Mickoo's American Modelling Empire

[mickoo]

You have to watch the 70 tonner - it's a phase I production version. SP had the later production phase III units - the louvers (louvres) moved around.

My build of this kit is in my P48 for Cotton Belt thread post #385 et seq.


Good work on the Nohab - oh what fun. Need some DSB 26.4m coaches.

I wasn't aware of that, not really my main anorak so will see what needs changing, I think some of the SP (maybe all?) had a radiator grill at the front.

I'll grab that book in due course, which reminds me I do need to pull my finger out and get the CF7 one as well.

DSB 26.4m, nahh, I'd rather a rake of Hbis

 

[mickoo]

Mick, well done on the 70 tonner.
Wasn't 2DD Robin Arkinstall post Impetus?
There was also a nice 4w critter in the range. I didn't have the pennies then and I haven't seen one since. :-(
May I suggest a Pacific Electric version with twin trolley poles?
Rob

I'm not sure of the heritage, only that they're not common as a kit, I've seen a few already built up or maybe they were offered as RTR from the same source.

Didn't know the PE had some, I've got my eye on the Baldwin V0-1000 with trolley poles for PE

PE interurban's would be a nice juxtaposition to model, some of their later units were similar to the PRR owl face units.

A recent rash of images came up on Al Schwoerer Facebook page, always a good pictorial page if you're into San Francisco and surrounding areas transportation.

This image caught my eye, not sure if it'll be visible, it should be as his page is still public as far as I know. An eclectic view of Sacramento Northern steeple jack, one box car, another steeple jack and a caboose.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[Pencarrow]

Good to see you on the Sunday Mick and have a bit of a chinwag. Had the opportunity to have a close look at the Bulleid, some really excellent and inspiring work there old fruit.

 

[Rob R]

Didn't know the PE had some, I've got my eye on the Baldwin V0-1000 with trolley poles for PE

Apologies Mick, 44tonners with trolley poles.......

 

[mickoo]

More 3D Lego, in this case an EMD MP15 model from Atlas.

I've never been happy with the battleship plated window surrounds on RTR models, finding a solution to that will help me move forward with several projects. I've tried etch and whilst perfect for wall thickness is fiddly to fabricate and assemble, let alone delays in drawing it, modifying it and getting it posted along with associated costs.

Anyway, a quick dabble in CAD and it's better than I expected but not where I want to end up, the original MK I was a complete unit but took an age to print and no matter how it was oriented would have artifacts on the surfaces, the MK II seen here is the IKEA version with four flat packed walls, it works well and the outside corners are nice and crisp though there are a few gaps inside and I'm still trying to find a good adhesive to bond the parts. MK III has a roof section but it may not get used, either way, 3D roof or not, both will be covered in a brass sheet to give the sharp thin edge to the roof ends.

I do need to tweak a few details and look at other ways of getting better corner joints, that'll all come in MK IV and more if necessary.

Are the window surrounds thinner, well yes, a reduction from the RTR 1.8 mm to 3D 0.6 mm; in that aspect it's an improvement.

 

[Rob R]

More 3D Lego, in this case an EMD MP15 model from Atlas.

I've never been happy with the battleship plated window surrounds on RTR models, finding a solution to that will help me move forward with several projects. I've tried etch and whilst perfect for wall thickness is fiddly to fabricate and assemble, let alone delays in drawing it, modifying it and getting it posted along with associated costs.

Anyway, a quick dabble in CAD and it's better than I expected but not where I want to end up, the original MK I was a complete unit but took an age to print and no matter how it was oriented would have artifacts on the surfaces, the MK II seen here is the IKEA version with four flat packed walls, it works well and the outside corners are nice and crisp though there are a few gaps inside and I'm still trying to find a good adhesive to bond the parts. MK III has a roof section but it may not get used, either way, 3D roof or not, both will be covered in a brass sheet to give the sharp thin edge to the roof ends.

I do need to tweak a few details and look at other ways of getting better corner joints, that'll all come in MK IV and more if necessary.

Are the window surrounds thinner, well yes, a reduction from the RTR 1.8 mm to 3D 0.6 mm; in that aspect it's an improvement.

View attachment 171900

View attachment 171901

View attachment 171902

Mick,
You say printed flat.
Is that flat flat direct on the build plate, on rafts and supports parrallel to the build plate or at a n other angle but in 4 component pieces?
Rob

 

[mickoo]

Ikea flat pack, small rafted supports at 2.5 mm and 80% density, though I do go around the edges and manually edit any that might present problems later during clean up if they leave a hole.

One thing I have found with flat pack orientation is that raised items loose some of their height, probably due to the compression before printing the next layer, I increase their height by about 10-15% to compensate. You need to remember this if you then suddenly try and print the same part at an angle.



You do/will/may, almost certainly get some warping like this post cured, the worst part is the cab rear with all those openings and recesses for glazing, the part will want to 'bowl' with the depression centred on the door area on the outside, aka the supported face curls away from the build plate.

I've found increasing the layer time can help reduce this but warm water helps if it needs to be formed back, I've found natural light continues the process. Test pieces sat on the window ledge have curled quite a lot, so this one has been painted minutes after curing and drying to see if that slows/stops that continuing process.

Curling occurs less with tilted objects but then you can get warping at the edges in a different plane which are often harder to remove post curing.

 

[Rob R]

Are you removing the supports pre or post cure?
I found that curing in water (plain corporation pop in a jam jar) reduced some of my warping issues - something to do with keeping it cool and diffusing the uv supposedly....
All good fun

 

[mickoo]

Are you removing the supports pre or post cure?
I found that curing in water (plain corporation pop in a jam jar) reduced some of my warping issues - something to do with keeping it cool and diffusing the uv supposedly....
All good fun

I remove before curing and I've tried the water in jam jar approach before as well, didn't really achieve anything except get my hands wet. I use the Form curing station but turn the heater off. The trick seems to be to cure as soon as it's been washed in IPA, then heat in hot water and ease straight, assemble and paint, that seems to slow and stop warping.

 

[mickoo]

A little me time for a change, a little more work on the EMD spartan cab project (in this case the Atlas SD35 for SP with it's L shaped screen and light packages) which has been rumbling along for several years now and across several printers and etch work trials.

Not quite sure I'll keep this fabrication set up with the inset brass roof, it's strong enough but time consuming to fit into the recess and gap fill (not yet done). However the nose is signed off and the four cab walls are pretty much good to go.

Everything is modular so I can now begin to work up other cabs in EMD's catalog for other engines.

 

[simond]

Mick,

Sorry if I missed it, but is the cab made from two halves split on the diagonal, or four walls with two of four joints very well hidden?

it looks like the join-on-corner works well. Always the bit that concerns me on Parkside kits. And corner joints on lasered stuff too come to think of it.

cheers
Simon

 

[SimonT]

Mick,
what are the two objects on the top of the nose? They look firkin small - how small? There appears to be a hole in each - is that for a wire 'bolt'? Very impressive.
Simon

 

[mickoo]

Mick,

Sorry if I missed it, but is the cab made from two halves split on the diagonal, or four walls with two of four joints very well hidden?

it looks like the join-on-corner works well. Always the bit that concerns me on Parkside kits. And corner joints on lasered stuff too come to think of it.

cheers
Simon

Simon.

The cab is made up 'Ikea' flat pack style, it's the only way I can find at the moment to give the detail and reduced warpage results I want.

I'd love to be able to combine two, three or four walls into a module, but whenever I do that I get surface lines on at least one face plus warpage at some edges. If there were no window openings then it'd work a bit better but right now, four sides seems to be the best bet.





The current rendition has a rebate where the red lines are for the brass roof inset, it works but getting a smooth joint is time consuming so Mk III will have a slightly different design which means the sides can't be flat pack printed....more trial and error.

The corners are mitred and there are three domes on one face and three corresponding hollows on the other, these allow fairly good (+- 0.2 m) location. The joints are strong enough but the longevity of the joint does concern me to be honest.

 

[mickoo]

Mick,
what are the two objects on the top of the nose? They look firkin small - how small? There appears to be a hole in each - is that for a wire 'bolt'? Very impressive.
Simon

Simon,

Those are the lugs that hold the grab iron on the nose, there are similar lugs on the nose and cab sides, it's a standard US railroad fitting for grab irons.



Currently my fixing is just a small spigot.



I'll change that to a smaller spigot and nut which I think the printer will manage and trial a small sectional print.

 

[Scale7JB]

All looks fantastic, Mick!

Very impressive.

JB.

 

[jonte]

Hi Mickoo

Hope you don’t mind my interjection, but your diesel build reminded me of a couple of tweeks I made to a cheap Bachmann model during a brief dalliance with HO American.

Apart from stripping the paint and adding one or two details, I tried to replicate damaged fuel tanks after seeing an image of one such prototype.

Made from a few soldered up and annealed scraps of brass, I merely removed the plastic moulded ones on the model, but left the base in place to which I glued the new fabrications:

The body was just plonked on top for the photos, which is why it’s a warts n all shot and gives the appearance that the loco sits too high off its chassis.

As you’ve more skills in this department than I, perhaps it would create a rather unique model? I certainly never saw any other models so displayed in all the time I enjoyed my dalliance (and I was a member of the Weathering Shop).

Cheers,

jonte

 

[SimonT]

Thanks Mick. The cab is impressive but I think that nose is the Dog's wotsits.
Simon

 

[mickoo]

All looks fantastic, Mick!

Very impressive.

JB.

Long time getting here, I find it very hard to get engineering shapes to print well, I also respect my criteria may be a tad more anal than many

But slowly slowly catchy monkey and I'm getting there.

I want to find a reasonably fool proof methodology....if there is ever such a thing in 3D printing....with consistent results as I have a lot of cabs I want to work up as well as other aspects on US diesels, either as replacements for RTR junk or whole new engines; next up is a CSX GP38-3 sponge bob square pants cab. Probably slightly easier than the original EMD spartan cab as it has no rounded edges and an overhanging roof, which can be one large flat brass plate like the MP15DC can.

I also need to work up some Winnebago AC units that CSX uses, some for the GP38-3, some for the MTH SD50 conversion and possibly the MP15DC but that may come out in KCS stealth grey as yet. The SD50 is a whole new ball game as the cab is not a separate unit like it is on Atlas models and may end up as virtually a whole new front end.

The GP38-3 will almost certainly need new battery box and control cubicles under the cab, that's already sorted from my on going SD45 project so those are already signed off, I may also need to change the dynamic brake blister and may mess around with the radiator fans and grills depending on which phase I opt for.

Unbelievably CSX does have some very very old ex L&N Phase Ia engines that pretty much match the Weaver model car body, better yet, some survived long enough to be upgraded to Dash-3 status and are still on the books and look to be for some time to come.

 

[Jordan]

Mick,
what are the two objects on the top of the nose? They look firkin small - how small? There appears to be a hole in each - is that for a wire 'bolt'? Very impressive.
Simon

A question I actually knew the answer to, and Mick beat me to it by several hours!!

Love the work on the cab, Mick. Don't forget to add CF7 Angle cab to your 'eventually' list....

Jonte - great work on that fuel tank!! I bet that is quite unique in modelling circles.

 

[jonte]

A question I actually knew the answer to, and Mick beat me to it by several hours!!

Love the work on the cab, Mick. Don't forget to add CF7 Angle cab to your 'eventually' list....

Jonte - great work on that fuel tank!! I bet that is quite unique in modelling circles.

Thanks, Jordan

Jon