Revolution Mike

Another idea is to check that you have joined all the meshes into one. I had a similar problem with Shapeways with bits uploading OK and passing the Shapeways's tests, but bits missing. It was down to (in my case) creating sub-sections as different meshes and then forgetting to combine all the meshes into one. Cheers, Mike

Alan Cox (Etched Pixels/Ultima Models) has done some white metal ends for a 313 (and 317s) in N: http://www.ultima-models.co.uk/catalogue/comp-ends.html Now I need to tidy them up and put them together with my MTK etches for an N gauge 313 (found in a bits box at an exhibition). Or at least decide whether the MTK etches are worth saving! Cheers, Mike

Hi David I know what you mean about lots of subtle curves! Everytime I look at a photo of the nose I notice something different. The Hornby one looks OK until you look at the lights where the corner looks too square and not rounded enough. Bah - compound curves! Cheers, Mike

Hi David The side profile looks good. I think the top down view shows that there is a subtle curve missing across the front "edge". You can see better here: Outside New Street Station from Pinfold Street and Navigation Street - Victoria Square House and a Virgin Pendolino by ell brown, on Flickr The beauty of Shapeways is that people can buy as and when they can afford things. You could also offer people choices of material (though personally I am not sure that any material other than FUD offers a smooth enough finish, though possibly some of the polished material). Looks great anyway and I'd love to get my hands on one! Cheers, Mike

I will be hoping to relieve the stand of a copy of Track at Warley as well! Cheers, Mike

That is a fantastic piece of 3D printing! The chassis looks good as well. Cheers, Mike

David Provided it is watertight/manifold then it looks pretty good to me. As you say it is easy to become worried about what looks like huge flaws, which when you work things out are actually tiny! I have found that one of the most difficult things about 3D modelling - knowing how much detail to include and what detail to exaggerate (as there are certain things on some models that the eye expects to see even if to scale they would be far too small). The caveat when using train sim images is that often they are designed to minimise the polygons in the design whereas we often want the detail. Laser cutting the windows seems like a sensible choice. I'm really impressed with how quickly you have done this! Cheers, Mike

What do you not like about the Farish tooling? I think it works well for coaches like the Mk3. Yes, SLE and SLEP are the same body shell - the only difference is the interiors (the SLEP has one less room as it is used for the attendant's "pantry"). Cheers, Mike

Excellent work David! Good luck with the nose - I will be interested to see how you do it. Looking at the cross section of the bodyshell makes one realise how similar the profile is to the APT! I'd certainly be interested if you made them available through Shapeways. Cheers, Mike

The Paul Shannon books on Railfreight since 1968 are nice - split into different specialisations eg Wagonload or Bulk Freight etc. The BR goods wagons in colour gives a nice overview of wagons 1960 to 2003. I like Tom Smith's books for detail shots of modern wagons - IIRC the series is British Railway Air braked stock and part of the Modern Railways in profile series. Ditto the two Freightmaster Wagon Recognition books are good for modern wagons. Cheers, Mike

I'd second Inkscape for drawing etches, which reminds me I must get mine sent off to PPD. M

Does Beast's motivation really matter? The point is that it is his choice to make. He can quite reasonably put them up for information and leave it at that ie not wish them to be used further - the initial posting is still beneficial to the community. You might believe it makes a statement but unless there is an explicit statement granting an effective license for reuse then your belief is unfounded. On your second point, as mentioned because the community (and by inference Andy and Warners) still benefit from that content being available (even if not reusable in different contexts).

True, but then if that convinces people not to bother uploading material because users can't be bothered to respect the owner's wishes then we are all the poorer... Is it really that difficult to show someone the courtesy of asking people if it is OK to use their material?

Does the actual copying of the image make a difference under UK copyright law? I am not sure as one of the points was about unauthorised use of a picture. The other important difference is that US copyright law has fair use provisions which the UK does not (the UK's fair use and fair dealing provisions are much more narrow). Meil's point about purposes of criticism or review is relevant, but again I am not sure it helps - UK copyright only allows re-publication of parts of a copyrighted work so for an image that becomes problematic!

Sorry Tim, but that is not the point. As Beast and Jim have said, I can choose how I put my images on the net (recognising the inherent issues that raises) and specify how I would like them to be used. If I don't put anything then my full control is still automatically the default position as my rights under copyright protection are clear. Martin seems to be saying that if I put something up then he can assume it is fair game without getting my permission. That is the exact opposite of the legal position. Martin seems to arguing a convenience point which isn't terribly convincing I'm afraid. I really don't understand why Martin is labouring the point - the law is for this point on copyright unusually clear! Cheers, Mike

The fact you provide attribution doesn't stop it being copyright infringement. Your point about commercial interest or potential financial damage is incorrect (there doesn't need to be either of these for copyright to be infringed) and more importantly something that the infringer could not possibly know. For example I could have reached a commercial deal to publish my photos with XY publisher but agreed that I could also post some on RMweb - the copyright infringer has no means of knowing. It really is rather simple - if I put my photos on a site and set out re-use conditions eg CC licence or similiar then you may use them as set out. If I don't say anything then you can not just assume that you can take them.

Missy I really wouldn't let Shapeways fob you off like that - I have seen a couple of other prints that have come out like yours (but which came out OK at other times from Shapeways) and which they subsequently reprinted for free. So I would definitely persist. Whilst Shapeways won't guarantee which orientation they print, this seems like a different problem. As you say bits 2 and 4 on your photos look awful. Good luck, Mike

Dapol have long said that they will be RFMs. Cheers, Mike

I like the Kerosene Castle - it looks good!

I think it is important to be clear on this - I perfectly accept that tooling for every variation becomes (prohibitively) expensive, but that does not excuse mis-matched details and liveries. The simple solution (which shuts the likes of me up!) is to produce liveries and numbers that actually match the detail variations that the tooling can accommodate! As Cav pointed out - why do a compromised Romanian when an early Doncaster could have been more accurate for the details? Dave has been commendably honest about making compromises, but IMHO with a bit of slightly different decision making and research much of the compromises could have been avoided. Cheers, Mike

I'll lay my cards on the table and say that like Cav and Jim I have some misgivings about the basic shape. No question that it is far better than the Farish effort, but then it should be! The detail errors are frustrating - why not either get the detail right for Romanians or choose different numbers / liveries that the models would be accurate for? Cheers, Mike

Hi Southernman The bogies on the Sheerness Steel PXAs are Schlieren bogies which are quite different. You can Schlierens from Colin Craig, Intercity Models (?) and Appleby. Cheers, Mike