Timber

After weeks of messing around I have given up on trying to make a repeatable 3D printed chassis. By repeatable I mean something that I can just print, add wheels motor and pickups and send down the track. With such a shart wheel base, small throw and very little weight the distortion of warping and shrinkage is too great. Maybe I will come back to it in the future........this is a tiny sample of the number of attempts I took at this. All conveniently sitting on top of the dustbin :-(

Thanks Rob - I have been holding off on updating the prints as I have been going through a pretty extensive tidy up of the artwork. The bunker has now been corrected together with a number of other errors in the body. I have also just noticed that the front headstock is very slightly out of alignment so that will be fixed. I will then upload.

Ok thank you - I use RM Web as a diary of my activities but also to try and promote a bit of interest in S Scale so this is good news - thank you.

Hi - I post alot of content on RMWeb but very little of it appears to be discoverable in Google. Is this a deliberate strategy of RMWeb to limit google indexing or am i doing something wrong in how I post? Grateful for any help.

I received the revised etch today.....few more components to add but this contains the body parts to enhance the 3D prints plus two chassis versions....one for split axle and one for pickups.....I hope to have these at our autumn meetinsg,,,,,once again made to my skills/standards that may not be as high as others so there is the usual health warning.

I have been reliably informed that this is the correct rivet detail for the saddle.....I will replace the STL for downloading later in the week.

Someone asked for a STL file that could be edited in Tinkercad. The link below is a version of the file that I reduced in Meshmixer. I have no idea how this will print - be very interested in feedback.... https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lG9i6A_slWXR2sUV_FyhqEWgSMMDl9nY/view?usp=sharing If it does not print well then I can increase the file size. However, what I wanted to avoid was offering a file that just squeezed onto Tinkercad and then could not be edited or downloaded beyond that point.....let me know as I have not tested this file myself. But for anyone who wants the "full fat" STL then look back for earlier link, it should be working now. BTW Meshmixer is a brilliant and simple utility to use, I use it for multiple applications - it really is useful. https://www.meshmixer.com/. There are loads of YouTube tutorials on it.

Working on a few different cab designs....

Here they are fitted together. It runs nicely. Chassis needs to be trimmed to fit within headstocks and a fixing bolt added to the cab floor. But it is heading in the right direction....

Here is the body for the etch and split chassis. This version has the step printed, They appear robust but I suspect that they may be fragile. I plan to test an etched step that is attached to the chassis. I will share this once complete.

Moving on to the etched chassis. I will share the artwork later in this blog but here is the assembled chassis for pickups. I will be drawing a split chassis version but I am not going to test this as I use pickups. But it will be available for others. The chasis has compensation beams at the rear for the middle and rear wheels leaving the front wheels to pivot on a simple rocker. Brake parts are available, I will fit these later after I have tested the locomotive build properly

Here is the link for the saddle https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AjEkpf9GyZO_uY4DakWeq1FkW-1op-sC/view?usp=sharing I am not going to offer a file with supports as it is very easy to put supports on this - auto support does the job. However, I found that you need to possition as shown in screen shot for best print.

Thanks for testing Rob. Both the links should work now please message me direct if there are problems

That should work now.....

Here you go - it is in the first post from this eveing, I will be posting the etched chassis version next weekend,,,,,,,

For any S Scale modellers who want a copy of the loco plus supports then here you go - it is an .stl file. This obj is sized correctly plus 1% shrinkage, I am not an expert at supports so you may prefer to do your own. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kcr9_CTlhuFRK9ltyXU7xNMCw2ik8YZy/view?usp=sharing

BTW this file supports the more common smokebox door. There are many variants of this component but the one I have copied appears to be the most common.

Here is a link to an STL of the Body and Chassis, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q8slVrBzUBh7ZMh-K6gTsAhwf_TvIbR6/view?usp=sharing I am not an expert at 3D printing and I have taken a few shortcuts to create a model that works for me but happy to share what I have made and if anyone wants to improve then that is fine. Also happy if anyone wants to rescale but clearly axle diameters etc will need to be modified so you will need access to some sort of CAD package to attempt this. I will be making seperate postings for the Tank and also a version that will run with an etched chassis that I am making plus a few variations of the bunker. This STL is saved as prototype full size dimension in inches. I resize to S Scale by simply dividing the length that is measured in inches/12*4.76. I find this easier than working in % s. If your slicer will not support resizing the flie then try loading a copy of Meshmixer. I allow for 1% shrinkage, So once you have the file in the correct size simple multiply by 1.01...before saving to your slicer, Basic stuff I know but better a prompt than to wait 6 hours to print and find it is the wrong size,

Another view

Here it is painted. A number of improvements going into the next version of the artwork....

Looks like you are going to have to start modelling the Brecon and Merthyr! I think that will make four of us. BTW an outstanding model - really inspirational.

Here you go.....works number 58

Quick picture of the inside of the cab. The new gearbox driving the back axle has been accomodated without impacting the cab detail. Looks like the fresh paintwork will need a little bit of attention before varnish.

Now pushing on and painting the engine before the rest of the fittings are applied.