Ffestiniog Coaches 17 and 18

[Trevor Thompson]

As part of my efforts to learn Fusion 360 I have been looking at working with curved surfaces.

I have already designed this coach in Sketchup, apart from some issues with the curved sides. I decided to start again and have worked from the drawings in the 7mm Narrow Gauge Associations book of drawings for the Ffestiniog railway. Here is the almost complete design:

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The First 2 sides are printed:

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My printer bed is 220 x 220 x 220, so these sides can be printed in two parts. The front component is one half and the other half behind it has its supports still attached.
I know that it could be printed flat on the bed ( apart from it having a curved profile ) but that leads to distortion when using ABS. That explains why it was printed at an angle. Experience has shown me that the upper edges of all of the windows need support - that explains why there was so much support.
This image shows the reverse side of one half - to give you an idea of the surface finish on the reverse. The front surfaces have a good finish - not perfect but a few coats of paint will smooth out the surface without requiring filler or sanding.

I have used chamfers on the edges of my later buildings - but this is the first time I have done so with curved surfaces. You can see that the outer ends of the sides are chamfered, as are the ends which attach to them. The inside face has a 1mm recess in it to take the glazing.
More as this develops.

Trevor

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[Ianm]

Really impressive model. I look forward to seeing the complete coach!

[Trevor Thompson]

I now have two bodies printed and assembled:

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That was 14 hours of printing for each complete side, 2 halves at a time. Floors and subframes next.

[ge_rik]

Wow!!!! Very nice!

Rik

[Trevor Thompson]

Floor printed in 3 parts and fitted to the first coach. The bit I didn't get right was the bottom of the sides - Instead of a sloping side I should have made the inside face vertical for a few millimetres so that there was somewhere to lodge the floor against. I made the edges of the floor sloping to match the sides( I thought that would be cunning) but it turned out that the floor slid up into the sides as I pressed the sides together. The floor in place:

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and from underneath:

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Underframes and then bulkheads next.

Trevor

[Trevor Thompson]

The bodies are now complete:

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I am leaving the buffer beams and end handrails off until the painting is finished, so they don't get in the way of painting the ends of the body. In the same way the seats will be fitted when the inside is painted.

Of course I have the roofs to design yet. But painting next.

Trevor

[Trevor Thompson]

I am still thinking about painting - but the roof for the first coach is printed:

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and

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I think I might use magnets to hold them in place

Back to thinking about painting

Trevor

[philipy]

Very impressive, as usual.

[Durley]

Your coaches look very impressive Trevor. Can I ask, what printer are you using?

[Trevor Thompson]

Your coaches look very impressive Trevor. Can I ask, what printer are you using?

I have a Bamboo Labs P1S. I have had it for a few months now and I am very impressed with it. It produces distortion free prints with superb detail (for a filament printer) even in difficult materials. The online support which goes with it is part of the reason it is so good - as in when you have a problem it suggests the possible reasons - and sends articles to read on the problem!

However I wish I had bought the automatic material handling add on with it - if only for automatically changing spool when the filament runs out!

Trevor

[ge_rik]

I've read really good reviews of Bambu printers. If only .....

I bought a secondhand Creality Ender 3 off my neighbour recently to replace the el cheapo Anet A8 clone I bought off eBay for £80GBP.

I'm really pleased with the quality of prints the Ender 3 churns out, but that's only compared with the really c#@p prints the A8 produced.

Rik

[Trevor Thompson]

I have the coaches painted, and lined (well almost lined):

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I started off airbrushing with acrylic paint, but it didn't fill in any of the tiny blemishes. So I went back to enamel paint. This gave me the smooth surface finish I was looking for. The lining is not complete. A 1mm line of acrylic vermilion has been applied, followed by a 0.75 gold line. I have to finish off a few bits where the paint didn't run properly, and then touch up the places where I slipped.

I have the seats ready to fit, after glazing them, and then people to create to fill the seats.

Having the Automatic material system on the printer, and having learnt about 0.2mm nozzles, I have found that I can produce figures which are not much different to those from the resin printer. So I am investigating MPFB (the latest version of Make human) as an extension of Blender. It seemed worth trying this - if only because I have used it successfully in the past - so I hope to be able to populate the coaches easily and swiftly.

Trevor

[philipy]

They look superb, Trevor. Especially the lining, I take my hat off to you.

[Trevor Thompson]

Glad you like them!

I am now working on the seats and figures to go in them. The seats have to be populated before I fix the roofs in place (semi permanently).

I will fit lighting - but with removable lamp tops - so than is something for later.

My first stab at the people are some that I created a couple of years ago, as first class passengers:

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I have repaired the .stl files using Fusion 360. I cut away the back of their legs so that they fit onto the seats properly, and drawn and fitted hats. I am quite impressed with how I can alter and repair .stl files in this CAD software. Much easier to use than Blender.

The female is fine but the male is 10% too small. You can see the remains of the supports in various places. These are not final prints - just tests to see what I can do with a 0.2mm nozzle on the P1S filament printer. One advantage of having the Automatic Material System is that I can use a special companion filament, alongside the actual print filament, for the interface between the supports and the figure, which improves the print quality under the supports, and makes the supports come away freely, leaving no residue. I am waiting for a reel of it to arrive. I will then print sufficient figures to populate the coaches.

I can see that I will dramatically reduce the use I make of the resin printers!

Trevor

[Durley]

The coaches are looking great Trevor. The detail on those figures is really impressive for filament and certainly more than acceptable for passengers inside the coaches.

What type of lights were you planning on using? I am planning on trying these MagnoLEDs fitted in removable lamptops on my latest coach: https://tramfabriek.co.uk/lighting.html

[SimonWood]

Absolutely wonderful! Both the coaches and the headwear. The exteriors of the coaches are looking magnificent, and the interiors very promising.