Cows

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Yes, cows. The sort currently blamed for global warming. I need some for another Gauge 3 cattle wagon but most toy versions are too large. Years ago Pat Maslin supplied me with some but she has since given up her dolls house business.

I did buy one from a well known garden railway supplier a few years ago as they assured me they fitted inside a Gauge 3 cattle wagon, and it sort of does - standing on its own longitudinally in the centre! The usual Schleck are too large as they need to fit across the wagon - 100mm overall length! Long horn would be nice but really anything will do.

Any suggestions please?

Mike
 

Ian_T

Western Thunderer
And I'd like a G3 horse (or two) Mike.

3D printing has to be one possible solution to this problem but I'm not clever enough to design one for myself and although there are cows (and horses) on Thingiverse - they will most likely need scaling (which is possible in Cura as Ralph has mentioned elsewhere). I've also found some 1/24th 'people' on TV but I haven't tried printing any yet...still playing with vacuum hose adaptors and similar workshop stuff.

IanT
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
You set me thinking Ian and there is one on Shapeways which claims to be 1:24, but at £28 that makes a wagon full cost considerably more than the wagon itself.

Mike
 

Sleeper Agent

Active Member
I did try having a good look about yesterday but they were all around 13cm long or a fortune i'm afraid. To clarify you say they need to be no longer than 10cm? I can ask one or two G1ers I know for some dimensions but the height of the models used in a certain TV show will likely be too low.
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Thank you. Yes, a Gauge 3 cattle wagon is roughly 100mm wide. Heads can be turned or bits chopped off (ouch!) and I usually alter them so they're not identical anyway, but around that.

Mike
 

Ian_T

Western Thunderer
Just out of curiosity Mike - I downloaded a "Cow" .stl file from TV and loaded it into Cura. It was quite a small cow (about 18mm along the Y axis), so I scaled it x4 on all axis and then sliced it...so in theory this is now printable but in practice it looks like some careful support will be needed (and also perhaps some variable 'infill') - which I know can all be done using Cura if you are a Whizz...which I'm not at the moment I'm afraid...

upload_2020-2-13_15-30-2.png

Busy printing other parts at the moment but (in principle) it seems 3DP 'Cows' might be do'able without going crazy on costs - if we can eventually figure out the more esoteric stuff...

Regards,

IanT
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Ian,

we use Cura with an Ultimaker at work, though I’m far from expert with it. I suspect you could save both resin and support material by doing a bit of reverse butchery with your cow.

Assuming you’re using FDM, it would probably be easiest to bisect the beast vertically, and print the two halves - which could be hollow or simply low density fill with a shell. They can then be glued back together.

Given that the details of the underside are probably hidden in the shadows, it might even be worth slicing into more parts. A central slice & two sides would allow the legs to be printed directly on the support plate, with, perhaps, no support material at all, although I imagine you might want to print the head separately in this case.

Perhaps worth noting that a quick blast with the hot air paint stripper will allow some creative posing of your bovine products...

hth
Simon
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Thanks Jelle Jan. Not sure that I've seen those before. Will check them out for size.

Thanks also Ian - fascinating and I guess some of the worst surface finishes seen on solid printed parts are not important here!

Mike
 

Ian_T

Western Thunderer
Hallo Simon,

I've managed to lay the beast over on it's side and lower it into the (Cura) floor, which should be easier to print I think (less support needed).
The cow model is not quite symmetrical in shape but I think it would print OK in halves (given a bit more understanding on my part...)

upload_2020-2-13_20-47-42.png

The blue horizontal line is the print 'floor' Mike - it's a bit of a cheat because I don't have access to the original CAD design, so cannot modify the original model - just manipulate how it's printed via the print parameters...such as scale (as suggested by Ralph) & position.

Anyway, that's enough 'Cow' for me tonight, the Grandchildren are here over the weekend so I urgently need to clear all my things away from small (curious) fingers... :)

IanT
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
One of our concrete cows in Milton Keynes went on a 12 month world tour a few years back. The world has gone mad!

Mike
 

Rob R

Western Thunderer
Best uk price I could find for the Prieser cows on the www was £14 - each (ouch!).
A hollow 3d print may well be the best option.

Rob
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Rob

Or a 3DP mould so you can cast your own herd...

Ian

Please can you post a link to the CAD - I might be able to “adopt adapt & improve”!

atb
Simon
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
I thought about casting my own in resin, but I am at the simple flat-backed mould stage and think a cow with lumps and bumps, horns, legs etc would be a step too far for my skills at this stage. But if solid printed in two halves I might manage that OK.

Mike
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Thanks Markjj but I've tried them and they are much too big.

Best bet so far seems to be solidprint, or buy an expensive one, cut in half and cast at home. these are NOT for sale of course, just for my own use.

Mike
 
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