N scale Royal Hudson.... again? Or finally?

[wcfn100]

Where should we be looking? Just asking because I don't know the other services. And how does price compare? Thanks.

Have any dentist friends or know someone who makes jewelry?   

I wish there was an easy answer to this, but I don't know it.  Maybe Mr. Bussey knows of a secret shop with a high res printer.  The cost will certainly be higher but if you're looking at making castings, it's probably worth it.  And speaking of price, you may need to find the right situation to get something affordable.  Rapid prototyping makes its money on the 'rapid' part which we don't need.  A big key is to find a shop that can run your parts during down-time and hopefully get a reduced price.

Hopefully I'll have some projects this winter that I'll want a better print for and I can try and locate a couple shops and pass them along.

In the mean time, I'm waiting on my Kickstarter ONO 3d printer that was supposed to be shipping at the end of October.  Should be interesting to see the quality of that.

Jason

[craigolio1]

Thanks for the input Jason. I had no idea these options were available.

Since this project is in the learning and development stage I personally am open to at least exploring these kinds of options. Price will be important.  I personally think the quality of FXD prints look quite nice and I am willing to put some time in sanding my model to make it smooth. After all I'm only building one, and a CAD designed FXD print will be much better than I could scratch build.

If we want the go the route of casting from a master then we can investigate these super high quality prints. I think it likely will come down to cost though.  This is a personal project for me. I'm not trying to get into manufacturing.

Craig

[Angus Shops]

Looks like this is gaining some steam (pun intended)!  Like others, I do not see this as a money maker, but an opportunity for a group of interested modellers to pool their talents to produce a model that they all want. I'm not aware of another project undertaken on the same basis; this may be unique.

I would think that we would use the most appropriate technology (resin casting, etching, Shapeways (or better)) for the different components. For example, the tender body could be scratch build and cast, or printed and cast, but I'm not sure I could cast a cylindrical hollow boiler, so that may be best as a printed component for all models. A thin walled cab might be best as etched components. Lots of long distance coordination...
Geoff

[craigolio1]

Geoff I totally agree.

Pretty soon I'm going to get an email chain going between the those who stepped in with the various talents so we can discuss the plan together and get this moving forward.

[CNR5529]

Have any dentist friends or know someone who makes jewelry?   

Don't know about dentists, but jewelers use castable wax, the same such as the material shapeways has here: http://www.shapeways.com/materials/wax

This material has a surface finish comparable to FXD, and requires cleanup before creating the plaster cast. Once the metal is cast, they still have to buff and polish the jewelry to get a smooth finish. It is by no means "ready to go" straight out of the machine.

I would be interested in hearing about any other services though! 

[wcfn100]

Don't know about dentists, but jewelers use castable wax, the same material shapeways has here: http://www.shapeways.com/materials/wax

I think calling it the 'same material' is mis-leading.  There are other machines that offer castable materials that are, again, much better than Shapeways.  There are some machines that are solely designed around the jewelry industry.


Jason

[peteski]

Where should we be looking? Just asking because I don't know the other services. And how does price compare? Thanks.

IIRC, it is called "Prefactory" and possibly Mike Skibbe was the one I've seen mentioning it (or maybe Mark5)?  The price will be much higher but since you only need one or two printouts (to keep as masters), that should be doable.

[BCR751]

Craig,

I'm in for one of the 2860 variants but have neither the time or  the inclination to get involved in the manufacture.   Good on you to take this on.  It's  a model that is long overdue.   I'll follow along with the thread and be ready to purchase when available.

Doug

[craigolio1]

Awesome Doug.

I have been contacted by individuals with the skills needed to get this moving and we have our team!  We're getting the process started soon and hopefully will have something worth discussing shortly. Bookmark the build thread as that's where we'll be posting updates