Structured Thoughts

Most of my projects in T scale to date have been rolling stock.  The occasional lineside details--signal relay box, signals, catenary, etc.--but few buildings.  This is changing.  I did a model of "Nassau" tower on the Northeast Corridor, but it's still undecorated awaiting the Princeton diorama.  I have two (really three) "live" projects underway now though.  One is a local building owned by a friend (Milton's).  The other(s) are the Sharonville, OH  Conrail (ex-NYC) engine house and turntable.  All have good progress to date, and I'm currently in the process of finishing the local building.  The Sharonville shop is on the bench in kit pieces and the turntable is en-route from Shapeways.  Here's my report on these structure projects.

"Miltons" --the local building-- is an old Federal Style brick row structure sharing a wall with another.  It was constructed in the early 1900s and currently has a local tavern in the first two floors.  Here's how it looks today:


 I drafted it in TinkerCad (I keep thinking one day I'll learn something "more sophisticated" but why?  This does the job well) and design work took me a couple days off-and-on.  It was drafted and printed as a single piece, with the streets and sidewalks 3D printed along with the main building.   The rendering of Milt's (as it's known) has a simple interior.  The first floor has the bar, there are floors, and major walls, but that's it.  It has some relatively fine detail on the exterior such as a deck/stairs on the back, chimney, dormer, and window mullions.  It will get some additional detail such as window shades and signage.




One reason I did this was as a learning experience.  Some take aways from Miltons:

• The small striations from 3D printing actually enhance the look of brick. 
• Mullions did print
• The deck and stairs printed well, but the railings are very delicate.
• Printing as one piece negates the need to square corners, or really do any assembly.  NO warpage to deal with (see Sharonville EH project.)
• Painting is easier than expected. 
• The gutters didn't stick, or were just missing.  They must've fallen off in the cleaning process at Shapeways.. I'll add some made of strip styrene. 
• Primed with red oxide paint, and it looks good as brick.

 Here's a look at it after partial painting.  So far so good.

The Sharonville Engine Facility is comprised of two componenets:  The Shop and the Turntable.

The Shop Building was done more as a traditional kit, with walls to be assembled and some detail add on parts: doors, roof vents and jacks, and two drop pits. Here's what it looked like from the printer:

Notice is has support sprues between the walls.  Also, the detail parts are tucked between the walls as well.   Here it is after being prepped for painting (clear coat and primer).

Take aways so far:

• Kit style construction is far cheaper to print for larger buildings
• Window mullions printed but a good amount failed. It's probably better to use etched material for this.
• There was some warpage.  No big problem though, soak for a minute in hot water, put under a book on a flat surface, and let cool.  Problem solved!

I have not done any further construction so will update the Blog as this goes on.

The other structure component is the turntable.  This should be (hopefully) very cool.  Here's the rendering:

It is being printed in two main parts:  The pit, and the bridge.  The middle gantry is 3D printed although I was tempted to etch it.  We'll see how it turns out.  If that fails, I will have it etched but make a bending jig so it looks good.  There will be etched railings and it will be operable.   The prototype is en-route from Shapeways.

Stay tuned for more updates on these structure projects!  "T"ill next  time. 
-Jesse