Classic Metal Works N scale machinery trailers

[nkalanaga]

I received mine this week, and at first glance they look nice.  A closer look shows a few "issues", some potentially serious, some just interesting.

The cab is now plastic, not metal.  Not a problem for me, as they look the same, but could be an issue if someone tries to strip them.

The cab is now held to the frame by a plastic pin, not a rivet, and can be pulled off.  Probably better, of one wants to weather the truck without getting the windows dirty.

The trailer is 3D printed, with the wheels part of the body.  It doesn't look bad, but isn't quite injection molding quality.  It's also fragile, and both of mine came with minor damage.  One lost its kingpin, which was easily replaced.  The other has a missing piece in the rear, with a gap instead of the frame and taillight.  That will be a little more difficult to fix, but a piece of styrene strip should work.

More seriously, the tractor came with smaller wheels than usual, throwing the proportions off.  I have enough spares to replace the wheels, but the small wheels do look out of place.

Finally, and probably humorously, they managed to glue the "fifth wheel", such as it is, on backwards on both trucks.  Not visible under the trailer, but still not showing good quality control.  Easy enough to fix, with a little glue, as they come off with little effort.

Finally, the rear wheels are still too wide, and need the axles shortened, but that's been the case all along, so can't be held against the new owners.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

3d printing on a volume, low cost product? This has to be a first. That's probably the most exciting part of this for me.

The tooling for the cab is probably the same as the old die, just using plastic instead of zinc.

Does this mean their other newly tooled truck bodies will be 3d printed? I'm thinking of the garbage and fire trucks.

[Mark5]

I looked at the garbage truck bodies and they looked really crude to me, so maybe they are 3d prints (I stopped looking at it because it is well below what I consider to be acceptable).

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[cfritschle]

I looked at the garbage truck bodies and they looked really crude to me, so maybe they are 3d prints (I stopped looking at it because it is well below what I consider to be acceptable).

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The garbage truck beds are solid blocks of cast resin, with stick-on lettering.

I am working on replacing the wheels on the lowboy trailer with the wheels and axles from a Kato container chassis, but the right side of the trailer with the "artifacts" from the 3D printing is going to be hard to fix.  The 3D printed medium is a white and very flexible plastic, so removing the 3D printed wheels has not been a problem.  I might be able to post some photos later today.

[peteski]

Yes, more and more often, many model companies produce a 3D printed master pattern which is then used to make molds for either resin or metal casting.  That is how they can produce high volume and the item looks like it is 3D printed.

Showcase Miniatures is one of the early adopters of this technique.  If you look at their pewter models or resin, there are very faint artifacts of 3D printing.  But Showcase uses a high resolution printer, so the castings are also high quality with almost no 3D artifacts. 

So, the quality of those 3D-printed master is directly related to how  the cast parts will look like. I was never impressed with the fidelity of CMW models - they always look crude with soft or oversize details on the bodies. The dump truck body appears to be just another example that does nothing to change my opinion about CMW models.

[peteski]

3d printing on a volume, low cost product? This has to be a first. That's probably the most exciting part of this for me.

While this model is not it, the N scale Architect produced a series of N scale pickle car kits which were 3D printed in  FUD resin.  That was probably the first example of volume printing.  In Europe there are more and more examples of 3D printed models made in production quantities.

[cfritschle]

OK, I see I should not have cropped the photo as tight as I did.  However, you can still get the idea of how the right side of lowboy trailer shows the artifacts while the left side of the trailer came out smooth.



And, here is the garbage truck with its cast resin bed.  My trucks came from the factory without the beds being attached to the trucks.



 

[wazzou]

Certainly no indictment on your modeling Carter, but both examples, trailer and garbage truck look like, well...garbage.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

OK, I see I should not have cropped the photo as tight as I did.  However, you can still get the idea of how the right side of lowboy trailer shows the artifacts while the left side of the trailer came out smooth.



And, here is the garbage truck with its cast resin bed.  My trucks came from the factory without the beds being attached to the trucks.



 

Those look awful.

[cfritschle]

I think the lowboy trailer can be made acceptable with some more work and a new paint job.  I just started working on the one on the right by replacing the 3D printed wheels and suspension with a scratch-built suspension and the Kato wheels.  It looks much better when hitched to a semi-tractor with the appropriate size wheels.

However, I don't plan to put any effort into the garbage truck because there is a very suitable alternative if I find the need for a 1950s era garbage truck.     https://www.showcaseminiatures.net/n_scale/n_scale_vehicles/36.html

[wazzou]

@cfritschle - Carter, is the trailer on the right warped?

[cfritschle]

@cfritschle - Carter, is the trailer on the right warped?

Bryan,

I think that is mostly due to the imprecise painting of the deck.  But, the decks do appear to have a slight arch.  I may need to add some brass angle to straighten/flatten the deck.  The plastic used for printing the trailers reminds of Elmer's glue that has solidified, but is still pliable. 

[nkalanaga]

Many such trailers do have an arch, until they are heavily loaded, then they straighten out.  Most of the steel-coil hauling flatbeds around here are so arched they look funny, and if loaded with beams, pipe, long lumber, or anything but steel coils, the load has to be supported on heavy timbers at the ends, with thinner ones in the middle, to match the arch. 

For the garbage trucks, my bodies also weren't fastened to the frames.  And, yes, they seem to be resin castings of a 3D printed master, with the worst features of both.  Besides the bubbles and pits, the lights look like they were added by hand, with a marking pen.

But, since mine will replace a very old resin casting, of a very strange cab design, from an individual in Florida whose name I can't recall, which is largely hidden behind a building, it will suffice.  I am trying to figure out how to weather the back end, though, as I've never seen a garbage truck with a clean, or even mostly painted, compactor area!

[pmpexpress]

But, since mine will replace a very old resin casting, of a very strange cab design, from an individual in Florida whose name I can't recall, which is largely hidden behind a building, it will suffice.  I am trying to figure out how to weather the back end, though, as I've never seen a garbage truck with a clean, or even mostly painted, compactor area!

Gene Burnett, operating as Burt Industries, which was formerly located in Altamonte Springs, Florida

[peteski]

Gene Burnett, operating as Burt Industries, which was formerly located in Altamonte Springs, Florida

That brings back some memories.  He had quite a range of models, all very poor quality. But he did produce items not available elsewhere at the time.  I think I bought some sort of crane from him, but it has been dispatched to the dump some time ago.