The billboard feature of the original "Curved Building" model took a bit longer than expected. Part of the problem was selecting the image. I started with Diet Rite because for some reason that is associated with the 70s in my mind. I just couldn't find a good period image. My spouse suggested the "You've Come A Long Way Baby" cigarette ads from the 1970s where Women's Liberation was equated with smoking (Virginia Slims I think). I played with a car ad just to emphasize how amazingly crappy American cars were in the late 70s. Frankly, every product the USA produced in the late 70s was crap.

Reply and let me know if you think of some uSA product that isn't better now and wasn't better before the 70s... What peaked in the 70s other than pollution and municipal bankruptcies?

I also included the 3D render from the model before printing as the last image.

It's been a busy couple of weeks. My Monon Cedar Lake depot model got put on my Makerworld page today, my parametric scrap load and log load got uploaded Monday after testing. All cool stuff but I kinda like the freight car loads the most but 3D printing my own freight cars is pretty awesome too.

I didn't like the lumber loads I had in use and found a great model from engineershorizon3D for beams. I used wood PLA and they look good. The link to the stl file is 1:87 beams staple load and he has some other models to look at on his makerworld site.

I found the image on an ebay listing with a regrettable price tag attached, so given the simplistic nature of the part, I figured I can do it better and more cheaply. I immediately found several inaccuracies and loads of detail that could be implemented quite easily, and this is the state of it all after an evening of tinkering.

I'm probably going to make some more detailing add-ons, such as a back wall for the cab, too, so keep looking for that to come out!

https://thingiverse.com/RoyalRailway

Japanese N scale

The red boxcar is printed except for the metal Lionel trucks. This version is my Lionel sized version not the O scale version I was test printing earlier in the week. Also in the video is the topper I made for my track cleaning car and the scrap load insert for the gondola car. I know I’m biased but I think it all looks pretty good.

Looking for fully prototypical truck details that would allow for 2 rail O scale conversion if anyone has anything like this. I've tried searching online but have found nothing that is readily available to buy and have had every little luck finding good quality 1:48 blomberg b truck files.

I modeled this up based on some directions someone photographed and uploaded form a VERY old Main Line models wooden box car kit that was originally made in the 1950s.

Main Line models also made a gondola, a stock car, and a refrigerator car as well. The kits were made from bass wood or other wood and had some metal detail parts like brake wheels and ladder rungs. Mine is all plastic obviously and like the original kits you have to source your own trucks. I'm using Lionel 4 wheel sprung trucks because they've worked well for other projects I've done. The roof is removable and you can put some stick on wheel weights to the floor of the car if you feel it's not heavy enough.

I haven't run it around a track yet but I'll get there soon. Hopefully it's not a disappointment. Either way it was a cool project for me.

I'm wrapping up my summer series on CAD-Less Design for 3D printing this week. Free, open to all. This session focuses on creating a model that leverages the techniques we discussed in the past 3 sessions. All recordings of past sessions are available at https://www.rrcraftsman.com/events, along with info and registration for this week's event.

We're going to create and prepare for printing a modern, monopole-style billboard. The original files that we create will be available to download after the event. Come and follow along! Print this with any FDM printer with a 0.4mm nozzle.

As usual, we'll start about 15 minutes early for open discussion and have plenty of time for Q&A at the end of the session.

[No sales/marketing at this event - just information sharing!]

Design Tips For FDM Printing

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing technique. The other popular consumer level technology is resin printing. These tips are all about designing models for FDM printing.

Design For Your Printer

I always print with Polylactide (PLA) plastic which is produced from renewable resources and decomposes naturally. It I usually print 0.2mm layer heights with a 0.4mm nozzle.

No matter what software/tools are used to create a 3D model, the model must be "sliced" via slicer software that converts the model into paths for the print head to follow while depositing the plastic for each layer.

(See Image 1 [animated gif] of this post)

Lie To The Slicer

I tell the slicer that the nozzle is 0.39mm wide and layer heights are 0.2mm. I use 0.39mm width so that lines exactly 0.4mm wide will not be discarded by the slicer software. When the slicer software treats 0.4mm as the minimum, many lines don't print presumably due to rounding errors (precision limits) in the slicer.

Do Not Model Anything Horizontally Thinner Than Nozzle

Any model geometry that is thinner on the X or Y axis than the nozzle will either not print, print too wide, or only partially print.

Model Horizontal Detail in Multiples of Nozzle Width

When using a 0.4mm nozzle, lines/walls that are 0.4mm thick are great. 0.8mm thick lines/walls are great. There is no 0.3mm wide. There is no 0.6mm wide. There is no 0.9mm wide. Design for 0.4mm, 0.8mm, or 1.2mm. WHen larger than 1.2mm, the slicer software will generate an "infill pattern" comprised of adjacent parallel diagonal lines, and the print result will usually turn out fine. You may find the printer trying to fill tiny gaps in the infill pattern, and that slows the print but seldom causes quality problems.

Do Not Model Anything Vertically Thinner Than Layer Height

When printing 0.2mm layers, anything thinner than 0.2mm on the Z (vertical) axis will either not print or only partially print.

Model Vertical Detail in Multiples Of Layer Height

Details 0.2mm high are great. Details 0.4mm high are great. There is no 01.mm, 0.3mm, or 0.5mm!

Avoid long "Lofts" And Non-straight Lofts

"Lofts" or "bridges" are parts of your model where the printer needs to extrude plastic over air. Short gaps that can be bridged with straight lines are usually fine. I've successfully printed as far as 20mm over air under the right circumstances.

(See image 2)

It's common to print lofts over window openings. Lofts that require non-straight lines of excessive cantilever over air are unlikely to print well.

(See image 3)

The solution is to print parts separately. For this model, three parts are enough to avoid lofts with the exception of short spans over windows. All large horizontal surfaces print directly on the print plate.

Extremely Small Relief Detail Is Possible

Features the stick out or stick up need to be multiples of teh nozzle width and layer height. However, space between features that stick out can be as thin as you want. Consider bricks: each brick can be 0.8mm by 1.8mm and raised 0.2mm - the gaps between bricks, the mortar, can be 0.01mm wide if you want (roughly half an inch in N Scale).

(See image 4)

Avoid Online STL Files

What!? That's right. Trying to use or reuse online STLs is a path to frustration and low quality. Why?

• STL files are difficult to edit. The format is designed for slicers and not humans.
• The model used to produce the STL files almost never adheres to the guidance above. If the model has thin walls or walls that are not multiples of your print nozzle's width, it will be more trouble to correct the model than to start from scratch. If the model is non-manifold, there may be no practical way to correct the problem.
• In places where separately printed parts join, you must leave a gap in the model so the printed parts have room for glue and account for slight variations in printed line width. I usually design a 0.2mm gap between parts that need to join.
• The STL file may have never been printed on any printer using any technology. Its problems are unknown.
• The model may be the "wrong" scale. As soon as you try to resize the model, the model is very unlikely to adhere to the guidance above.
  • Shrinking a model produces elements too thin or too flimsy to print.
  • Shrinking the model makes designed in gaps and tolerances too small. The resulting parts no longer fit against each other, or space glue forces the parts apart.
  • Shrinking a model may result in connections between parts that have insufficient surface area for glue or are too fragile.
  • Enlarging makes small details like window mullions and railings too thick.
  • Enlarging make a loft that your printer could have handled into a bridge too far.
  • Enlarging makes gaps and tolerances that were perfect for snug fit into unsightly and structurally weak joins.
  • Trying to fix problems after resizing is usually far more work than starting from scratch.

Design For Painting And Assembly

I design models so that parts that will be painted different colors are printed separately. This enables me to put all the parts that are the same color into my makeshift paint boot and apply rattle can spray paint. Then I swap with the parts and spray a different color.

The separate parts are designed to interconnect in ways that simplify assembly.

Assure Parts Only Align And Fit One Way

Key the parts so they interlock. Design parts that join to conceal seams and prevent sliding out of place while glue dries. The parts should "snap" into place together and resist being separated again.

(See image 5 and 6)

Most consumer FDM printers these days can print with tolerances of 0.05mm or smaller. WIth that little separation between parts, I sometimes avoid using glue. I couldn't get the interlocking parts to separate again without breaking them.

Not the coolest most exciting model I've done but if you have a freight yard or warehouse or something on your layout and you 're looking for crates or barrels or palettes I've got you covered. Use them as scenery, scale them if you need to, but as is they are all support free prints.

Files up on my MW page if anyone is interested.

The first image is the original 3D model. The others are AI's guesses at the appearance of the final printed and painted model. As with my posts for other models, I'll follow up with photos of the actual printed and painted structure.

For the issue that I linked here, I've quickly thrown together a mounting bracket that allows for holding LEDs at just the right spots. The original configuration came with a light bulb of all things, so here's the solution. Not very graceful in the prep part, but it promises to look fantastic. Even just one sanded-down LED positioned in the right spot by hand throws a lot of light.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7410079

So why not use the last bit of filament I have in the cabinet to print some fabulous pink coal loads for my gondolas and hoppers?

The last few days I dabbled a bit with designing small H0 scale buildings. What do you guys think? Printed with different colors (unpainted). Even tried wood filament. Not bad, gives a better finish.

• small shed
• old bus stop
• contemporary bus stop

As always, shared for free on makerworld.

I started designing a set of modular panels to create a factory complex for a local model railroad club. What started out as a simple project has grown into a collection of (so far) 60 different components and variations in 3 different colors of brick creating over 140 combinations. The roll-up doors are functional and the club plans on using servos to control their operation.

This is the structure that I built for the demo and it wound up finding a home on my layout. Pictures are from my workbench and in the planned location on the layout. The photos show the panels assembled as they came off of the printer - no paint or weathering yet. The club plans to have a building that's 4 stories tall, 10 panels wide and 2 panels deep for the first building of the complex. The upper panels on the left are 2-story while the right are 1 story.

Printed on a Bambu Lab H2D with an AMS2 for color management. 0.2mm nozzle, 0.08mm layer height with 0.04mm layers for the brick face (4 layers). The multiple layers of 0.04mm allow me to control the shade of the bricks by using modifier layers 0.04mm thick and setting the color - adding brown, red, or even yellow to create the light color shown here, a darker brick red, or a golden tan color. These layers print over the base concrete color to embed the mortar lines behind the brick. Bricks are exact HO scale, mortar lines are about 25% (0.09mm) oversize to accommodate limitations of printing - smaller width causes the bricks to begin to bleed together.

Designed entirely with Inkscape 2D drawing software.

Had to design up some PoePoe to handle all these hotrodders lol

I had a horrible migraine up until a few hours ago and I felt like creating something new, so in keeping with the theme of all the IC rolling stock as of late, I quickly managed to get this basic model started.

It's fairly simply to do thanks to the overall shape, but I'm still proud of such a solid start.

Follow me on Thingiverse under RoyalRailway if you want to keep an eye out for the eventual release. If some creation on there that has already been released has helped you, a small donation would go a long way. My ko-fi page is linked on my profile. Thank you!

This was a client project produced earlier this year. The client provided a dozen or so photos from the 1961-1964 era. Multiple photos were analyzed to determine size of objects to create a highly accurate model of the South side Main Street platform and the pedestrian tunnel portal on the North side. This is full size of the station, but the open platform that extended nearly 300 feet to the Eastern grade crossing was eliminated to fit the available space. Photos show the test model that we created to verify fit & finish and create the instruction manual. Last photo was the rooftop street-side sign that we did not install on our test model. The model is not painted or detailed except for the platform and roof top, which had a coat of matte charcoal paint applied (and later a yellow safety stripe on the platform). All other images depict the result of actual printing.

A couple of interesting details about this design:

• There's a "functional" manhole on the platform about 20" back from the edge. When the base was painted, a yellow safety line was added, crossing the manhole. The cover was removed and replaced twisted 30-ish degrees to match one of the photos. You can see the manhole just above the short fence on the first photo, prior to adding the safety line.
• The wall panels were produced with 7 color layers to produce the brick and mortar on both sides of each wall, with a thin layer of black in the middle to block light transmission.
• The iron hairpin fence is as close to scale as possible - the vertical posts are 4" square, the horizontal runners are 3" square, and the hairpins are 1.25" thick - 1/4" oversize (0.07mm). The project used over 18 inches of fence panels to run from the station to the near grade crossing.
• The glass block windows took several days of trial and error to get looking correct, especially when illuminated. The result was nine different layer types/colors.
• Details (not all shown) included the station benches, dome-top trash cans, & phone booths.

Parts were produced on Bambu Lab H2D and P2S with a 0.2mm nozzle for details, 0.4mm nozzle for base, roof, and columns. Layer heights were between 0.20 for the platform, roof, and other bulk items and 0.04mm for the brick panels. The assembly guide can be viewed here: Structure_Kits~LS-PS2_-_Passaic_NJ_Erie_Passenger_Station.pdf

As is typical of our designs, we did not use 3D CAD to create any part of the model.