DIY 3D Printing

[peteski]

I am still waiting for a complete response to all of my questions on their forum. Hopefully tomorrow.

So, there is no chance you can examine those parts you had printed to tell how they were arranged? 

[Lemosteam]

So, there is no chance you can examine those parts you had printed to tell how they were arranged? 

@peteski Unfortunately based on the initial response from Shapeways, it is impossible to know how the order for those parts were arranged.  The techs have full rights to disassemble any multi-body upload as @Mark W correctly stated (I think he is secretly a tech there  ).  Those were not my parts or pictures.

In fact here is another image sent by the tech to me that, lets say has me deeply concerned for my design:



Unless of course that is how they printed this model, which is darn near perfect prior to any sanding:

[peteski]

Well, we have a confirmation of what we (I) suspected.  I agree that the upside-down printed tender and loco shells are very concerning.  I suspect it has something to do with minimizing the amount of wax used. Maybe layering wax is takes longer than layering resin?  Maybe wax in thick blocks is not dimensionally accurate?

They did the same thing with the Scenicruiser bus I got from Bryan B.  When I complained about the print orientation which resulted in poor quality of the outside surfaces Shapeways declined re-printing it in another orientation.

[BCR751]

When I complained about the print orientation which resulted in poor quality of the outside surfaces Shapeways declined re-printing it in another orientation.

Well then, as they say in the old country, "Looks like I'm S.O.L." with respect to getting the RDC-3 re-printed with a more satisfactory orientation.  I'm still going to contact them and hope for the best.

I wish there was an outfit that 3D printed only stuff for model railroads that would actually try and produce an acceptable product for its customers.  How's that for a totally unrealistic expectation? 

Doug

[p51]

As for all the comments on how much these 3D printers cost, well, doesn’t anyone else recall how much the first VCRs cost when they came out? They were into the 4-digit range, and that was in 1980’S MONEY. You can buy a blu-ray player for well less than $100 now.
The technology is beyond most of us now because it’s in its infancy. Heck, when I first saw stuff on 3D printers on TV, I was certain it was a joke as it simply didn’t make sense to me. Later, I realized it was a real thing, and years went by before I actually saw one in person (at the B&H camera store in NYC). I recently bought two prints from Shapeways, from a guy who made great prints from photo scans of two well-known gents from the RR I model. I still have no clue how to paint them as I’ve read this ‘frosted’ finish is really tough to paint:

My point is soon enough, 3D printers will be affordable and reliable. You just have to be patient.
But as for the prints above, if anyone had successfully painted something like this, please PM me as they cost WAY too much for me to mess them up.

[C855B]

... if anyone had successfully painted something like this, please PM me as they cost WAY too much for me to mess them up.

Soak in Bestine, an artist's solvent (may not be available at the moment) or Goo Gone. Goo Gone will probably need light scrubbing. The issue with painting is the support wax residue. Once that is removed they take all hobby paints very well.

[Missaberoad]

I've also had success with Simple Green (available at my local hardware store for about 4$ a bottle) in cleaning Shapeways prints...

I allow the part to soak for 30 minutes to an hour and then gently scrub with a soft tooth brush, and soap and water...

[peteski]

But as for the prints above, if anyone had successfully painted something like this, please PM me as they cost WAY too much for me to mess them up.

There is nothing scary or unusual about these. 

All you really need to do here is to clean off the wax residue (which makes these object make translucent). Since these are figures (not a polished stainless steel fluted passenger side), a little roughness of the surface might actually be beneficial.

Once the figures are free of wax, you can decorate them as you would any polystyrene or resin figure. They are actually a type of a resin.  So, I would start with a coat of primer then paint them as you usually would when decorating a human figure miniature.

[wcfn100]

The technology is beyond most of us now because it’s in its infancy.

SLA (Stereolithography) printing has been around 30 years. 


Jason

[p51]

SLA (Stereolithography) printing has been around 30 years. 

Maybe, but it wasn't commercially viable until not long ago because nobody in the public had ever heard of it until just a few years ago.
Just like lasers were being used in labs and such for a very long time before laser pointers were in the market and in the hands of the public for the first time.

[wcfn100]

Maybe, but it wasn't commercially viable until not long ago because nobody in the public had ever heard of it until just a few years ago.

Well I think you should just speak for yourself on this as everyone who was a member here 10-12 years ago knew about it.  I had my first custom SLA parts printed ten years ago.  You can search this site and find threads about this if you're interested.

The problem is we're a fringe market somewhere behind 3D printed edible pastries.  I think we need to try and piggyback on the jewelry industry but would need bigger build volumes.

Jason

[peteski]

Maybe, but it wasn't commercially viable until not long ago because nobody in the public had ever heard of it until just a few years ago.
Just like lasers were being used in labs and such for a very long time before laser pointers were in the market and in the hands of the public for the first time.

So commercially viable to you means within the reach of the general public?  Because like Jason said, stereolitography has been around since at least the 1990s.  I recall articles in technical publications showcasing that technology. I one of the names I heard those printers called was "Santa Claus Machine" because it would make anything you wanted.  These machines were very expensive (as are the most of the "serious" machines today) and were used by large companies for prototyping work. To me that means that the were already commercially viable at that time (since they weren't just experimental devices which never left the design labs) and were sold commercially by their manufacturers to the end uses (which happened to be other companies).

I'm not sure is a laser pointer is a good comparison. We can thank inexpensive semiconductor (LED-based) lasers for the laser pointer. I remember building a "laser pointer" using a surplus Helium-Neon laser tube and a high-voltage inverter back in the early 90s.  It was powered by a standard 9V battery.  It was a it bulkier than the pen-shaped pointers, but functionally it was the same thing.

Nowadays you can make a home-brewed PLA-filament 3D printer for probably less than $100, but the resolution, print quality, and overall capabilities will not be even close to the high-res printers used commercially (which is what is needed for most N scale models).

[Chris333]

When did Mark4Designs start up?

[wcfn100]

When did Mark4Designs start up?

His site says 2004.

http://www.mark4design.com/

Jason

[BCR751]

Are there any other companies out there who do 3D model RR printing to the quality we expect?  I've only ever seen Shapeways mentioned.

Doug