3d printed GW coaches (4mm)

[The Great Bear]

Hello, first post here in a very long time...

Over the past year I've been messing around with 3d printing for coach building in 4mm. Partly as I like a challenge but also due to the non-availability of the Slaters kits and my lack of abilility to construct a brass kit and do it justice. Also, this approach means rarer diagrams I can do as well. Initially I got prints from the likes of Shapeways and then 3d hubs but since the autumn I have my own resin printer, a Phrozen Shuffle XL.

So far I have been focussing on Toplights. 57' coaches just fit in the build envelope of the printer.

Here's a picture of the printer, with a print of an E85 56' composite in progress:

To hold body in shape whilst printing and curing, there are lots of props between the sides, which then I just pop out and sand away remnants:

And here's some shots of the last coach printed, an E82 56' brake composite. The body (with a coat of primer), all one piece:

More to follow in a moment...

 

[The Great Bear]

The interior (again with primer) and again all one piece:

And the underframe, still with some printing supports attached to prevent damage:

The 3 battery boxes being to cover range of diagrams, snip off the surplus one.

I've also had a punt at the buffers, not printed in situ as too fragile to survive the printing process and my ham fistedness:

Here's all put together:

Hope you find the above of interest and I'm more than happy to answer any questions.

All the best

Jon

 

[JimG]

Jon,

These look excellent. What layer thickness are you using? I've got the Shuffle, so no coach printing for me unless I do them in bits.

Jim.

 

[The Great Bear]

Jon,

These look excellent. What layer thickness are you using? I've got the Shuffle, so no coach printing for me unless I do them in bits.

Jim.

Thank you, Jim. They are printed at 100 micron. Even at that it still takes over 9 hours to print. Initial prints had some stepping on the sides but after a lot of experimentation I have found that twisting the print 30 degrees around the longitudinal axis got smooth sides.

 

[JimG]

Jon,

That looks very good for 100 microns. I normally work at 30 microns and just today at 50 microns for some structural parts. If it took nine hours at 100 microns I could see your preference for that thickness.

I'm still fiddling around with orientations to get the best results. What resin are you using? I have stuck with Phrozen Grey so far which I got with the Shuffle.

Jim.

 

[The Great Bear]

Jon,

That looks very good for 100 microns. I normally work at 30 microns and just today at 50 microns for some structural parts. If it took nine hours at 100 microns I could see your preference for that thickness.

I'm still fiddling around with orientations to get the best results. What resin are you using? I have stuck with Phrozen Grey so far which I got with the Shuffle.

Jim.

Jim

I've tried quite a few resins: the coaches and the support structures use a lot of it The Phrozen resin I've only used a little, but heard good things about it. I tried Monocure Rapid as available in lots of places including Amazon but never really dialed it in. For now, the bodies at least I've settled on Amera Labs AMD-3 LED. This has low shrinkage, other resins there was some bowing in the coach ends, and more importantly for me is water washable, use water plus some Fairy Liquid. I'd had a vey bad skin reaction to exposure to IPA before Christmas so that I can avoid IPA is important. The Amera labs resin is toward the top end, price wise though, with shipping around £77 per litre. I'm also trying Wanhao water washable resin which is a bit cheaper but not getting good results - and I don't like the smell.

Jon

 

[simond]

Jon,

This is really impressive. The 3/4 view suggests the results are really excellent.

I’m interested in costs; you say £77 / litre, but how many 4mm coaches does a litre represent?

Best
Simon

 

[Peter Cross]

Jon,

This is really impressive. The 3/4 view suggests the results are really excellent.

I’m interested in costs; you say £77 / litre, but how many 4mm coaches does a litre represent?

Best
Simon

Even if just one, and the quality is there, without any ridges, that seem to spoil all 3D printed stuff I've seen, it's no dearer than an etched kit.

 

[JimG]

For now, the bodies at least I've settled on Amera Labs AMD-3 LED. This has low shrinkage, other resins there was some bowing in the coach ends, and more importantly for me is water washable, use water plus some Fairy Liquid. I'd had a vey bad skin reaction to exposure to IPA before Christmas so that I can avoid IPA is important. The Amera labs resin is toward the top end, price wise though, with shipping around £77 per litre. I'm also trying Wanhao water washable resin which is a bit cheaper but not getting good results - and I don't like the smell.

The Phrozen Grey is a bit more expensive - typically in the £40 region for 450ml plus carriage so I might give the Amera resin a go when I need to stock up again. Water washable is an attraction as well. I've had some skin problems with the Phrozen Grey and I'm not sure if it's the IPA or the resin. I suspect the resin since I've been using IPA as an electronic equipment cleaner for many years with no problems. I'm also looking at getting an ultrasonic bath for cleaning. At the moment I use an airbrush blowing IPA which I think has limitations when there are a lot of supports under and inside a body. I've seen a few inexpensive baths but all seem to have widely varying reviews.

Jim.

 

[The Great Bear]

Jon,

This is really impressive. The 3/4 view suggests the results are really excellent.

I’m interested in costs; you say £77 / litre, but how many 4mm coaches does a litre represent?

Best
Simon

Thanks, Simon. A tad less than three (body, interior, chassis) I reckon. Based on the volumes given in the software it should be nearer four but in practise I'm finding it's using more. Bear in mind that as per the first picture with the supports needed and also a raft on the build plate the model itself is less than half of the resin used. So it is a pretty wasteful process! In addition to the resin there are other consumables, the FEP (plastic) film at the bottom of the resin vat and also the LCD screen can wear out over time or is easily prone to damage. (I speak from experience have had to replace mine - twice. The Phrozen printer design does not have any protective glass in front of the LCD only a film. After the last mishap I'm now trying a tempered glass tablet screen protector). Also the printing is a bit hit and miss, especially adhesion to the build plate (the Amera resin mentioned is good for this). That I'm pushing the limits of the printer with big models using the full build envelope probably doesn't help - a lot to go wrong! Gradually I'm learning reasons for failures but sometimes I can't pin it down.

The Phrozen Grey is a bit more expensive - typically in the £40 region for 450ml plus carriage so I might give the Amera resin a go when I need to stock up again. Water washable is an attraction as well. I've had some skin problems with the Phrozen Grey and I'm not sure if it's the IPA or the resin. I suspect the resin since I've been using IPA as an electronic equipment cleaner for many years with no problems. I'm also looking at getting an ultrasonic bath for cleaning. At the moment I use an airbrush blowing IPA which I think has limitations when there are a lot of supports under and inside a body. I've seen a few inexpensive baths but all seem to have widely varying reviews.

Jim.

I do an initial dunk in a tray with the cleaning fluid and lightly brush the model as a first hit then do use an ultrasnoic cleaner, needed quite a big one, 6L IIRC, to fit the coach body in. The dunk gets most of the resin off, not that I've ever had much certainly not dripping in the stuff, so for me the bath is a finishing touch. To be honest I haven't really thought about its efficacy!

 

[The Great Bear]

Even if just one, and the quality is there, without any ridges, that seem to spoil all 3D printed stuff I've seen, it's no dearer than an etched kit.

I haven't seen an etched kit in the flesh, let alone try and build one, that's beyond me. I think a well put together etched kit would beat this, a Geen kit for instance or what LarryG has been doing with Worsley Works bits. My benchmark was more the Slaters stuff. That my efforts have minimal assembly required suits me and my limited skills, painting and adding transfers is enough of a challenge; I'm slowly getting better at this.

 

[The Great Bear]

To add some more variety I'm moving onto clerestory coaches. As I model post was GWR I won't need tons of them but a few more for variety to add to the Hornby ones I have.

Having bought the Hornby Collet non-corridor set, I thought I'd do an older all third to be added to that to strengthen the set. I'd already had a go at a C25, which has a clerestory body but with round roof, so it was a short leap to add the clerestory itself and get a C23.

For a change, and easy enough to do, I deleted some of the paneling to show the coach toward the end of its days, based on a picture in Russell.

Bit too haeavy handed with the primer, trying the Halfords filler primer this time

All the best

Jon

 

[Phil O]

I think that's the best 3d printing I have seen, Most seem to bow up slightly at the end and have layering lines.

 

[The Great Bear]

Slowly I've been working through the printed coaches finishing them off. Here's a couple of brake compos:

An E83:

and an E94:

Whilst my paiting and lining is slowly getting better it doesn't bear too close a look and doesn't do full justice to the printed parts. The commode handles I got made by Shapeways by the way, they 3d print a mould then get them cast.

I am on a tidying and repair blitz so I can run some trains but a couple of other models are very nearly finished so more soon fingers crossed.

All the best

Jon

 

[The Great Bear]

A couple more finished coaches. Again by no means perfect work on my part but adds to the variety of stock.

A K22 full brake

The body proved rather weak due to the number and spacing of the toplights and my lack of care!

A C23

First go at a clerestory. The commode handles are too coarse, a different design than before to get around Shapeways foibles in checking. I have subsequently managed something finer that passes.

Going to take a break from stock and get back to the layout

All the best

Jon