"what I was comparing is the Atlas VO 1000 truck..." Sorry. My misunderstanding. You have me wondering, though... would ALCO B trucks fit the VO chassis? If they don't then using it would be a bit more challenging.
I'm wondering if my kit is going to be late. Shapeways said it would be shipped by the 6th and I haven't received any confirmation except that they received my order and payment... hmmmmm. Kinda sad really, I had the perfect opportunity with my family not at home to get the shell decorated, I discovered a B&M S4 that had a "Bluebird" style scheme B&M 1274 http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/Locopicture.aspx?id=74606 should be neat looking by the time it is done. Oh well, I will keep my ear to the ground and an eye out for my kit. Has anyone else placed an order yet? If so what are your plans for paint, etc?
Yea, the same thing happened with my sample - it was about a week late. I wonder if they are a bit bogged down.... On the upside though, once things do get moving they will happen fast: +90% of my Shapeways orders have been shipped by UPS "next day air." I swear they show up at my door before I realize that they've been sent.
Just got an email this morning stating that they had begun production of my kit. While I am still bummed that it is taking this long I am pretty happy that I will probably be getting my kit soon.
I think they're still working out their system. When I ordered Mark W's flatcar with donkey crane kit I had some time to work on it. They rejected the order the first time saying there was a problem with the file. I don't think there really was, as they'd already printed M.C. Fujiwara's copy. Anyway, Mark fixed that issue quickly and I placed that order again. About a week later, I ordered some Panamint trucks. The Panamint trucks got printed almost right away and I got them about five business days later. The flatcar w/ donkey engine kit was FINALLY printed a few days after they started the Panamint trucks, and then sent UPS overnight, which is not a method of shipment that I paid for but I am not complaining. Anyway, what I am saying is that you'll get it soon enough, and I think you'll be happy with it. I think the Shapeways folks are still working out some bugs with production and workflow. I found that if I emailed I usually had a response the next day. Keep in mind that a lot of the people replying to emails are in the European continental time zone. Joost was always very helpful and candid with his answers. Adam
I see now that there are previews of both the S-2 and the Blunt sideframes in your Shapeways store. Sweet! This will help me build some SP&S locos once they are available. Are you thinking the same donor mech for these?
Please keep us in the loop regarding your builds of these kits , I havn't ordered mine yet but I expect to soon. I'm kinda waiting until the blunt trucks are ready and waiting the arrival of decals that I'm stockpiling for this and the next few kits (especially the FMs). Randy
Yep that's the plan - for the time being at least I'm sticking with the Life-Like. I ordered what I hope to be my final S-2 sample (with my revised Blunts) less than a week ago. Assuming that everything checks out, when it gets here, I'll make it available. Sure thing! -Since the S-2 is essentially just an externally tweaked (unsealed windows, etc.) version of the S-4 I'm not expecting any trouble with the shell. That said, the Blunt trucks are a bit more problematic - they should fit perfectly this time, but hey, I'll have my fingers crossed. As I mentioned above I've ordered a sample, but given the current Shapeways delivery delays I'd venture to guess that it won't be at my door for at least two weeks. I'll make it available once I get a chance to inspect it and make sure that the Blunts run reliably. That said I'll let you guys know either way. -As for the FM, I finally picked up my Atlas VO-1000 yesterday and spent the evening tweaking my H-10-44 shell to fit. I haven't ordered a sample yet (since I'm waiting to finish up another project to combine shipping) but once I order one I'll certainly post pictures. If history is any indicator though I'll likely need to order a second sample before I'll be totally satisfied with the design. Ahh, yea, one other change - I opted to include five separate types of stack with the S-2. Looking at pictures, it doesn't seem that the S-4s has quite the same 'stack variety' as the S-2s did, but since I'd already drawn the shells I figured I'd update the S-4 kit to include this feature anyway. Hopefully that won't bum out too many of you guys who already ordered... Anyway, for all of you who have S-4s in the mail, do please let me know how they come out. Feedback on my design is also always welcome!
Mine is "Out for Delivery" as I type this (sadly I am at my day job right now). Were you planning on us using the Life Like contact system for getting power to the chassis or did you have another idea? The reason I have an SW sitting around is that the little sprung contacts disappeared and my first attempt to make replacements didn't leave enough suspension in the system, I will probably end up working with a thinner brass this time but I wanted to make sure you haven't already crossed that bridge before I go engineering a new solution.
I bought two SW mechanisms , I don't have any extra body shells for the copper parts so I am interested to see your solution to fix the current collecting issue. Randy
I had envisioned either transferring the existing contacts (although that seems like more trouble than it's worth) or something akin to this: http://www.pmrr.org/Articles/Equipment/SW9.htm => see part "D" near the bottom. Hope that helps
Thats pretty much what I had done before but I made each side into one piece and I think my brass was too thick. I have some shim material which is about as thick as the contacts Life Like installed, probably make new contacts out of that. I am going to have some issues with decals... the B&M on the hood of the unit I plan on modelling isnt included in the microscale sheet for this time period. I will either deal with it or work around it, but my hope is to get started on the kit as soon as possible. I know this has been asked before but what are people using to clean the wax? I would hesitate to use a toothbrush and warm soapy water and I probably dont have any good chemicals on hand.
I just got home and opened my package and both of my shells are junk! Soft with layering and poor definition. I tried to take pictures, but the FUD does not show up well at all. I will be sending an email to Shapeways about their quality control and demand satisfactory replacements. Matthew, thanks for your efforts, I know they will make it right. I just hope that the others that have ordered them don't have the same luck I have.
Well damn that's really unfortunate to hear! Could you elaborate what you mean by "soft" though? I can't say that I've ever encountered "soft" parts before. Is it just that they are badly warped (because hot water should fix most warping pretty quickly) or is it something worse than that?
Another really dumb question: Have you taken the time to wash the wax off and perhaps spray them with a coat of primer? I personally can't tell how clean the texture is until I apply a coat of paint/primer; I've found that it's really hard to see the small clear details on a clear shell. I apologize if you are ahead of me here, I am just trying to gauge what happened... Anyone else been able to open their's yet?
The FUD appears to have a couple of areas where the material seems to be porous and soft (you can leave an impression of a fingerprint from handling). The two shells were packaged in a bag together and rolled in bubble wrap, with the shells pressing on one another and some detail was smeared. I had Mark 4 shells come in soft once, and he replaced them. I got others afterwards from him and they were great. I imagine the Shapeways material is similar in nature, and Mark at the time told me that they would harden in sunlight (UV rays IIRC). However, like the Shapeways shells the detail had already been smeared.
