Crowdfunding: Fairbanks Morse Erie Builts

[orionfield]

We have a new crowdfunding campaign going for N scale Fairbanks Morse Erie Builts. These would be designed to fit on the Kato PA frame. We intend to do at least 3 versions. the single headlight PRR prototype, the dual headlight ATSF prototype, and the Milwaukee Road Prototype with corrugated nose and dual headlights. As usual, the funding period will last for 30 days, although after 24 hours 20% are already sold.

https://outoftheboxmodels.com/collections/crowdfunding-projects/products/crowdfunding-n-scale-fairbanks-morse-erie-built

Let me know if you have any questions!

[sd45elect2000]

We have a new crowdfunding campaign going for N scale Fairbanks Morse Erie Builts. These would be designed to fit on the Kato PA frame. We intend to do at least 3 versions. the single headlight PRR prototype, the dual headlight ATSF prototype, and the Milwaukee Road Prototype with corrugated nose and dual headlights. As usual, the funding period will last for 30 days, although after 24 hours 20% are already sold.

https://outoftheboxmodels.com/collections/crowdfunding-projects/products/crowdfunding-n-scale-fairbanks-morse-erie-built

Let me know if you have any questions!

I bit for two of them but I didn't see a selection button for the Milwaukee road version.

Randy

[u18b]

So..... Is this a Shapeways shell that people are buying?

$10 actually seems low.


Sorry I'm confused.

[Cajonpassfan]

So..... Is this a Shapeways shell that people are buying?

$10 actually seems low.


Sorry I'm confused.

So am I. Confused.
I really want to like this idea, but I don't *know* just what it is people are buying. I think I'll sit back and wait...
I do hope my skepticism is shown to be misplaced.
Otto K.

[thomasjmdavis]

There is only one button.  How do I order a B unit?  How do I specify ATSF?

[Mark5]

What is being done for window glass, headlight lens, or numberboards?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Looking at their website, creating custom injection molded parts is $150. How can this be? The aluminum or steel billet costs more than that.

What machine are they designed to connect to? How complex can the tooling get? Are we talking a two piece mold? Six? What about complex tooling that requires a drop insert?

The pricing just doesn't seem realistic.

This is a real question, as I would be willing to drop a few grand to make appropriate passenger cars for the MBTA in injection molded plastic. But the quotes I have gotten so far have run from 25,000-75,000 depending on detail and features.

[Atlas Paul]

Looking at their website, creating custom injection molded parts is $150. How can this be? The aluminum or steel billet costs more than that.

What machine are they designed to connect to? How complex can the tooling get? Are we talking a two piece mold? Six? What about complex tooling that requires a drop insert?

The pricing just doesn't seem realistic.

This is a real question, as I would be willing to drop a few grand to make appropriate passenger cars for the MBTA in injection molded plastic. But the quotes I have gotten so far have run from 25,000-75,000 depending on detail and features.

And wait until you hit the MBTA licensing requirements...

[DKS]

Since everything else Out of the Box makes is 3D printed, we must assume these are as well.

However... I'll attempt to be as tactful as possible in recommending that OOTB rework that funding page with significantly more information. I would otherwise consider it sufficiently lacking in basic facts as to render it suspicious in nature.

And considering that tooling exists for Erie Builts, has anyone thought to lobby the owners of said tooling for a new run, rather than reinvent the wheel with inferior 3D printed product?

[towl1996]

Any body want to buy shares in the cryptocurrency company I'm starting? The limited time initial offering is $1.00 per share, with a minimum 10,000 share purchase. Forget Bitcoin. Get in early to see huge profits and buy all the trains your heart desires.

[thomasjmdavis]

Since everything else Out of the Box makes is 3D printed, we must assume these are as well.

However... I'll attempt to be as tactful as possible in recommending that OOTB rework that funding page with significantly more information. I would otherwise consider it sufficiently lacking in basic facts as to render it suspicious in nature.

And considering that tooling exists for Erie Builts, has anyone thought to lobby the owners of said tooling for a new run, rather than reinvent the wheel with inferior 3D printed product?

Or just buy the tooling from them- as they just sold all their passenger car tooling to Lowell Smith, perhaps they would part with some other N scale tooling.  Did the LifeLike Eries share the frame of a LL PA?  If so, maybe they would do a run of PA chassis for you too, ala the recent run of SW chassis- some of which appear to have gone to MT, and they ran a few extra to put under their recent run of SW1200s.  That way, we could have Eries, and anyone who wanted a new PA would also be in luck.

[coosvalley]

He's organized enough to ask for $, but still cannot provide any photos, always some response about being away for months. His "vendor" seems to be an ever changing thing. Prices quoted seem way too low.At one point products were going to be 3D printed with color and lettering. Nothing that is ever shown is printed at max resolution.

I like the idea here, but this seems like he just might be a dethroned Nigerian prince too, hard to tell at this point.

[peteski]

He's organized enough to ask for $, but still cannot provide any photos, always some response about being away for months. His "vendor" seems to be an ever changing thing. Prices quoted seem way too low.At one point products were going to be 3D printed with color and lettering. Nothing that is ever shown is printed at max resolution.

I like the idea here, but this seems like he just might be a dethroned Nigerian prince too, hard to tell at this point.

I'm pretty sure he is legit, but might be biting a bit more than he can chew (at least at this stage of his business venture).  However, since I have no funds invested here, I have nothing to lose if I'm wrong.

[DKS]

Hurry! Only 15 units left!

Out of how many total?

[orionfield]

Okay, let me try and address some concerns here.

So..... Is this a Shapeways shell that people are buying?

$10 actually seems low.


Sorry I'm confused.

We are eating the 3D Print cost on the crowdfunding projects as a thank you for your support. Most Likely it will printed on our new From2 printer, when we get it, which prints in resin, and has a resolution somewhere between Shapeways FXD and FUD.

So am I. Confused.
I really want to like this idea, but I don't *know* just what it is people are buying. I think I'll sit back and wait...
I do hope my skepticism is shown to be misplaced.
Otto K.

Essentially, you are paying a small part of the CAD Development cost, and as a thank you for your help, you get a model once the development is complete.

There is only one button.  How do I order a B unit?  How do I specify ATSF?

Once we sell out, and development starts, I will email you and ask you what road you want and what combination of A and B units you would want.

What is being done for window glass, headlight lens, or numberboards?

3D printed as well, and either 3D Printed clear, or cast in clear resin, still figuring out which path to take.

Looking at their website, creating custom injection molded parts is $150. How can this be? The aluminum or steel billet costs more than that.

What machine are they designed to connect to? How complex can the tooling get? Are we talking a two piece mold? Six? What about complex tooling that requires a drop insert?

The pricing just doesn't seem realistic.

This is a real question, as I would be willing to drop a few grand to make appropriate passenger cars for the MBTA in injection molded plastic. But the quotes I have gotten so far have run from 25,000-75,000 depending on detail and features.

I think something may have been misread here. Our Custom Models page, which to my own fault is out of date now that we have flat rates for 3D Printed train and ship models. Injection Molding has never offered injection molding for $150. That service starts at $1400 as quoted to us by our vendor Xcentric Mold & Engineering.

Since everything else Out of the Box makes is 3D printed, we must assume these are as well.

However... I'll attempt to be as tactful as possible in recommending that OOTB rework that funding page with significantly more information. I would otherwise consider it sufficiently lacking in basic facts as to render it suspicious in nature.

And considering that tooling exists for Erie Builts, has anyone thought to lobby the owners of said tooling for a new run, rather than reinvent the wheel with inferior 3D printed product?

Thank you for catching that mistake. I thought that I had put 3D printed in the description for the crowdfunding page, but that has since been fixed. I had a similar discussion with the customer who nominated this crowdfunding effort, and he told me that due to the age of the mold and and scarcity of available models, the Erie Builts would be a good candidate to be redone, and with more Road specific details.

He's organized enough to ask for $, but still cannot provide any photos, always some response about being away for months. His "vendor" seems to be an ever changing thing. Prices quoted seem way too low.At one point products were going to be 3D printed with color and lettering. Nothing that is ever shown is printed at max resolution.

I like the idea here, but this seems like he just might be a dethroned Nigerian prince too, hard to tell at this point.

I have tried to be as open, available and transparent as I possibly can, which is why I post here, so you guys can see how things are done, and to keep Out of the Box from being some mystery. Its essentially a one man company. I have some friends who help me here and there with things, but its basically just me.

Out of the Box is not my primary job, I work for a Technology Consulting company in Santa Clara, CA, called Tavant Technologies, as a User Experience Architect. Because of the nature of the consulting industry, I have to travel to client offices for weeks or months at a time, working 60 hours a week. I try and put as much time as I can into Out of the Box, but as you can probably imagine, its not easy, especially with such a demanding day job. Unlike some other 3D printing model companies, I don't know how to design anything in CAD, so I have to hire freelance engineers to do it, which is why I charge for things.

Yes, I have changed 3D printing vendors a few times in the one year we have been in business. We started with Shapeways, then when the crystallization issues started to get people concerned, we moved to a local company called GoEngineer in Santa Clara, CA near where I work for my day job, but they kept raising their prices on us, and imposing a $250 minimum order, which just wasn't sustainable for us, so we moved back to shapeways for the time being until we get our own Form2 3D printer.

The reason that we're only charging $10 is because our main goal is to fund the development of the shells, and we are willing to eat the cost of our investors prints.

I've been building models for over 20 year, and I got tired of waiting for the big manufacturers to make what I wanted. So I took matters into my own hands, and tried to create something new, that empowered other modelers to dictate what would be made, so everyone has the opportunity to get what they want.

Out of how many total?

25.