NScaleNotes

Hi John The first one I've put together (a 31,000L tanktainer) should be visible on my Shapeways if you use the links below but I'm currently waiting for test prints so I haven't made them available via the Marketplace. I've put together two versions, a full print that includes a 3D printed tank: https://www.shapeways.com/product/JZR8USSEW/2550x8-9-euro-swapbody-31000l-tank-type-one?li=shop-inventory The smoothest print Shapeways offers actually produces an almost layer-less finish with a bit of carefully finishing and painting but I decided to also create a kit version that can be combined with a length of 15mm PEX pipe: https://www.shapeways.com/product/72V2YMUJV/2550x8-9-euro-swapbody-31000l-tank-type-one-kit?li=shop-inventory Plus the kit version works out slightly cheaper to print too I've also done a couple of standard ISO type tanktainers too: https://www.shapeways.com/product/B6VY7LBSF/8x8-iso-tanktainer-type-one?li=shop-inventory https://www.shapeways.com/product/G8DPM2CAH/8x8-iso-tanktainer-type-two?li=shop-inventory https://www.shapeways.com/product/54VBFMEWL/8x8-iso-tanktainer-type-three-bromine-tank?li=shop-inventory - A special bromine tanktainer. These are full prints but I've figured out a way to make these kits too with suitably sized imperial pipe. Producing these tanktainer models is quickly becoming something of an obsession and there are so many different designs that you'd never run out of material to work with, the hard part is actually deciding what to model next. Simon

Thanks Brian, interesting information. I suppose that means potentially dangerous chemicals would go in an ISO container and travel by sea as they probably wouldn't be allowed through the Tunnel.

Hello all I've put together some N scale (1:160) 3D models with a view to printing some European swap-tanks for my mostly Continental modeling projects and it got me wondering: do you ever see the wider Euro-type swap bodies/containers in the UK? I'm pretty sure I've not come across a picture of one in the UK on the back of a wagon but perhaps I've not been looking in the right places. Simon

That's very kind, thank you. Hmmm, it looks like 25 micron layer thickness would fall roughly between the Shapeways smooth and smoothest material types so it may well work OK. I think the difference might be in the supports. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the Photon builds support structures out of resin whereas the Shapeways printers use wax to support structures which is then melted away. I suppose cutting these support structures away might damage very thin walls or the long arms I'm looking at creating. Anyway if you're happy to do it I'l love to see how the point motor comes out and I could send over an .stl of one of the container frames as that's the bit with all the thin walls and long arms. I could get that sent over tomorrow. Thanks again. Simon

Hello Alex Those prints look really good. Keep up the good work. I've been reading a lot about these two printers and might even consider buying one however I can't find much detail on minimum thicknesses and minimum depth/height of surface details possible. I know it's asking a lot for a low-cost printer but as I work in N scale do you know from your experience whether it would be possible to successfully print a straight square arm (0.6mm x 0.6mm) with the Photon? It looks like the Alstom branding on your point motor came out quite crisply and some of my prints (used Shapeways) have 0.1mm deep engraving or 0.1mm high raised detail and I wonder whether that would be possible? Sorry to bombard you with questions but my curiosity gets the better of me simply because these budget printers could open up some exciting possibilities. Simon

Thanks, good to hear. I remember seeing those Gingsters 158s. I imagined there would be a range of responses all the way from helpful down to ignoring the request, just like when you contact a company about any other matter

Thanks for taking the time to reply Mick; that's a really interesting and useful story.

Hello all I've been working on some 3D printed tanktainers in N scale (1:160) and I've got to the point where I need to think about decals. For personal use perhaps I can just make up the logos myself and get something run off by a decal printing company but what if down the road I wanted to sell a kit that included transfers? I can find open source images of the ADR warning labels and the other writing on the tanks shouldn't need licensing but to include the logos I assume I would need permission, especially as I'd be looking at contemporary prototypes. Has anyone done this? Is it really just a case of emailing the companies and asking permission? I'd love to hear about any experiences anyone has had doing this. Thanks Simon

A bit late to this thread but I second this. Freecad is a great open source (free) option for Linux and Windows. I've taught myself to use this and while it was a steep learning curve at times and early version could be a bit temperamental it has been worth it as it's now really powerful and stable even on the ancient laptop I've been working on. I have recently used it to make my first meshes (.stl files) to print N scale 3D models via Shapeways and they have come out really well. In fact the hardest thing has been that I'm often tempted to add detail before realizing it's at nanometer scale. I'm sure 3D printers will catch up one day though...

Sorry no experience of Locomodels myself but have you heard of Pirata? I thought they manufactured Italian models but actually looking at their website I think they might just commission other manufacturers. However the rolling stock of theirs that I do have is rather good; I picked some up in Germany a few years back from Menzels-Lokschuppen in Dusseldorf. Well worth a visit if you're ever in the area by the way and don't mind leaving a couple of hundred Euros lighter. I'm sure at one point Pirata were going to be producing some Italian locomotives but I could be mistaken.

Hi Penrhos I hope it's not too late but if you're on a budget I just wanted to mention what's possible with lower-spec machines and open source software. I've got a fairly low-spec laptop (more a Chrome book really) that I bought it the States. It's got 4GB RAM and an i-3 1.4GHz processor with integrated graphics. So pretty low-spec all-in-all. I wiped this and installed Ubuntu and FreeCAD. I'll admit it's not the fastest but while I was teaching myself the software I managed to build a complete 3D model of a SGGNS wagon, a Y25 bogie etc all with multiple applications open the whole time. I've now got a much better desktop setup but it still cost a fraction of a decent specification laptop. If you really don't need to be mobile I wouldn't get a laptop or consider getting a cheap laptop like a Chrome book for mobility and keep a better desktop at home. Anyway here's the specification of the desktop I put together: AMD processor - nothing fancy here. They are cheap and they work. I've always been of the opinion there is a lot of hype around CPUs. Most of the time you're measuring differences in microseconds and you can make bigger performance gains more cheaply by removing other performance bottlenecks. Get a decent graphics card to take the load off the CPU. I went for a 2GB AMD FirePro W4100 PCIe - which is a 2D/3D work-type graphics card rather than gaming graphics card. A much better option for CAD. Always get plenty of RAM. I went for 32GB RAM - that's way too much but I was interested in virtualization at the time. However that much RAM doesn't actually cost a lot and it does give you the option of playing with RAM disks. Imagine working on a CAD/graphics file stored in RAM rather than on a HDD or SSD. Lighting fast but just remember to save to disk regularly! Working from disk is a major bottleneck so SSD hard drive for storage if you don't want to play with RAM disks - much faster than HDD. SuperFlower PSU - a good, stable and efficient power supply is worth the extra money long-term. I also put a mirrored HDD in for long-term storage. I installed OpenSUSE on all that and the latest version of FreeCAD and it's an awesome little setup. Super fast and if you're willing to put a bit of effort into learning FreeCAD you can put it all together really cheaply. I'm considering installing Ubuntu on this computer now though. OpenSUSE is just too much effort most of the time. Great for people that love tinkering with PCs, solving software issues but most of the time now I just want stuff to work so I can get on with other work. That's where Ubuntu excels. Hope that helps but if you've got any questions I'll do my best to answer them. Simon