maridunian

All looking excellent! Ratio polystyrene corrugated roofing curves the right way. It's roughly 5thou thick so can easily be curved around a former to get a smaller radius. https://peco-uk.com/products/corrugated-roof Mike

Just catching up with this thread - Railtec do wasp-stripes for various scales including 3mm - https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=4870 Mike

Looks pretty good to me! Photo copyright Jason Rodhouse jason87030@flickr.com Hymek overall height 12' 10.6" Toad E roof height 11' 9" Mike

Coming to this thread late, I wonder whether a wagon side tippler could be a pragmatic way to unload wagons of any era/type at the staithe? You've said you're relaxed about manual uncoupling and point setting, so the tipler mechanism needn't be too complex. Several examples around - here's one described: http://www.clag.org.uk/tippler.html Mike

I think most people have come across this. They offer a 'Print it Anyway' option if you're ordering for yourself, which overrides some of their checking. They won't offer that in their marketplace because they want at least an 80% success rate, not just printing, but also handling, cleaning, packing etc without mechanical breakages. I mostly model in N Gauge where printing a one-piece bodyshell and chassis using Shapeways Smooth Fine Detail Plastic produces something mechanically strong enough for most situations. Scaling up to 2.5/3/4mm scales escalates costs (which are volume dependent, eg 8x for OO compared to N) but also produces mechanical challenges such as printing droop or shrinkage bending (which need redesigning out) and unacceptable fragility on a busy layout. Using different materials for separate parts is the obvious answer, for example their Versatile Plastic (nylon) for a chassis and Fine Detail Plastics for details or facings. Vulnerable parts like buffers are best added in brass. The elegance of all-in-one 3D printing is very seductive, but if your goal is producing a model unavailable RTR, then being open to mixing and matching materials and technologies (as in RTR models!) is the way to go. Mike

If the average number of hours work per saleable print, including all preparation, test printing, clean up, packing and taking for posting were costed at even the living wage, then a realistic price for models could be calculated. We wouldn't expect anything made-to-order to be cheap in any other walk of life, would we? Mike

I'll join this conversation by shamelessly ripping some things I wrote in another place where even mods pile-on whenever Shapeways is mentioned, even on Shapeways boards... Shapeways is more expensive and produces less smooth models than some people can on some home printers. I think everybody knows these facts, but they aren't the whole picture. For designers like me who arent prepared to give away (or sell) designs without control over copying or derivatives, Shapeways offers me: A zero cost, secure eCommerce marketplace, well integrated with Google for discoverability. The 'goto' site on which searches for novel railway items are made. Unlimited free product listings, regardless of sales frequency, ensuring products are available to small numbers of niche buyers whenever they want to buy. Impact and cost free production - no hardware or consumable expenditure, no tuning time, no cleaning time, no garage time. Fully managed packaging processes, materials and logistics, paid for by buyers. Fully managed returns and complaints/reprints service. (No earache, no unpacking time, no extra garage time, no extra packing time or repeat Post Office time) Bottom line, because the Shapeways business model works for people like me and others, we keep producing niche items there for ourselves, and other people can keep buying copies. I have looked into selling my designs online through the makers' marketplace, Etsy. Open an Etsy shop, upload all your .STL files, and wait for the money to pour in from customers with home printers. Here's an example shop. The financial model is rather like eBay. You pay a listing fee; they take a commission on each sale. These costs aren't huge and you can price your products to ensure you get a worthwhile return on your effort. Once someone downloads your file of course, they can do pretty much anything with it - whatever legal rights you might retain would cost you a fortune to protect. I decided that for the time being I'd stick with enabling people to buy actual things. Just as RTR shoppers massively outnumber kit(or 3D print) builders, I reckon that kit(or 3D print) builders still outnumber successful home print-makers. Things can change. Shapeways could fold, or simply abandon offering designers a marketplace. If that happens I'll have to think again, but for now they can carry on cranking out several models a week on my behalf, month after month, year after year whilst I spend my precious time creating new designs. Mike

I've updated my list of UK-outline (& plausible visitor) prints available from Shapeways. https://www.shapeways.com/designer/maridunian/lists/uk-tt120?sort=name Mike

It's obviously a bit of a headache! 😉

I finally got around to painting this body shell. Still some details to add and couplings, of course. (Dapol NEM pockets with Tillig couplers). The chassis shown is a 9mm gauge, 7.5mm wheeled example from N-Drive Productions. Their 12mm gauge equivalent (with 8.5mm wheels) is due in the new year, it seems. Mike

Continental TT users of BTTB/Zeuke models have been upgrading (and downsizing) the original motors for some time ... eg https://www.ebay.fr/str/rrmodellbahnhandel/BTTB-ZEUKE-Motorumbauten/_i.html?store_cat=11789965015 Mike

I've now finished the tank wagon, mounted on a Smooth Fine Detail Plastic chassis and made a basic plasticard deck for the Versatile Plastic chassis: Case tractor from 'Masters of Military' on Shapeways. Mike

Last primer plus two top coats and we're ready for some markings from the spares box... My TT:120 intermodal rake is getting there! Mike

Progressing slowly, here's my FPA 30' container flat hack: Brake levers to add then some weathering. Oh, and a 30' container! Mike

Another 'Lgs' 4 wheeled container wagon now, the Piko 57706. I got mine from 3SMR. This is a model of a more modern design of wagon than the Tillig, with a narrower, lower deck with projecting container support spigots. The wagon body is all plastic with printing applied directly. The wheelsets are mounted in metal brackets. (Axles are 18mm long rather than 18.5mm). Kinetic NEM coupling mounts supplied, with modern 'handshake' couplings inserted. I swapped a pair between the Tillig and Piko examples for flexibility. Both my models have benefitted from a coat of Games Workshop Agrax Earthshade wash. Mike

That's the two types of Y33 bogies done for my KAA/IXA/JSA wagons. https://www.shapeways.com/product/SF7LP33NY/2x-tt-120-y33-bogies Mike

Hard to find UK stock eg https://www.goldenvalleyhobbies.com/search/products?page=1&keywords=Tillig+wheels&filters[]=1-TT+(1%3A120)&filters[]=3-Spares The KAAs use 730mm wheels, ie 6mm in TT:120. I've drilled out some old Farish wagon wheels to fit BTTB axles! I think I'm going to persevere with my cast Y33s (and possibly cast Y25s) with NEM pockets, but l'll add the Tillig items to both bogie wagons' blurb. Thanks again Mike

Checking https://www.hobby-shop.cz/en/catalog/bogies/drehgestell-sw-ba-y25-(310470-11) gives 96 Kč (Czech Koruna)... Wish I'd found those a bit sooner! Mike

Thanks Andy - I'll have a look. Yes, I've missed the early years of N Gauge too, where you usually had to make or bodge what you wanted. We've been spoiled recently! Mike

Second coat of primer applied to the KAA/IXA after rubbing down with 400 Grit abrasive paper and a scalpel to scrape paint from the angles of bodyside features. One more rub and scrape down, a final primer coat, then it should be ready for top coat. Shapeways' Fine Detail Plastics need fewer primer coats, but for the best results, the same basic approach works well. Mike

With a first coat of primer, the surface of the KAA/IXA begins to smooth out: Rubbed down and with details picked out, it will get better. Other items back from Shapeways include some 10' wheelbase wagon chasses, Fine Detail Plastic (left) and Versatile Plastic (right) a 14t tank: and finally a GWR 1366 Class pannier tank. Mike

Many of these were standard UK tanks on beefed up chasses with brake platforms - eg https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/?q=ferry+tank In model form, it'd be a case of taking a suitable RTR continental chassis and adding a UK tank to it. In N Gauge I used one of my 20T anchor-mount tanks with a longer chassis to produce one of these. The SMBP example is mounted on a 17'6" OH x 10' WB chassis. I've made a 1:120 print of this tank available in my shop. Mike

Something new today, the first Shapeways print of my IXA/KAA pocket-wagon in Processed White Versatile Plastic with Berliner Bahn and Tillig 20' containers aboard. This nylon material is very robust, so although it might need a little more finishing, it will take more knocks than Fine Detail Plastic, so is ideal for a chassis or a model facing structural challenges. The bogies are a new design and will need more fettling before I can release them. Mike

With the sole-bar channels filed out to remove traces of the stake pockets, the lower plate can be carved from the face, except over the W-irons. By attaching 20thou microstrip to the bottom of the sole-bars, the distinctive 'stepped' shape of the chassis can be represented: New buffer beams and a little more detailing next before priming. Mike

I've decided to hack one of my 40' flats about to make a UK outline FPA 30' container flat. As noted above, the chassis is common to the VDA van family and derivatives including OTA log wagons. Another check of my maths and out with the razor saw: I'm keeping the existing couplings so removed the outer fillets from slightly inboard of the headstocks. Stake pockets have been removed and the sole-bars sanded lightly - more cosmetic work to come on those. Polystyrene cement joins the segments: and after 24hours curing, deck downwards, weighted, on a flat surface, it's taking shape: Lots of detailing to come and a 30' container to make... Mike