TurboSnail

I appear to have forgotten the golden rule of Humbrol matt varnish when I was using it last night - use lots of very light coats otherwise it turns white and you get a poor finish! This is one of those rare occasions where the photo actually makes it look better than it is. I think I might have to turn this model into a weathering test to try and hide the finish as I don't really want to start painting it all over again.

I've worked with FormLabs printers before and probably will again this summer (for non-modelling purposes unfortunately) and they are very good - couple of drawbacks including very expensive resin, high waste and additional UV curing often needed (a separate expensive machine!). Be ideal for a hackspace/makerspace though, and can't be too long before they're down in price enough to suit the more fiscally challenged of us.

Ah, I was hoping you wouldn't say Pheonix! I don't get out to exhibitions much unfortunately, so I might have to take a punt with a few shades of Humbrol instead. Thanks for the heads up on the transfer paper, I'll have to think about how I'm going to sneak some into one of the University laser printers!

I'm actually doing a short-lived version of the SECR livery, albeit with a very wrong shade of green. How wrong is debatable, as the only photo I've found so far is this one which is a modern recreation so I don't know how accurate it is. The joys of pre-colour-photography modelling! I'm planning to use Sem's transfers/overlays on my forthcoming R class conversion of another R1 as they do look great - which reminds me, what paints did you use on yours to match the printed colours so well?

The R1 body detailing part of the project is getting near completion, with only transfers, varnish and glazing left to do - it could probably also do with a steam reverser and some more pipework, but I'm waiting to put in an order for a few locos at once, so for now this is it. The chassis has also had another coat of black so it doesn't look quite so plasticky.

I have had one person buy one so far... Though I'm putting that down to the entirely freelance nature of the subject, maybe I should start making things people actually want! I didn't actually design this one as a kit, I was designing it for myself as a first foray into using 3D printing, but I may as well make the files available if anyone else wants them. I agree with your point here, it is sort of scratchbuilding but without the hard work of getting the shape and the joints right - I've had attempts at proper scratchbuilding a few times, but I get very frustrated with myself when I have to repeatedly file, fit, glue/solder things when I get it wrong. 3D printing a basic shell for me is a good compromise, but I wouldn't call it scratchbuilding exactly as you're not doing all the dimensioning and assembly yourself. It was my first attempt at this sort of thing, feedback is always welcome! It would have been more comprehensive if it was designed from the start as a kit (see above point), with a lot more photos for a start. The wheels rotating issue is more to do with the specific wheelset used as there is no automatic quartering on RTR wheelsets - I intend to use Scalelink wheels in future so hopefully this will not be a recurring issue.

I sort of did what Guy has suggested, but I've been a bit more vague about the kit parts, so people can use whatever they already have as spares or whatever they can get hold of. Maybe this approach is more applicable to a freelance design though, actual prototypes would be a bit more difficult to do, especially the more obscure pre-grouping/industrial types I have in mind. TS01 Instructions & Parts List.pdf

Had to do some repairs after the trip back to Uni, but it has now been painted and reassembled. Next up is the mechanism and flywheel, so I need to think about how that will work.

I'm sorry! I think you're the first person to test it with the Scalelink gearset, so do let me know how it goes so I can make any improvements if necessary! The specific motor I used and designed it for is available here, but you could use a different one if you're prepared to do a little fettling. Having said that, I have plenty of spare motors and grille mesh I'd be happy to give you some if you want them? Drop me a PM if you do. There's instructions and a full parts list on post #63 if you want them, though I'd recommend phosphor bronze strip over the pickups I used as they're a bit 'friction-y'.

I also use brack's method above of printing drawings and getting my calculator out, however I'd probably use yours if I had a good source proper drawings rather than perspective-altered photos or scans of drawings. I use SolidEdge (the poor man's SolidWorks) but IIRC from my brief experiences with 'works you may be able to do a similar trick of creating a block or surface, then attaching the image to that. Then change the size of the block/surface to scale the image. Another trick that might be useful is not bothering to scale it at all while building, then scale it when finished by creating a new part with a scaled copy of the model - this works much better if you work in assemblies rather than making the entire thing as one part as you can do it once, then rattle off several versions in different scales.

The detailed version of the chassis has been ordered today, looking forward to that turning up! I've incorporated conrods and body securing screw mounts so I can assess whether they will work before finalising the design. In the meantime, the test model still needs transfers and the chassis painting, but is getting close to completion.

I'll have to add the F class to the list then! Need to locate a drawing first though, please do let me know if you have one. My usual source of HMRS seems to have all the SECR 4-4-0s apart from that one! Apologies Sem for borrowing your thread! I should probably make my own at some point...

Would be a long way off for me, I'm just designing stuff as and when I can afford to build it! I also tend to design stuff from a more mixed-media style, so I don't think it would matter if there were a couple of version available.

I had plans to do 3Ds of some of the SECR 4-4-0s at some point (B, F, maybe G etc.) including designing 3D printed chassis, looks like Sem might get there first! I'd be happy to work on chassis though if RTR ones are proving tricky to find, but I'll see how the smaller chassis I'm working on at the moment turn out first.

I'm assuming the side tanks stayed the same length? That would be a tricky modification otherwise. I'll be replacing the boiler anyway so the additional length wouldn't be a problem there. I have a drawing for the R class, so the measurements will be taken from that, not the Wrenn version.

By way of an update, the chassis design is finished and ready to send off to Shapeways, but I'm waiting until another secret project (shh!) is finished so I can order both at the same time. Over on the test chassis, things are now a bit more green. It's not the correct shade, but it'll do, I can't afford to buy the exact colour for every project I make. It should be a more yellowey green as it will get the SECR plain green livery rarely seen in model or preserved form (P class no. 323 had it for a while). We also have sprung buffers (also not exactly correct, but at least Southern in origin) and on the chassis, new guard irons from offcuts of aluminium sheet.

Right here! It was my first foray into 3D printing, so it's not perfect but I'm happy with it. The only thing I might still do to it is upgrade the gears as I used a poor quality version, but there's more on that at the end of the build thread.

I've thought about using 3D printing to make jigs that you could then build around in something like card or plastic, particularly for something like roof profiles. Not got very far with it though. I'm planning a couple of locos using plastic tube for boilers and a plasticard frame, with 3D printed parts, so that could be one potential answer. Another one could be use of coatings, I've seen some designed to smooth out 3D prints, but they're a bit expensive for me to try at the moment. On a more positive note, WSF is pretty amazing compared to desktop PLA printers - this came off one at Uni this week that was top of the range a couple of years ago! Those are supposed to be straight lines...

If mine ends up looking anywhere near as good, I'll be very happy! I have another R1 which was one of my first locos, and that's staying fully original as I can't bring myself to mess with it. Most of those modifications are being duplicated on this example, currently it looks like this:

For buffers, I've used Bachmann spares code 36-035, they're easy to get hold of and pretty cheap if you don't want to model a specific type. I've found so far that 3D printing is fine for the chassis providing you're prepared to clean it up a bit and make minor adjustments - I'm doing some further experimentation into this at the moment, so we'll see how it goes.

This is WSF, the body was ordered in "WSF - Polished" and the chassis in standard WSF. The body has had some sanding down, still exhibits slight 'pitting' though, but I'm more than happy with it as it's not meant to be a showcase queen. The chassis has had a very light sanding in some areas, but is mostly raw. I don't like the idea of using the 3D printing for all the detail, so handrails, buffers etc are separately fitted on this model, which gets around the detail issues and allows me to have more fun modelling it!

Last night I got the first iteration of the cab detail printed on the cheapo Uni printer - I don't think I'll bother getting it printed by Shapeways for the R1 as the detail is pretty good and the lines are not that visible anyway once inside the cab. I'll eventually incorporate the R class roof into this print so I can just cut out the boiler and cab and slot the new ones in to get pretty close to an R class. For now though, the cab detail needs a little modification, particularly to where it fills in the gaps under the cab front windows, hopefully I'll get a second iteration done in the next couple of days. The control layout could be more convincing too - if anyone has any photos of the inside of an R1 cab, please could you help me out?

I keep getting distracted by other projects! Anyway, stairs and handrails went on last night, using a OO scale man for reference. Lots of holes in the floors needed patching as well, as it was built around the frames.

Item now found, no need for any further messages. Thanks!

Finishing working out the pickup locations this morning, I still need to transfer the measurements to the CAD file though. I think I've got a way of making them adjustable as well. I'm also trying to add body mounting screw holes, but it's a bit tricky to locate when the body isn't exact in the CAD model.