Mark Watson's 3 D printed turbine blades

[carlso]

I have 2 sets of turbine blades designed by Mark Watson and printed by Shapeways in the " white strong and flexible" material.

I can not find any recommendations so does anybody know if these need to also be cleaned in Bestine. Mark if you read this is it better to place both mounts on one flat car or one on one car and the other on second car. Does one version ride better than the other ?

Always have fun,

Carl

[Lemosteam]

Nipe.  None of the *SF materials need a soak. Only FUD and FXD. The *SF materials are basically nylon.  The printing process does not leave sharp edges, so I find I have to knock off some of the corners to make them presentable and sometimes functional.

[jereising]

What Lemosteam said...surface is also a bit rough, I sanded and painted gloss...



Here's the way I mounted the blades, and that's the way the prototype does it.

[jdg]

How to you keep the blade support structures on the cars?

[carlso]

Thanks John and Jim,

I was not sure about the blades but was going to use 1200 grit auto sandpaper and then spray paint. Guess I would not have been too far off. I am going to soak the mounts before painting.


Thanks ,Jim, for the photo that supports the way Mark mounted his blades. I have 16 89' cars and can mount two sets of blades, three tower sections and two control rooms and two blade mounts. I guess I should go hole hog and get 3 more flats for another complete tower. That would be two complete turbines. Nineteen cars would look good on the club layout with generous curves.

[Mark W]

Hi Carl,

Yes, just as Jim has shown, (and has published in N Scale Magazine with additional pictures, twice!) this particular blade prototype, 135ft LM "GoBlade", is supported across two cars.  The Mount kit includes enough short slings to run each blade across it's own two flats, or you can use one short and one tall sling to run 2 blades across 3 cars. 
On the prototype, I generally see the sling mounts placed just to the inside of the trucks on the trailing (or shared) car; but if you have tight corners, scooting them a little more toward the center helps reduce overhang around curves.

On my first set, I used Krylon Gloss white spray to finish the blade.  The paint smoothed out the texture by itself.  Or if you're lazy, or just have too many other projects going on like me, I think the raw print passes the 3ft rule just fine.

Would love to see pictures once you get the train set up!

How to you keep the blade support structures on the cars?

Just a tiny drop of CA on the bottom corner of the mounts.  Blade snaps into the base mount and rests freely in the sling. 

I should note, the slings are printed with two cross supports across the top of the sling stand.  These are just to help withstand the printing and shipping process and can be removed so that the blade just drops straight down into the sling. 

[carlso]

Here is one of my blade sets. I have a total of 6 blades or a total of 9 flats. This is only a sample and I would appreciate any type of comment before I complete the detailing. As info, I now have 14 flats that includes the 9 for blades and the 2 for the spinner/prop hub and nacelle, along with 3 cars with one section of the tower on each car. If I added 3 more flats for another set of towers, I would have enough for 2 complete wind turbines.







Keep in mind that these are not plastic as they are 3D printed in the "white, strong, and flexible" material as opposed to FUD. Yes, up close they are rough but the 3 foot rule at club layout they will be OK. I sanded with 1000 grit wet/dry and then sprayed with Krylon. I really appreciate all of the guys that have worked to bring some "odd ball" stuff to N scale via 3D printing now and not someday down the road. I  am sure that I will have to fine tune the Atlas trucks, I am not a fan, but think this will be real cool on the club 15'x48' layout.

Video soon, I hope.

Hope you enjoyed and always have fun!
Carl

[atsf3751]

Micro Trains also sells these blades and they look a little different, they don't have the bend in the blade. Which is more correct or do the real ones come both ways? I don't have any around me I can look at.

[jereising]

How to you keep the blade support structures on the cars?

Sorry, I missed this request - although Mark has answered his method, mine is a bit different. 

I used a drop of Aileen's Tacky glue on the tip end holder where it meets the deck; I treated the shaft end a bit differently, forming a pocket out of a couple braces at the end of the car and allowing the shaft end and its' holder to move over a range of about a quarter inch, and giving additional flexibility.  The blade itself therefore floats at both ends and seems to my eyes to be more stable.

Full details are in the articles...

[Kisatchie]

Micro Trains also sells these blades and they look a little different, they don't have the bend in the blade. Which is more correct or do the real ones come both ways? I don't have any around me I can look at.

I found some photos of the blades. I don't see any pronounced curve (except that caused by gravity)

https://www.google.com/search?q=wind+turbine+blades&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiFtO62x_DTAhUW4WMKHWZUD9sQ_AUICigB&biw=1325&bih=909#imgrc=woBDoPUFar0fmM:


Hmm... I don't see anything
humorous to be said about
these blades...

[atsf3751]

Thanks for the pics, they are interesting. I bet transporting them by truck is a real challenge.

[Mark W]

Micro Trains also sells these blades and they look a little different, they don't have the bend in the blade. Which is more correct or do the real ones come both ways? I don't have any around me I can look at.

As you can imagine, wind power is evolving daily; so there are thousands of blade designs out there by now. 

The MT blade is a much older design, probably late 90's early 2000's.  They're also shorter, both mounts rest on a same car and if a single buffer car is used between two blades, the tips do not overlap.   

My blades are modeled to the exact spec of the LM "GoBlade" from about 2012, around the time that pre-bends and twists began improving efficiency. https://www.google.com/patents/US20130115098
The length requires the mounts spread across two adjacent flats, and if two blades share a single buffer car, one must use a raised mount due to the tip overlap.  The advanced engineering of the prototype aside, I think the overlapping tips makes the 3D printed blades much more attractive as a model.  But I may be a bit biased.   

The latest blades you'll see on the rails today reach up to 180 feet.  A single blade takes a full two 89' flats, barely. 
They use two similar mounts, and add a 'leash' to keep the tip from swinging out too far on curves.

 

[atsf3751]

Thanks Mark, looks like I need to order some of your blades.

[jereising]

Mark's blades are the gold standard for what we do. 

They LOOK realistic, they LOOK like they need a railroad to haul them. 

Only slight caveat is the finish, but there's nothing to be done with that other than finishing to whatever degree you're happy with.

You use Mark's blades, and they are the difference between a toy and a model.