I was lucky enough to purchase a 3D printer a few months ago and after making the obligatory add on's for the machine and the multitude of Arduino/Raspberry Pi boxes decided to have a go at some 00 Gauge arches for my layout. Initially the idea was to make them in a modular form i.e The arch it's self, the under-arch fill in and the buttresses. Eventually I decided rather than gluing fill in inserts into the arch and the buttresses to the side ( very difficult with PLA plastic ) I would print the whole piece as a single item, making various copies in the CAD program and just changing the design of the infill. Adjustments were needed to the depth of the bricks on early attempts. Looks like I now need to learn to paint. This is the last one. Needs paintwork finished also adjustment to the brickwork. I printed it in black as holding the previous ones( printed in white ) up to the light allowed it to shine through. Also I had a hiccup with the print so didn't clean it very well hence the hairs and dodgy window frames. I'll keep trying Col
Looks good - the striations show up horribly in close ups but to the eye are invisible, esp once everything is in place on the layout. I have been doing a bit of this recently, albeit second hand, I do the research and a guy with access to a printer does the work. Here are a couple of shots of one of the projects which I'll elaborate on later in its own topic. I have since done another column and sanded it smoother but TBH, there is no difference to , admittedly elderly,eye.
Hi Andy, I'm using Tinkercad which is a free online cad package. It's a bit basic but does the job. The printer is a "Creality Ender 3" not the pro version. I'm using PLA and at the moment a 0.3 extruder but may try a 0.2 for the next print. Having said that Ben is right you tend not to see the striations, the pics have to be close up but step back and a bit of paint and everything looks better. The PLA is very hard to glue. Thanks for the kind comments guys. Col
Hi Malc, these look like the 'Scale Scenes' sheets and I really like them. My problem is I'm in a shed and although It's not damp the temperature varies quite a lot and the paper and card tend to suffer. The plastic arches are actually based on these very sheets (which I down loaded pre 3D printer) you have used. Col
Ah, Tinkercad. I went for the sister program of 123d design but that’s been super-seeded by their newer fusion360 which I just can’t get to grips with. (It doesn’t import its earlier relatives files either unless it’s an STL file which is a pain in the bum if you need to edit. I have a CTC Bizer with a .2 nozzle but I can’t say as it’s that up to much. I see much more detailed items printed by folk and an quite envious at their results. Most of my final prints and produces (and sold) via Shapeways website. This was my latest project. The add on platform, rapier name plates and air res tanks (not shown/fitted) I still have some painting to complete. Good work on your arches!
that’s never OO Ben? Looks O gauge... if it is, that’s stunning even more than how good it looks if it is O gauge!
Thanks for the kind words Andy. For a printer that's not up to much that looks pretty damn good to me and I understand the envy factor looking at that. I have spent the last 2 days sorting out a printer problem which turned out to be the bearing at the end of the Z drive had slackened off and was moving a tiny amount causing the extruder to hit the work piece and move it on the bed. Nightmare! Oh the joys .
Ah, Tinkercad. I went for the sister program of 123d design but that’s been super-seeded by their newer fusion360 which I just can’t get to grips with. (It doesn’t import its earlier relatives files either unless it’s an STL file which is a pain in the bum if you need to edit. I have a CTC Bizer with a .2 nozzle but I can’t say as it’s that up to much. I see much more detailed items printed by folk and an quite envious at their results. Most of my final prints and produces (and sold) via Shapeways website. This was my latest project. The add on platform, rapier name plates and air res tanks (not shown/fitted) View attachment 16697 Good work. no, that’s what’s been printed via Shapeways, but my design.
Yep, good old 00, and a rather poor phone snap at that. The guy can do it in 0 or N if required. I'll have some more shots once I finish off the second column.
For flat surfaces, I tend to print that surface directly on the base - With PLA, I use 3M blue masking tape on the build plate, cleaned with Lidl's Blue window cleaner, and pre-heated to approx 60 deggrees. The PLA seems to stick to the build plate without issue (provided I've levelled the build plate correctly ) Although recently most of my 3D printing is being done on my Anycubic Photon resin printer, the main restriction with the resing printers is the build plate size. Really effective results gents Paul
Still plodding away here with the old 3D printer.....and getting not very far on my layout. A few pics to let you see I'm still here . Lower yard taking shape. Beginings of Station above. Slow progress. First ideas for coaling station and signal box site above tunnel mouth.Think I need access for signal box. Built some steps Everything needs to be accessible for electrics as the layout is against a wall. Also built a gearbox for my home built turntable using the dreaded 28-BYJ 48 5v stepper motor. Col
Hi Colin, very nice prints, well deserving of Pick of the Week. And as you have discovered, once you get one correct, it's so easy to keep making them. For gluing PLA, I have had some success with the adhesive used for gluing Plumbers plastic drain pipe, not great but it does at least stick. Paul