CN Yellowhead Division

[Scottl]

A busy week churning out AI buildings of the iconic Jasper main street.  Meshy Ai is by no means perfect, but only 2 of these buildings have meaningful issues and all of them look great as stand-ins while I learn the methods and figure out the street scene.  Having about 30-40 mm of building fronts seems to be effective at conveying the right look.



I'm especially happy with Baxter's Drugs, a sone building with an awning and half moon windows.  I broke some of the awning taking off supports, but the building and stone texture are great.



Next will be the roadway, curbs and median.  The curbs will be another printing project.

I have also figured out a solution to the river rock walls of the train station, so I can now working to finalize the design for printing.
Here is a sample.



I also used the larger printer to make some location signs for the layout.  I'll paint these white and then sand off the lettering and border to get the dark gray exposed.  They will help visitors figure out where they are. 

[lock4244]

I just know that somewhere you're going to have a scene with Tim Stevens standing on the roof of his hirail flange lubricator refilling truck, camera in hand lol.

[basementcalling]

Phenomenal in all aspects.

[Scottl]

First cut with printed curbs and sidewalks.  I incorporated a gutter and thin overhang of the roadway that didn't print well. I'll be using 1 mm foam for the road surface and i wanted to tuck the edge under the gutter.

There are dips at corners and mid block along with other features.  The median will be filled with rocks and trees.  It also shows that my spatial plan for the street will work well.  I'll refine these and print them out en masse.

[Scottl]

I finished printing main street Jasper with AI-generated models.  I used images from Google Streetview and had Meshy AI produce cleaned up 2d images without cars, people and other clutter.  Then I used Meshy to make a 3d model of each building.  As none of this was scaled, I scaled the file in the slicer software and also removed all but approximately 33 mm of each building before printing.  The result is 16 distinctive- eclectic would be a better description- buildings representing all of the iconic street front.  The models all have some comparatively minor issues so I am considering them filler models, but they make a convincing street front in the meantime.



The next structure to finish and print is the Jasper station.  It will print in six sections and will be essentially full scale-sized.  I also need to print the curbs and work on adding roads.  I'll use 1 mm foam sheet I purchased from Aliexpress and paint it gray.  I plan to paint the road lines and markings with 3d printed stencils. 

[Sokramiketes]

Amazing way to create a distinctive downtown.  Thanks for pushing the boundries on this one!

I'm trying to walk in your footsteps.  I got the 2D image creation and decent 3D models in the next step.  But what do you do between the Meshy model and printing?  I'm getting thin models with some gaps that need to be filled. Is it a post process thing, or somethign I'm missing in Meshy?

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[Scottl]

It was post process for me. I found that Meshy became irreversibly worst if I tried to refine the model.  For the thin walls, I would thicken them up as needed in tinkercad but often my problem was interior walls that I needed to remove.

The solution would be a tool to fill the Meshy model completely and then hollow it for printing.  I'm not aware of anything that can do it but others might chime in.  Perhaps in the Meshy prompt you can simply tell it to make the model solid? 

Your prototype is a great example of what Meshy does well.

[Sokramiketes]

Ok, I'm attempting this in meshmixer now.  It looks like filling it in is easy.  Haven't gotten a shell function to work right after that yet.  So close!

[Scottl]

For that structure I would hollow to a shell in the slicer and cut out the bottom so it drains.

Meshy demonstrates how sophisticated current AI really is.  If has no idea what it is making so it is purely emulating the 2d visual.  It often works well but can create some real monsters.

[Scottl]

Revised 53' Thrall 3-unit.  I strentghened the truck porches so they won't warp with time, and added space for brass strips on the well walls for further stability and weight.  Also upgraded with ladders and walkways all on one print.  It prints perfectly, except for inexplicably not leaving tread pattern holes on the walkways.  It is not a resolution issue, my old Photon could print them.  It is more of the Elegoo slicer nonsense, I think.  I'll figure it out, but this is proof of concept for printing any well car regardless of the availability of the GMM etches.  It cuts the cost significantly as well.  NSC 40' cars are next.

[samusi01]

What trucks are you using on that Thrall car? And have you tried N-P couplers in them yet?

[Scottl]

They are my homebrew trucks with FVM 33 and 36" wheels.  They work well when printed out of ABS resin.

I haven't used NP couplers yet, but the body mount here is for a MT 1015 and I think it should be compatible.   If not, it is a simple change in the design.

I'm looking forward to the NSC designs.  Your pictures are fantastic references for the hidden details.

[GaryHinshaw]

Excellent progress, on both the town and the rolling stock!



LOL.  A kid at heart. 

[Scottl]

Ha ha, Meshy is really good at that kind of thing.

[Sokramiketes]

  It prints perfectly, except for inexplicably not leaving tread pattern holes on the walkways.  It is not a resolution issue, my old Photon could print them.  It is more of the Elegoo slicer nonsense, I think.

Looks like the resin isn't clearing out of the holes, so could be an overexposure issue causing blooming?