Kennebec Central Long Coal Car

 Here is the longer, later version of the Kennebec Central coal car. I messed up the painting a bit but the end result still looks pretty good. Now all I need is a Kennebec Central module to run these on............

Adventures on the Kennebec Central Continue

I continue to utilize my new 3D printer for some really fun two foot cars. I've always thought that some Kennebec Central opening side door gondolas would be really neat to build. A challenge for sure but really neat. As I learn how to use my printer settings and the best ways to arrange and modify supports (the things that hold your model off the build plate while it is printing), I'm making some really cool cars.

A big THANK YOU to Chris Schmuck! Chris has posted some amazing stl files on Thingaverse and allowed others to print them. Designing in 3D is rather difficult and time consuming. His work is excellent and scales up from HOn30 to On30 or On2 very, very nicely. Here's the latest prints. Some slight modifications to the bolsters and coupler pockets. 

Basically this car is printed entirely in one go. The only details that are added are: queen posts, turnbuckles, truss rods, brake wheel, brake staff, a rod in the middle, couples and trucks. Clean up was easy though I did have to heat the car in hot water and carefully bend. The truss rods put a bit of pressure on the car, so I'm sure it won't dip but it may bend up! We'll see what happens over time. Two prints, one On30 using Chris's trucks and one in On3 using GrandtLine trucks. 

On30 K&C Short Gondola 

On2 K&C Short Gondola

Adventures in 3D Printing

 For the last year or so my friend Jeff Kracker has been subttly dropping hints that I should consider trying 3D printing. He casually mentioned this summer that Anycubic was having a sale on their Photon Mono X, which would be the perfect printer for a beginner and large enough to print O scale narrow gauge cars, and oh, what a great price. Well, I finally jumped in.................

And I've been using it to print very important items........well, my some found these and really enjoys 3D printing also!

After learning more about where to find things and how to use a "slicer" program, I started some hobby items that turned out really cool. These are models developed by Chris Shmuck and published on Thingaverse. The stl files are for Hon30 but were easily scaled up to O scale. Here is a Mt. Sicker and Lenor RR hopper car with some of his trucks from another posted project. 

After a few email and Zoom calls with Jeff to learn more about print settings, cleaning, supports, etc. (almost like a new hobby), I tried some more complex designs by Chris. Here is a Kennebec Central boxcar in On2. The detail scaled up amazingly well from HO to O scale. I'm greatful to Jeff and Chris for their assistance and sharing files. Learning AutoCad 3D, well, someday........

So, ultimately, this does relate to my On30 and On2 modeling. I won't mention the exciting secret project yet.....3D printing is really cool but another aspect with all kinds of learning and patience required!