Designing and modeling a 3D model accurate enough to be stereographed isn’t that easy at all. It is possible that you’ll take more time modeling the prototype, say in 3Dstudio, AutoCAD, Lightwave, Maya, etc… than actually building it from scratch…
As Redleader said, you’d have to be proficient in a 3D program like Solidworks in order to render your file. I’ve sanded more SLA (stereo lithography) castings than I wish to remember, and the material is hard, brittle, and the resolution too coarse for anything approaching model railroads. The dust from sanding the stuff is no good for you either. It’s been a few years since I worked with them, so resolution levels and materials may have improved, but I think this printer technology is a long way from prime time. SLA parts are still grown in large machines that use a laser to solidify parts out of a resin bath one layer at a time.
I just posted a thread about this within the last couple of weeks, but only got a couple of replies. My idea was to use the technology to make realistic HO scale people figures. The injection molded ones on the market now are often in exaggerated, unrealistic poses. Even the Preiser ones a lot of times are in an unnatural position, or dressed to “European” or not the right era. If you had a good 3-D modeling program pre-loaded with CGI people, you could dress them any way you want, pose them any way you want, then print out as many as you like on the 3-D printer. Sure the cost is high now, but give it several years and it just might be more realistic. Obviously you could use this technology for lots of other stuff in MR and in other hobbies, but the scale figures are what immedately came to my mind when I thought about it.
I think it’s more likely that a manufacturer would use this method to create prototypes of figures they could then pattern injection molds after, but again resolution is an issue with anything that small.
Linked—
I’ve seen the results of rapid-prototyping machines for pre-production slot car bodies, and they look like they are laminated, with very obtrusive stair steps between the levels. On compound curves, you get a reasonable representation of the contours, but there is no way these study-models could be sold to consumers. Slot cars are made in even lower numbers than model railroad locos, so if this method was commercially viable, in its current state of evolution, it would have been done. It isn’t, and for good reason. This is a prototype method, and that is all.
Yes, and that resin resists sanding like you wouldn’t believe.
This has been an ongoing thing for some years. There was even talk about something along the same line almost 50 years ago for pete sake–and the same dang issue shows up every time—laminations. The 3D process still has to deal with how the item is analyzed in the first place. Even if the resolution gets better those annoying edges will show up. And who wants to see a 2-6-0 with laminations–knowing full well they got to clean them off?
And someone posts a comment about “tedious scratchbuilding”-----sheeesh