Lance, See as I am interested in the era from 1890s to 1930s, I have a hard time finding things in Z, so the more stuff that's printed, the merrier! Not to hijack your thread, but I remembered I had printed out a luggage cart a year or two ago. Scott
Heya Scott, Never a concern when it comes to hijacking a thread. LOL Those carts look really nice and it seems that judging by the photos I have seen from the 1950s era, those carts were still around. Or might I say the design was. Interesting the way the wheels are printed in an upright manner. I would’ve been more tempted to print them flat. But then again, that’s my inexperience when it comes to 3-D printing. I’m still learning as I go.
Yeah, it doesn't feel right but it works. If you lay it flat you have to support almost every bit of it, but if you stand it up the model just pulls itself along layer-by-layer. The horizontal spokes defy that logic, but I think they printed okay because of the adjacency of pulled-along pixels. If the model were larger, they'd probably droop...
Ha, there are several things to me that defy logic in regards to 3D printing --- But you are correct on size. Seems to be the smaller the print, such as a Z-scale spoked wheel -vs- an HO spoked wheel, the Z-rendition is easier to get the result desired. So far, I have been stunned at the results I am getting.
My support epiphany came printing my locomotive cab. See this: https://glenn.pulpitrock.net/blog/posts/2022-06-12_cab/#fabrication Scroll down a bit to see screenshots of the cab supports, "before" and "after"...
WOW Glenn - very interesting in regards to the supports. I’m surprised though at the need for any at the small window portals. Now were the supports determined by you, or the program. I’ve self applied a few supports to each end of an MTL chassis separator I am working on for their GP9’s and 35’s. Granted the part is so small and the supports are literally twice the width of a human hair, but they are doing what they are designed to do. However the fact that I could print that minute in regards to their(the supports) width was amazing.
I do my own supports, try to minimize incursion on surfaces I cherish. What I've organized recently for #168 is a Parts/ directory, containing a slice file for each part, with supports. With that, I can organize a build plate by just importing parts, don't have to remember how I supported a part in a previous printing.
Isn’t there Yellow sources? Saves painting. And, since the process is ‘build on layers’, you should be able to spot the R, Y, G within the visor?
Colors seem to be a mixed bag when it comes to results, at least per what I have had time to read up on. I found colorants that could be added to the resin, but not sure if it cuts the resin mixture such that you cannot get it to cure? You'll notice that everyone leans toward the standard gray resin still. As for dotting the lenses in R, Y, G --- yep, that is possible. But if you look at traffic lights when they are not lit, they generally appear dark, although not completely black. I did use an INDIA INK micro tip artist pen to touch several lenses to see what the effect is, and it was OK. I am reworking the traffic light as we speak for better print results. I will black dot one of the reworked units and post pics when time allows.
“Perfectionist should not own 3-D printers!” OK there I said it. So not being content with the way, the lenses of the traffic signals looked under magnification of my camera lens, I went in and re-designed them to sit more flush. The end results are a lot better. But I will let you be the judge. Below are some pics of my latest traffic signal venture, which is to use the same 4-way 3-section light that is designed for hanging, and mount it on a pole with a base. The attached picture was sent to me by John Bartolotto. Who by the way, has been working with me in regards to dimensions on the parking meters. Which he determined were out of scale and two large that I scaled them down to the proper size for a more realistic appearance more on that later. Interesting thing to note in regards to this picture, but if you look down the line, you can see some parking meters and judge the scale yourself. Although this posting is about the traffic light as well, and here’s some initial shots of what I have in work. These pics were taken on the build plate with freshly painted signals, still attached. The two poles you see - one has the base painted a concrete color and the pole in basic silver, whereas the other was shot with TAMIYA Bare Metal rattle can. I think for the sake of simplicity, I will paint all of the bases and poles with the TAMIYA. The traffic signal was quickly brushed with TESTORS small bottle flat yellow. I am partial to the flat color because I think it gives the light a more realistic look especially if it’s been sitting out in the weather for an extended time. I would make one comment regarding the hoods of the traffic signals, but they are just so delicate and a challenge to handle even after painting. To the naked eye, they look fantastic, but under magnification with a camera lens one may see a few small issues. Again, we’re dealing with Z-scale here people. And I have to keep reminding myself that. I really got to paint some clothes on Officer Prieser. He just looks so, shall we say naked….. More to come in regards to traffic signals…..I ain’t done yet…
those are looking great looks right to scale! and the police man is proberly pretty cold without his painted clothes!!
Thanks Walt. Yeah you know as well as I do ensuring the scale is correct is the biggest challenge apart from the design of the product. I thought we had those parking meters on the money until John shot me down and said they needed to be scaled substantially smaller. We lost a little bit of the face detail, but the top who still seems to be there. But John was right to. They look properly dimensioned now. The traffic signals by the way are a mere 5.35MM tall.
Lance, Lights look great! I remember the parking meters being about chest high. I know this because I used to swing my leg over the top of the meter, while standing next to it. And I'm only 5'-8". Scott
...and let me guess, you were wearing "Hai Karate Cologne", a rather popular men's cologne of the era.....
OK, to liven up the forum a little and to have some fun, here’s a little contest for those interested in this thread. RULES: The first three individuals that can IM me with the name of the product that the questions below describe, will win an accessory kit of various 3-D Z-scale components that I have printed. You are allowed 1-guess per day as to what the product is. (This will eliminate anybody sending in a list of 50 different items.) These kits will contain the following: Two traffic signals – hanging or pole mounted your choice. Three square style city street trashcans. Four fire hydrants. Five parking meters. Five manhole covers. Three gas meters. ….and maybe a surprise or two. The hints for our mystery item are: These were an interesting and common fixture that dates back as far as the 1930s, and were even still seen as late as the 1970s. They were often placed in front of, or inside of, restaurants, drug stores, grocery stores, arcades, bowling alleys, and along city sidewalks. They would take your money, but given you nothing tangible in return. You may still see on of these in use today, but today’s youth are oblivious as to their iconic Americana status. Name this classic item from a bygone era! Once we have our three winners, I will post pictures of this very product, which is my latest 3-D creation!
We've got two winners thus far !!!! And a couple of good guesses. Once we get our third winner, I will post the names and pics of our "mystery product"! As of 6:33 PM Sioux Falls time, we still do not have our third winner. Many good attempts have been made, but we still have one more prize up for grabs.
