John Baker
Western Thunderer
If you followed my last build thread on RMWeb (Manning Wardle L Class 0-6-0 (Agenoria Kit)), you’ll know I love a good Manning Wardle. For the last year or so, on and off, I have been designing etches and castings for an Old Class I in 7mm scale, a lovely little loco that was used by contractors up and down the land.
This project has been slowly burning for about a year now whilst I have taught myself the finer points of CAD design and 3D printing, which I have thoroughly enjoyed, as well as being something I can pick up and put down as time permits. And yes, I know Slaters do a 7mm scale kit of a K class, which is very similar, if not the same, but that was part of the reason for choosing this prototype – can I do as well (or better?) than something that is commercially available? I like a challenge!
Having sent the artwork off to the etchers, I received them back all shiny and pristine. If only they stayed like that! A week or so later the castings arrived – more about them and the process over on my 3D printing threads, but I’m fairly pleased with how they have turned out.
The plan is to try and squeeze working inside motion into it – just to see if I can more than anything. That might be a step too far. Anything commercially available was too big, so I designed and had cast the necessary parts. It works, and fits, according to the 3D animation in Fusion360 that I did. But in the real world, with my less than experienced bodgings? We’ll have to wait and see.
I’ve also had a go at some wheels – I had some 3/16” axels, and wanted to try printing some wheel centres for them. I used a high tensile resin, but whether it will be durable enough for repeatably pushing the axels in and out remains to be seen. A local retired engineer turned up the tyres. Below you can see my initial attempts.
You may have seen my dabblings with learning the 3D modelling process on my 3D printing workbench thread, where there are a few more details about the castings and wheels and how I went about creating them. Find it here: JB's 3D CAD & Printing bench
Here’s everything as it arrived to me. Now to hack the frets up and see if I can remember where it all goes!
This project has been slowly burning for about a year now whilst I have taught myself the finer points of CAD design and 3D printing, which I have thoroughly enjoyed, as well as being something I can pick up and put down as time permits. And yes, I know Slaters do a 7mm scale kit of a K class, which is very similar, if not the same, but that was part of the reason for choosing this prototype – can I do as well (or better?) than something that is commercially available? I like a challenge!
Having sent the artwork off to the etchers, I received them back all shiny and pristine. If only they stayed like that! A week or so later the castings arrived – more about them and the process over on my 3D printing threads, but I’m fairly pleased with how they have turned out.
The plan is to try and squeeze working inside motion into it – just to see if I can more than anything. That might be a step too far. Anything commercially available was too big, so I designed and had cast the necessary parts. It works, and fits, according to the 3D animation in Fusion360 that I did. But in the real world, with my less than experienced bodgings? We’ll have to wait and see.
I’ve also had a go at some wheels – I had some 3/16” axels, and wanted to try printing some wheel centres for them. I used a high tensile resin, but whether it will be durable enough for repeatably pushing the axels in and out remains to be seen. A local retired engineer turned up the tyres. Below you can see my initial attempts.
You may have seen my dabblings with learning the 3D modelling process on my 3D printing workbench thread, where there are a few more details about the castings and wheels and how I went about creating them. Find it here: JB's 3D CAD & Printing bench
Here’s everything as it arrived to me. Now to hack the frets up and see if I can remember where it all goes!