MGWR 7 ton van

[Mol_PMB]

Very nice - I am tempted by a 4mm scale one when you go into production

Because you have printed it flat, the layer lines on the horizontal planks don't look out of place - they could be wood grain.

If it were mine I'd lightly sand the outer faces of the vertical timber ribs to remove the layer lines where they run across the grain. Only a few minutes work, hopefully.

[Rob R]

Beware, there are a million and one more variables to play with in FDM printing than resin - you still need a bigger bin.....

1 minute ago, Mol_PMB said:

Very nice - I am tempted by a 4mm scale one when you go into production

Because you have printed it flat, the layer lines on the horizontal planks don't look out of place - they could be wood grain.

If it were mine I'd lightly sand the outer faces of the vertical timber ribs to remove the layer lines where they run across the grain. Only a few minutes work, hopefully.

Unpainted,  you can't see the layer lines in the flesh.

Lets see what it looks like with a coat of paint.

Might print a 4mm one tomorrow.

 

[jhb171achill]

I'd definitely be interested in one of those in 00 scale!

[Maitland]

The layer lines give it a bit of a wood effect. But at some point the buffer holes vanished. I'll fix that in Github.

Flying Snail, I'd lay off that diesel wine. Even Co-op screwtop tastes better.

 

V0.3 with buffer holes now in Github.

Edited Wednesday at 20:42 by Maitland

[Rob R]

10 minutes ago, Maitland said:

 But at some point the buffer holes vanished. I'll fix that in Github.

Doh!

I didn't spot that!

[Colonel]

Looks fantastic, so well done that man who did the artwork. However, as it seems with all 3D printing, the issue is time, so if we all want Rob to do a few, I suspect there might be a long wait.

 On the other hand, how much is a 3D printer and if the process of home printing is becoming a realistic proposition, are we about to cross a Rubicon in modelling where what we do in future is not buy kits to make models that are unlikely to be mass produced, but buy files to print them ourselves?

 The issue will then be how popular a model might be, because the more it is, the more a larger manufacturer might step on the toes of the file artist, leading to legal issues about rights of production.

 Nevertheless, when prints can look as good as this AND be readily adaptable to other scales, then exciting times are ahead.

 

[Maitland]

Be patient, I'm waiting on a (4mm scale) resin print on a slowboat from China. I'll post photos when that's ready, but the design is evolving, it's in debug stage at the moment (see above). I think for most people who only want a small number occasionally, outsourcing is likely the best option. 

[Rob R]

The first stage is drawing the CAD. 

Well, not just drawing, it needs designing to suit the production process. It is time consuming but satisfying and can be done by anyone with a half decent pc or laptop. Accurate prototype information helps a lot, there are loads of cad files out there, not always the freebies, that look nothing like the real thing.

Having done the CAD you can always contract out the printing - there will always be a club or forum member willing to test it out for you.

As for a bigger manufacturer pushing in, it is likely that the home produced 3d print will have already saturated the market and just how many Cork and Macroom cattle trucks do we need anyway?

[Rob R]

After a quick squirt of primer.

I am starting a new thread "Irish Railways 3d printing" so we don't clutter up this thread with other stuff.

7 ton van on hold until the file gains some buffer holes.

[Northroader]

Trouble is, all this stuff is just too clever for me, drawing on my experience with mobile phones and printer/copiers. The setting up, the feeding and replacement of consumables, working out what the programme/menu has to be told, then trying to clear print queues, it’s doomed to failure. Now if they could send a four year old Chinese kid along with the kit, things would be much better.

[derek]

22 hours ago, Maitland said:

 

Flying Snail, I'd lay off that diesel wine. 

 

 

Thought I was missing something there. Then I copped it "the mighty diesel whines". Slow me......

[Turin60]

May I also put my hand up for one of these vans if they become available, being awkward & English I am hoping that it will be amenable to conversion to 21mm gauge.

John Bruce.

[Flying Snail]

On 13/5/2026 at 9:26 PM, Maitland said:

Flying Snail, I'd lay off that diesel wine. Even Co-op screwtop tastes better.

There's a Co-op in Holyhead a few minutes walk from the ferry terminal ... I'll keep an eye out for the screwtop the next time I'm passing through  ... it'll make the train trip to Chester fly along nicely 

Edited Thursday at 21:04 by Flying Snail

[Colonel]

19 hours ago, Rob R said:

After a quick squirt of primer.

I am starting a new thread "Irish Railways 3d printing" so we don't clutter up this thread with other stuff.

7 ton van on hold until the file gains some buffer holes.

For me, the faint print lines are a good representation of wood grain. As for the missing buffer holes, nothing a drill won't fix  - likewise door handles. Anyone who needs the buffer holes in place will like as not struggle with fitting a chassis, while spacing of said buffer holes might be an issue anyway: 16.5 or 21mm gauge/32 v 36.75 etc.

 In other words, nothing wrong with leaving a few bits for the kit builders to do!

[Turin60]

8 hours ago, Colonel said:

For me, the faint print lines are a good representation of wood grain. As for the missing buffer holes, nothing a drill won't fix  - likewise door handles. Anyone who needs the buffer holes in place will like as not struggle with fitting a chassis, while spacing of said buffer holes might be an issue anyway: 16.5 or 21mm gauge/32 v 36.75 etc.

 In other words, nothing wrong with leaving a few bits for the kit builders to do!

Ooh, yes please.

A kit builder.

AKA John Bruce.

[GSR 800]

8 hours ago, Colonel said:

For me, the faint print lines are a good representation of wood grain. As for the missing buffer holes, nothing a drill won't fix  - likewise door handles. Anyone who needs the buffer holes in place will like as not struggle with fitting a chassis, while spacing of said buffer holes might be an issue anyway: 16.5 or 21mm gauge/32 v 36.75 etc.

 In other words, nothing wrong with leaving a few bits for the kit builders to do!

4 pin holes could mark the 16.5 and 21mm buffers

[Mayner]

On 14/5/2026 at 6:21 PM, Colonel said:

Looks fantastic, so well done that man who did the artwork. However, as it seems with all 3D printing, the issue is time, so if we all want Rob to do a few, I suspect there might be a long wait.

 On the other hand, how much is a 3D printer and if the process of home printing is becoming a realistic proposition, are we about to cross a Rubicon in modelling where what we do in future is not buy kits to make models that are unlikely to be mass produced, but buy files to print them ourselves?

 The issue will then be how popular a model might be, because the more it is, the more a larger manufacturer might step on the toes of the file artist, leading to legal issues about rights of production.

 Nevertheless, when prints can look as good as this AND be readily adaptable to other scales, then exciting times are ahead.

 

I guess that I have gradually shifted from traditional (kit/scratchbuilding to digital modelling methods over the last 20 or so years as my eye sight got weaker and my hands less steady. First using 2D CAD to prepare artwork for my own etching parts rather than traditional drafting/scribing and cutting out parts with piercing saw/snips/craft knife and more recently 3D modelling to produce resin printed wagons.

The shift to 3D printing certainly increased my own productivity compared to traditional methods adding 40 (complete) wagons of my own design to my personal collection during the past 4 years, compared with approx 10 kit built wagons during the past 20 or so years.

We subscribed to Onshape & Fusion 360 (Autocad)  3D Modelling software for our commerical work producing successful models with either software. Onshape offer a freeplan for non-commercial use resulting designs become open source to platform users, a free version of Fusion 360 (with limited features) is available for personal use in some countries excluding NZ (I use a pay as you go subscription rather than an annual sub. TinkerCad (Autocad) is a free entry level 3D modelling software (Some of Rob S examples have been produced with TinkerCad).

Currently I am beginning to use Fusion 360 to produce models of buildings, including typical Irish early-mid 20th Century corrugated iron/asbestos and mass concrete industrial buildings, I have enough wagons for now and probabably stick to etched brass for pre-amalgamation coaches.

To buy or not to buy a printer?

I only bought a resin printer after the bureau that successfully printed the test prints of several of our wagons refused to carry out further 'small scale model" prints because it wass not worth while because of the high reject rate and post print clean up cost (special effect and industrial work more profitable.

At  the end of the day I struggled to achieve an acceptable print quality with our printer (except fantasy animals/creatures for our kid) a Photon Mono. Eventually out sourcing our printing to bureau in China one of which (Facfox) consistently produce consistent high quality prints at a fraction of the price including shipping (to NZor UK) of using a local bureau/printer.

I am finally after a lot of experimentation beginning to achieve an acceptable level of print quality with my resin (Anycubic Photon Mono X) printer, but planning to try the "makerspace" at the local Public Library to trial FDM printing of replacement sleepers/track base for my large scale garden railway & possibly buildings.

A number of local engineering/manufacturing business that offer CNC milling also offer 3D printing services.

Personally I think trialling some simple 3D models on TinkerCad to first get a feel for the modelling process, then some test prints at the library trialling different processes and possibly prints a local or Chinese bureau, before leaying out several $ hundred on a 3D printer.

Starting commercially I had the advantage of using a professional designer who worked in the print shop that successfully printed out initial models and a print shop owner who from day 1 told me that he was reluctant to print small scale models.

Gauge O and the larger scales tend to be more forgiving than 4mm and the smaller scales, FDM layer lines may be reminesent of wood grane and surface imperfections as millscale on steel