Recent 3D Printed Models

For those not at recent S scale nights at AMRA, here are some photos of my latest 3D-printed models.

VD Bogie Louvred Van (painting not finished yet)

Interestingly, the original VD vans were built in Enghiem in Belgium, which is only about 60 km from the i.Materialise factory in Leuven where the 3D printed version was made.

SXT Bogie Sheep Wagon

WAGR Water Column (assembled and painted by Doug Firth)

3D Printers Available from Officeworks

Exciting News is that Officeworks are now selling 3D Printers, yes the revolution is coming, and first order of business is getting down to the East Vic Park or Joondalup stores which apparently are the only ones stocking them.

So $1500 bucks later I am the proud owner of his very first 3D printer I have wasted no time printing things off, some good results and some iffy results but very happy.

I first tried my GC wagon unmodified from what I sent to Shapeways and i.Materialise which while it printed very well it was full of very tough support material which I am struggling to get out of the center, I'm sure it will make a good gravel wagon.

Next to try was my drawing of the AI coach I have been working on a while.

Both in the Lime Green PLA and white ABS materials that this printer uses:

Quality is great for this little coach, which while it wont match the Prime gray from iMaterialise, the look and feel is superior to the WSF (SLS) from Shapeways.

Cost for this coach I estimate to print is about $3, which is pretty good seen as 3DSystems whom sell the printer use a razor blade system to sell these printers (like ink jet printers the cartridges are over priced and you have to use their printer cartridges) but I am working on a work around to maybe print with cheaper generic ABS plastic.

Overall looks like printing the coach sides and glueing the sides together works best for this method, the great thing is that "Plastruct Plastic Weld" is able to glue ABS and styrene together so works great with these parts making seemless welds.

This is probably a great option for making masters for coach sides for casting, but at this price for a small coach which when I finish with the drawing will be complete minus couplers W irons wheels and grab handles and a roof (printed roof doesnt look great, though going to try printing on its side) it could do it just about as cheap as a cast urethane kit... just kidding!

Panoramic view of a V Class Cab

Wanting to capture most of the detail of the V Class cab in a single photo, but unable to stand far enough back for obvious reasons I gave the panoramic setting ago. Sure its a little warped but a good reference nonetheless

AV Dining Car - Under Floor Detail

Underneath the AV Dining Car is another subject of interest, so here is what I found for completion of my model of the AV whilst on a visit to the ARHS Museum.

 

Under floor detail AV 425 from Dining End Corridor side

Under floor detail AV 425 from Galley End corridor side
 

Essentially the detail underneath the Dining car is symmetrically balanced consisting of 4 Battery Boxes, 2 Water Tanks and 2 sets of Brake Gear.

Under Floor AV 426 Model

 

In S scale measurements, Battery Boxes are 37mm long and can be purchased from Railwest as their "Long" battery box. The Water Tanks are 28mm long and can be made from a section of 7.9mm Evergreen tube #230 with some #100 strip for the support straps. Railwest also supply Vacuum cylinders and V hangers to suit.

Av 426 Model Under floor Detail locations

The Battery Boxes and Water Tanks should all fit within the cast areas of the frames . The Water Tanks should be positioned with one end against the center frame casting and hang with 5.5mm of tank exposed/visible below the sole bars.

 

V hangers should be mounted on the external surface of the outside frame with the inside V on the inside frame 2/3rds over the center of the carriage frame. Vacuum cylinders are a close fit to the V hangers with a distance of 7mm between the cross bar and center of the cylinder.

Brake Gear  & V Hangers

The older style carriage Queen posts are also available from Railwest as is .7mm brass rod for the tension bars.

With any luck this information combined with the roof detail information, will enable completion of a few more models of the AV Dining Cars.

 

AV Dining Car - Roof Detail

 

 

 In recent times I have been asked by some members of our group about how I achieved the roof detail and its positioning on my model of the AV Dining Car. This was a problem that I faced back in early 2010 when I was looking to complete my own model of AV 426.

 

 WAGR - AV 426 Dining Car Model
 

Whilst discussing my problem with Rob Clarke who is a member of the ARHS Museum, it was suggested that we could go and measure the real thing at the museum. The agreed day arrived and I met Rob (who had come armed with a ladder) at the Museum and we climbed up onto the roof of AV 425 and carefully set about the task of plotting the positions of the roof equipment.

 

Here is a few prototype pictures showing what is on the roof

 

Kitchen End Stove Vents to right

Looking from Kitchen End over Dining Room

 

Kitchen End showing Galley Vents to left
 

Ok now that you have an idea of what is on the roof, next is to provide the important measurements  & modeling tips. All measurements shown are in millimeters. I have calculated these from the actual 1:1 measurements to suit placement onto the model.

 

To begin with you need to mark out the centerline of the roof.

 

As shown in Picture 1 below - From the kitchen end, measure and mark the positions of the standard Flettner ventilators that run the length of the coach.  

 

 

Picture 2 shows the position of the Stove vents using the first Flettner vent at the kitchen end as the start point for locating. First measure and mark the offset line and then mark the vent positions.

 

  

Picture 3 Shows the location of the Galley Vents again using the first Flettner vent at the kitchen end as the start point for locating. Measure and mark the offset line and then mark the vent positions.

 

 

On the roof I used WestOzModels Flettner Vents for the standard centerline vents

 

 Railwest's brass large carriage vents were used for the stove vents.

These need to have mounting plates to enable them to sit level on the curve of the roof and can be made from laminated styrene sheet or perhaps an old style knitting needle or similar solid rod sliced and filed to suit the arch of the roof. 

 

For the Galley Vents and Water Filler (on the Bullnose end) I used some styrene sheet circles cut to size with a smaller circle with the edges filed or rounded off and then glued on top of the larger circle to represent the lid on top of the mounting plate. To fit on the roof, some light filing with a rounded file will be needed on the bottom of the vent to suit the roof arch particularly on the bullnose end.

 

Here below is a close up picture of the Water filler. The Water filler and the Galley Vents are very similar being mounted with a 6.34mm diameter base. The diameter of the "Lid" is 5.35mm for the Galley Vents and 4.56mm for the Water filler.

 

Water Tank Filler

 

Another feature amongst the Galley vents is the long rectangular vent. Whilst the earlier coaches seem to have been fitted with 5 round vents, it would seem that a longitudinal vent was later fitted presumably for better air collection whilst travelling.

The picture below shows these vents fitted to AV 425,426 & 286. Note that the version on 286 is low and flat compared to the round top versions on 425 & 426.

The measurement for the long vent on AV 425 is 9.52mm Long, 4.36mm wide and 3.37mm high.

I constructed this from 4 sections of 2.5mm sq Evergreen strip styrene glued together and then filed to shape and then I used a dremel with a sharp point bit to mark in some vent veins on the ends

Long Vent

 

Hopefully the information I have provided above will help you all to be able to complete those dining cars you have been working on.

 

As with all of the WAGR carriages there are many variations with fittings etc that will always present us as modelers with a challenge. As always it is best to find a good picture of the prototype you are modeling and follow what you see.

 

A big thank you goes out to Rob Clarke for his assistance with access and measuring of the roof  fittings on AV 425. I promised Rob at the time that this info would be shared with all who may need it and thanks to this blog it has now been possible in a better way than could have been imagined at the time.

 

Handlaid Points

The latest project on my workbench is a No.6 left hand point.  This one uses Code 83 rail (equivalent to 82 lb/yd rail in S scale).

Construction follows the same techniques I have been using for well over 30 years, with real wood sleepers and gluing the rail down with Pliobond adhesive.

Although I usually use Northeastern 12" x 6" HO scale lumber for the sleepers, this time I used precut On3/On2½ "switch ties" by Mt Albert Scale Models in Canada (available from The Railcar near Newcastle, NSW).  The thickness of the Mt Albert sleepers closely matches the On2½ flexible track and points available from Micro Engineering.  Prior to construction, I stained the sleepers with potassium permanganate solution.

The sleeper size and spacing of the Micro Engineering On2½ flexible track and points are just about spot on for Sn3½ track, except that the sleepers are 4-5 mm too long, but that is fairly easily fixed by trimming the ends of the sleepers.  Micro Engineering only makes #5 points in the On2½ range, so handlaying is the only option for other types other than converting HO points "sleeper by sleeper".  They do make a "kit" for No. 6 points consisting of a cast metal frog and machined blades, which could reduce the time and skills needed for handlaying.

American Models Bettendorf Bogies

Bettendorf bogie on a VG van

Another source of bogies for relatively modern WAGR wagons is from American Models.  This company, based in Michigan, USA, make a wide range of S scale standard gauge locos, rolling stock and track.

In the parts section of their web site, they list a number of styles of bogies (or trucks as they call them).  The most useful for WAGR modellers are the Bettendorf freight car trucks and, for some modern Westrail era wagons, the 50-ton roller bearing trucks.

Bettendorf with "scale" wheels

50-ton roller bearing, with "scale" wheels

I first came across the Bettendoorf style when I visited Caboose Hobbies in Denver, during a holiday in the US in 1984.  I bought one pair just to try them.  That was a long time ago and, since then, I have bought two batches of 10 pairs, and asked for the bogies without wheelsets, which cuts the price almost in half.

Of course, the bogies are standard gauge so they have to be narrowed to suit Sn3½.  The Bettendorf bogies are sprung so they can be easily be dismantled - but don't lose the springs.  Kadee make an inexpensive manual uncoupling tool (#241), one end of which doubles as a "spring pic", which I have found useful for removing and inserting the springs.

The basic principle to narrow the bogies is to cut the centre from the original plastic bolster, and rejoin the two halves of the bolster.  For a while, I was using K&S 6.35 mm brass channel to splice the two halves of the bolster back together.  Recently, I went to the local hobby shop to get some more channel and they didn't have any, so I bought some K&S 6.35 mm x 3.2 mm rectangular brass tube instead and that actually worked better.

Original bolster (bottom) and shortened bolster.

The bolster is deeper towards the centre with a slope on both the top and bottom surfaces.  I found that by grinding away the sloping parts with a Dremel motor tool and "plastic" cutting disk, the end pieces of the bolster are a snug fit in the rectangular brass tube.  I found it easier to do the grinding with the original bolster in one piece, before cutting it into three pieces.  Take care not to damage the "bumps" which locate the springs.

A length of between 18 and 18.5 mm seems to work well for the brass tube.  This is based on fitting replacement wheelsets with 26 mm axles.  The bearing holes in the sideframes are quite deep and I don't think 25 mm axles would work as the wheels would rub against the inside of the sideframes.

Cut sections of original bolster with rectangular brass tube.

I drill the centre pivot hole 2.2 mm as this will take a 2-56 screw with minimal slop.  I drill the matching hole in the bottom of the brass tube a bit larger, say 2.5 mm, so that the bogie can rock a little bit from side to side or end to end.  Obviously, it is important to get the pivot holes in the exact centre of the brass tube.

I have also drilled 2 small holes in the underside of the brass tube so that I can use small screws to secure the two halves of the bolster in place although, if they are a tight fit, this may not be necessary.

The bogies I have bought have been "rust brown" in colour so I have have airbrushed them (Revell 9 "Anthracite") before reassembling them.  The current production are available in black, judging by the website photo, which would be better.

The 50-ton roller bearing bogies are not sprung, and are cast in one piece.  I haven't actually used this type, but I have seen some that have been converted to Sn3½ (and there are no springs to lose).

Update - 23 January 2014

To simplify regauging of the Bettendorf bogies, I have designed a new bolster for 3D printing.  The first test prints arrived today and they seem to have worked very well.

Bettendorf bogies with 3D-printed bolsters (grey)