I am looking at some N scale parts on Shapeway. I have never handled any Shapeway parts so I am trying to get a feel for how tough they are. Example, one item I am looking at is a cantalever signal bridge.
Are these parts tough? Brittle? Similar to regular plastic? If mounted on layout, can they absorb an occasional bump by the hand of the Jolly Green Giant when he is working on the layout?
I don’t have any N scale Shapeways parts but I bought a batch of HO tool models. They seem well made with good detail and are fairly sturdy. If the bridge follows the prototype it was copied from, the basic strength should be ok. Worst case you might need to reinforce it with some piano wire or brass structural bits but if it’s as good as the parts I got, I’ll surprised if it doesn’t work “out of the box”. Good Luck, J.R.
Hi,
I bought some PRR catenary supports in HO made from the common “White Versatile Plastic” filament.
IMG_5577_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
They are reasonably durable. About what you would expect from a semi-flexible plastic. Not quite as brittle as most styrene but it will flex before it breaks.
The finish is a little fuzzy.
After painting with a primer and a light sanding with Scotchbrite the fuzziness can be reduced. I don’t mind it too much in HO but for fine detail I would prefer to use one of the better “high resolution” Smooth Fine Detail material, if the maker offers it. In the case of my catenary supports, the basic plastic was all that was offered.
You can see some of the graininess here.
These PRR style railings were made from the same material but the graininess was not as evident:
PRR_railing by Edmund, on Flickr
These simply got a quick application of flat black from a rattle can. I bought some PRR position light dwarf signals that were very small. There was very little fuzziness in these.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/28wtomj][img]htt
I have purchased several HO things from ShapeWays and I’m very happy with all of them. You need to look closely at the material before you order. There are several grades available. When I bought HO figures I went with the smoothest surface available. For chairs I chose the strongest material. The detail holds very well in either material.
The figures are outstanding quality. I made master molds for casting my own figures then cut up the castings for making many different poses then made molds of each configuration. The quality of my third generation castings are as good as or better than Preiser figures.
All of the females in my lounge car are my third generation castings of ShapeWays figures.
I bouhgt 11 female figures
Thanks all. Good info. I expect to use the fine detail material because of my use in N scale. I will be wiring these with signals so I expect to run a “small as possible” brass conduit up the leg so that should add some strength.
The Fine Detail Plastic is about as strong as a potato chip. It is not strong or durable in small sizes. Also, let me point out that it is up to the Shapeways designer to specify the material that each item is available in. The strong and durable is a Nylon that uses a process that fuses small beads together so it results in a rougher finish.
I’ve done models with both the ‘Fine Detail’ and the ‘Strong and Durable’ plastic (or ‘Versatile’, as it’s called these days). The Fine Detail is good for fine details, but is rather brittle. The Strong and Durable is strong and flexible, but the trade-off is a rough finish. This can be made smooth with a product like ‘Mr Dissolve’ putty.
When I was 3D printing my boxcab diesel, I used both. The body, roof and frame were done with the Strong and Durable. At one point, the body had only about 1mm of plastic holding the two ends of it together, at the top of a doorframe. I was able to bend that print around so that the two ends of the body touched, without it breaking. I’ve also used it to print parts for the drive mechanism of my turntable, with no problems.
On the other hand, I’ve drilled holes close to the edge of Fine Detail parts and had corners come off due to the fragility of the pieces.
In summary, I’d say use the Strong and Durable for structural pieces, and Fine Detail for, well, the details.
Thanks for the added detail about the smooth finish stuff. That is where I as headed since rough surfaces show up a lot in N scale. The signal bridges may not do well with the fine detail version because it is an open lattice work structure that I will need to attach signal heads to. Does not sound very promisings. I may go ahead and order one piece in the stronger stuff and see how it looks.
