I have been looking at Shapeways for some HOn30 parts to make some rolling stock and locomotive conversions for the 2 foot gauge section of the layout at Boothbay Railway Village. I have heard confilcting reports about their reliability and quality. A friend using narrow gauge forums says they are horrible, and the quality and finish sucks. Others on this form seem to like them.
I notice they have a number of different types of plastic and levels of finsh. Does anyone have any suggestions in this area? Also what type of adhesive and paints should be used? I am thinking their parts maybe should be treated like resin kits???
This is the one I am looking at as a starting point, a short body boxcab loco. We already have an N scale Spectrum GE 70 tonner with DCC that looks like a good fit. I just will have to figure out how to mount it.
Only thing I’ve seen in person are some N scale Hall signals a friend of mine ordered. I don’t know details of which material and finish he selected, btu the finished product looks pretty decent to me. If ti ake off my glasses and look close I can see the lines from building up the part, but sitting on his layout that’s not visible, plus most of that would be filled in by paintign them. Also the face of the orginals was wood anyway so a bit of ‘grain’ isn’t a bad thing. But - not visible at normal viewing distances. The rest of it, the outer edge of the casing, the holes, etc all look quite good.
I believe the smoothest material is also the most brittle - so thinkign of it like a resin casting probably isn’t a bad idea. Not sure what kinds of paint work best, or if solvent paints would attack the types of plastics used.
I have no experience with Shapeways. I have a friend who got a few samples from them. Decent quality.
3D printers can have a greatresolution, but that means it gets more expensive, and it takes longer to print. If there is a microsoft store, age one in my area has a 3D printer and the quality is decent (granted it is the base model). Usually the x,y axis are the finer details, the z isn’t so fine, and you have the stack lines. If you want a smooth surface (which you will) I would either file it down, or cover it is a thin putty, and smooth it out. Currently, 3D printers for models are expensive, or you will have to work to smooth it down. However give it a bit of time and the price will go down and the quality will go up (like the computer)
Tom Stack a friend of mine designed some signal heads and had them made by Shpeways. Check out his video of them on his layout. Go down to the videl section and you wll see it.
I saw that, and I can’t wait for the next issue. I am learning how to use cad programs like tinker cad so I can create things to be printed out.
By the way, why is it the November issue even though it arrives usually at the beginning of October? I have always wondered why the issues are a month ahead.
Go to prrpro group on yahoo that does voted on projects. The last one was f22 flat cars. One person did drawings and had an S scale flat made. Several others had them made in N scale. The conversations, problems and results should be of interest to your questions.
I’ve used Shapeways before. For something like a body shell, go with either Frosted Detail or Frosted Ultra Detail. They’re more expensive, but their finish is far superior to the Strong & Flexible material.
The part you want to model looks like the Grandt L
ine boxcab. Since the cab comes in 5 pcs. you could cut it down to make it narrower. The height would remain the same, or close to it because it’s still HO. I used one of them & powered it with a Bachmann 6 wheel switcher. The supplied power is problimatic to me.
I believe the listed date is when the magazine is to be removed by the vendor. So much has changed in the industry that returns may no longer be common.
MR’s been like that for a LONG time, it’s nothing new. Others are much less further ahead - about mid month I get the next month’s Popular Science, for example.
Kind of pricey. But the fountain looks great and the style fit my diorama nicely. Surprisingly the readily available HO scale fountains are lacking in mission/southwest styles. So this one fit what I needed.
When building it, I omitted some of the smaller detail parts as I like the look of the fountain without them.
It was super easy to assemble (CA) and paint (grey part is Floquil and redish brown part is craft paint)
I’ve been very satisfied with Shapeways. Their customer service is excellent and their turnaround times are reasonable (for hobby products).
A big problem with the various forms of 3D printing is that most people have unrealistic expectations. This is not a Star Trek “Replicator”, it’s a pretty useful tool but definitely not magic.
I am about to take early retirement from a career in mechanical design, and over the last 25 years have used many forms of 3D printing- and have watched as the possibilities improved very quickly.
The “programming skills” issue- unless you already work in engineering, you’ll have a bit of a climb to master the 3D CAD software. There is much I still have to learn about such things as surfacing, in the high-end Pro Engineer software w use where I work. However, many simpler packages exist- and I’ll need to explore them as I lose my access to ProEng. I’ll be a beginner again, expecting a steep learning curve, but I will start partway up the curve at least. Be aware that many of these lesser packages may not handle complex surfaces well, or are iffy about dimensional control, or may not always produce “watertight” models and require 3rd party software to fix their models so they’ll print.
With ANY form of 3D printing, you will get print texture. Shapeways FUD is one of the best, but there is still texture (stepping) on any surface parallel to the beam- flat surfaces printed normal to the beam will be extremely smooth.
I will not include rivet detail on my printed models. 95% of the time, they will need a light sanding, even in FUD. This isn’t really a problem… the Archer or Micro Mark rivet decals make it easy to add these details. It just isn’t worth adding details you know will be damaged by sanding.
Likewise, on my big roof structure models, I don’t include shingle detail. It’s a lot of work to model, won’t print well, and how the heck would you sand it? In
In my reply above I should have mentioned the print orientation issue. It is unfortunate that Shapeways doesn’t offer a premium service, where you can get them to orient the part in its best position for printing, or use their FUD machines at settings which will yield the best definition possible. Many “Shapies” have been hounding the company to do this.
It’s something I’m used to in my professional career… but that stuff is very expensive, and Shapeways handles a huge volume of parts designed by users with a wide variety of skill levels.
Best bet: design conservatively, keep the design standards for each material firmly in mind, never lose sight of the limitations of the process and material, and expect some surface finish roughness at all times.
Do that, and you’ll achieve consistent good results.
