Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Latest Shapeways prints, HO Scale

The latest items I have sent to shapeways for printing.  If you are a regular at following my blog, you know I have an Afinia 3d printer, but it will not print near the detail that can be done at shapeways in their FUD material, (Frosted Ultra Detail).  Very small profiles can be very fragile, so handle with care.  

 The new items I have are the drill press, which I did some redesign on since the last time I printed it, a bandsaw, a wood lathe, and a 1948 Nash truck cab.

 The '48 Nash cab is the largest item I have printed at shapeways in FUD.  It is available for sale at shapeways.com for about $14.00.

This is the second set of tools that I have 3d printed at shapeways.com, (http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-model-railroad-and-blog-post-goal.html).  Some of the tools in this set did not print right, so it is not for sale yet.  Obviously the lathe printed perfectly!

The drill press was previously printed as part of the small engine repair shop, but it has some issue that I fixed for this print.  The small engine repair shop details can be seen here: http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2013/09/lawn-mowersmall-engne-repair-shop.html
and

This is a 36" bandsaw, so not your standard household model.  

In this extreme close up, you and see the layering that can be an issue with 3d printing.  But notice, in the picture above, sitting on the penny, at normal viewing distance, you cannot see the layering.  And yes, if you look closely, you can see the teeth on the blade...but then the blade is way over size.  

Next up from shapeways, some bath fixtures, including a claw foot tub.  

Previous posts showing HO scale items I have designed and had printed at shapeways:
http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-model-railroad-and-blog-post-goal.html
http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2013/08/ice-cream-store-made-from-pill-bottle.html

Friday, April 25, 2014

Phillips 66, McLean, TX, 3d printed in HO scale

I am always looking for small buildings that will fit on a model railroad, and that I can print.  I am not sure when I ran across this, but is sure looked like a size that would fit about any model railroad, and could fit any era from the 1920's on.  

This building still stands in McLean, TX.  

I made the assumption that the front door would not have been solid when it was an operating station.  It just would be a problem to not be able to see through the front door of a commercial building.

I drew it, as above, then exploded it for optimal printing on the Afinia printer.  Note the reinforcement ridges designed in to the interior of the walls.  These allow me to make the walls thin, making for a faster print, less material, yet add stiffness to the walls.

Primed and the ridge beam for the roof glued in place.  I designed the walls with pockets to hold 1/8" square styrene ridge beams

I printed the shingles on orange paper, and dusted them with Ash Grove weathering powders.  I cut them in to strips before gluing them in place to give the roof some texture.  The cap shingles are each glued in place individually.  

The roof is sheet styrene.




I showed it to some friends, some O scaler's, they asked if it was possible to print it on O scale, so I did some editing, and gave it a try.

I gave the O scale building to one of my friends and will post some pictures when they get it done.

The O scale building took about 7-1/2 hours to print, and the windows and door took another hour.

Now I have to do O scale pumps!

Previous 3d printed buildings based on prototype structures.
Smokehouse: http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2013/09/smokehouse-ho-scale-3d-printed-down-on.html
Saughterhouse: http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2013/09/slaughter-house-3d-printed-down-on-farm.html
Farm house: http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-house-3d-printed-down-on-farm-5.html
Bennington Bank: http://nvrr49.blogspot.com/2014/04/bennington-state-bank-bennigton-mn-in.html

Future prototype structures...items I am working on:
Hexagon Gulf Gas Station
Frisco section house
Stone arch bridge
Cassville and Exeter RR depot at Cassville, MO

Monday, April 14, 2014

Bennington State Bank, Bennington MN in HO scale, 3d printed

It has been a while since my last post.  Busy with work, and being sick for a week kind of cuts in to modeling time.

I ran across this old picture of a bank in Bennington Minnesota, and liked the look of it.  It also seemed to be sized for a model railroad.  I decided to draw the building and print a reasonable representation of the building.  

Here is the building drawing, exploded and oriented for printing on the Afinia 3d printer.  

 As you can see in this screen shot of the printer software, the building takes up almost all of the printer table, easily the largest item I have printed.  The walls alone took 6 hours and 39 minutes, and if you look closely, the one I printed does not have the bracing that is in the drawing above.  After I did the initial print, I added bracing to the drawing to add strength to the walls, so next time I print it, it will take even longer to print.

 The basic structure, primed.  At this point I realized the walls were too flimsy, and so I added styrene strip bracing.  

An in progress paint shot.  The front wall top pieces have also been added.  The section with the dental mould was printed separately, and inverted, to eliminate the need for support material in the 3d printing process.   

Mortar and weathering added.   

 Several compromises were made to be able to accommodate the requirements of the 3d printer, but I feel it still captures the general look of the building.  

 I still need to add guttering to the back, and a chimney.