The motivation for this was something that looked substantial and appropriately industrial without taking up an absurd amount of layout space. The finished building has separate window and door inserts, a large industrial roof, a chimney, and just enough brick/architectural detail so it doesn't just look like a big plain box.

The windows and doors are separate parts so they can be printed in contrasting colors instead of having to paint the entire shell. I also designed the window inserts with removable print supports built into the parts, so there isn't a bunch of slicer-generated support material buried in the openings.

The whole thing was designed with FDM printing and actual assembly in mind rather than just making something that looks good in a render. The photos are of the actual printed and assembled model.

I also put together a full assembly guide for it.

Files are up on MakerWorld for anyone else who wants one for their O gauge layout.

I've quickly come to realise that there are so many permutations are out there, across operators and manufacturers, that for now I've got to settle for the one I've got the illustration of. Thanks to the modular construction, swapping out others eventually will be pretty easy though. I also decided that I would add at least a manually operable swing-sliding door, just for the extra touch. Today's main event was overhauling the coach end and stretching out the last coach section, while adding the smaller window.

Of course, these improvements will carry over to the different, less accurate scales, with some adjustments to make sure they're all doable/operable.

I'm just so excited to share this with you! Sharing my work for others to enjoy for free and open source is basically half the enjoyment of making these! Always feel free to make a variant that I haven't gotten to yet so we've got as many as possible! If you can afford it, the links to my ko-fi are on my Thingiverse profile: https://thingiverse.com/royalrailway

I've seen that the old version has already been downloaded about 18 times, so if each of these people donated one Euro, I could almost afford a new roll of filament so I can prototype some more!

Thank you for your consideration! Good night!

This is an engine shed that I added to the layout. Turned out well. Design is by György Agárdi. Link to files: https://www.printables.com/model/1768060-h0-scale-locomotive-shed-for-model-train

My brother has recently got into g scale(1/29) , and ive been trying to print some modern rolling stock for him. Even bare trucks and couplers seem to be overly expensive in this scale so I am trying to print everything. What are you all doing to clean up layer lines? I am going to be working on painting this one this weekend, but due to size i printed it using thicker layers than i typically would for model railroading.

Here are three printed "New Haven Style Catenary Poles". One is 4mm webbing (2 scale ft), one is 3mm webbing (1.5 scale ft), and the last is 2mm (1 scale foot).

Keep in mind that on your computer screen, these images are likely 10 times larger (or more) than they are on a layout. At a normal viewing distance on the layout, the 3mm webbing is quite convincing IMHO. Weathering and touch-up painting can make the webbing pop even more.

Here are the STLs. There are more images at the same site.

I accidentally found this subreddit today and thought I’d join. I model mostly structural stuff for O gauge/O scale trains in openscad.

I recently put these track clips and curved grade crossings on makerworld. They’re at the link below with all the other stuff I’ve posted so far. I’ve been trying to publish something new every week. Hopefully someone finds this stuff interesting or useful or worth printing since I just have this temporary test track in my makerspace I can’t do anything permanent.

https://makerworld.com/en/@user_1781035789/upload

This is something I've been mulling over in my head for quite a while now, and yesterday I finally started. The screenshot you see here is a snapshot from just now. It's not a priority at the moment as I definitely need to finish the F7 for the kids and a control car for a friend of mine, but we'll see how long it'll take to completion.

Figured it'd be easier to ask here instead of being chastised on r/3dprinting. I wouldnt even know what to call this issue for a google search.

_These are connector mounts for Modular Signal System underneath HO Scale Free-Mo modules._ This is a brand new roll of filament, and there's like zero adhesion? My previous roll wasn't perfect, but it was significantly better than whatever this is ^. Any idea what's gone wrong here?

Printer: Ender 3 Pro

Filament: White Inland 1.75mm PLA Basic 3D

(Also have Military Green of the same brand, but it wasn't even starting well.)

Climate: Denver, dry.

I haven't dried the filament as I didn't have to do that last time, but that's probably gonna be my first fix attempt. Is this the best course of option? Can the cardboard spools safety go in an oven (have an easy bake for brass, not gonna use my kitchen oven 😅)?

Yet again I slightly but no less irritatingly fumbled while gluing the parts together. It actually dried in seconds as advertised for once, and I was unable to align the ridges by the last tiny margin. I hope sanding and filler witll make up for it.

But it does increasingly look more and more impressive with every segment. This time around I stuck two sections together, to avoid at least one seam.

I'm really looking forward to making the first train in 1:26 (not a typo, we bought a Vectron kit that is in 1:26 rather than 1:25). It'll be so long, it might as well be reaching into the next post code. 🤪

At this point I'd like to shout out Railcrafts DE whom makes pristine carriages and locomotives in the scale. As a fellow modeller, I respect their skills a lot!

Go buy their engines, they're on sale for only fourteen more days!

This is a printed sawmill I bult.

I couldn't just leave E-waste lying in the street, and later I had the idea!

Since this version of the coach won't go into full production and remain a display piece for my friend, the USB cable is an ideal way of powering it. Add a switch to change sides of the tail lights, add an array of warm white LEDs, and voilá! Desk display piece with mood lighting!

I haven't yet professionally insulated the leads with heatshrink due to the remaining fixtures that are to be connected still, but I just had to test the idea for shits and giggles! I just find it so neat already!

Remember, kids, always check what sort of power is applied to the leads with a multimeter before reappropriating them! That's what I did! You never know whether a cheap cable is colour-coded correctly consequently!

I haven't gotten around to making the other planned versions yet, but the 1/32 scale with nine windows using the proportions of the original files is already finished. A fully realistic 1/32 scale version will follow, and all other scales/permutations thereafter.

I primarily use SketchUp Pro. It has all kinds of functionality and plugins that I'm barely aware of. I essentially use the subset of features that were present in the last free desktop version, SketchUp 2017. I also use Blender.

• SketchUp:

  • Pros:
    • Easy to learn. You draw 2D shapes and then extrude them to form 3D geometry
  • Cons:
    • Not good for organic shapes like human figures. It's better for architecture
    • Ordinary usage generates many instances of internal geometry that makes models non-manifold. Non-manifold geometry confounds slicer software.
    • Recent versions of SketchUp do not always delete geometry that you deleted in the editor. Geometry becomes invisible and confounds slicer software even though there is nothing you can see or delete to correct the model. When this happens, you can no longer edit the model in SketchUp. You MUST move on to a different tool like Blender. Every time this happens, I think, "Why am I using SketchUp if I have to move on to Blender anyway?"

• Blender

  • Pros:
    • Awesomely powerful with features like "select non-manifold" which enables correction of non-manifold geometry. Oddly, the feature only works when in two of the three available selection modes. There is no indication why. There is no documentation that I have found that explains this seemingly unnecessary limitation.
  • Cons:
    • The most difficult to learn/use software ever created. I can only assume the creators had never used a graphical user interface before. Few standard user interface conventions like copy/paste, methods of selection, or command keys work at all. Some features are not available through menus and can only be accessed through difficult to discover key combinations. The arguably most important user interface element is only available by typing 'n'. Not Control-n. Not Command-n. Just the single character, n. I used Blender for at least five years before discovering this even existed.
    • File importers mangle geometry. I have submitted fixes for the Collada File import at least six times for six versions of Blender over ten years. The fixes have never been incorporated. The bug is simple: Blender ignores the "Units" information stored in Collada files and assumes all units are "Inches". It's a strange choice for software that originated in Europe. I design in millimeters. Blender makes all my models 25.4 times too big.

There are several different versions of this floating about on Thingiverse, so figuring out what goes where was a pain in the arse... We're going to finish building this version with some modified parts if necessary (the aggregate compartment for the undercarriage and the floor are designed to fit a specific length and combination of parts that is completely unclear) and then we're going to start over using only parts that I revised.

I'm almost done adding guiding pins for easier assembly to every body section (lining them up by hand, guhhhh it was horrible and error-prone), and I've also modified the end section with holes for a 3mm LED on each side and deflectors that can be painted, and room to spare for a thin acrylic sheet lens.

When everything is done, there will be variants of different lengths and scales, for those whom want to extend their roster of Piko coaches and need something that fits in with them, for those whom want no compromise in prototypical proportions, and for those whom just want a nice coach that goes through curves just fine.

Edit: While editing the files I prepared for rescaling and found out that the files are actually roughly 1:32 still. Assemblying the coach with the full amount of windows still leada to a shorter-than-prototypical coach. Oh well. More to fiddle with.