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Post by cpr4200 on Mar 4, 2024 13:56:23 GMT -8
My order from 3D Central arrived today, three Plate C WM hoppers and a 3DC BAR boxcar (thanks to Matt for making an extra Springfield kit available).
Impressive! Was astounded to note that the plug door rods are printed as part of the BAR body, straight and with a thin cross section. The WM hopper prints look as good as injection molded parts to these old Optivisored eyes.
Also got a pair of Plate C trucks with separate journal box covers. Will CA be adequate to attach them?
~ Walt
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Post by simulatortrain on Mar 4, 2024 15:21:50 GMT -8
Thanks Walt! Yes, CA is what I recommend for those lids. It won't grab immediately, so you do have a chance to move them if needed, but once it does it's a strong bond.
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Post by onequiknova on Mar 4, 2024 16:02:02 GMT -8
The only thing I've bought from them so far is some auto frame loads, but I am quite pleased with the print quality.
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Post by GP40P-2 on Mar 4, 2024 17:16:22 GMT -8
My box from 3D arrived today also. While it was over a month since I ordered, once Matt saw that they dropped the ball, he got it out quickly. I will certainly deal with them again; I think they may of had some growing pains, but they handled it well.
Oh, Adam’s P&LE flat is pretty cool, can’t wait to get started on it.
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Post by jeoffreythecat on Mar 4, 2024 18:18:09 GMT -8
Purchased both versions of the Evans Side-Slider. Happy with their effort on this long-awaited car. Once I complete one, I'll post photos (although with other projects ongoing, it will wait in the pipeline).
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Post by dtinut on Mar 6, 2024 8:21:20 GMT -8
I doubt Matt dropped any ball, he's just busy with a new business, and trying to get his customers prints to be perfect. He has something like 27 3D printers, and some prints take over 24 hrs to print.
I also ordered a bunch of stuff - autoframe loads, WM hopper, PLE FM, and a Evans side slider. I haven't opened any of the cars yet, but the autoframe loads look pretty nice - I did have to remove a few support bits that were missed, but it was very easy to do with a pair of tweezers, as they were on the inside of the print.
I am sure they all will be fantastic.
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Post by GP40P-2 on Mar 6, 2024 11:44:38 GMT -8
The key points from my post should be 1) the customer service is very good, 2) they are growing rapidly and may be having some hiccups, but see item 1, they own up to it and make it right. I can now add point 3, having now opened the boxes, these are REALLY NICE kits, the layer lines are basically gone, and all the detail is there! And when I say "kit", do not think cutting parts off of sprues (except the etch parts), bending metal wire, and sanding resin blobs... all the good is there and none of the bad. DTINUT is correct, they ARE fantastic!
I hope some of the Shapeways folks move over to 3D, as I think 3D "get's it" more than Shapeways ever will for model railroaders.
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Post by simulatortrain on Mar 6, 2024 15:00:37 GMT -8
You nailed it. 3D Central for me is what Shapeways aspired to but never delivered.
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Post by 12bridge on Mar 6, 2024 16:08:36 GMT -8
I will forever hold Shapeways as one of the original major gagteways into 3D printing. Its what forced me to teach myself CAD and get into this stuff. Its opened a huge amount of doors.
The problem is they got too big, too quick and the quality suffered. The same files untouched order to order would be wildly different. By this point, the first generations of home printers were coming on scene, and that's where most people migrated too, really quick. That's also when Shapeways prices skyrocketed.
I did decently on there with my original files. I still have my store up, and people STILL buy stuff - I do not know why, when I sell some of the stuff direct, cheaper, and better.
3D Central is going to fill in a huge void and open up lots of great small designers into the scene. I can not wait to see what else is in store, and work with them myself on a few things!
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Post by markfj on Mar 20, 2024 9:50:02 GMT -8
Would resin printing be a good alternative for side and end ladders? I ask because we don't have that many suppliers that offer decent ladders. The ladders offered by Kadee are Delrin and once broken can't be glued. And the closest we have to a photoetched option are the individual ladder sides and rungs from Yarmoth Model Works. Those are fine for a one-off build, but not much fun if you need ladders for 3 or more cars.
Thanks, Mark J.
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Post by packer on Mar 20, 2024 10:20:38 GMT -8
Would resin printing be a good alternative for side and end ladders? I ask because we don't have that many suppliers that offer decent ladders. The ladders offered by Kadee are Delrin and once broken can't be glued. And the closest we have to a photoetched option are the individual ladder sides and rungs from Yarmoth Model Works. Those are fine for a one-off build, but not much fun if you need ladders for 3 or more cars. Thanks, Mark J. Regular resin is probably too brittle when thin. I ran into issues brittleness with the pilot extension part of genesis step wells I did. Ladders would be even thinner. But whatever materiel I saw someone make a flexible airhose out of (I think it was @fr8kar) that might work better.
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Post by Mr. Trainiac on Mar 20, 2024 10:32:16 GMT -8
Would resin printing be a good alternative for side and end ladders? I ask because we don't have that many suppliers that offer decent ladders. The ladders offered by Kadee are Delrin and once broken can't be glued. And the closest we have to a photoetched option are the individual ladder sides and rungs from Yarmoth Model Works. Those are fine for a one-off build, but not much fun if you need ladders for 3 or more cars. Thanks, Mark J. The issue with resin ladders is the manufacturing process to create a print. Resin prints are attached to a moving build plate that dips into the resin. A UV light shines through the clear bottom of the tank to expose each layer. Whichever orientation you make the print, you have a long thin section that is cantilevered. That's a recipe for warping, or having a half-printed grab iron snap off when it tries to lift from the clear FEP sheet in the resin vat.
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Post by cpr4200 on Mar 20, 2024 10:40:51 GMT -8
Plate C offered nice-looking replacement ladders for Bowser/Stewart 55-ton hoppers, but Adam said they were problematic to print. His new WM hopper has the ladders (and all grabs!) printed as part of the body. ~ Walt
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Post by edwardsutorik on Mar 20, 2024 11:41:36 GMT -8
Seems you could use the 3D prints as burn-outs for investment casting.
Ed
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Post by markfj on Mar 20, 2024 13:16:11 GMT -8
That's discouraging to hear. I would like to get a bunch of 8 rung ladders for various boxcar projects I have planned, but no one makes those. Branchline did offer them separately, but now that Atlas owns the molds, they don't offer them for sale. This video is from the Midwest Model Shop is what got me interested in the idea of resin printing the ladders: Titanic Ladder SetsThis guy is making several replacement parts for the Trumpeter 1/200 scale Titanic kit and the quality of the prints is excellent. Here are some screen captures: You can see some artifact lines, but I don't think they are that objectionable given the scale. Thanks, Mark
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Post by ncrc5315 on Mar 20, 2024 14:13:37 GMT -8
Seems you could use the 3D prints as burn-outs for investment casting. Ed They actually make resins specifically for that purpose.
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Post by simulatortrain on Mar 20, 2024 17:58:26 GMT -8
Plate C offered nice-looking replacement ladders for Bowser/Stewart 55-ton hoppers, but Adam said they were problematic to print. His new WM hopper has the ladders (and all grabs!) printed as part of the body. ~ Walt I haven't sent those to Matt yet to get them going again, but I think he can manage. They're plenty strong to handle before installing on the car and then after the fact. Yesterday I found some ladders I forgot I had printed, 8 rungs to fit Branchline cars since they can be hard to come by. Finer rungs than Branchline made!
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Post by cpr4200 on Mar 20, 2024 18:08:21 GMT -8
Excellent! I'll be on the lookout for them! ~ Walt
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