Drawing the N scale Baldwin RT 624

[dougnelson]

Hi James:

Those photos are of the Shapeways product, not the XCD, correct?  It looks great.

Also to confirm, does it fit the Atlas C-628 and C-630 equally well?  Or is one preferred?

Thanks,
Doug Nelson

[Jamesn320]

Hi Doug, Yep, that is the Shapeways FUD.  I have only used C-628 chassis, mainly because that was what was available at the time but thanks to the works of Mark (spookshow) on his N scale encyclopaedia I believe the chassis to be identical.

-James

[carlso]

James,

really fantastic design work, great job. I don't think the SP had any of these beasts, however I could refer to model railroading rule#1 and paint an SP fantasy scheme on one. Wouldn't that beast look good with Black Widow paint scheme on both ends. Oh my gosh, I might beat Con-Cor to the punch. LOL.

At any rate, very nice work and thanks for adding to our N Scale choices.

Carl

[randgust]

The first 'long' Shapeways piece I got I painted with Badger, and was rather stunned how badly it warped.  The only thing I can suggest is to treat it like you were doing a Basswood sheet; i.e. paint both the inside and outside and hope that the warp offsets itself.   The material is a lot more porous than it looks.

[Jamesn320]

Hi Carlos,

Yep a SP Black Widow RT-624 would look very nice!  As far as painting goes randgust is right, the material is porous but having now sprayed several DT-6-6-2000 shells, very similar to the RT-624, I can confirm you won’t have problems with warping.  Because the cab has been designed restrain the structure it makes it very strong.  Spaying the inside as well is recommended as the will help stop the light from the circuit board shining through where you don’t want it.

-James

[Jamesn320]

Hi All,

Look what turned up in the post today!





These are 12 thou brass and should be much easier to work with than the former 8 thou sets.

I should be able to send them out on Monday.

-James

[Jesse6669]

Very nice!  Looking forward to seeing some finished models with the brass accouterments.  Great project all-in-all!

Jesse   

[SD35]

Hi James,

nice work ! The thickness of these handrails are the same like these  DT6-6-2000 handrails I got from you ?

Thanks ...........Rainer

[Jamesn320]

Hi Rainer,

No, these are thicker and wider.  The Original set of DT6 rails where 8 thou and a bit too thin.  The second run was 10 thou and much better to work with.  These are 12 thou and wider, I think they look better and are defiantly a lot stronger.  I haven’t put any on my RT yet as I am waiting for the XHD prints to arrive so I can do a comparison with the FUD.  But then I will show you what they look like on the loco.  I will also be ordering more DT6 10 thou sets in the new year.

-James

[Jamesn320]

Hi All,

The Brass Additions have been sent out and an instruction sheet for the RT-624 is available on my blog site, you can find them in shop/locomotive shells section.

Please note: that if you are going to add the brass handrails, when you cut out the 3D printed handrails don’t throw them away!  You will still need the centre section of the 3D printed end handrails as this is the link platforms.

The first set of XHD printed shells for the RT-624 are due to arrive tomorrow, I’m looking forward to seeing them.

-James

[Jamesn320]

Hi All,

I forgot to put on my instruction sheet for this locomotive that, as with my DT6-6-2000, the Atlas trucks need to be rotated 180° so that the larger spaced wheel sets are facing towards the ends of the locomotive, not into the middle.  With out this the shell will not fit properly.

If you want a new copy of my updated instruction sheet it is available though my blog or you can download it directly here https://jamestrainparts.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/rt-624-n-scale-instructions3.pdf.

-James

[HuskerN]

hey guys, a suggestion on the Shapeways FUD models....

Any vertical surface usually has some texture on it due to the printing process and the supporting material next to the model.  I see a lot of it on the example previously in this tread.  I have printed hundreds of my truck models, and unfortunately there is no way around this.  The hard part is sanding down the texture without removing the detail that you worked so hard to include in the original design. 

What I have learned on my truck models is that heavy coats of primer can make a model very smooth for final painting.  It is a "pick your poison" type of situation.  I don't like heavy paint on N scale models, but it will yield a better finish.

here is my Pete 379 with several coats of primer and then several coats of red to create a showroom type finish.  This seems to cover any texture that I couldn't remove from sanding, or any other imperfections.

I know a loco shell is different than a truck model, but they are all printed with the same materials and present the same challenges.





HuskerN
www.nscaleaddiction.blogspot.com

[carlso]

husker,

not to hi-jack the thread but that is a real nice looking truck. Based upon the size of the stacks I would guess a large Cat under the hood. Es un camion grande.

Carl

[peteski]

HuskerN, the problem is that (unlike road vehicles with mostly smooth bodies) most locomotive bodies have lots of details on them. Dozens of doors, vents and other protrusions or depressions. Heavy primer coat will pretty much obliterate or severely soften those details.

[HuskerN]

peteski,

totally agree that a loco shell is a lot different than a truck, however, I do have some big vertical surfaces on some of my trailers.  The "pick your poison" reference I made was that really the only 2 choices are to sand the texture away if you can, or "hide" it with thick paint.  Either way, there is risk of losing details. Obviously the printing is the root issue, but that is a whole other can of worms.

HuskerN