David Bigcheeseplant

I have been adding the windows to my model and getting the paint brush out.

A bit more progress, some paint and windows temporarily fitted.

I have been to Warley at an exhibitor, trader and a paying visitor in 2023 and was exhibition manager of Railex in Aylesbury from 2005-2019. I had heard rumours after the last show it would be the last one so was not surprised to see the announcement. Putting Warley together is a huge undertaking with eye watering costs done by volunteers just organizing Railex for me was a major undertaking and with no shows for a couple of years due to covid made me realise I wanted to step down, as the effort to organize a show became a chore not a pleasure. I expect this what the organizing team at Warley felt too. I had noticed that the number of smaller suppliers at Warley had been getting smaller year on year. I think the cost of taking a stand and the costs just didn’t make it viable for most traders. I think my only purchase in 2023 was a book. What of the future of model railway show? We have lost some major shows since covid, and I sadly think there will be more. Nobody will stage a show if it’s going to make a loss. Just because shows have been a success in the past does not guarantee they will work in the future. Many local shows still have the same look and vibe as they did in the 1970s and 80s. Costs are increasing and staging a show is a major undertaking plus finding the people who want to and are capable of organizing an event is always an issue. I must admit Warley did drain all life out of me, although but I think that was the NEC venue itself and the November dates. David

I can print the shell without the stone heads, cills and feature courses which I might do if I don't get the painting right. The recessed downpipes were normally square 4" sitting in a 4.5" gap, I am surprised to see a round downpipe in the photo. David

I cant un see that now

I draw the vertical mortar course first working out the corners window/door openings with the quarter brick queen closures using array tools. then fill in the other vertical mortar lines using the array tool again. it is only when all the verticals have been done I do the horizontal courses. If I was doing laser cutting then I would just draw one line that the laser will follow on 3D printing I need to specify not only the width of the mortar but the depth too. In Fusion 360 I can set parameters so both the Hight of bricks, width and depth of the mortar can be set and changed if not right, I originally did the mortar at .1mm depth and width but although you could see it on the print it would have been impossible to paint, so changed it to .2mm wide and .3mm depth. Also as I said before the height of the bricks was not 76.2mm (3") high but 84mm high so had to adjust the height of my bricks to match the overall height.

Yes there are rounded corners to the edges of the windows and doors plus the corners but the bullnose bricks only go 3/4 of the way up before it returns to normal bricks. the stone head lintels are plain and don't have embellishments. I have since cleaned the print up and trail fitted the laser cut windows which look amazing.

I have 3D printed my Risborough waiting room it needs to be cleaned up as it is fresh of the printer this morning. David

I managed to 3D the entire building, I need to clean the stringing but I am rather pleased. David

Acrylic for the .2mm and romark or something similar for the .7mm i am now 3d printing the entire building carcass with all the correct brickwork I think it may take same time!

I have just laser cut windows for my station building the glazing bars are 0.2mm thick while the main frames are .7mm

I don't use Blender but Fusion 360, I have printed a test piece of wall which seems to have come out ok. I need get the painting ok as the building has black motar. the test piece has has a blow over with white primer.

Nothing unusual about the bricks between the window they are queen closures (quarter bricks) they are used at all corners door and window openings. David

Princes Risborough does not have so much decretive stonework and the window sills are flush with the brickwork, although it would be ok to creative this if needed. I have printed off a test piece to see how my design looks, but generally I think it passes. I have just blown it over with some white primer and will see how it looks when I try to paint the brickwork. David

I am doing a similar project of Princes Risborough bay platform, I had the original plans and the up building still stands. I had assumed that the bricks were standard 3" x 4" X 9" plus I knew how many rows of bricks there was. when I drew up the building it didn't look right, when I did a site visit and the brick were 82mm between courses so I adjusted my model and it matched the drawing exactly. My model is drawn in Fusion 360 render attached

Having printed off a section of wall things didn't look quite right the height of the doors were a bit too low, the number of courses of bricks were correct, so a site visit followed I had assumed bricks where at 3in pitch between course 76.2mm so 1mm on the model. getting the steel rule out the bricks were actually 82mm between courses. so I adjusted the model so it now is totally correct including the window recesses that are 9 inches (3mm) om the model. Well I an now out of the funny farm but I now have lovely brickwork!

Those people like me who have a resin printer but not a FDM one it might be looking at local companies who can print your files, there is a company less than a mile from me who will do it so I am going to get a quote rather than investing in a machine,

First time I have been to Warley as a paying visitor for quite a few years, I did think there was something lacking at this years show. There were a few trade stands were not there this year as well as demos that I had found interesting in previous years also missing. I expect the costs now to attend Warley as a trader are huge and that the smaller specialist traders don’t go for this reason. David

Here is 9707 out on a PW train at West Wycombe Saunderton area.

Is there a chance that the 97XX condensing version may get produced? David

The Sharp Stewart maybe would be a good choice I am not sure how many were built but were used on the Furness Railway, Weston Cleavdon and Porteshead Railway & The Watlington & Princes Risborough Railway there might be other as it was a standard design. David

Looking good, I am working on a model of Princes Risborough station which is a similar design, I am thinking of 3D printing the carcass of the building and having laser cut windows and doors, if my idea works I can create the rounded corners to window and door reveals. attached is a couple of screen shots of my model in Fusion 360. David

Many of the laser kits I see I don't think look like real buildings with either butt joint corners or very visible corner interlocking. The brickwork tends to be stretcher bond which is incorrect for the majority of railway buildings, plus there tends to be no depth to walls with doors and windows laser cut on the same plane as the walls. There are exceptions like Monks Gate Models and Intentio Models who do under stand how real building are constructed and look. David

Having drawn up the waiting room, I thought it might be an idea to 3D print the shell of the building and add laser cut doors and windows, The only issue is to add bricks to the 3D model with the correct English bond brickwork with queen closures around corners and door and window openings, lets just say this took me a couple of days to do! Using Fusion parametric input I can adjust both the width and depth of the mortar courses, at the moment they are both set at .1mm David

I have now drawn up the trackwork in Templot and am going to try the plug in 3D printed trackwork. I have also started to draw up the waiting room which I have drawings for the buildings on the up side still stand so this is useful for reference. I was going to laser cut the buildings but might try and 3D print the carcass and add laser cut window and doors. David