White Tower

[bbussey]

It came out far cleaner than I thought as far as the layer-building is concerned, although there is some residue wax in nooks and crannies leftover from the support during the building process that must be removed.  I've learned through correspondence with Shapeways on other issues that they put the FUD pieces in an oven at 60° C to melt away the wax support structure.  That could be done to remove the remaining wax.  But the melting point of the FUD isn't much greater than that, so that's a risk.

It seems the larger and thicker the item, the less chance of layers to be visible - which bodes well for rolling stock and motive power bodyshells down the line.  I'm most impressed with the curvature of the tower at the top, as there appears to be little if any visible stepping - not to the naked eye anyway.  I'll be pleased if the finish is consistently like this, but the potential for uneven consistency is my biggest worry.  The floor is tight sliding into the exterior, so that clearance must be increased.  I may thicken the window bars slightly as well, as they appear to be absent in one spot.  This pilot model is before the lettering was modified.  I also have to compensate for the ½% FUD shrinkage factor.  I think one more test shot is in order before making it available for sale.  I must admit that I'm much more optimistic about the process after seeing this than I have been with other parts I've seen.  More pics here:

http://www.esmc.com/webpics/bldgs/WTpilot1.jpg
http://www.esmc.com/webpics/bldgs/WTpilot2.jpg
http://www.esmc.com/webpics/bldgs/WTpilot3.jpg
http://www.esmc.com/webpics/bldgs/WTpilot4.jpg
http://www.esmc.com/webpics/bldgs/WTpilot5.jpg

[ljudice]

Really nice!!!

[delamaize]

Hey Brian, this guy has been using acetone to clean his.
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/37685-n-scale-london-underground-1995-stock/page__st__25
I'm actually going to order a set of these from him, I make it a habit to buy at least one piece of rolling stock, if not a whole consist from every country I visit, if it is avaible. I have quite a bit from germany, a french passenger consist, Swiss rack railway consist, a Czech freight car, an Italin freight car, and I am choosing the tube train for my british set, Although, it is British N scale, so it is 1/148th insted of 1/160th. Meh, Oh well.....

[bbussey]

The clock is REALLY tiny by the way, smaller than I thought it would be.  You can see it on the wall and deduce it's a clock, but I wouldn't bother painting the face detail.

[sirenwerks]

The clock is REALLY tiny by the way.

Whatch you talkin' about, Willis? What clock?

[DKS]

Excellent work, Bryan.

Hey Brian, this guy has been using acetone to clean his.
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/37685-n-scale-london-underground-1995-stock/page__st__25

I'd be reluctant to use acetone. I use heptane (rubber cement thinner) on my RP items. Heptane readily dissolves wax, but leaves just about all plastics unscathed.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I use a specific cleaner to remove wax. I'll dig it up when I get home. It works great with FUD style products. I used with with lots of sucess with MMM vehicles.

[bbussey]

Whatch you talkin' about, Willis? What clock?

The clock over the storage unit behind the counter.

I finished the corrections and uploaded, then ordered a second pilot model.  The price jumped $1 so the selling price will be $21 instead of $20.

[TiVoPrince]

Makes 
me think that something common like an In-N-Out burger double drive thru would be possible...

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Yeah.. if only they were in Boston. Thats basically all I ate when I was in LA in July.

[SkipGear]

Makes 
me think that something common like an In-N-Out burger double drive thru would be possible...

I know where there is a master to copy.....



There are more photo's in his album.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/2328

[jnevis]

The wife was amazed at the detail in such a small model.  I really like it.

Now for In-n-Out.... must  have.... October trip to LA...

[TiVoPrince]

If  
In-N-Out were in Atlanta, I would weigh in at 400 pounds...

[bbussey]

I use a specific cleaner to remove wax. I'll dig it up when I get home. It works great with FUD style products. I used with with lots of sucess with MMM vehicles.

Daniel, do you remember the name of that cleaner?  I want to add to the PDF instructions both that and the heptane as suggestions for removing the residue wax.

[sizemore]

When can I buy it?

 
The S.