Finlay, after several years. I have an Alco C-855 in N Scale. I've turned this..... Into this. The sandboxes are separate parts to make it easier to paint. And then there is loads of brass! Even windscreen wipers. It still needs painting and the rest of the brass fitting properly but does look good! As usual there is lots more on my blog and a link if you fancy getting one, or two! The chassis was fun, it has 3D printed stainless steel in it. Hopefully I will get it painted soon and I will post up some picks. The C-855B is also on its way . -James
Good job. I've maintained for years that the only way to do it right is with brass details. I do hope that people recognize that getting brass etchings done to any real quality is NOT cheap, and you really have to put yourself out there to do it. Is it an adapted Con-cor chassis or what exactly is in there?
Thanks. And yep, the brass is totally worth it. Plus I'm getting fairly good at it now. The Chassis is an extended Con-Cor U50/Turbine affair. The parts in the middle are 3D printed stainless steel. And the drive shafts have been extended by 3D printed parts as well, you can see white bits next to the motor. -James
Almost any metal with the proper preparation can be 3D printed according to my grandson. He prints titanium at work which is a lot harder than stainless by a long shot. Like you, I'm still amazed with the 3D print process in general, let alone with metals. A plastic pistol is useless after the second round, Lord help us when 3D printers and metals become cheap enough that pistols are being printed in every back alley in every city. The ISIS and Arab/Israeli conflicts will look like a walk in the park.
Are we talking about molten steel? 3D printing involves a liquid like resin layered and cured. How can metal be printed in this way? Or are you talking about a CNC machine (which isn't printing at all).
3D printing uses an extremely fine powder that is heated by a laser at the molecular level and deposited onto an armature or foundation causing each element to adhere to the previously deposited element. This is a simplified discussion using polymer resin, though powdered metals have been developed to work just as well. I agree that CNC, a machine tool process that carves a product from a solid block of material, has no relationship to 3D printing.
I use Shapeways for my metal printing and under their materials page for printing steel they say 'To build steel models, special 3D printers deposit small drops of glue onto layers of stainless steel powder, one layer at a time, until the print is complete. We carefully remove these models from the printer. At this stage of the process, the objects are very fragile, similar to wet sand. The models then go through an infusion process that replaces the glue with bronze, creating a full metal product. Models are then processed to achieve your desired finish, sprayed with a sealant, and shipped to you.' The parts I use are not processed as that costs more and they don’t need a specific finish. If you want to know a bit more, here is a link to the material data sheet form Shapeways. -James
And here is the missing part! The C-855B! The C-855B shell is now available on Shapeways is anybody wants one to go with there C-855. The chassis are all the same, from a Con-Cor Turbine/U50. The dummy chassis will be coming out a bit later. The brass Additions for the C-855B are just about finished as well so drop be a message if you need some so I know how many to order! -James
