Grateful for Shapeways

[TiVoPrince]

Fingers 
look like crinkle fries...

[Alaska Railroader]

I think a class is needed for me...

Chris, I'm with you on this. Stony Smith told me that knowing CorelDRAW like I do I should have no problem drawing 3D models. Wrong answer. I cannot wrap my brain around making my 2D drawings into 3D. But I learn fast when shown and I would love the class. My preference would definitely be Solidworks as well, or Truespace which is what Stony uses frequently.

As for fluid inside a FUD solid, it is in there on many models I have bought from Stony at Shapeways. He puts a drain hole or two but without Bestine all of that liquid wax wants to stay inside. If there are no drainage holes I wonder if over time it will ooze out and through any primer or paint. The advantage of making the model hollow is to save (lots) money.

[DKS]

As for fluid inside a FUD solid, it is in there on many models I have bought from Stony at Shapeways. He puts a drain hole or two but without Bestine all of that liquid wax wants to stay inside. If there are no drainage holes I wonder if over time it will ooze out and through any primer or paint. The advantage of making the model hollow is to save (lots) money.

Different kind of "fluid." But this is interesting nonetheless.

[Ian MacMillan]

SketchUp is something I would like to learn so that I do some things with Shapeways. Last time I used anything CAD was AutoCAD back in high school shop class.

[Dave Schneider]

I am starting to play with Sketchup once again after a long layoff, with these as the desired result for printing a master in Shapeways. Non-working.  I am assuming it should be partly hollow to reduce cost, and doing the pole and the bracket/light as separate pieces. Any thoughts on this?



Best wishes, Dave

[Alaska Railroader]

I am starting to play with Sketchup once again after a long layoff, with these as the desired result for printing a master in Shapeways. Non-working.  I am assuming it should be partly hollow to reduce cost, and doing the pole and the bracket/light as separate pieces. Any thoughts on this?

Dave, you may very likely run into thickness restrictions with Shapeways for this model even before you try to hollow it out. FUD may be the only material which will allow you the thin allowances. FUD is the most fragile material. I am trying to recall the limits but I think it is about 1.5 mm for the walls and that is snapping-in-pieces thickness on long thin products especially. Were you also going to pass wire up through the inside? I always allow for breakage during shipping when I order SW models....

[Ian MacMillan]

Maybe design it so its not completely hollow, maybe just a channel that could fit some small brass tube up through it?

[BCR 570]

I can confirm that Sketchup is fairly easy to learn with the instructional videos, but I would add that, like any computer programme, you need to use it regularly in order to retain the
knowledge.

I used Sketchup to draw the benchwork for my layout.  This was to learn how to use the program:




I then moved on to scale drawings of the Chetwynd and Dawson Creek station/freight sheds:




As for Shapeways, the shells I ordered for the BCR GF6C and the PGE cabooses were terrible - not worth working with.  I have since had several smaller items rendered and they have turned out quite well.  Here are some fuel tanks for a flatcar:




The Shapeways results will improve when they are able to specify build orientation for their customers.


Tim

[DKS]

I am starting to play with Sketchup once again after a long layoff, with these as the desired result for printing a master in Shapeways. Non-working.  I am assuming it should be partly hollow to reduce cost, and doing the pole and the bracket/light as separate pieces. Any thoughts on this?

More than wall thickness, I'd be concerned about warping. I had some long thin parts similar to this rendered in FUD, and they wound up almost looking like a banana.

[Dave Schneider]

Thanks for the thoughts folks. Maybe I need to just do the arm and the "bulb" and work out a different method for the tapered pole. Again, open to suggestions.

Best wishes, Dave

Edit: A friend just sent me info on these:
http://www.holophane.com/products/family.asp?brand=hlp&family=Milwaukee%20Lanterns&producttype=Outdoor&category=Decorative&subcategory=Historical

All I need to do is shrink cast it!

[bbussey]

Chris, I'm with you on this. Stony Smith told me that knowing CorelDRAW like I do I should have no problem drawing 3D models. Wrong answer. I cannot wrap my brain around making my 2D drawings into 3D. But I learn fast when shown and I would love the class. My preference would definitely be Solidworks as well, or Truespace which is what Stony uses frequently.

As for fluid inside a FUD solid, it is in there on many models I have bought from Stony at Shapeways. He puts a drain hole or two but without Bestine all of that liquid wax wants to stay inside. If there are no drainage holes I wonder if over time it will ooze out and through any primer or paint. The advantage of making the model hollow is to save (lots) money.

I use both CorelDraw and SolidWorks.  The 2D drawings are extruded to create 3D shapes.  You have to break down the complex object you are attempting to replicate into the most simple of geometric shapes, and build it one piece (one extruded element) at a time.  Think of it as constructing a large complex model from simple Lego blocks.

[DKS]

Chris, I'm with you on this. Stony Smith told me that knowing CorelDRAW like I do I should have no problem drawing 3D models. Wrong answer.

Actually, the SketchUp interface is more akin to CorelDRAW than most other 3D tools. I could have you drawing simple 3D shapes using SketchUp in twenty minutes.

[robert3985]

Actually, the SketchUp interface is more akin to CorelDRAW than most other 3D tools. I could have you drawing simple 3D shapes using SketchUp in twenty minutes.

Yup.  SketchUp works well for me and the learning curve is pretty easy, especially with all the online tutorials available.

[robert3985]

I too am grateful for Shapeways if for nothing else than these "Q" trucks which I have been dreaming about for decades, which are available through Panamint Models thanks to Eric Cox. 

THANKS Shapeways and Eric!!

Here are a set of Eric's trucks mounted on an MTL CA wooden caboose which I'm working on.  WOW!  What a difference they make and they're so much better than Bachmann Old-Timer trucks that I'm trashing all of those I've used over the years.

[Alaska Railroader]

I could have you drawing simple 3D shapes using SketchUp in twenty minutes.

DEAL!