njee20

Superb, that looks great!

On CAD I would (did) start with Fusion360 myself. Yes it's a steep learning curve, but I think outgrowing a more immature product and having to re-learn stuff would be too frustrating. On resin I think Sunlu ABS-Like is the best balance between strength and value. It's typically £18-20/litre on Amazon, and less than that periodically. Siraya Fast is great, but is more like £35/litre. I keep that for 'best' if that's a thing!

Ahh, yes, the 8.7 litre version which makes a whopping 185bhp! Back mildly on topic… vegas this weekend. Weather looks chilly. Course looks awful. Could be interesting.

Agreed. It’s just so much more flexible than Peco etc. Trying to lay a gentle curve is a right pain! I found just making tiny adjustments as it dries is the best you can do.

I’m running 7 printers in an unheated garage. I use a heat gun on the vat for 30 seconds before printing. The curing is exothermic, so it’ll stay warm. KISS.

I ended up with at least 20 EWS 66s, because they're everywhere, so it seemed appropriate. Then I decided that was a bit daft and thinned the collection. Still got 5-6, plus a similar number of FL green ones, and DB red ones (albeit various different logos). The reality is that most locos are 'vanilla' ones, so whilst it's nice to have loads of quirky one-offs it's comparatively unusual. GBRf are doing their best to render that untrue, mind!

I've printed quite a lot of bases just flat on the plate. The problem is with size, where many resin printers are quite limiting, particularly in larger scales. Blind holes (where they're closed off by the build plate) can often fill with resin too - you need long light off delays to allow the resin to drain from the holes before the resin cures in them. I've done some N gauge bases on a Saturn, and they end up very flexible as they're thin, but I don't see that as a bad thing particularly. On FDM I've got a Neptune 2, and honestly the bed levelling just isn't as much of a headache as people say IMO. Certainly nice to have, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think it's standard on all the Neptunes now.

I think it depends on the model. The Kato 800 received lots of plaudits, and it employs a similar approach - lots of moulded detail and omission of ‘unimportant’ detail. It’s not bad, but it does look less detailed to my eye, and that’s on something (much like that 500 series) which is inherently ‘simple’. I think if Kato did that on something that had a lot more going on it would be a bit disappointing. The 66 is perhaps a good example for the UK market. We have two dated models, Dapol are bringing a new super detailed one to market. Kato have done one previously, which is on par with the 15 year old models we have. I’m not sure the market wants another less detailed one, without native DCC capability, NEM couplings and all the other standards Kato eschew in the interest of simplicity. The performance is always good though. Conversely I can see why scale cut levers would be insanely fragile, and I also understand the ‘you can’t see it as part of a rake’ philosophy. Personally I think the level of detail we have now is fine, and I’m ok with the pricing, however stuff does need to work.

I actually much preferred the UI on the Sky+ box, and I liked that you could move recordings from box to box via the HDD, and you could use a device to send the signal to another TV (eg the bedroom), Sky Q requires you buy mini boxes and pay for multi-room, but Sky Q is still good, and better on balance IMO.

Curing outside is fine year round, but yes not ideal in the dark/very overcast days. Hence saying i just use a handheld UV light for those circumstances. The curing station is ok for parts that fit. But lots don’t. stock bodies for example don’t, you have to balance them on end. This will be a problem with turnout bases, and chairs will be so small it won’t be ideal. apologies - wasn’t wishing to steer the thread into the nuances of 3D printing ‘stuff’, but a lot of people are put off resin printing by a lot of complexity that simply doesn’t actually exist.

I’ve had a wash and cure machine for several years, but don’t find it overly useful. Wash in two ice cream tubs of acetone (or just in a small ziplock bag for small bits) and cure outside or with a handheld UV light. I personally wouldn’t bother with one now YMMV.

My day job is software for large marine insurance buyers, and the container lines are all panicking a bit too as all the new ships ordered during the covid boom are now being delivered, just as everyone’s warehouses are full and the cost of living is way up! The value of the ships has tanked too, but the new ones have been purchased at ‘peak’ prices! I note all the RoS discounts on Dapol stuff at the moment, whilst Farish prices seem to be sticking higher, both retail and (lack of) discounted. Great that they’re managing to get stuff into shops quickly though, even if I don’t ‘need’ any of it!

The platforms at London Bridge are split into multiple blocks - signal on platform 3 visible here halfway down the platform, with the next one at the end of the platform on the gantry. Again obviously markedly shorter than a train. Presumably a factor in the ETCS.

Old thread I realise, but DB red is RAL 3020 “Traffic Red”. Halfords do an aerosol, may be called ‘workshop red’ or something IIRC.

I’ve been watching this with interest since the beginning, but as someone who models FB trackwork in N it’s not really entirely relevant for me yet! On printing I started with resin and then bought FDM - there’s no ‘progression’ as such IMO, they’re just different, neither is easier or harder, both have their challenges. Very little transferable skill. I’d urge people to stay away from water washable resins. They’re markedly less stable, and it’s not really any easier. It’s just as unpleasant as the normal stuff, so after washing you’re left with contaminated water you can’t dispose of. IPA or acetone on the other hand will evaporate quickly. I’m sure people pour it down the drain; but that’s grossly irresponsible. I wonder if the same people would pour used engine oil down the drain in the same way. On resins Sunlu ABS-like is well priced and yields nice results. It’s markedly less brittle than a lot of other resins. Siraya Fast is great as well, but a chunk more expensive.

You asked this two weeks ago, and got answers then. The easy way to check is that the short ones look really short. Sod over hangs and whatnot. They’re old, crude models. this is a short Scotrail one.

I seem to have a 'spare' half Avanti Pendolino. I enjoy printing decals. Wish me luck, I'm going in...

Over thinking it IMO. Are they often unattended? Presumably not… I introduced my son to my (N gauge) trains when he was 3. He's now 6 and has his own Unitrack layout in his room, but he uses all of my stock too, often with my ECoS. He’s not broken anything noteworthy in that time. I’ve broken significantly more! My 3 year old daughter gets involved too, and seems to understand it too.

HRAs are good to see. Another of my 3D prints rendered obsolete 🤣

Yep I’d be up for that. It’ll also show the different approaches if everyone shows how they orientate/support the model.

That's just epic pedantry. In March the clocks go 01.59.59 -> 03.00.00. In October they go 01.59.59 -> 01.00.00. So yes, ok if you prefer the clocks change at the millisecond after 01.59.59.999; I'll call that 2am...

ARX models (IIRC) often have them on eBay. Bit more than you specify, but they’re handmade. there was a 3D printed roof on Shapeways but the proportions weren’t great. I’ve done a 3D printed pantograph well which just needs you to cut a hole in the existing roof. Not perfect admittedly.

It’s at 2am.

Just went to see what the Caledonian Sleeper did, but doesn’t look like that runs on a Saturday night. The departures through Clapham Junction basically seem to ignore it. This train (https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L24102/2023-10-29/detailed) leaves Waterloo at 01.50, but there’s no indication whether that’s the first 01.50, or after the clocks have gone back. There’s no gap in the services, at all.

The idea that there’s a ‘perfect’ angle makes sense if you’re printing cubes. The problem is that inevitably you’ll have other faces at totally different angles, and optimal angles can actually be entirely unhelpful. You’ve now got rectangular pixels too, so the idea of the optimal angle is different in each axis.