Fooling Around with Kiwi Trains: Adventures in 3D Modeling & Printing (1:120 - 1:8 Scale) - N, HO, O, G, 5inch, 7.25inch & 15inch Gauges! No Ads, Just Some Nutty Tales from Peter Bryant @ Portland Railroad, Northland NZ
With yet another year coming to a close so quickly I fear im running out of time. A huge emphasis on my life being my business and a need to produce lots of profit & keep all partys happy means all my attention being diverted from my passion, which would be trains.
I did manage in the end to save the main layout, now reduced to a single loop with 1 long siding.
Some photos of the loco's lined up waiting for a turn on the mainline.
A big thank you to all, Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year
After a few requests regarding making couplers in 1:64, 1:48 & 1:24 scales, I've finally gotten around to this job, and have made them available in plastics, metal plastics & raw brass/bronze.
This week see's a completion of a new design, the D/DM class. Those who have been to Wellington after 1938 should be familiar with em.
Designed in 3 components, the 2 shells & seperate bogies.
The bogies are designed to fit 15mm axles (In NZ I source the wheels & couplers from Russell @ Trackgang Products. They are available in either Frosted Ultra Detail (Nylon) or "Raw Brass" and can be found here
The main bodies are designed to be printed in "Frosted Ultra Detail" only.
After a test print arrives of the design & a lick of paint & wheels it can be properly visualized! Still a bit to go for it to be a runner. The chassis I used came from a Graham Farish N Scale DMU.
And a wee vid of it running. Currently DC controlled but intend to DCC fit it out
Work this weekend sees the completion of a station platform. The turnouts have been wired up in 2's & 4 tracks can be easily accessed with only 3 point controllers. Since the layout is DCC (NCE Procab) this gives some rather easy & fun action with 4 trains possible if the operator can keep up.
And being DCC some head on collisions have occurred when gin was introduced in the mix. Some fatalities later it was decided to send everything in 1 direction only.
The platform itself is "Gib". Primed then painted. For the yellow & white lines I used "Continuous Thermal Labels" cut into thin strips & applied.
After I took the shots I was inspired to drag out the passenger fleet under the guise of a crucial "platform clearance checking" in order to successfully pass final certification.
Again, shortly after I took the shots, I was inspired to drag out the actual passengers.
On reflection, the Wellington Station is one I personally wish to build, if I ever had the room. It would have to be as scale as possible, with the main station building being a challenge in itself, however with a 3d Printer it suddenly seems very possible.
A quick post to show off a 3d Print of the DC Class, this time around i've painted it in the Kiwirail Livery. Still to finish the handrails etc. The short hood needs to have a black patch for the anti glare on top. The kiwirail logos for the front & cab numbers for the sides will need printing as a decal. Also trackgang "air horns"
Since I have not yet acquired a 3d printer, but still needing a station I decided to kit bash a metcalfe n scale country station card kit.
The station platform was built using plywood & card.
Veranda built using card & n scale track. Painted with primer.
Then a paper texture was glued on top of the platform with "pva" glue
TT scale figures added with some natural lighting giving an overall nice effect.
This section has a paper place holder for the road, some thought & research into the loaded bay required in order to give a more natural look.
The Standard railcar posing. The track will need to be replaced with streamlined track, and a slight realignment will hopefully ease the curve immediately south of this picture, and line up to the platform closer.
Both the NZ120 F & H class have been updated with smoother curves to hopefully produce a better result. Both models are now uploaded to shapeways & replace their previous versions.
NZ120 F
NZ120 F - Inside View (would fit a motor up-to 8mm dia)
Today some effort goes into this level crossing, the picture below with the fern shows no thought what so ever in regards to vehicle traffic except for a warning light facing in 1 direction only that won't stop flashing! A source of personal contention in that over time one simply ignores... until now.
Silver fern passes through a clearly war torn landscape
The loose gravel was scooped out & cardboard cutouts were used as the road former. Coated with thick black paint & fine black coal dust applied.
Still very much a work in progress, I will apply another layer of almost sand like dust mixed with pva, paint & drop of dish washing liquid to hopefully create a convincing asphalt surface.
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The 2nd carriage from the right (with a guard waving on the end), simply refuses to sit flat & level. Everything is filed flat yet it continues to list to the side...
I've checked the couplers..
And a video of the Ab, Ja, Ka taking turns with the 47'6ers
