Weekend Update 7/12/20

[peteski]

I did add the body panel recess for the windows and that did print quite well so it can handle a .1mm pretty well.

I have a plan for the windows. I think that I can pull off a truly clear window. If it works the way I want it too, I may even be able to print gaskets on the windows. I'm not there yet though.

That would be a major development. Looking forward to what you come up with.

[peteski]

I finished couple of projects this weekend.  I was hired to install a headlight in a Z scale 4-6-0 loco and to build a Z scale sleigh (both for a Christmas train).

The loco has a diecast shell with a solid-metal smokebox.  Headlight is part of that casting.  I ended up drilling through the back if the headlight, then down into the smokebox. From the inside I drilled a larger hole from the back of the smokebox.  I then wired up a 0402 white LED and threaded the wires down the holes.  Since the thin magnet wires are fragile, I slipped them into a piece of insulation I stripped form some 30 AWG decoder wire.  To hide the wring on the outside, I sealed it with some CA glue. I then matched the original smokebox paint using a mix of Tru-Color gold and silver paints. I matched the hue perfectly to the original pain, but the sheen (reflectivity) of the metallic particles was slightly different, so I just repainted the entire smokebox.








The sleigh is a Micron Art Z scale kit.  Not the easiest thing to build (fit of some parts is terrible), but I think it came out alright



.

[MK]

Great job Peteski!  I assume you had to paint the sled too?

[peteski]

Great job Peteski!  I assume you had to paint the sled too?

Sure did - thanks!
This is what I started with:

[chuck geiger]

Getting better each time. Practice makes mediocre.

[Maletrain]

Sure did - thanks!
This is what I started with:

It has always seemed strange to me that vendors who make etched model kits make "flats" of people and horses.  Unless the model scene is an accident between that sleigh and a steam roller, I would want some cast plastic people and horses to be consistent with the realism of the rest of the model.

[davefoxx]

Sure did - thanks!
This is what I started with:

Haha!  What folds up and becomes the seats looks like ugly Christmas sweaters on the sprue. 

DFF

[SkipGear]

Test 3 done. This one is straight, no waves, no flares and more added detail. Added a rivet line to see how it would print. They printed fine, too fine, I need to make them bigger just to be noticable. For now, on to the observation.

[diezmon]

Rivets, in Tinkercad?  You're very patient   

[SkipGear]

Rivets, in Tinkercad?  You're very patient   

Drawing is not the problem. The duplicate function duplicates not only the shape but the movement. Duplicate one, move it over a couple tenths of a mm, then just hit duplicate over and over again. Instant rivet line.

The issue is the added redraw time. Rivets will be the last thing I do on a drawing and only after everything else is done. I save them as a separate drawing and import them in to the main drawing when ready for them.

[diezmon]

Drawing is not the problem. The duplicate function duplicates not only the shape but the movement. Duplicate one, move it over a couple tenths of a mm, then just hit duplicate over and over again. Instant rivet line.

The issue is the added redraw time. Rivets will be the last thing I do on a drawing and only after everything else is done. I save them as a separate drawing and import them in to the main drawing when ready for them.

good idea.  I've learned that little trick with various parts too, especially after tinkercad mysteriously deleted one of my projects.   

[reinhardtjh]

I wonder if you could build a rivet line as a separate part, then just tack it on when needed.  Also cut to size for smaller lines.

[SkipGear]

I wonder if you could build a rivet line as a separate part, then just tack it on when needed.  Also cut to size for smaller lines.

That is pretty much what I did. It is a separate object that only gets imported into the model for the final rendering and conversion to an STL file. There are more objects comprising the 2 rivet lines than every other object used to create the car body combined. Adding the rivets went from about a 30 second render to over 2 minutes and the file size tripled.

The rivets are too small and too many. I didn't measure them, just eyeballed and stuck them on to see if it would print. The next set will be done with scale spacing, if I can figure out what that is.

[SkipGear]

Last post of this one.....3 coats of Tamiya white primer sanded with Mr Hobby 800 grit 3mm sanding sponge between each coat. Sanded off the rivets but this was more of a test of how much work it was to get the lines out of the model.

[wazzou]

That looks really good.
I'd just go the Archer Rivet route if I were doing it.
I also think you could design a decal to represent the very small grilles on the roof that would look convincing enough.