Saturday 24 June 2017

NZR Ew

With thanks to the old man, a plan of the NZR Ew is found in The New Zealand Model Railway Journal, Number 91, Volume 15, June 1962.
I'm drawing it up in 1:64, to make available in nz120 & of course 1 for me in 1:24.

***
The NZ120 version is now available, and can be found here
https://www.shapeways.com/product/9EUM3PYNL/nz120-ew
Bogies found here 
https://www.shapeways.com/product/H8LLP4VEU/nz120-d-dm-de-trucks
***


Prototype https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_EW_class_locomotive
1:64 NZR Ew Shell.
1:24 Ew sections underway, sitting on bogies loaned from the De

Almost..


After a first coat of matt black, putty & sanding next. 
Still in the process of printing the middle bogie adapter., another thing to consider is how sharp of a radius does it need to go around, 2ft would be the answer. Thus the implications are an exaggerated distance between to the two bodies.


The tidy up continues, Now is able to run. Been experimenting with printing pantographs, the pantograph base needs correcting so it can lower correctly. Just sitting in place atm.


Pantograph after a few tweaks, now completely lowers.
1:24 Ew making its first run


1:24 Ew, still far from perfect, join lines still visible but looking more like the prototype.


Sunday 18 June 2017

1:24 eeDF

The next locomotive, 1951 NZR DF, English Electric.
Going to use 2x powered chassis & should be able to negotiate very small radius curves. Since the cowcatchers & couplers swing with the front bogie it will be an ideal heavy hauler for smaller curves.
Prototype https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NZR_DF_class_(1954)
Printer - UP PLUS 2
Quality - Fast
Internal honeycomb structure - second smallest size

1  147.9g 09hr 10min Res0.2
2  115.5g 07hr 34min Res0.2
3  109.0g 07hr 59min Res0.2
4  124.9g 08hr 00min Res0.2
5  108.8g 07hr 17min Res0.2
6  113.4g 08hr 14min Res0.2
7  142.7g 10hr 31min Res0.2
8  109.2g 06hr 37min Res0.2
9  048.2g 03hr 28min Res0.2
10 073.8g 05hr 58min Res0.2
11 113.2g 08hr 44min Res0.2


Total Print Time  83hr 32min
Material Cost 1,206.6g

7/8 sections, not far to go.


Body sections printed, Chassis next.


Sideframes just laying against their respective lgb power blocks. Pony trucks finished with plastic wheels, will need to add lots of weight until the steel wheels arrive


Pony truck & cow catchers not quite connected together yet, but main power bogies with frames finished. The body is too high by 18mm to allow the bogie swing, thus in theory allowing it to run around 3ft radius track.. Re printing the cow catchers slightly taller to make it look ok from the front.


A wee video of it running around 2ft track

Still with only 1 coat of paint, but looking much tidier with black sideframes.




Friday 16 June 2017

Resume printing

After a few life changing 6 months, it was time to get the printing back on track. However a wee incident with the Up Plus 2 occurred after being packed up for that period of time.
After setting the printer up in my new location in Auckland, It wasn't even an hour into printing when the mainboard & CPU chip blew up, and a rather familiar "burnt ionized" smell originated from the printer. I remember vividly going through the expected range of emotions (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) not to forget the many expletives..
Rather frustrating as I had a number of designs in 1:24 scale ready to print, & a UP Mini that despite best efforts simply wasn't up to the task of a big print. I did however get more detailing done on the diesels in terms of decals & a few details & cab interior on the Di finished using the UP Mini so its still a useful printer to have while the Plus 2 is engaged with sections.
Procrastination ensued but eventually I made the quick visit or 2 to 3D Printing Systems in Pakuranga Heights, Auckland.
With many thanks to the great guys at 3D Printing Systems I've secured a replacement. Let the printing resume!


UP PLUS 2 printing a 1:24 eeDF section
Whilst there I took a snap of their latest offering, being the UP Box. Impressive specs, the print area being 255 mm width, 205 mm depth, 205 mm height. I could double the length of each section & print 4 sections at once. It could as an example, print the 1:24 eeDF's entire shell in 1 go & leaving 4 sections to join instead of the current 8. I can't guess how many hours it would take until I tried it, but it certainly would eliminate all that micromanagement involved printing 1 section at a time.
UP BOX


Saturday 10 June 2017

1:24 DI Class

After some more work on the DI class, the cab interior is finished & decals printed & applied.
Drivers have been painted but not yet added, Also the air hoses have been attached now the headstock stripes have been applied.






NZR DI Class Decal Images





Building an brick arch railway bridge

After receiving some used bricks I spent some time wandering youtube and stumbled across DIY videos of people building brick archways and fi...