Woodleigh Engineering

[SimonWood]

He states the material they are printed in is PLA, an industry standard for 3D printing, but best not exposed to strong sunlight.

Excellent customer service indeed. The use of PLA is interesting though - it's the most commonly used filament at least in consumer printers, and most of us printing stuff on here probably use PLA for most if not all of our models. However, it will degrade in UV, unlike some other filaments (such as ABS). That's not in general a problem because the paint we use will protect the plastic from the sunlight, and it certainly hasn't stopped me using PLA. But in this case, the models are designed to be unpainted. Which is a little bit of a concern in terms of longevity.

I think he's got a great design, but if this turns out to be a commonplace problem, I wonder if the implementation might need to be refined, perhaps by using another material.

[gilfachphil]

Simon,

I will try putting more coats of lacquer on the two wagons I have. It won't matter if I get too much and spoil the finish a bit and I can continue to use these outdoors and see what happens.

At least I should have two pristine ones which I will have to keep away from bright sunshine though I am aware that UV still passes through clouds.

I did query whether he should be using a different material,

Phil

[gilfachphil]

I have posted more in my layout thread:-

viewtopic.php?t=13912&start=560

scroll down the page,

Phil

[Lonsdaler]

He states the material they are printed in is PLA, an industry standard for 3D printing, but best not exposed to strong sunlight.

Excellent customer service indeed. The use of PLA is interesting though - it's the most commonly used filament at least in consumer printers, and most of us printing stuff on here probably use PLA for most if not all of our models. However, it will degrade in UV, unlike some other filaments (such as ABS). That's not in general a problem because the paint we use will protect the plastic from the sunlight, and it certainly hasn't stopped me using PLA. But in this case, the models are designed to be unpainted. Which is a little bit of a concern in terms of longevity.

I think he's got a great design, but if this turns out to be a commonplace problem, I wonder if the implementation might need to be refined, perhaps by using another material.

Woodleigh do stress in their instructions that if used outdoors they must be painted with a clear lacquer. I've sprayed mine with this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B08XZN ... asin_title

71AqKjxXwZL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg (14.19 KiB) Viewed 33978 times

which is advertised as non yellowing and UV resistant. So far, so good, BUT they haven't been stood in full sunlight for any length of time

[Johnnie1000]

Just an idea. I designed and printed four rough and ready PLA+ vans a while ago. I made sure they were mounted on a 1mm steel sheet for the "solebar" and assembled them round a wooden (10mm x 10mm) wooden carcass) with Araldite. I fitted them with Binnie wheels. They are kept in a shed, although in the 30C+ temperatures I do fling the door open. They have been in there a while with no problems. My first 3D printed wagons were unsupported flat wagons that quickly warped and were rebuilt using a similar steel sheet as mentioned above.


van:

70_2.JPG (4.76 MiB) Viewed 33968 times

Mk2 flat wagon:

22_2.JPG (4.77 MiB) Viewed 33968 times

[Preseli Chris]

Hi Johonnie 1000

Interesting solution . Are the roofs 3d printed on the vans as well, if so how did you reinforce them ? I also store my buildings in my shed , they are a mix of resin cast and HIP plasticard ,with upvc facia board carcasses. As you say the sheds get hot in the summer .

Chris.