Model Train Journal

Just because you can, doesn't not mean you should, but I did. This was the final test of our new printer and an O scale version of a Baltimore and Ohio 40 ft M-27F

This files were sent to me by Ryan Tamburrino back in 2022 and although there was a two piece version that I could have printed I never did. So it was time to see how well a 40' O scale car would print.

No, I am not making these, not my file to sell and a 37 hour print, it's just for my use and possible build.

If you like it, Rails Unlimited sells theM-27 in Urethane based on these files. [url]https://railsunlimited.ribbonrail.com/Models/40boxcars.html](https://railsunlimited.ribbonrail.com/M ... xcars.html[/url]

Thats fantastic

Funky and neat at the same time

I keep hearing how 3D printing is the savior of O scale model supply, but I'm not seeing the influx of available models. Is it just that the information who's making what available is not getting distributed to the masses or is it just hype?

Where do you get the drawings/programs to print items off? Is this something you have to make yourself. I understand the concept, but not the approach or details on how to do it.

up148 wrote:Where do you get the drawings/programs to print items off?

Somebody somewhere has to draw these up in a suitable CAD program that the printer can accept. That's simplified considerably,

Is this something you have to make yourself.

One can do it themselves; I know of a few folks that have their own printer(s), and do the CAD work themselves.

I just wonder where the explosion of parts and models that I keep hearing that 3D printing will generate are........

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:Funky and neat at the same time

I keep hearing how 3D printing is the savior of O scale model supply, but I'm not seeing the influx of available models. Is it just that the information who's making what available is not getting distributed to the masses or is it just hype?

I am not sure that producing rolling stock is ready for prime time. This print took 37 hours. Can't make any money doing that. Ted's (Rails Unlimited) casting of this car is $140.

Sarah Griessenböck's Nickel Plate Road stockcar kits from Smoky Mountain Model Works is a nice example of a production kit but the price point is high. There are others out there but apparently it's a secret and you need to know a guy.

We prefer to stay with the smalls and detail parts which do very well and in multiples.

RDSRR wrote:

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:Funky and neat at the same time

I keep hearing how 3D printing is the savior of O scale model supply, but I'm not seeing the influx of available models. Is it just that the information who's making what available is not getting distributed to the masses or is it just hype?

I am not sure that producing rolling stock is ready for prime time. This print took 37 hours. Can't make any money doing that. Ted's (Rails Unlimited) casting of this car is $140.

Sarah Griessenböck's Nickel Plate Road stockcar kits from Smoky Mountain Model Works is a nice example of a production kit but the price point is high.

This confirms much that I both suspected and expected.

There are others out there but apparently it's a secret and you need to know a guy.

I knew a guy but then he's turned into a ghost.........that seems another variable.

We prefer to stay with the smalls and detail parts which do very well and in multiples.

I wish that there was more info regarding this area of supply - who is doing what, contact info, web sites, etc. Maybe that's a page or 2 in OSR???

I bought a couple of Sarah's UP tank cars, but I haven't built them yet. Absolutely dead on correct and as nice and as detailed as any brass car I've ever owned. She draws them up and has 3D Central print and ship them for her.

I don't know if these 3D printed cars are any tougher/stronger than the old RC and IM plastic cars, but you had to be careful with them or steps, ladders and other small details could easily break.

It certainly is the wave of the future.

up148 wrote:........you had to be careful with them or steps, ladders and other small details could easily break.

I am finding that the resin printed parts can be brittle and become more so over time.

It certainly is the wave of the future.

"We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives."