JimFin

Certainly has potential. Not a part of the country I have visited but having looked on the map - may well go that way at some point - https://www.chaux-de-fonds.ch/musees/mih looks fascinating.

AKA - the project from hell. Put it back in it's box about a year ago bur resurrected it with some determination to complete. Not quite there yet but enough to share a taste. Butchered from a Herpa truck, bit of printing, bit of plasticard and some electronic stuff all stuck to a Bemo Tm 2/2 chassis that was spare. The side rails need replacing and a few bits more to improve but nearly there. https://www.flickr.com/photos/148810032@N02/51714341157/in/dateposted-public/

The big advantage of a magnetic build plate is the ability to remove a completed print as soon as it has completed printing, put a new magnetic plate on and start another print job immediately, rather that have the printer idle while the resin drains off. Great if you are running a production line. If you are not - it simply adds one more layer of complexity to the process by introducing another number of potential issues such as - weight of print exceeding magnetic grip, magnet adhesion to the plate failing, magnetic sheet warping. They are not a magic cure, you still have to get the supports and orientation right regardless. My thought would be to master those issues with the basic plate and add a magnetic one later if you find the need for workflows.

Build volume remains very modest at 143 X 89 X150mm (5 1/2" X 3 1/2" X 6").

It's a steep learning curve, FDM printing is the easier of the 2 in my opinion! Don't worry too much about the cube, it's notoriously tricky and temperamental. Best to crack on with some projects that interest you and learn from those. Please be careful having the printer in the house, the resin is toxic and the fumes both when printing and after printing as it gasses off can be harmful and leave a sticky residue over everything nearby if not properly ventilated,

Thanks for the kind words. Decals are mainly home printed with a laser printer, decal paper and artwork created from freely available software - MS Paint for example. White lettering at the moment has to be bought in. If you are interested in the printing projects and decals, there is a lot more written up about them on the RhB dedicated forum - https://rhb.boards.net/ feel free to have a browse.

So - Obervaz was parked while preparing and exhibiting Neuburg at the Darlington show and now doing some tweaks based on that experience. Today however brought a sharp reminder as to where I had been spending my pocket money -

Lovely article in CM this month - superb photography, looking forward to next month as well!

In my experience there are 4 steps in the process 1) create or buy the STL model you want. 2) Run it through 3D builder (free in Windows) to repair and correct any defects in print capability. 3) Load it into slicing software of your choice, position in the build volume and add supports. (That is a dark art that needs to be mastered!) 4) still in the slicing software, set the print parameters for your model, the printer and resin (layer height, exposure time, lift speed etc.etc.) then slice and you have a file which the printer can run with.

I just love the train being in the landscape rather than on it! I think you need to continue your very rigorous testing routine right over the weekend.

There is no + on the circuit board. As Salmotrutta says, using a decoder with Aux 1, Aux 2 and the blue positive wire would be the simplest solution. In so far as there is a convention F1 for interior lights is usual, if you were clever, you could use F2 combined with a feed from the directional lighting to provide cab lighting. Doing it that way rather than straight from the directional lights means you don't have to have it illuminated when the unit is working in reverse in a consist.

This is Peco HOm on an A3 sheet of foamboard and uses a 2/2 tractor with short wheelbase so the radius must be about 140mm = 5inches.

2013 is back in the train shed to fettle before the Darlington show in October. Got this gaming monitor (very reasonable on ebay) to run the software for Obervaz as the aspect ratio is better for the shape of the layout. Just since I could, put in to Neuburg 2013 to see if it would work as well as I hoped in a live setting. Nice be able to have the track plan and the throttles for all the loco's on roster open and visible at the same time. Might just keep using it for this as well! See what the other operators think when they get a hands on.

Its very satisfying when a number of things all come together and work! 3D prints, including the bogies, digital Schoma, MicroTrains couplings and Dapol inset magnet contribute to the first delivery into the Weyland siding.

Build volume is fairly meagre - 102.4 x 57.6 x 165 mm ( 4" X 2.25" X 6.5" )

What you have done looks good to me, good reference source for this detail is via streetview - https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@46.6520899,9.7227126,2a,75y,192.21h,98.85t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smgym55qrFcfdDatmlMVe4g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en-GB you can see the tensioner set back as you have leading to mast at the point centre and diverging lines OHP from there.

Been a while since my last post - and it's been slow progress. The complexity of setting up the track and wiring has been a bit of a challenge but it's going well and running smoothly. The Peco scissors crossing needed a lot of modification to work with the Cobalt IP point motors but it's remarkable smooth. The geometry of the track plan means there is a reverse loop which had had to be incorporated in the DCC wiring. The AR1 polarity reverse module was not a great success, being relay operated it was simply not quick enough for the Kato locos but funnily enough - fine with the Scoma fitted with a Zimo decoder. The module has been replaced with a Lenz LR200 solid state switch. To ensure a full train can be accommodated within the reversing section, this has had to be extended part of the way into the spiral which meant a little bit of re-work. All good now. Very glad I hinged the top board!

No - I think it was misunderstanding! Attached are the Kato Ge, my 3d print tank wagon and Kato EW1 - so yes the tank does sit high. It may be a little taller than prototype but the issue with the Nm goods wagons is the bogie is virtually the same width as the chassis and cannot be recessed in as with a coach.

Front cover of next months Continental Modeller has a familiar look to it!

Looks pretty similar height relative to the loco cab windows / roof line?

There is a trick to lift a corner with a Stanley type razor scraper or similar ( https://www.uktoolcentre.co.uk/products/stanley-tools-razor-edge-scraper-with-5-blades.html?sku=946048&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4eaJBhDMARIsANhrQADe_bEpoqzC4UMmz2ce1tiSAopg--4auGu-7cUCvmTTnd8DDtK03ygaAhhhEALw_wcB ) and then use the large scraper, A soon as the corner is lifted, it becomes very easy to slide the large scraper under and lift it off.

There is a counter view, which I confess I now subscribe to, that adding lubricant to the FEP is not a great idea. As far as I am aware, none of the printer, FEP or resin manufacturers recommend it as it is adding a further chemical to the mix. I did try it at one point but it was, in my opinion, completely pointless. It's better to work at dialling in the best settings for your printer / resin / environment combination. You are trying to print the test cube which on a good day is notoriously difficult and really does not give an indication if you have an issue. I suggest you print the R_E_F_R file on the USB and see how that performs. It will give you a good idea of the optimum settings for your combination of printer and resin. The R_E_F_R results are explained in the manual and you need to select the best result for the type of models you are intending to print. With those settings, I would ignore the cube and get on and print something you want instead. It's a steep learning curve to get the results you want but worthwhile when you hit the sweet spot and understand the parameters well.

I think your orientation is a significant part of the problem The job is splitting as the suction force is greater than the adhesion due to the cross sectional area being printed at each layer. Solutions would generally be to angle it at 45 degrees to reduce the cross section of each layer, reduce the lift speed possibly and a longer light off time. Difficult to be definitive without knowing your settings.

How about a couple of these? https://www.digitalprinting.co.uk/products/1500mm-wide/86/ about £250 but ae complete and easily portable?

For small engineering components like that, it would be worth getting a small sample roll of ePLA which has engineering strength similar to ABS once it has been annealed after printing. https://www.filamentive.com/product-category/epla/