wizmacnz

I produced these windows to suit the Kingsway Models Georgian terraced houses kit. You place them into the window opening from the outside and hold in place with a bit of glue on the back of the window surround. The batch print of 24 windows is available on Shapeways. Peter

I have put onto Shapeways a set of generic platform seats. It was originally intended to be a GER seat, but unfortunately the monogram is to fine to print in the cheaper White Strong and Flexible material. I'll try reworking it in Frosted Ultra Detail when I get time, but I fear the cost advantage over etched or laser cut will then disappear. Peter

Just added an OO Scale park bench to my Shapeways shop. Available individually or in a batch of 4. Peter

Hi Simon, I find that pretty much anything I model in OO and print in WSF can be scaled down and printed in N in FUD. The cost of FUD is as you say higher than WSF, but you also have only 1/4 the volume of material to print, so normally it's cheaper. One other thing I've noticed with your prints is that you grouping together items on sprues. You don't actually need to do that. You can combine multi-items in a single print run and they all arrive from shapeways in a single polythene bag. As you are paying for printing the spru, you can save money if you omit it. If you take a peek at my shapeways pages you will see what I mean. Peter

Well the flu and a few other distractions have prevented me from posting for a while .. I've had a few arrivals of check prints from Shapeways in the intervening period. The platform canopies in sections as a single print have arrived and I'm very pleased with them. The canopy section with columns (as above), is alternated with the section below. Like this At the end you add a cantilevered canopy Like this OO scale components are already available for purchase at Shapeways N scale components will follow soon. Peter

There are a few people already designing and printing Loco bodies, I think there are also a few threads on RMWeb. I'm sure I could do the modeling, but I lack the knowledge of the prototype. Peter

Hi Ken I can certainly model the bridge in H0. It just isn't as simple though as the OO to N change. The OO and N scales are made in two different materials. The material for the N scale bridge is more than twice as expensive as the material for OO, but as the volume of material printed is about one quarter of the larger scale the cost comes out cheaper. When I created the model for OO scale some of the printed sections were set at the smallest that could be printed using that cheaper material. This means that I can't just uniformly scale the OO bridge to print an H0 bridge using the cheaper material. I have today placed on Shapeways an H0 scale version, but it is possible that I will revisit it in the future to either "coarsen" the detail to make it printable in cheaper material, or enhance the detail to make the most of the capability of the more expensive material. Peter

The first of the sets of chimney pots to suit Scalescenes kits are now available for purchase. The photo shows some pots on the Scalescenes Row of Cottages kit. The photo is courtesy of John Wiffen and used with his permission (before I get into trouble). The set to suit this kit is available at https://www.shapeways.com/model/1936116/t019-ss-chimney-pots-4mm.html?modelId=1936116&materialId=6 The pots are pre-printed on the mortar haunching, which has been sized to suit the top of the chimney stack. Simply paint and then glue to the top of the chimney stack. No fiddling around with trying to position individual pots. It is intended to extend the range to suit all the Scalescenes kits with chimneys.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am working on a shorter one.

It's 192mm tall. Peter

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

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

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

I've painted the "N" scale footbridge to match its' big brother, the OO scale footbridge. Here are the two together. Peter

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.

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