My printing progress (WAS: My first print attempt)

[Sokramiketes]

Exactly!  Who do you think is designing all the ESM product? 

Haha, of course its you.  A more accurate comment might be, damn, that R&D department is getting all the resources and you need to amp up production capacity!  Then we (I) can just write checks.  Like the lazy people we (I) are (am). 

[Maletrain]

This clear resin thing is giving me some hopes of being able to some day buy all those car sides and fitted window "glass" that I will need to model 6 trains worth of B&O's extremely eclectic passenger cars.

[bbussey]

I got some of the models in primer.  I'm stunned at how well the round roof Erie car rendered.  This is before any putty filling on the roof ends.  Other than filling and sanding those seams, there are no other sections to sand or file.  I may lightly sand the roof stepping, but it really isn't apparent unless you get within six inches, and even then it's negligible.  No visible layering on the sides even when blown up to O scale.





I primed one of the FGE reefer body test shots.  Not very much to fix, if any.  It's basically just a better positioning of the build supports that's required.  The starter indentations to drill #80 holes for BLMA grab irons are crisply present, including on the vertical end ribs.   





And I'm nearly finished with the Strick drop-frame trailer in the Stone's Express configuration.  There's some minor offsetting on the sides due to the cross supports that are keeping the sides vertical.  At this point, I'm not going to worry about it.  All the rivet detail is present and visible, as are all the marker lights.  The roof edge underneath needs to be filled in for resin casting, I forgot to do that.  I broke edges of this sample not being careful.  The other three that were printed with it are perfect.  They can be built into models as is, but I'll need to fix the roof and render again to get a final casting master.







I'm going through more resin by printing multiples on every run.  But it guarantees I'll get at least one good model each time and usually more than one.  Four sets of Strick trailer bodies and floors printed but I damaged one of the bodies while removing the support material.  As it turned out, the roof has an imperfection which could have been fixed had the rest of the body been intact.  Two of three Erie boxcars rendered perfectly.  On the R7, four bodies rendered but I damaged one removing the supports.  Three of four roofs rendered and 12 of 15 ice hatches rendered perfectly.
 
Going to attempt to get one of the Erie boxcars and the three Stone's Express trailers completed by the end of next week.  If I have enough Atlas parts, I'll attempt to finish the second Erie boxcar as well.

[Chris333]

So it's been a few weeks. Where is the HH660? 

[kiwi_al]

So it's been a few weeks. Where is the HH660? 

You already built one - remember? 

[Chris333]

Yes I did.

[bbussey]

So it's been a few weeks. Where is the HH660? 

Still in the designing phase.

[bbussey]

The experimentation continues to see what the limitations and quirks are of this printing process. GMC PD4501 Scenicruisers. Been trying for years to render them in Shapeways and currently it’s decent but requires significant follow up work, and that’s if the ProJets are in perfect calibration. These prints appear to need only some minor sanding on the roof to smooth out the stepping. Some of the supports on the body could be shifted inward, but I should be able to work with these.

Is it within reason to 3D print all of the glass?  It might be. It sure would make it easier in having the curved rear windows and skylights match the body contour.

[kiwi_al]

The experimentation continues to see what the limitations and quirks are of this printing process. GMC PD4501 Scenicruisers. Been trying for years to render them in Shapeways and currently it’s decent but requires significant follow up work, and that’s if the ProJets are in perfect calibration. These prints appear to need only some minor sanding on the roof to smooth out the stepping. Some of the supports on the body could be shifted inward, but I should be able to work with these.

Is it within reason to 3D print all of the glass?  It might be. It sure would make it easier in having the curved rear windows and skylights match the body contour.

Quick, hide it Daniel might see it I remember a thread in which Daniel (@daniel_leavitt2000 ) labored over creating a better one from Bachmanns versions, must have been a few years ago!! It was really well done too.

[Chris333]

Wasnt it Randy that highly modified one?

[bbussey]

Brian has a resin cast version also among his excellent vehicles.  But I've had my digital model for many years, before any of those surfaced.  Technology hadn't advanced to the point where I could render it cleanly, until now.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Quick, hide it Daniel might see it I remember a thread in which Daniel (@daniel_leavitt2000 ) labored over creating a better one from Bachmanns versions, must have been a few years ago!! It was really well done too.

I never finished it. I think someone else did complete theirs (@randgust maybe?) and it looked good. I got as far as removing a few FEET of width and replacing all the fluted areas but gave up when I couldn't locate decals.

@bbussey Will these be available as a kit in the future? Would you be open to other bus projects in the future? We really need RTS commuter buses and 80-90's vintage MCI inter city buses.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

ESM needs a subscription service.

[John]

ESM needs a subscription service.

I don't see mass 3D printing as a very lucrative enterprise unless you can do it at scale .. the design process alone eats up a lot of time ..  take a look at this article

https://3drific.com/can-i-make-money-with-a-3d-printer-and-how/

One of the more successful in this area is Baldylox .. he has a lot of designs on Shapeways, but recently moved his print on demand to etsy ..

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BaldyloxDesigns?ref=hpsh

[up__1995]

John, good point. That is where the "value" is, however. With the low barrier to entry, many can acquire such printers. Only a subset can market and "sell" those skills. The designs (IP) are the true value.