As a modeller and follower of this forum as well as others, I often see posts griping about the lack of such and such in so and so scale. We’ve all become aware of 3D printing as one solution to the dilemma. Now I see UPS has introduced 3D printing in a number of their UPS store locations with an eye to expanding the service if it’s well received. The UPS website has all the details and video presentations. Sounds like the machine they are going to be using has a minumum resolution of about .010"/.25mm. I also checked out the machine on the makers (Stratasys) website. Maybe a decent replacement for the LHS, at least as far as structures and rolling stock kits, would be a 3D printer in most towns and an affordable Cad/Cam program for the hobbyist. I’m sure at some point in the George Jetson/Modern Mechanix future we’ll all have 3D printers on our wrists.
A well as an avid model RRer, I’m also a model RC ship builder. There’s been a lot of good conversation / info on 3D printing in that hobby also. I’ve purchased a few fittings from a 3D printing Co. named Shapeways and been pleased with the products. Checking out the products on Shapeways website is a fun way to kill many hours With all the 1000’s of detail parts possible in the model railroading hobby, the possibilities are limitless.
From what I’ve seen of “rapid prototype” or 3-D printing is the issue of resolution. The resolution limitations become most obvious when you have a curved surface. In the UPS instance decribed of a resolution of 0.25mm that would result in an obvious “stepped” curve in the layers. In small scales such as Z and N, this may not be a problem. In HO and larger scales, the finish would probably be unacceptable, or require considerable finishing effort.
There are also issues with the material being used for the printing plus, there is often a need to do a model several times as some features need to be thickened to make them self supporting. The implication of this is that you may have to have a couple of iterations with subtle changes to the CAD drawing to make a decent model. AT additional cost before you have a good model.
That said… the technology in 3-D printing is changing rapidly and getting much, much better. Only a matter of time before every model train person has one! [:D]
It’s an extrusion machine like the MakerBots. It’s not going to be capable of the high-end finish that you need for engine shells and freight cars. Here’s a model from their gallery. You can clearly see the striations.
Yea, that sample’s pretty rough. I had high hopes and I do think that as the technology evolves these devices will only get better and cheaper. How long until Harbor Freight sells one?
Lou,I think 3D would work for building details,scrap loads and maybe figures and vehicles.There is a company that will make 3D models from your plans.I forget the name.
At least it’s not the paper-based machine that Staples had announced it would be using. The extrusion types may not be suitable for body shells, but if you need a custom bracket to hold a switch machine in place, it could be useful.
There’s a guy named Junior Veloso who is designing a DIY machine that uses a digital projector and light-cured resin. He’s gotten some impressive results. It’s not quite smooth enough for body shells, but much better than the extrusion machines.
Unfortunately, the projector alone is probably $800 or more.
It’s only a matter of time. I remember well the first digital cameras and their pathetic photos and asked “who would want this?” Not so long after that I saw a bin full of previously very expensive digital cameras at a WalMart or ShopKo selling for $25@ and I wondered what the guys thought who just months earlier had paid full price.
The first digitally recorded LPs seemed harsh and artificial in sound, ditto for the earliest CDs (which were NEVER less than $19.95). And the prices for those early CD players!
Remember when WiFi was an extra charge at motels and hotels? Not so long ago.
This is a situation where I am more than content to sit out the next few generations of improvements, but again, it is only a matter of time before this will be very common. Already I know a few modelers with their own laser cutting machines. Unthinkable just a few years ago that a “civilian” would own such a thing.
The implications are just astounding. Don’t buy a kit in a box – pay someone and they’ll email you the kit. Or maybe email won’t be the right word for it by that time.
Hopefully with something like that, people will offer their designs so that they can be kits - print out sides, end, roof, floor, detail parts. Or, for those not inclined to assemble things themsevles, print out a one-piece complete carbody, just add trucks and couplers. Same basic drawings could be used either way. Especially if you have a printer that automatically takes the completed item off the stage - “drat, I need 100 ore cars by the show next weekend” - ok, load up the printer, kick it off, and let it crank.
Wish I had saved that link to the seller of 3D printers, they had a wide range of models available from different makers, some basically take out of the box and print, others that were essentially kits to build the printer. There were ones that were listed at very high resolution for around $500. I don’t think it will be long now before top quality models are in the $1000 range. Difference will end up being in the duty cycle and how many different materials you can run through it. That, and overall size of the largest object it can print.
That sounds like the Silver Streak plastic kits for mechanical reefers that Walthers picked up for a while – billed as easy assembly but in some ways rather tricky kits. So ironic if 3D re-invigorated that kind of kit building!
I’m not sure what resolution the machine Shapeways uses is, but my detail parts came out great, just a little light sanding and they were ready for paint. I’ve seen some tiny chain on their website so I think the resolution is pretty good.
Shapeways, using their highest resolution material, a UV hardened resin material, can do about an HO scale inch (.019", .3mm) thickness for a flat surface supported on the sides- which they call a wall. A wire, anything that sticks out further than it’s diameter, wether it be round, square, or someother shape, can be about 2 HO inches (.024", .6mm) in diameter if supported on each end, 2 3/4 inches (.031", .8mm) if only supported at one end, and about 3 1/2 HO inches (.039", 1mm) if supported on one end and there is any kind of weight on it. Below is a 100x magnification of a rolltop desk I had designed and had printed:
That is a close up of the desk in the middle:
I have done some S Scale designs, too. You can get better detail which makes the design process more fun, but the cost goes up pretty quick becasue the pricing goes by the voulme of material used, and models get bigger in 3 dimensions, not 2.
The machine that UPS wants to use won’t get even close to this resolution.
There some deep dark secret to all this? Stratasys says their printer has a 0.010" resolution, even their ‘fast’ mode is 0.013". Both top the Shapeways listed resolution.
About a year ago I was working with a non-profit who used 3-d printing to create masters for lost-wax castings. They printed using a low-melting point polymer and then cast a metal part. Their application was re-creating parts that were impossible to find for automobile restoration.
It seems to me that creating masters for metal casting would be a good model railroad application since a boiler shell or a boxcar body would have some weight and the casting could be cleaned up with existing tools and techniques.
Definitely very light. Have to add a lot of detail by hand to what would come out of the 3D printer to make something like a CMW model. Now, if you just want ‘close enough’ to fill up closed sided autoracks…
I need to go check out what my friend got from Shapeways - N scale Hall Banjo signals (he models the Reading too, but in the early 1900’s and i N scale)
With all the 1000’s of detail parts possible in the model railroading hobby, the possibilities are limitless.
