Weekend Update 4/25/21

[up1950s]

https://travelnevada.com/museums/transcontinental-railroad-fan-make-a-visit-to-these-train-museums-your-loco-motive/

Starting a bit early because I have to get on the horn , sorry .

[PiperguyUMD]

I set up my modules today to take advantage of the nice weather the next few weeks and discovered I have a heat kink  The rails have completely separated from the bridge!

[ednadolski]

Progress on the P:48 turnout project:  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=51808.msg708137#msg708137






Ed

[LIRR]

Making progress on M. Hohmann Lumber ....

[GaryHinshaw]

I've been tinkering with the 3d printer again.  This time the victim is an Atlas corn syrup tanker: I realized that with one pair of custom parts I could lower the ride height, body mount the couplers, improve the end frame detail, and correct some assembly issues in one fell swoop.   The parts retro-fit onto the tank body as so:







And some comparisons to a stock model:





One thing that annoyed me about the stock model is that the guard rails were too short to stay captive between the end-frames, so I cut some new ones from steel wire that are now held securely in place.  I'll post some better pics when I get the parts painted and the cars weathered.

Have a good weekend.

[CRL]

@GaryHinshaw - How’s the coupler height? It looks slightly higher than the stock car.

Spectacular job overall.

[davefoxx]

@GaryHinshaw, FTW!  That addresses one of several issues that led to my migration from N scale to HO scale.  The fidelity that you achieved is impressive.  Way to go!

DFF

[Cajonpassfan]

Gary, just stunning. Makes these modern cars come to life, even for this steam era guy
Great modeling!
Otto

[muktown128]

Gary,

WOW!!!   Fantastic job on those 3D printed ends. The see through grating and grab iron detail on those looks phenomenal.

[GaryHinshaw]

@GaryHinshaw - How’s the coupler height? It looks slightly higher than the stock car.

Good question @CRL. Some of you know that I am obsessed with such things, but I'll let you be the judge:





I have no idea what's going on with that Accumate, but happily I don't have to worry about it, since CRGX 4767 is next in line for conversion. 

@GaryHinshaw, FTW!  That addresses one of several issues that led to my migration from N scale to HO scale.  The fidelity that you achieved is impressive.  Way to go!

Thanks @davefoxx.  Now you can switch back to N scale!

[Scottl]

Amazing work @GaryHinshaw, fantastic application of 3D printing.

[Jesse6669]

I (mostly) finished the 2nd iteration of a 1:300 D&RGW standard water tank based on a prototype in South Fork, CO (seen in the background).  For this version I eliminated the tank straps from the design, which were very problematic to 3D print--the wax support material and layering on the cylindrical tank made a mess.   So, the tank was printed smooth-sided, sanded to get rid of layering, and Archer resin seam line decals (0.13mm width) used as straps.   The spout cable was made of magnet wire.   Yet to be applied are decals I made for it and some fading/weathering.   Incidentally, 1:300 (I call it M scale) uses T-gauge track for 3-foot narrow gauge.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
 

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks for the comments.  I have to say, I'm beyond impressed with this technology.  It makes a project that was effectively impossible (e.g., standalone grabs attached to see-through grating, in N scale) into one that's easy.   And with good design choices, it's possible to control the tolerances on things like coupler height right from the start.   The best part is I can print as many as I need to convert the whole fleet without fear of them going out of production.

[Jesse6669]

You make it look easy..     How much (if any) shrinkage do you get with your prints?

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks Jesse.  I have zero issues with shrinkage.   The prints are done on a Photon Mono with AnyCubic's basic grey resin, printed with an out-of-the-box recipe.  I tried other resins and recipes early on, but I ended up getting the best results with the most vanilla recipe.  I do have some lessons learned that I'll post in another thread, so as not to hijack Weekend Update.