simon br blue

They look good, what printer do you have?

Just a thought, do you print them individually or could they be printed as 3 joined together without a floor or walls between each other to save material and cost?

Hi Andy, Yes the shell as printed would be able to support plenty of weight - just did a quick test by placing 2L bottle of coke on the top of the shell with no bending or distortion visible. A 1.30.5 shell, pair of bogies and battery boxes would cost about £400. Along with the 'print it anyway' WSF parts I ordered some Elasto plastic parts- this material is only available to designers currently on shapeways and I'd not used it before but thought it could be useful for some projects on the go at the moment. The thicker pipe set was printed normally but the air pipes were printed as 'print it anyway' as they were below the minimum thickness (the pipes were ok but the handles were too thin). Firstly the Elasto plastic pipe parts, I did this a test with some other random parts to see what the material was like. First impressions are that it would be the best material to make pipes out of, there is some flex in the parts - not as much as expected - I was thinking it would be more like elastic but its more like thick rubber pipe (if you see what I mean). Painting wise it was easy and paint went on and was almost partly absorbed into the surface and so far testing it by bending it none of the paint has come off the surface. The surface is a bit rough - slightly more than WSF but as the pipe surface wasn't perfectly smooth it shouldn't matter. As can be seen in the picture I did try drawing a couple of lines on the pipe to represent the ridges on the pipe but it doesn't look great - Probably would look better if more time was taken and then a bit of weathering was put over top of it. It also appears that the material has expanded slightly (Shapeways do mention this on their site) only slightly but the pipes are the same size as the coupling fitting that's on the other solid printed pipework. Also think that it should be possible to shape it with a needle file or something similar in the same way you can shape WSF. Also with this material I did a test with some air pipes of various sizes and thickness's and these have turned out quite well and as can be seen below are more flexible. Also printed in WSF as a test was the rigid pipework off the TTA wagon and coach ends. It was hard to get a good picture of these but below are a couple of showing it along side the tank barrel and a bit of a close up of the filler pipe. Regards Simon.

Another update, Firstly I ordered some mesh off Ebay for the deck of the BAA, I'll have to see what it looks like painted but hopefully it'll be about right. Next partly completed model is the PBA where I've started to add the sides and for the picture I temporally added the top off the body - I've not worked out what I'm going to do to make the hopper top yet. With my most recent order I also ordered a kit of parts to replace the broken parts from the first ordered PBA. Another WSF item ordered with the order was a radiator grill for the class 20. This was also the first item I'd ordered using shapeways new feature of 'print it anyway' this was a test to see what could be printed as most thickness's were only 0.6mm thick. It looks to have turned out OK but will need to see what it looks like and how smooth it is once painted, I also placed a couple of doors on the side to see what it looked like.

Just a thought, could this process be used to cut clear plastic for windows for printed models? Simon.

Regarding the 20's running nose first - I have to say my brother and I always thought we were partly responsible for this (even though we were only about 8 at the time) - we went to March depot on the Sunday for a look around and said to the foreman that we were going to watch the class 20's on the coal train the next day (kings Lynn - Foxton). There were 2 pairs of 20's there and he asked which pair we wanted to see - as one was in railfreight we asked for that pair and went down to see them in the Monday morning and this is what turned up after 20163 had failed- Also on with regard to 20034 with full set of sandboxes being rear in the 80's I've got a photo of 20034 with 20133 at March depot both with a full set of sandboxes -

Hi Andy, It's easy to scale up from 1/32 to 1/30.5 as the difference is small and thickness's don't need changing, only problem is the price goes up as it gets bigger, I tried an upload to Shapeways and it would cost over £300 just for the basic shell. How much would a 1/32 class 20 stick out amongst 10mm stock? Hi Richard, They're not available yet, I'm trying to get at least some finished to test they fit together and run ok before making them available for sale on Shapeways - to keep costs down I could make the resin ends and pipes for sale instead of getting the ends printed as would increase the price a lot.

Looks good, which company is doing the casting? I've got a couple of things I would like to cast myself. Simon.

I've not done much in the 37 recently- I did upload a 37/4 to Shapeways but it's not available for sale yet (I will re upload it so that the new Shapeways upload tool can check it). I have started a thread on Western Thunder about some recent larger scale modelling - link below. http://www.westernthunder.co.uk/index.php?threads/3d-printed-class-20.3329/unread Also yesterday as it wasn't raining I managed to do a bit of painting. I painted the BAA, this was the original damaged print but I decided to paint it as a test, it looks ok but I think it will still need some cradles to hide the deck. I still need to fit a couple of pieces plastikard along the centre but was thinking of adding some mesh below the deck like the real things as it looks too see through. Also given the PAA shell a coat of paint, just need some more good weather next weekend to get the chassis painted. I gave the OCA a coat of paint but this looks a bit dark. I has a go at painting the orange band on the Dow chemical tank. The paint said use grey primer but I also tried painting it over the white base coat. Below shows the results and the one over white looks good and would represent a newish tank but a bonus was the one over the grey primer as with one coat it looks darker but looks like the orange after its been in service for a time and is weathered. Lastly I did a group shot of the wagons I have partly finished.

Reprint of the BAA turned up and its much better, the deck has round holes in it and the end doesn't have ridges across it. Below shows new at the top and the original at the bottom. The original on the right shows some layers but the reprint is nice and smooth.

The annoying part with the rejection was that the handrails I used on the PBA were copied from the Dow Chemical tank printed in the previous order - after the tank chassis turned ok I assumed they would be ok on the PBA as well. If I can get everything else square I might leave the small ripple/bend in the sideframe as I think it will be hard to remove as it's like the material has been stretched out of shape, the hard part will be making the chassis square and sit flat so that the wagon will run OK. I might also be able to use the BAA if I get a set of cradles to hide most of the deck and then smooth out the other areas.

Good news - Shapeways are going to do me a reprint. As they are doing a reprint I might use the damaged print as a test to see what I can do to cut and straighten it out and as a test for fitting the sides and hopper lid. Also below is a pic of another model I've been working on recently.

One more wagon that I drew before Christmas was the PBA clay tiger. I started to draw this early in 2013 by I wasn't happy with the drawings I was using, I then got another set and these were better but not perfect either, in the end I used both drawings and a photoshopped picture to get a model that looked correct. I was struggling to think of a way of making the hopper top and luckily found a piece of pipe 56mm diameter which was correct for the top. I did order it just after Christmas when shapeways had an offer on but it got rejected because the handrails were too thin, it finally turned up last week but there was a problem as the wagon was bent out of shape (could have been the way it was packed or maybe damaged by the courier) I'm waiting for a reply from shapeways to see what they want to do about it. I would say that this wagon is the most detailed, complex and the biggest that I've attempted so far but I'm happy about the way the brake gear has come out. This is also the first model that I've uploaded using the new shapeways feature where you can see the thin walls - a feature that will be useful in the future and will hopefully reduce the amount of rejections I get (although it didn't spot the size of the handrails which caused the first rejection).

Hi Rich, I did try a 4mm TR PAA but to print it in 4mm it needed to be in FUD which made it expensive. A TCA should be easy to convert in 4mm from a Bachmann TEA with some Y25 bogies. I've done some more wagon modelling since the last update. Firstly I've got some new resin and over Christmas I was able to cast some hopper bodies for the TR PAA. It's nearly ready for the topcoat. Another wagon I've cast some parts for is the Campbell's PVB - I've cast the curtain sides to fit a 7mm frame I had printed. The ends will be plasticard as well as the roof which I'll form over the roof. A wagon I've done some work on is the Grainflow PAA - I've added sides to the hopper body but not had chance to make a casting of it. I also managed to sort out the problem with the BAA so it would upload correctly. Also pictured is the bogie that was modified from the Y25 to make the longer wheelbase version. Sadly the print has a defect as can be seen in the last photo when compared to the previous test print, I've contacted shapeways and they are sorting a reprint. Another wagon I've drawn recently is a OTA timber wagon, this was modified from the OCA (like some of the real OTA's), I've got to add the floor to the wagon and sort out some logs. Another wagon I drew recently was a ferry tank wagon (not sure of the wagon code) that use to go to Dow chemicals in Kings Lynn, the tank is the same size as the TCA with the same ends. The part tank in the pictures is a test to see how the side hatches and sun shade fit. - link below to a pic of the real wagon. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hmillington/2037959981/in/set-72157603210839981

A small wagon update, I cast a couple of ends for the TCA and cut some pipe to fit. Fits together well and the tank makes the wagon look a lot bigger and more impressive, just need to add the hatch details and give it a coat of primer. Also got a couple more pics of 37003 at the weekend on a works train to Hoe on the MNR.

Thanks for the info, I've have to take a closer look at this. Got a couple of photos of 37003 yesterday at Dereham to help with the model. Also took a pic of the Tullis Russell PAA with a coat of primer on. The Grainflow PAA turned up the other week but forgot to post a pic. The wagon was printed in 3 parts- chassis, hopper and hopper lid. The chassis was done in the same way as the PAA but this time I tried adding pipework for the braking system- which looks to have turned out well and was a lot easier than adding separate wire at a later date. The hopper was printed as a framework and the plan is to add plastikard sides and ends as this reduced the cost of printing solid walls. The hopper lid was also printed with the 2 big flat surfaces left open for plastikard to be added. One final part that is needed for this model is the walkways for the roof - these will be in FUD but will be close to the limits that can be printed. Also think I might be placing another order with Shapeways this week as they've got 20% off orders in WSF until Friday.

Done a test upload of a 37/4 cab to Shapeways so you can rotate it and see the cab from all sides. https://www.shapeways.com/model/1334945/class-37-63-37-4-cab-test-1to32.html?li=user-profile&materialId=6

Does the pic below look better? I moved the headcode boxes out slightly but this then made them almost join up with the nose grill surround so I moved and resized the grills a little. Also got a pic showing how the pictures and drawings are set up in blender. It's hard to find side on and front on pics of locos so if I'm at a gala I'll always look to get some square on pics for reference but sometimes it's luck such as 37003 at Thuxton. Pictures can also help to show up errors on drawings for example the window and grill near the boiler compartment look to be out of place slightly on the drawing when most other things seem to line up when compared to the photo of 37255.

That mod's was done when the revised grills were drawn for the refurbished 37's just forgot to upload a pic. Also got a render of the fuel tank frame And done some work on the bogie sideframes but not finished yet - these were modified from the class 20 sideframes.

One loco I've always been fond of is the class 37 so recently I decided to have a go at drawing one - I'd always been put off in the past by the complex shape of the cab/ window/ nose combination that even some of the manufacturers had got wrong but I decided to have a go anyway. After sorting some drawing and photos I made a start- I was going to draw it in 1/32 scale but this worked out too large in blender and only part of the model was visible so i halved the size to 1/64 so I could see it in blender. To make it easier when drawing the model is made from several overlapping parts - cab roof and side windows, front windows, bonnet and nose end. First I made a start on the cab roof and windows. Then I added the nose end - this was hard to draw in blender as there were several curves in different directions and it sloped backwards meaning I couldn't move easily in the Y or Z axis. Next I added some basic front details and at the same time thickened up a test and resized it so it could be printed in WSF in 4mm scale - this was a quick test to see what it looked like compared to the Bachmann and Vitrains version. This turned out OK but as expected the detail didn't come out very well in WSF. From here I then drew the body and added some details - again the details were not joined to the body as it was easier to change then if needed fro different versions. The second pic shows some of the separate details away from the body including the grills. It also shows only half the shell as this is the way I drew the loco as the body is almost identical each side it was easier to do that and then mirror it when finished rather than draw and modify 2 sides. When the body was almost finished I had a play and made some mods to make a centre headcode version. In the view below you can see the parts for the split headcode below - by drawing the parts separately you can move parts along one of the axis by a set amount and then return them to the exact position when making changes or a different version. This is still a work in progress so if anyone can see any errors or something thats the wrong shape please let me know. Simon.

Done a bit of painting this today. I gave the 7mm Y25 a coat of black paint and it looks good. Also gave the hopper from the PAA a coat of primer. I also cut the ends off the Hornby curtain sider and tested it on the PVB I had printed previously. It's quite a good fit considering it was printed before I had a body to match it up to. the only changes it to reduce the height by 1mm, shorten by 0.8mm and made it slightly narrower to match the Hornby shell.

Another delivery turned up the other day - a 7mm Tullis Russell PAA. The model was printed in 6 parts all in WSF as seen in the pic below. The detail has come out quite well with all the detail visible, it will be interesting what the detail looks like when it's had a coat of primer.

A silver bullet wouldn't be too expensive if you could get the correct size pipe for the tank body.

Yes the bearings push in then you can bend them outwards to fit the wheels, there is plenty of flex in the WSF material. With pressure pushing down from your hand you can make the bogie cross member bend a bit but that's far more pressure than you would ever get from a wagon body, if you put a lot of pressure on I'm sure the bogie would deform and stop the wheels turning freely but should spring back to shape when the weights off. Another bonus is the brake rigging is flexible and shouldn't break if it catches on anything. Does anyone know where I can get 7mm transfers for the CO2 tank, Grainflow wagon or the Tullis Russell hopper? There were some on the Scale Model Transfers website but I think the company has closed down and the website has now gone offline.

No problem, I'll post some pics when I get a test print. Do you know much about the wagons? I couldn't find any pics of the wagons from above so had to do some guess work from Paul Bartlett ground level pics. I ended going with the frame below but i'm not sure how accurate it is. I've got a day off work today so I've had a bit of a catch up on modelling. In a previous order I printed part of the deck of the BAA and a cradle as I couldn't get the whole thing uploaded correctly. These parts were done in WSF and haven't been cleaned up - I think quick sand and prime would make them look a lot better. I was hoping today would be nice and sunny so I could do some more painting on the various 25s but it's raining. I did give them a coat of yellow the other week to see what other work is needed. The 4mm cab does show some small air bubbles but then when I only started detailing the cab as a test and didn't use a good casting as I wasn't going to use it on a model but I might fit it to a Bachmann shell anyway. The 7mm 25 shell also has a coat of yellow but it's shown up a couple of problems, firstly that the area around the inside of the windows needs some more work especially the door windows and secondly that the pencil lines drawn on to line up the clips are still visible - will these disappear under another coat of yellow or will something else be required? Another item printed recently is the Y25 below that I got printed in gauge 1 - 1/32 after I got some slater wheels and enlarged the 7mm version. the larger size has made the bogie more rigid and able to take more weight but I think it's still flexible enough to adjust to track unevenness (if only I had some track to test it on). The second pic shows it next to the 7mm version. Another 1/32 item I got printed when shapeways had 10% off was a 1/32 scale class 20 bogie. This was a scaled up version of the side frame I drew last year. Like the Y25 I purchased some coach wheels form Slater's to check the fit first, I went for coach wheels as they have pinpoint bearings and the same axle size as a 7mm gear set and motor I have. I need to sort a way of mounting the motor but hopefully I can get it to work. One problem I found was the bogie was stiffer than the Y25 and had less flex as there are more parts joining onto the axle boxes which meant that it was hard to bend them outwards to fit the wheels and bearings but once fitted the wheels turned freely. if I can get the bogie to work I might think about printing a class 20 shell.