A Bit of a Catch Up - Some Actual Modelling!

I have been a bit busy of late so here is a few things I have been working on.

Firstly I have completed the Laser Rail Bits timber trestle bridge and fitted it with my 3D printed 1 1/2 inch square nut/bolts with 3 inch square washers and the bridge came out very nice. I followed the instructions and stained the timber with a Raven Oil and methylated spirits mixture. I did find that I had to make the mixture a bit stronger than in the instructions though, possibly more dense timber. I also noticed that the line drawing of a trestle in the instructions seemed to be incorrect in regard to how the diagonal timbers would go onto the piles. I will contact Rod Kelly of Laser Rail Bits about this.

As Rod had already laser marked the square nut/bolt/washers on the timber so it was an easy task to drill a 0.6 mm hole and insert the 3D printed ones.

Laser Rail Bits timber trestle bridge with 3D printed nut/bolt/washers

Close up of nut/bolt/washers on trestle bridge

Next, I have been back working on the Werris Creek station building for Ron Cunningham. The downpipes on the North West platform side of the building had me bluffed as sometimes can happen with a model. I was put off by the complicated way that that pairs of the downpipes came down from the 'scuppers' joined together then went through a water filter, emerged from the water filter then went down through the platform awning. The water filters are Rail Central parts available from Casula Hobbies. Anyway, as can happen, once I started it only took about three hours to cut the 1 mm Evergreen plastic rod and fabricate them.

Signals Branch 3D printed 48 inch single flourescent light as on the prototype

Tamworth platform side

North West platform side showing upper floor awning against the western sun.

One aspect of the awnings is that all the nice window, door and downpipe detail is virtually hidden! Oh well.

I still have a few more things to add to the building but these will be done once the handling of the building is basically over to prevent damage. There are two flag poles coming out at a 45 degree angle from the upper floor on the Tamworth side, some double flourescent lights projecting out in several places as well as a couple of 'stink pipes' that come above the top of the building.

The next thing to do is to work on the brick platform faces, these will be made from Slaters brick sheets and it will be next to impossible to connect them without a join showing.

Items still to be done will be station signs, the signal box, small cast iron signs for Station Master, Men, Ladies, etc. and the surface of the platform.

The last thing I have done recently was to present at the Modelling the Railways of NSW 35 where I gave a talk on practical information on 3D printing. The talk seemed to go over well and I had about 60 attendees over three sessions. A good day in all.

Here is a sneaky photo taken by Zane Maber.

That's about it although I have been doing a lot of stuffing about with my two 3D printers as well.

FDM 3D printed mounting for three PMG key switches for Bylong signalling

DLP 3D printed Cheap Signal Box - Learning about support placement

Til next time then......

Shapeways Makes Changes to Material Names and Drops Other materials

Well, Shapeways have done it again!

They have today renamed a number of their materials, no doubt for marketing reasons or trying to make it simpler for new customers.

Anyway, for the the main materials I use on my Signals Branch shop White Strong and Flexible is now called White Versatile Plastic and Fine Ultra Detail is now called Smooth Fine Detail Plastic.

The various web pages have been modified as well and some things have moved.

Also they have dropped a number of materials from the available line, none that worry me but I am sure there will be an outcry from those who use them in their shops. 

I will have to go through the text descriptions of some of my models and change any references to the old material names.

What a pain!

Here is the announcement from Shapeways from their Forum:

We are so excited to announce the release of updates to our materials portfolio. Available, starting today are:

• Silver: Antique Finish
  • A unique finish that gives a rugged personality to your pieces
• Full Color Sandstone: Matte Finish
  • A smooth and matte finish for even bolder colors
• Steel: Matte Bronzed-Steel Finish
  • A subtly rustic finish for industrial chic pieces
• Professional Plastic (previously known as HP Nylon Plastic) is available to sell in your Shapeways shops

To make for a simpler, more user-friendly creation process, we have also updated our Materials Hub. Along with lovely new end-product photography, we have now broken our materials in to benefit driven categories which will help guide you to the right materials for your projects. The new categories are:

• Strength & Value
• Professional Finishes
• Industrial Strength
• Scale Replicas

We’ve done some renaming of our materials, more details on that can be found here in our updated Materials Naming Guide. We’ve also begun updating our Model Upload and Checkout flow to make it easier to pick your materials and finishes.

You may also notice some changes to the material offerings; as part of this refresh process, we decided to say goodbye to some of our less popular materials including:

• High Definition Acrylate (instead try our Black HP Nylon plastic or Frosted Ultra Detail Plastic)
• Acrylic Plastic (instead try our Frosted Ultra Detail plastic)
• PLA (instead try our Strong & Flexible plastic)
• Metallic Plastic (instead try our Gray HP Nylon plastic)
• Elasto Plastic (instead try our Strong & Flexible plastic)
• Castable Wax
• Matte Gold Steel (instead try our Polished Gold Steel)
• Matte Bronze Steel (instead try out Polished Bronze Steel)
• Porcelain

If you have purchased or sold any these materials in the last 6 months, you should have been notified via e-mail. If you have any of these materials enabled in your shop, your products will no longer be offered for sale in these materials. If your product was only enabled in one of these materials, it will now be listed as public, but not for sale.

Shapeways is ever-evolving, and we will continue to focus on providing the right material solutions for your projects.

We can’t wait to see what you create with this updated experience!