Rods_of_Revolution

I collect models in N scale and it's often worse than OO, I do away with the factory boxes strait away, Dapol are the worst and often I end up breaking detail off trying to extract the model. Perhaps this is why detail parts are becoming more and more seperate?!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

I'd redesign the model with open windows, FUD isn't much good for creating transparent surfaces (They call it FROSTED Ultra Detail for a reason ) and to remove the windows, damaging the model is a real possibility, as you found out!

One the whole the print is looking nice, i look forward to the next blog post!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Stu, take a look at this picture on Wikipedia, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Tivedshambo_2006-03-22_Kyle_of_Lochalsh.jpg

I'd go with no.1 Pete, the station building is white so it constrasts with the dark hills, because of this my eye is also drawn to the building rather than the backscene, so I think you have no worries with the backscene distracting from the forground.

I can't wait to see the next installment!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Use LEDs, bulbs get hot, hot enough to melt through plastic depending on the current. LEDs will stay cool and use less power. So I'd go for LEDs, if you have a look on eBay you can get LEDs at around 50-100 for £5.

Looking great so far!

Cheers,

Jack

Hi Jeremy,

Yes, I think must I have almost every book John Vaughan and Maurice Dart have produced about China Clay. Between the pair of them they have done a cracking job of recording the railways of Cornwall. I am eternally grateful to them both!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Sorry for the brief abscence!

Thanks all for the kind words!

Thanks for the link David, interestingly the TU-7T is the chassis I designed the Sentinel for, which means the wheelbase will be shorter than prototype but should still look ok.

Paul, I will probably add the Sentinel in its more common configuration (without the exhaust pipe, air brake housing etc) to my Shapeways shop in the near future.

Pete, my layout has currently stalled due to my indecisiveness, basically the track plan changes every 5 minutes, it's gone from a 2ft working diorama of a fictitious location to a scale model of Treviscoe Dries and back again. I really can't decide what to do; I am thinking I may just start building some "prototype inspired" buildings and then make the track fit them.

I have just finished my respray of 37175 (Blog to follow), it'll work for '87 Cornwall and appease my appetite for something Scottish! Interestingly a rake of PRAs behind 37175 could be used prototypically in Scotland and Cornwall!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Hi guys, thanks for the complements!

A 3D Printed class 50 cab is something I have thought of, it's helpful that Farish have made the cab a seperate item. In fact I am suprised Farish themselves haven't made an updated cab unit to fit the old body. A new cab, with the new chassis and old body would make a half decent model. I will keep you posted if I make a cab print.

I Shall add the PRAs to my Shapeways shop in the New Year, they will probably go into the Rail 3D Prints shop as this where most of my British N Scale stuff is going from now on.

As for Ferry Van decals I am having some produced soon for the BR Bauxite ones and the Railfreight ones, so if you purchase any Ferry Vans drop me a PM here or at Shapeways and I am sure I can sort you out with some. Here is the sample artwork:

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Thanks Pete, I may drop Paul a line.

It would add a bit of a variety to have nice clean one in the rake!

Regards,

Jack

Yes it is, as with anything new like this which is constantly being developed the only real way to see what is/isn't possible is to try it out.

I have been designing models for printing for 3 years now and I am still learning new things with almost every print.

Good luck with your prints!

Cheers,

Jack

The handrails are 0.35mm thick, the wheel on top is 0.3mm. They are fragile, though they have a certain ammount flex in them to absorb the odd "finger twang" prior to being glued to the underframe. The wheel is round (strong shape) with crossmembers inside so can be printed at 0.3mm. Obviously the thicker you can make the parts the better the chances are they will print without problems.

If you want them to survive the production process make sure they have as much support as possible especially for any long strait sections. The fact the handrails, ladders etc are printed in situ with the PRA helps support them so they are less likely to break.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Yes it is a bit nerve-racking! I actually came across it by accident a couple of months ago whilst washing the wax away; the Frosted Ultra Detail material is heatproof to 80 degrees C and I intended to boil the kettle and leave it a few minutes to cool down. Due to me leaving the room for 10mins and someone else reboiling the kettle to make a brew I ended up pouring near-boiling water on my models. I as I looked into the bowl expecting to see plastic blobs, to my surprise, I saw some ladders bending themselves strait. Since then this is my standard proceedure for warped models.

The wagon will be in generic clay grey/brown/white (I don't think I have ever seen a factory finish photograph, so i don't really know the correct colour!) with the cover being red. I have some artwork for the decals drawn up which I will get printed after Christmas.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

A nice little explaination, thanks!

It looks ok to me as most of the print flaws are out of sight, certainly once painted and weathered it'll look great!

The quaility at Shapeways seems to have slipped since the company grew in size a few months ago. Some of the models that their quailty control allow to be shipped to customers is diabolical; They are taking on more and more orders and not enough competent staff to cope with it.

It's the same across all areas of the company as I get models rejected that anyone who'd been properly trained wouldn't have flagged up as unprintable. I couldn't believe it when a model that had been printed previously for customers over 50 times was rejected as "unprintable". Of course once I contacted support they were ever so sorry and sorted it out, but still, having a model rejected that is printable makes me as a designer look bad.

I hope they get their act together!

Your project is progressing nicely, keep it up!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

I had something similar happen when I was doing Machen, the ballast was all done and the glue was just drying, then during a moment of idiocy I dragged the arm of my fleece over it and dredged half the ballast up. You know what damp ballast is like, there's no way you can try and put it back in place as it just clumps together. So had to strip it and start again!

I'm sure if you have another go at it Pete you'll get it right and it'll look cracking! Actually, perhaps cracking isn't an appropriate adjective after what just happened, but you get my point!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

I'd go with Mona Lott!

Nice little diorama! Certainly a productive way of experimenting!

Cheers,

Jack

That print has come out nicely, stepping never really bothers me as smoothing it takes much less time than cutting 101 bits of Evergreen strip to build it from scratch.

I had a look at these at StormEx yesterday and they are a nice little piece of engineering! It was also good to have a chat!

Cheers,

Jack

When I did the plaster for the inset track at my clay facility I was surprised at how little rail actually needed to protrude and how little flange space was needed. I guess it is one of the advantages to more modern stock as the wheel profile is a lot finer.

Looking good!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

The building looks awesome, I can't wait to see it once it's painted!

Cheers,

Jack

Yes, due to popular demand (you're not the only person to ask!) I have put it in my Shapeways shop, you can find it here: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/valvedesign

Kindest Regards,

Jack

I have decals for 8 for though I think perhaps 3 or 4 is a more realistic number. The next 2 or 3 I will build in parallel. Next project will probably be my rake of 4 PRAs I have sat on the workbench so the rest of the Tigers will probablly follow those. I also have a Polybulk to do; The list keeps on going as I have a couple of Tullis Russell wagons as well.....Watch this space!

Cheers,

Jack

I forgot to mention, I applied a light brown wash as well!

Cheers,

Jack

I can't wait to see them applied!

One of the advantages of digital is you can take pictures of anything if only because "it may come in handy one day". No doubt you wouldn't have used the film taking that picture of the Neon Lines had you been using ye olde 35mm camera!

Cheers,

Jack

Dapol models always seem a little bit cruder than the China made Farish stuff, maybe if the guys at Dapol had a communist fist of oppression looming above them the models would be up to Farish China standard! That said they are very good models mostly, such as the Cargowaggon!

Regards,

Jack