Forums

Not much physical modelling since the last post. I overdid things doing some maintenance work on the house and had to rest up for the last couple of weeks. I ended up doing a re-print of the upper levels Tower Building with reduced  Lift & Retract speeds, took longer(14½ Hrs) but eliminated the majority of faults with the earlier print. The Tower Building is printed in a Tensile 'engineering resin" having exhausted the local supply of 'eSun' water washable resin I normally use for buildings.  One of the challenges with 3D printing is sourcing relevant printing guidelines as resin manufacturers continually upgrade change their products. Although bought in 2025 the manufacturer since upgraded their Tensile and other resins and technical information on the earlier verisons no longer accessible on manufacturers web site. Tower Building after 14½ hrs ready for removal from the build plate and start the washing & curing processes. Some distortion on the initial layers and one row of glazing bars did not print but otherwise good. At this stage I had decided to print the stonework base section as a separate print to the brickwork upper levels The original idea was to print the stonework integral with the base as no of the available stonework sheets are strictly correct for the 'coarsed random rubble' stonework commonly used in Irish industrial and railway buildings. In the end I decided to use Wills 'Coarsed' or possibly "Dressed' stonework to match the material used on other buildings and structures on the layout. I am satisfied with the base print, for the print I trialled Lychee slicing software, in the hope of overcoming some of the print quality issues experienced with the slicing software supplied with the printer in 2021. Printer is incompitable with the current version of Anycubic slicing software. Probabably re-print the base section with the original software using same/similar settings to the upper section of the Tower.   Now getting to the stage of finishing the overbridge modelling the roadway and parapets and figuring out how to support the end of the backscene. Turned out that I only have enough etched windows and doors for one house in the terrace, so I'll probabably update the drawing/artwork to complete the entire terrace, etched lintols no longer needed following the shift from conventional to 3D modelling. Digitally (3D) modelling brickwork can be very theraputic almost the current day equivalent of the practice of modelling brick work with individual "punched card" bricks or "computer chads" once poplarised for fince scale modelling.   Some Large Scale 1:20.3 Prints! Caboose smoke stacks with supports. These had been a vunerable item with two 'missing in action" on the Garden Railway during the last couple of years, a vertical print in Tensile resin two as direct replacements with one as a spare. Selection of smokestacks with supports removed and handbrake wheels printed at 45° which helps minimise print failure/distortion during printing.  

26J099 GNRI Howth, 62 Sept 1957. 26J097 GNRI Enniskillen UG 49 Sept 1957 26J101 GNRI Newtownbutler,  42 takes the loop to cross a railcar Sept 1957. 26J100 GNRI Bundoran, 201 Sept 1957.  

Sugar cube speaker....

I didn't know about the sugar trick but I tried it on the current build. Seems to work well. Certainly gets into corners the old toothbrush can't reach! Sweet talking my way to a clean machine..

Hi all - I am looking for any 1:76 vintage Garda vehicles, such as the van pictured.  They are hard to find!! Cheers!