E33, E44, EF-3 Electrics in FUD (Shapeways)

[bbussey]

There is a poster over on trainboard that did an RP steam loco boiler and I have to say, there is no visible resolution issues. The only problem that shows up is an artifact from his drawing in as the boiler isn't round but a flat segmented circle. The steam domes look like they were cast plastic ...

I would want to see the parts fully cleaned of wax before passing final judgement.  Most people I suspect are not removing the wax residue, which can act as a "smoothing" agent.  The models would have the appearance of white ABS if they were cleaned, and would show the stepping issues more clearly.  All of the models mentioned are coated with a healthy layer of wax in the photos released to date.

[JoeD]

Sweet,  I hope the surface finish is better than most of the FUD I've seen.   The trend these days from folks doing a lot of RP work is to show these cool transparent parts, but almost never one painted.  Still we are moving towards some exciting stuff in the near future as the technology catches up with model railroading 

Joe

[SkipGear]

The picture of the steam dome and generator posted earlier was of the painted / finished part.

Steam dome - http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/attachment.php?attachmentid=44882&d=1334608829


Here is a painted finished whole loco. The only issue is the boiler and that is not banding, it was due to the poor resolution of his graphics program. Instead of a circle, the boiler is 28 facets connected to make a circle. This doesn't show up in the smaller domes and such. The handrails are even printed on the model...


Complete model - http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/attachment.php?attachmentid=44759&d=1333843923

[bbussey]

I saw those as well.   But they are painted.  There is no way to know if the wax was fully removed underneath.  And I know for a fact what resolution Shapeways - or rather, the contractor they use in the Netherlands - uses for their ProJet3000 (not ProJet3000Plus) items, and it's half of what the resolution of the ESM White Tower buildings are.

And regarding printed handrails and grabs, The E44 designer states on his thread that he thickened the diameter to .6mm (~.024in) in order to satisfy Shapeways minimums.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Yeah, I saw that. For christ sake, just etch the damn parts!

[Zox]

But they are painted.  There is no way to know if the wax was fully removed underneath.

So maybe leaving the wax on these models is the key to hiding the jaggies? 

...just etch the ... parts!

Building 3-D computer models and etching metal parts require slightly different toolsets.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I realize that, but if you are going to go 95% of the way, just do it right. Look at Kaslo kits with resin bodies and etched parts, or ESM.

[JoeD]

There are systems out there that seem to do a real good job of making smooth parts.  I still do some sculpting for my old boss the mouse from time to time so I visit a lot of sites that feature different techniques to keep up on trends.  I am seeing a lot of 1/35 and 1/24 scale figure models being produced in RP that are down right amazing.  I assume there is some clean up, but considering the detail, you need to start with something pretty close.

Joe

[bbussey]

The idea is being able to take advantage of the medium without it costing an arm and a leg - or costing the equivalent of traditional injection molding.  The RP/etching hybrid is a viable solution, once the shrink factors of the ProJet material is specifically determined.  I have the official XY shrinkage percentages from the material manufacturer, but they have proven to be close rather than exact.   I'm also confirming with my etching contractor that there is no deviation in the artwork during the photoetching process.  Once I have all of my shrinkage factors, the RP/etching method will work as a stop-gap option until RP advances to the next level.

[JoeD]

Here is one site that uses 3d modeling to produce some amazing work.  I wonder what format they are using to get this kind of detail and organic flow?   http://industriamechanika.com/blog/shop-industria-mechanika/sasha-the-welding-girl/    And these...http://industriamechanika.com/blog/shop-industria-mechanika/ian-mcques-deckhands-series-1/   I ordered the deck hand figures to go with a Gauge 1 (1/32) Dio featuring a Virginian Battleship Gondola for a customer.  They have a "coal belt" look about them and I think they will really set the scene for me.

Joe

[VGN50]

Joe,

Glad to hear you're becoming familiar with Battleship Gondolas.

Mark

[lashedup]

Here is one site that uses 3d modeling to produce some amazing work.  I wonder what format they are using to get this kind of detail and organic flow?   http://industriamechanika.com/blog/shop-industria-mechanika/sasha-the-welding-girl/    And these...http://industriamechanika.com/blog/shop-industria-mechanika/ian-mcques-deckhands-series-1/   I ordered the deck hand figures to go with a Gauge 1 (1/32) Dio featuring a Virginian Battleship Gondola for a customer.  They have a "coal belt" look about them and I think they will really set the scene for me.

Joe

Joe it says that they are doing runs of resin models (those deck hands are an initial run of 200). So the question is how are they creating the masters? Obviously there is CAD involved, but if they are using a Perfactory machine (for example) to make the master, then that could be it. Perfactory output is still expensive in most cases I've seen so far. However Perfactory 3D output is some of the best I've seen.

-jamie

[JoeD]

They are using some sort of solids program to draw the figures simular to that used in CG animation.  You can actually go on a number of sites and buy solids artwork that can be done with RP  I bought some vehicles that were solid models and had them test run and they came out pretty nice.  A program like  Maya  http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/ would do it.

JOe

[squirrelhunter]

Brian, what it the problem with leaving the wax on the FUD? If the guy in trainboard did that the paint seemed to adhere, so it it an issue of having a very fragile top layer or is it hard to get pain to adhere to the wax?

[bbussey]

Well, wax isn't a stable surface.  I guess as long as the models are handled gingerly, or not handled at all, it wouldn't be an issue.  But since it's best to have a clean surface for the best paint adhesion, I don't see how having a wax top coat is conducive to that.