simonmcp

For those of you who don't know, cults3d https://cults3d.com/en/tags/railway?only_free=true has a large amount of free .stl files of railway related items. Warning though, some of them are very large and some are not 'complete' as there is a fault in them which shows up when you try and "slice" them. Simon

Annie is right about field boundaries or hedges disappearing at a rapid rate since the mid 20th century if not before. When I helped plot the landscape changes for Cornwall Wildlife Trust in the 1990's, it was really shocking to note quite how many had been destroyed since the Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 maps we were plotting against had been produced. Simon

On the subject of the number of trees that you think you will have to add, it has always struck me how few trees there are in some of the early 20th century railway photos. I used to work for a nature conservation charity and we were plotting the natural habitat onto Ordnance Survey maps so it was something I had to observe and the contrast between the situation now and the old railway photos stood out. Perhaps it was the great number of wooden ships being built? Simon

Faller, Kibri, Pola, Vollmer and possibly Auhagen have various canopies in their ranges. I think Golden Valley hobbies are the main importer https://www.goldenvalleyhobbies.com/brands

All the best for your appointment. I am sure you will be at least ten times faster than the rest of us in construction. I never cease to be amazed at your speed of stunning modelling. Simon

Thanks for the reply and advice, hadn't thought to smooth out the glue with a bit of water, top tip. Simon

Hi Chris, loving the road. How did you get a relatively smooth surface? When I tried spreading glue on a surface and then pouring on grit I ended up with ridges all over the place wherever the glue was slightly thicker, how did you get around that? Simon

I see the L&Y had a siding for "Rough Traffic for the Liverpool line..."

How big was the bun?

Mind you, better than the 'mix it yourself' one I used whilst young. It set solid in my mother's measuring jug and entombed one of her best desert spoons, she was not impressed . Simon

I suggest that the Premier of Australia smiles ever so sweetly and tells the Chinese that he will agree, quite conciliatory, to match EXACTLY, every import/export tariff with China. In a spirit of fairness and equality.

It's not been mentioned yet but you will also need a "slicing" program which produces the gCode that the printer needs. Again there are several out there. I use CURA, for my Filament printer (I believe Chitubox is better for resin printers) which is relatively simple but can be set up to allow a lot of tweaking. You will get very frustrated if the settings for the gCode for your printer aren't right as it will lead to failed prints. The sample files that may come with your3d printer will have been optimised in a slicer program. Again there are many tutorials out there for CURA , or the other slicer programs. Also it is worth reading up on how to set up your printer, leveling the bed, orienting the object etc before you print anything. Having said all that, it is not overly complicated and is great to see something you have imagined appear as a 3d item on the printer. Simon

Thanks for linking to that, it was very informative and sensible. Actually applies to FDM printing as well. Simon

That would be great thanks. I have activated a lot of extra settings in Cura, which I use for slicing, but would be interested to know what you use for slicing and the settings. No hurry as I realise you are busy with getting your models out to customers. I have only used, rebranded, PLA that says it's from Balco, probably quite low quality. I have heard good reports about PLA+ but not tried it yet. Simon

Survival of the fittest ?

Great looking print, what material did you use, was it plain PLA? Did you use a standard .4mm nozzle and print them at a low speed as well to get such fine detail? Simon

Canals that are in use are a very muddy green/brown colour and almost completely opaque. It's only when they're not being used that they go clear and you can nowadays see the shopping trollies and bikes on the bottom.

Looking great so far, I hate to say it but wouldn't it be better to make the canal surface out of one piece of hardboard rather than trying to disguise the joins in the surface later on? I wouldn't be able to live with a visible join in the canal, but maybe that's me being too fussy. I am sure whatever you do will be up to your very high standard.

A piece of Plywood at right angles to the backscene, tapering to the top if wanted, the same height or just slightly shorter, with a cut out for the hidden tracks to go through will ensure that the backscene stays square. You could even put a conti board connection near the top to be certain. Sorry not on a computer to do a drawing so ask for any clarification if needed. Simon

That last B&W shot, my brain refuses to accept it's not a prototype picture, amazing stuff and so quick as well.

The "Definitive Map", AKA the footpath, bridleway and byways map didn't come out until the 50s so little or no signposts or fancy Stiles much before then. More likely a gap in the hedge and a slippery looking muddy slope. The slope would probably be on a diagonal to lessen the steepness though.

It also gets more blue in it. There used to be a screensaver for Windows computers of receding mountains and each one got progressively more blue and less red in. Of course that's not mentioning the affects of early morning, midday and evening light. The sky also lightens towards the horizon and, I think, gets a deeper blue the closer it is to right angles away from the sun. Just don't fully trust any pictures in holiday brochures, I used to work on them and we definitely messed around with the colours.

If you do get a FDM printer the settings are just as critical for getting a good print as the resin ones. I have found a few points -all available if you enable the settings in your slicer software. I use Cura to slice my files and print with PLA. I have turned OFF the heated bed and slowed down the print speed to 10mm second to get a much better quality. I also always print small items with 100% infill (lines) and use Skirt instead of raft and enable filament retraction (stops stringing).

Jolly fine Tuxedo there, top hole. I take it that you are allowed at least some small area of the bed in which to sleep or does the forecat rule the roost?

Great, thanks. I have a 3d printer so can always print any extra bits I need. All I need now is the time and space. Simon