3D Printed Models

[Dunluce Castle]

To me this is fantastic news, although 3D printing isn't quite perfect yet this is very promising for the future, take a look http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/news/ the RPSI are taking scans of 10 vehicles and using it for their museum but also as stated "This project can also be seen as a pilot for making the entire RPSI collection accessible digitally. These assets may also have the potential to generate income for the RPSI through generating small scale models for sale, virtual objects or perhaps future files for 3D printing." Are possibly making 3D printed models to sell, and maybe one day you can print out your very own GNRI V class

[Blaine]

The technology will only get better.

 

Indeed, we are not quite there yet, but give it a few years

[Noel]

The technology will only get better.

 

And hopefully it will. Right now 3D printing quality seems a bit like the early years of inkjet technology which was not upto scratch, but 15 years later has superb resolution and quality. One thing I don't like about 3D models I have seen so far is the weird texture, especially on flat surfaces with a sort of orange peel effect. In years to come hopefully the resolution will improve and get closer to injection moulded plastic standards. For now 3D works well if one is prepared to touch up the surfaces after printing (e.g. wet&dry paper, etc), but it is tedious.

[murrayec]

Hi

 

Interestingly, 3D Applied Solutions were demoing their €20,000.00 3D printer at the Cork Model Fair today, the machine looked impressive and it printed 2 25-30mm diameter pill boxes and 2 separate screw on lids in around 2 hours. Though the surface suffered the usual lairing surface dimples, with very poor low angle surfaces- basically steps.

 

€20,000! yes some years to go yet..

 

Eoin

[Weshty]

Yup, their printer was impressive, but 100µm resolution (that's 0.1mm for the non-techs) is still just not at the races for OO modelling.

3D Systems' ProJet can print layers to 0.03mm, and costs $5,000, though I'd like to see the end result

 

I'll be interested when we don't get any discernable aliasing on curved surfaces and dimpling on flat ones.

[jhb171achill]

It's got the potential to totally revolutionise model railways. What's the betting that by 2050 you'll be able to scab a few photos of a vehicle and it will "print" out, full colour livery, faded bits, weathering and all?

[Broithe]

It's got the potential to totally revolutionise model railways. What's the betting that by 2050 you'll be able to scab a few photos of a vehicle and it will "print" out, full colour livery, faded bits, weathering and all?

 

It will happen - the timescale is all that is in question, I think.

 

They 'sent' a special tool up to the Space Station the other day and printed it out there and then - http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/30560063 .

 

[Noel]

It's got the potential to totally revolutionise model railways. What's the betting that by 2050 you'll be able to scab a few photos of a vehicle and it will "print" out, full colour livery, faded bits, weathering and all?

 

Yes its a bit like the early days of laser printers, slow, expensive to buy, run and maintain, with so-so quality that was not as good as the old daisy wheel printers for the first few years. 3D for model rail has a way to go before I'd buy a loco produced that way, but it will eventually get there. Costs should plummet and quality increase when mass production is established.

[WT CLASS 2-6-4T No. 4]

30th January - Museum News:

Taken from the RPSI site. Possibility of some new models in the future?

 

Thanks to generous funding by GROW South Antrim, the Society has been able to tender for non-destructive 3D scanning of some of our vehicles.

3D scanning provides a permanent archive, recording and preserving the external and internal detail and condition of these key artefacts. The scans will provide wider access on-line and will be used in a variety of other digital applications.

 

In this contract, we are getting 3D scans made of ten vehicles - locomotives No.3 "R.H. Smyth", No.85 "Merlin", No.186 and B142, NCC carriages 68, 87 and 91, and, from the GNR, the Directors' Saloon, a Guinness grain van and goods Brake van No.81 "Ivan".

Each vehicle is being scanned externally, from above and from below (where possible) as well as internally. Each vehicle has had up to 20 separate scans made to ensure complete coverage. The highly-specialised scanning camera records up to half a million infra-red signals a second and, as each scan can last about five minutes, there is quite a lot of data! The principal output will be highly-detailed point-clouds which can be rotated on any axis, cross-sectioned in any plane and measured, to the nearest millimetre, between any two points. These will be used to generate plan and cross-sectional drawings as well as form the basis of other 3D model types.

 

Our contractors, CMC Associates, are also taking thousands of photographs which will be used to add texture to the drawings and thus provide highly-detailed pictures which can also be rotated, cross sectioned and measured in the same way as the drawings.

These pictures are of the vehicles as they are now but the final models could be modified to demonstrate different liveries or configurations.

This project can also be seen as a pilot for making the entire RPSI collection accessible digitally. These assets may also have the potential to generate income for the RPSI through generating small scale models for sale, virtual objects or perhaps future files for 3D printing.

Further photographs are available on our Facebook page.

 

Looks like good news for the Irish modeller.

 

Walter.

Edited March 10, 2015 by WT CLASS 2-6-4T No. 4

[DiveController]

Fantastic if it comes to fruition! Models have been produced by other preservation societies like GWR, although i Can;t comment on whether they are a significant source of income

http://www.easycatalog.net/home/steamshop/

[jhb171achill]

That is absolutely brilliant news, WTCLASS.

[Dunluce Castle]

It is great news, can't wait to see the results,

http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/4223-3D-Printed-Models?highlight=RPSI

[Mike 84C]

Very good news, interesting items for the Irish modeller,so lets hope.

[GSR 800]

will the Irish modeller have more RTR stock in the future? I sure hope so;)

Bigger is Better

[Broithe]

Full scale components being produced. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32597809

 

[Junctionmad]

3D for model rail has a way to go before I'd buy a loco produced that way

 

So are you saying you'd forego a particular model , because it had some deficiencies , in a vain hope that a some point a better one would appear, how many years would you wait, 5, 10 , 2,

 

if you had access to a reasonable 3D model of a 121, would you forego buying it , in the forlorn hope that MM might release one in this century , I think not Noel, Ive seen your stock !!

 

personally if I want a model, Ill take the best I can get at the time, I'm too old to wait

[Noel]

So are you saying you'd forego a particular model , because it had some deficiencies , in a vain hope that a some point a better one would appear, how many years would you wait, 5, 10 , 2,

 

if you had access to a reasonable 3D model of a 121, would you forego buying it , in the forlorn hope that MM might release one in this century , I think not Noel, Ive seen your stock !!

 

personally if I want a model, Ill take the best I can get at the time, I'm too old to wait

 

It would all depend on the availability of a top class centre drive chassis chassis that would plug in under a 3D body shell. Other then that yes I would wait. I waited 40 years for MM 141, 181, 071s after all. Running quality is paramount, don't like scale perfect static displays!

[Junctionmad]

It would all depend on the availability of a top class centre drive chassis chassis that would plug in under a 3D body shell. Other then that yes I would wait. I waited 40 years for MM 141, 181, 071s after all. Running quality is paramount, don't like scale perfect static displays!

 

Theres is a reasonable supply of good quality motor bogies from various suppliers, some obviously quite pricey. They dont necessarily need to be centre drive of course thats just one way of doing it

 

Other then that yes I would wait. I waited 40 years for MM

 

hmm the next 40 might be a challenge though :banana:

[Noel]

Theres is a reasonable supply of good quality motor bogies from various suppliers . . .

 

Sorry no like - poor runners - junk heaps imho. I haven't seen any good ones yet in the flesh or on youtube. Show me these running smoothly at crawl speeds over insulfrog points doing 1/2 scale walking speed and then I'd consider. You never see these demonstrated at crawl speeds over points on youtube - for good reason. Quality and value for money it's hard to beat a Bachmann centre drive all wheel pickup, all wheel drive chassis, double flywheel chassis. I have yet to see anything run remotely as well as an MM/Bachmann 141.

 

hmm the next 40 might be a challenge though :banana:

 

That is very true.

 

PS: Now I have to do some WORK :) :)

[Dunluce Castle]

Moving 1 step closer with 3D printing, be very interesting to see this develop.

[WRENNEIRE]

New kid on the block

 

[Noel]

New kid on the block

 

 

Thanks Dave. Yes CLIP looks like it could be an interesting improvement over current 3D technology, which so far is rubbish IMHO for 00 gauge models. The poor finish texture and low resolution of current 3D printing is truly awful, and so slow to produce. Its early days yet though, a bit like ink jet printers in 1994, but look what they can do now.

[Blaine]

Thanks Dave. Yes CLIP looks like it could be an interesting improvement over current 3D technology, which so far is rubbish IMHO for 00 gauge models. The poor finish texture and low resolution of current 3D printing is truly awful, and so slow to produce. Its early days yet though, a bit like ink jet printers in 1994, but look what they can do now.

 

Thats been said already in this very thread and yet you still keep going on and on and on about it? Bit of cop on required

[Garfield]

Thats been said already in this very thread and yet you still keep going on and on and on about it? Bit of cop on required

 

Bit of civility required, too. Infraction issued.

[murrayec]

Hi

 

Looking at this CLIP system, I may be wrong, but it looks like sharp corners are going to be a problem. Any of the examples shown have this feature!

 

Eoin

[GSR 800]

There are good quality 3d printers but they won't come into commercial affordability for maybe 10 years. I was watching a programme and they were even researching how to make printed organs!

[Junctionmad]

my own view is that 3d printing offers lots for the railway modeller, especially for smaller items where the surface finish isn't an issue, line side details etc. Im personally looking at doing ground signals and facing point locking mechanisms in 3D, for example. for larger full models, its hit an miss. Again personally if I cant get a model except in 3D, then thats good enough as the alternative is no model at all.

 

Im too old to go waiting years for things that never might appear .

[Weshty]

In my opinion 3d printing has two main issues currently for modellers, 0.1mm resolution is just too rough for compound curves on OO gauge, and self learning an appropriate 3d package that can integrate into the printer.

 

Nevertheless even with current resolution limits, it has huge potential for renditions that can then be fine touched.

 

Once it hits sub 0.03mm (30 micron) we are really in business as that is approaching the limit of the eye's practical resolution.

[Junctionmad]

In my opinion 3d printing has two main issues currently for modellers, 0.1mm resolution is just too rough for compound curves on OO gauge, and self learning an appropriate 3d package that can integrate into the printer.

 

Nevertheless even with current resolution limits, it has huge potential for renditions that can then be fine touched.

 

Once it hits sub 0.03mm (30 micron) we are really in business as that is approaching the limit of the eye's practical resolution.

 

actually 25um is currently achievable, its things like lead screw issues etc that cause rippling and what not.

[Weshty]

actually 25um is currently achievable, its things like lead screw issues etc that cause rippling and what not.

 

16um is achievable, but 100um (0.1mm) is what's available to John Average.

[Mayner]

In my opinion 3d printing has two main issues currently for modellers, 0.1mm resolution is just too rough for compound curves on OO gauge, and self learning an appropriate 3d package that can integrate into the printer.

 

Nevertheless even with current resolution limits, it has huge potential for renditions that can then be fine touched.

 

 

In this part of the World 3D printing is used quite widely both by the trade and individual modellers. There has been something of a shift from using prints from high resolution local printers to make patterns for brass and resin castings to bureaus like Shapeways.

 

Shapeways WSF material can be remarkably effective for models in S scale and larger.

 

http://www.shapeways.com/product/87NEB8G56/nzr-9mm-p34-la8-complete?li=user-profile&optionId=42048578

 

WSF does not have the layering effect of some of the other materials, the secret in achieving a decent surface finish is to build up the surface in preparation for painting with a primer/filler aerosol, the WSF surface finish is reasonably good as it is for wagons.

 

Some kit manufacturers are now using Shapeways to produce brass castings produced from 3D models rather than the traditional lost wax or whitemetal casting processes

 

http://www.shapeways.com/product/T4J5YCQ2G/fowler-loco-cylinders-motion-brackets-and-crosshe?li=more-from-shop&optionId=56253872

 

The better designers tend to be experienced modellers who are also professional CAD draftsmen/ 3D modellers.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Mayner

[Junctionmad]

16um is achievable, but 100um (0.1mm) is what's available to John Average.

 

Shapeways FUD is 30 micron in Z and 60 micron in x,Y that's not the same as saying you can build detail to that level as that's often more a material function.

[Junctionmad]

By the way , has anyone here tried various types of tumble finishing on FUD material. I think a lot of issues with 3D is that people designing parts arnt engineers ( either mechanical CAD etc )

 

I see some good results mentioned on tumbling with salt on a RC model ship building forum or perhaps grit blasting with soda maybe

Edited June 17, 2015 by Junctionmad

[Weshty]

 

The better designers tend to be experienced modellers who are also professional CAD draftsmen/ 3D modellers.

 

Ain't it the truth. Oh for a few hours of face to face 3d training and handholding. Starting off solo watching videos and reading through reams of documentation just does not shuffle my shells.....

[Magpie1951]

I have use this company ,http://i.materialise.com/ , who I find way better than shapeways in terms of support and tweaking model designs before they go to print . They also print in high detail resin or paintable resin and in my experience very little sanding is needed to get a great paint finish on the model.My 3d design skills only amount to using google sketchup and even with this I can get good results using the the printed models as scratch aids with very high detail when needed!!