Been working on converting a DD35B shell from James Trains into a DD35A. I'm going to need some 3 ft. and 4 ft. fan grills for the top of the loco as they aren't laid out the same for both. Designed and printed the ones above on a test run this morning. Wondering if I'm going to clog them up when painting them. I'll do a test run before incorporating them into the new piece for the top of the shell. Sumner
Nah you won't clog them up unless you're brush painting, then maybe go super thin. I get confused on the DDs as I thought the 35 was only available as a B unit but maybe I'm thinking of the DD40 only available with the cab. Either way they're a neat loco to model. Being a Frisco fan I'm partial to the 35 for the demo scheme that SLSF adopted from it. Cheers -Mike
Thanks for the paint info. They made more DD35B's then A's ( 30 to 15 ). They basically put a GP35 cab on B units. I'll have more on the build up soon. Waiting to see if I can post some pictures that are copyrighted. Sumner
I got a page up on the grills on my site ( HERE ) and here.... ========================================================== These are 4 ft. loco fan grills that you can print. I'll get some 3 foot ones up soon also. The grill above is flat on the bottom so this grill can lay flat on a shell. The grills shown above and next below have an extension out the bottom that might help to locate them if you have a hole in the shell where the grill goes. . I'll add the files for 3 foot fan grills in the future. You can find the print files for the 4 foot fan grills on my thingiverse.com account ( HERE ). Sumner
Keeps amazing me for a $209 product. The circular rings are .006" (.152mm) wide and the space between them is .010" (.254 mm). That was the first print fresh off the first design. I did it to see what I might want to tweak and to see if it would print. Might be able to even go to smaller measurements but they are already at the point where from more than a few inches you can't make them out. Sumner
First, awesome prints, I don't think I ever tried such a small grill. I'm happy you shared the spacings and thicknesses, good to know! I wonder if it can make a difference to design based on the pixel size, e.g. if you have a 50 micron pixel size then only design measurements in multiples of 0.05mm. That's how I come up with as all my details, i always use multiples of 0.05. however I never noticed if it made a difference in repeating patterns. And I guess it's a throwback to my old printer, my current one has a pixel size of 28.5 microns. Lol, maybe I should update my new designs to stick with multiples of 0.285mm? My head would hurt, hehe
I've read about designing with the nozzle size in mind on a FDM printer or based on the pixel size and so forth but I'm too lazy to do that. I have a spreadsheet setup to easily go from real inches to n scale inches/feet and from real inches/feet to n scale inches/feet and that speeds things up but I just design and print and if I'm not happy make changes. With the filament printer I don't try and go under .014" (.355mm) with my stock Enders but don't try and do multiples of .014. I'll use .016 or .018 at time and I'm not sure what goes on but they print and maybe there isn't a difference in the .018 and the .014 spacing but it is so small I don't notice it if there is and the printer prints so I'm happy. Let me know if you really see a difference. I'm not even sure what the resolution is on the AnyCubics I'm using. I read it but can't remember it. Seems like .006 is working and I really can't see much of anything under that being needed as it is about an N scale inch. If it keeps printing that I'll be happy . While you are hear what size are the loco handrails you have been printing? I'm going to need to do some of those and anyone else doing handrails I'd appreciate some input on that. Thanks, Sumner
I've only made a single loco shell, and not super happy with the resin handrails, too fragile. I have some stronger resin now I want to try again with someday.
The diameter of my handrails are "around" .5mm. However, I do a little trick (which may not be necessary) that allows me to make them thicker/sturdier without too much compromise to looks. Here's my handrail profile and measurements, creepy eyeball not to scale: I designed them with what I would consider a normal-viewing-angle in mind. The flat bottom also gives me a good area for supports to have purchase. Lastly I use a blend of tenacious and fast gray that really gives them flexibility while maintaining some semblance of detail on the stanchions. And on the topic of fan grills for the thread - here are my 36" fans for the CF7: If I remember right the thickness and spacing is roughly the same as your 4 footers. And just a general note for others thinking about printing tiny details like these, a long time ago I shared some tips for the resin printer folks, one of which is my personal philosophy to never assume your printer can't print it. If you're unsure, try it- then be amazed! Cheers -Mike
