N-scale Track Renewal Machine, Ballast Cleaner, etc...

[ljudice]

Didn't someone (Ian?) order one of these modern MOW machines, which irksome-ly are in 1/148th scale?  How does it look with 1/160 stuff. 

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Bmthtrains

The designer is not interested in 1/160th, which seems unfortunate given that US and European modellers would probably jump at this.

[garethashenden]

I don't have one, but my gut instinct is that is would probably be OKish. British trains are smaller, so the difference in scale may make up for the difference in size. I think that differences in design would be more of an issue than the size.

[ljudice]

Very true on the British/US loading gauge --- however....  this EXACT machine is sold in the US, Europe, UK, Asia, so it would definitely be off...

But then again the 10% or so difference may not be noticable....

[Baronjutter]

I could see if this guy was making resin models or something not being "interested" in 1:160 but it's a bloody shapeways store, it's digital, it's as easy as him clicking on his model and scaling it down X%.  He's "not interested" in clicking maybe 2 buttons and exporting that to his shapeways shop???

I've always been baffled by the strange regressive stubbornness that often plagues our hobby.

[ljudice]

I know, there seems (and someone out there please correct me if I am wrong about this) a certain lack of interest in cooperation between UK and Continental modelers....

He told me that he never designed it for 1/160 and that it would not print. The other issue is availability of running gear.  I know in Sketchup, which he uses there is a scaling function and I also know he is right it may not print.  It is too bad, as I have said many times that there is not a smart scaling which obeys the design rules for a particular process like FUD.

- Lou

[DKS]

It may not be as simple as "two mouse clicks." 10% could mean the difference between an object rendering or being rejected, particularly if he has some thin/small elements. In which case, shrinking it down could be quite a lot of work.

Edit: I see that Lou and I posted at the same time...

[Scottl]

I'm very keen on these, I wonder if he would be willing to try a 1:160 version.

[ljudice]

I'm very keen on these, I wonder if he would be willing to try a 1:160 version.

You should ask him - he told me no...   Perhaps if he sees demand it would be worth his while...  I get the sense he's doing it to get the models made, not as a business.

There is a guy in Belgium who did some spectacular tamping machines - all useful in the US/Canada.  He did them in 160 but refused to make them public because he had so many bad prints.

[jimmo]

You should understand this Louis, how often are you going back and tweaking or adding new products on your Shapeways site? I've tried to get you to re-orient some of your products so we are not looking at the bottoms of them. You are obviously not all that interested in selling them because you already have a full-time job and this is just a hobby for you. I mean, I would love to see you finish the tie truck body by adding an operator's station, ladders and stabilizers. Maybe come back and add some more detail to your track maintenance equipment and offer them again.

I do this stuff as a full-time job and I don't have a lot of time to do custom work or other scale versions of my products--so I can relate.

More requests are helpful to convince a designer to tweak a particular item. When I have one person out of hundreds request something, I don't usually move on it. But if many people want it, I'm more likely to move it into the realm of possibility.

[ljudice]

Jim,   I know and the fact is that guys like you and Showcase for example do stuff that is a million times nicer than anything I could turn out of Shapeways I just got discouraged.  And not to say that more experienced or persistent people can't get nice stuff from Shapeways!

My reason for the post is that I thought someone had ordered the model and I was wondering how it came out and how it works in the 1/160 world...

- Lou

[jimmo]

Thanks for the kudos. You shouldn't be discouraged Louis, your Shapeways stuff that I got was really nice. I wished I had the time to learn how to make models in 3D. I've only played around a little with SketchUp and succeeded in making nothing. Please consider going back and doing more.

[ljudice]

What I would like to concentrate on are some of these MOW machines - as long as there is a process that produces good results.

I have some designs for concrete stuff (tunnel portals, drainage pipe pieces, etc...) that I do want to make in the short term and which should look excellent in the current FUD process....

- Lou

[VonRyan]

Perhaps ask the guy for the file of the model, and then you could do the adjusting to 1:160.
If he doesn't want to scale it down, why not let someone else do it.

[DKS]

I highly doubt he would just turn over his files... they represent many hours of work, not to mention part of his income. He may as well just turn over his MAC card and PIN.

[ljudice]

One thing I've looked around for though are open source models created for Train Simulator.  The thought being to use them and adjust for the design rules of the FUD process.  I know there are some big MOW machines out there in this format including a large, US style rail grinder.

- Lou