Resin printed, trial print looks phenomenal! Still gotta remove supports and clean it up. Just lightly washed with isopropyl alcohol and dunked in soapy water post removal. More photos later! So stoked!
So I prepped and cured this one and 2 others testing the various types of support. I made resin drain holes in the bottom, but I think it was overkill for 6 holes, so I'm trying 2. The tub spars printed perfectly with no supports, as did the brake stand. The brake reservoir was a bit deformed underneath the tank, but it won't be easily visible. Any warpage to the tub you see is post handling, although the end platforms warped a bit in printing too. I don't like the damage to the angled part of the bathtub, so I'm trying a new support plan. Here's the results so far.
....and then there were ten... The first few were rejected due to damage from the supports. I revised the support structure and the prints are phenomenal now with almost no cleanup. The interior spars even printed perfectly without supports!
Tough break: the drawing I have is incorrect--too many ribs. I didn't inspect it before I started, as I assumed (there's the first problem) the drawing was created based on a manufacturer drawing. Maybe the drawing was a pre-production affair, as there's other differences in between the model and prototype. The designer emailed me to let me know--so I get to reprint them with the new file once it's revised. Bummer, but if I'm going to all the hassle to 3D print them, I'm going to make them as correct as I can. In other news, I have 25 of these (the last one is printing now), incorrect for my chosen prototype, but could make a convincing private utilities train for someone not interested in prototypical/rivet counter accuracy. I don't what to do with them now.
This project has been stalled for quite some time now--the inaccurate rib count killed the first batch of 25 cars, but I was able to sell them to recoup some of the resin cost. The problem is the gentleman working to revise the .STL files has come upon health problems and no longer responds to emails. No fault or blame, it is what it is. I'd love to get ahold of any drawings, dimensions or other data that will help me CAD draw this car and finish the job. Does anyone out there in the interwebs have any dimensional data, drawings or illustrations with measurements for the FMC 4200 cu ft bathtub gon? Does a railcar cyclopedia or other publication have any data?
If you ever get around to printing them again I would angle them to the build plate a bit. That way you won't need holes in the bottom of your gons.
Won't I have suction problems either way, unless I angle it a lot? I'm still a rookie at printing, although I see a lot of pros doing that way, probably for a reason.
I don't recall, as it's been a long time, but I don't remember a failed print, probably because I printed with holes to begin with, expecting suction.