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In this entry, I am going to cover the 3d printing of the middle unit in my row house diorama build for the kitforums build challenge. This is HO scale, and the final diorama will have some railroad track, as that is required for this build challenge. I like build challenges, they give me a deadline, and I actually have some chance of finishing something.
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| This is the original concept drawing. I made several changes, but I did stay with the same general style. |
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| Here is the roof as it looks when it is removed from the printer. Note the support material for the door area, but also note there is none needed for the roof slope. |
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| The added parts, all 3d printed, are the railing, the chimney and the sliding door. The railing was printed in three pieces and solvent welded together. I would not do it again, as with all the design time, and test print or two, and the sanding the assembled pieces, it would have been much easier to have built it out of styrene and strip wood. The bricks in the chimney are standard 3x8 bricks, and, by the time I designed in mortar lines, they did not print particularly well. Some areas are pretty much melted together, and the individual bricks don't show well. I have not tried it, but I think making them an inch over size would probably fix the issue. |
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| I had test printed lap siding on another project, but with the side laying flat. The print layers was too visible, and not acceptable, at least to me. I printed this standing up, just as you see it. There was a lot of support material needed to hold up the lap, but all in all, the layering barely shows. However, after I got it all done, it occurred to me that printing it upside down would have eliminated any need for support material for the siding, so next time..... |
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| On the masonry structure, the windows and doors are set back in the wall, where as, on wood sided structures, the windows have a casing that is lapped over the siding. Printing that lip is not hard, but when the masonry windows just slipped right in place (okay, a little filing, but it was easy), I designed the openings in the building to be as large as the outside of the window casing, and made the window the full thickness of the wall plus the amount of projection needed. In this picture I have the windows set in at an angle, and you can see what I mean. |
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| Here I have added the roof section to the building and also printed paper shingles. Also the windows and door have been solvent welded in place. |
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| Here is a view with the window glass and window coverings installed. Some of the coverings are printed on paper, and glued behind the glass, and some are printed on the glass. The glass, in all cases, is transparency film. |
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| This is the drawing that was used to print many of the items in this structure. You can see from this how it was assembled. Not included in the drawing, but still items I designed and printed, are the porch, the railings, both for the roof walk-out and for the porch, and the sliding door. This building was designed just for this diorama, so no other walls were added. |
The next entry will cover the third, and last building in this diorama.
