murrayec

Hi Purple Well done, excellent to see this image It looks as though a model or model parts will need a large amount of fettling to get it to a complete and smooth standard, I can also see in this test that it would be better to print relief detail separately- fettle with it and then stick it on. For example- the ECM logo back plate would be very hard to smooth out around the text, so it would be better to add the text detail later! Please keep us updated with your progress on this machine murrayec

Hi dave182 Thanks for the comment and intrest Yes, an unpowered 2 car set will be available, but;- if your talking just for display its fine, though if you are thinking of adding cars to a 2 car set I recommend two motors;- the Tenshodo is a small motor! I have run 4 n' up to 6 cars together and one motor cant handle it well. Two is fine, so each 2 car set needs a motor. I have found the second car with the two motors in it works the best, but still need to play with it a bit more. and there is really no saving on cost. When there is no motor I have to build a bogie and all to replace it. murrayec

Hi BosKonay Sorry, I have not worked it all out yet. I will though for the Dun Laoghaire show. murrayec

Hi All Here are a few photos of our new option a ‘Windowed DART’ The body is just propped on another trains chassis for the photos, so the chassis is showing a little! its chassis is not complete yet. This train will be at the Dun Laoghaire Model Railway Exhibition on the 24th & 25th this month. The interior has;- Printed coloured floor Seats Handpoles Driver Dashboard Driver Interior lights and sitting people are optional extras [ATTACH=CONFIG]8532 [/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8533 [/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8534 [/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8535 [/ATTACH] murrayec

Thanks Nigel It looks pretty good, that's the best I've seen so far, though it looks as if you've got a lot of work to do with the sanding block! I look forward to seeing it in October and if you are OK with- some updates here as the work progresses? Regards murrayec

Hi Nigel Is it possible to post a few photographs of the I-materialise model here? would love to see it Regards murrayec

Check this link out;- http://www.engineering.com/3DPrinting/3DPrintingArticles/ArticleID/5226/DeltaMaker-3D-Printer-is-Quicker-More-Elegant.aspx?utm_source=EngNet&utm_campaign=c4464e1ddc-EngNet_Engineering_Network_01_29_2013&utm_medium=email This is a neat looking machine, not so complex as some and if they get it to the market its a nice price. But it still suffers with resolution! murrayec

Hi Purple That is the printer I viewed in Lets Make Stuff, though theirs was smaller and I reckon older. I'm going to take you up on the offer to do a test, I stuck together a small file tonight see image;- Done in Autocad, I kept it simple, its solids just stacked on top of each other and some ruled faces for the roof bit. Its 35x40mm and has items of .5mm, 1mm which would be on an actual model. Send me a PM with an email I can send it to and let me know the format you can work with. Also if there is any special requirements as to how the model should be constructed, include that. murrayec

I contacted a few companies here who offer 3D printing and prototype moulding- their prices were crazy and I got nowhere. Chrisjward was not very helpful, he requires one to pay him to do the 3D model before he will give a price for the printing! His quote for the model was between £300 to £500 and he would not accept my CAD model. I do 3D modelling, I ran my own company for about 15 years providing CAD model and presentation services to architectural, manufacturing, advertising and TV business. I use Autocad and 3D Studio Max and a number of other programs for animation and presentation authoring. The company is now shut down due to you know what--. I have the next best thing to a 3D printer- a plot cutting machine. You would like this Richie- checkout 'Silhoutte Cameo' cutting machine on-line. I use it to cut out the DART body prints, heavy paper card and plastic card. It will also cut vinyl, thin wood and very thin metal. Its excellent at cutting thin stuff up to .5mm, it will score 1mm about half way through for snapping. All the under frame boxing, 1mm plastic card, on the DART is done with it. I have also made larger items by cutting out multiple parts and gluing them together to build up the thickness required. I'm developing up a few models with this idea- cutting out frames and body parts to make a master for moulding. Also its fantastic at making grills, vents, rivet detail- its endless murrayec

Hi Guys I have looked into 3D printers and have been able to access one to try it out;- Trinity's 'Lets Make Stuff' have a unit which produces items that are barley acceptable, it can be seen in their shop. The main research lab forked out something like £20,00 for a professional one just recently! A 3D printer by Maplin at £700 will be just a toy and most likely not very good at producing a smooth surface printing for constructing models- a lot of filler will be required. Most 3D printing services are using machines in the £thousands and have to lace the product in paint to produce a smooth surface, doing this messes up the fine detail that we would want! Check out this guy http://www.chrisjward.co.uk/ Professional entry level machine will cost $10,000 and more, the guy printing the gun (a part of a gun only) has a machine in excess of this amount and you can be sure those seaweed boots were printed on a high end machine. - bloody papers! Smooth 3D printing at home for an economic price is way off- I guess about 10 to 20 years. The main problem is the size of the end delivery system and the cooling of the plastic before it runs out of shape. Model Engineer's Workshop Mag is running series on a guy building a Rep-Rap 3D printer, this month he is looking at the problem of cooling the plastic after squirting it! Also you can log onto the Rep-Rap website and view the latest and get an idea of where it is. Another system is the fully immersed system- a bath of molten plastic has lasers fired into it and where they meet in the bath the plastic solidifies. They get lovely smooth items and detail but at a cost of $$$$$! murrayec

Hi Dave Did you get the video of the DART running on the helix, I'm dying to see it Murrayec

Hi Do you know what we need? we need to watch some trains go around, around and around;- [video=youtube;kg5-nt3eIl8] and;- Ok the two inner loops may be going a tad fast! And the Guinness guy could not find the light switch murrayec

Hi Guys Good to see all these comments, thanks to the supporters. Here is a few photos of DART No. 10, just finished during the week and going into its box. Finally in the box ready for its owner- hours of fun ahead! murrayec

And Here is a good look at the final colours, the earlier vids just did not give a good look. These colours now match Mr Poots bus paints murrayec

Hi Here are two new items I thought you might like to see The pantograph is now cast white metal, the fabricated brass pantographs were taking two days to construct and paint. These take a quarter of the time and I am leaving them unpainted, which will dull over time. This is the new bogie, I have gone back to the button fixing to the chassis, the main body is nylon with top-hat brass bearings to each axle. The outrigger is cast plastic which is held in place by the brass U section, the DART bogie sides will be glued on here. This design will now be used on all DARTS murrayec

What is that? Does anyone know what this is? A preview of a new livery option which is now available, its also sporting our new bogie system. murrayec

We were at the Stillorgan show yesterday, Walter brought along a fantastic creation and we did this;- murrayec

oops Eirtrains I have a 141 but its black! I do have a weathered 181 in orange- I could change the number on the front! murrayec

BosKonay Yes, decoder, different 3 wire light circuit to allow individual light control, modification to the motor (Tenshodo spuds have internal wheel pick-up to motor wiring which needs to be removed) and programming of the chip. The under frame boxing is different to allow for housing the chip and space to mount a speaker for sound option. The weight system is split in two to allow for the chip housing and weight is installed elsewhere to make up the difference. The chassis is slightly different also, but I am going to use this chassis for all models- this has come from the prototyping for the windowed Dart in trying to stash everything under the floor to keep the passenger area free- for maximum passenger capacity! By the way, sorry about the delay of the promised picture of passengers sitting on the seats in the previous post on the interior- the drivers arrived in the post the next day but no passengers! I'm still waiting!!!xx@@!! murrayec

Killucan2 They are €300.00 for analogue and €400.00 for digital murrayec

MetVic I have just completed a batch of orders and will be returning to the windows issue now. Should be showing the next prototype very soon! murrayec

Eiretrains I have a 141 up in the attic! next time I have the track set up I'll do a video of that murrayec

Hi Guys Here are some videos of test runs on a new batch of Darts under final construction And never seen before These are trains just about to go out to happy customers murrayec

I was at the Wexford Model Show this weekend, great layouts, trains and stuff- I like Walters Auto AC 3 Rail Fiddle yard- Also his Town Scene- And; the Dorset Boys O Gauge layout. I like O Gauge- its Big! I like this video- suddenly it all came together murrayec

Its still the finished printed plastic body! murrayec