to produce the print file.

 

If you want someone to model the components for you, you will need to provide a list of the pieces, with some dimensions and some  sketches or photo's. The picture of Snow Hill does look as if it would be quite easy to model.

 

 

Peter