I have been kicking around some ideas about doing some stuff with Shapeways. After contacting a buddy of mine (who is a comp designer) he told me he deals with Shapeways from time to time. We got to discussing some specifics about what it takes program wise to submit a file for Shapeways and all that kind fo stuff. After finishing the conversation the wheels in my head got to spinning. My logging RR had 3 cabooses that were built from the ATSF wide vision design by International Car co. I was wondering, if one person was to design the BODY ONLY for this specific caboose and utilize the Atlas frame, cupola, window glazing, and end railings, would this be a viable project? How many people would be interested in having a dead center cupola ATSF wide vision caboose offered in N scale? Here is a link to a picture of the caboose I am referring to. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=372137&nseq=18 Ryan
I agree. It would be a great project. I hope you can make it happen. Put me down for 2. Joe Cox Austin, TX
I'm not sure how hard they are to find, but the Bachmann wide-vision is closer than the Atlas IHMO. I got an Atlas, studied it, and turned around and resold it to keep my Bachmann. I'll admit I made a lot of modifications, but the body itself was pretty good. Bachmann: http://www.spookshow.net/freight/bachwv.html Rebuilt: http://gustafson.home.westpa.net/999538 caboose.jpg Prototype: http://www.hebners.net/caboose/atsf/atsf999540L.jpg Atlas: http://www.spookshow.net/freight/atlasev.html Nothing against doing a Shapeways, but you can get a scrap Bachmann for a lot less, and it's about as much work to fix one of those as finish a Shapeways as well. It's like a lot of Bachmann stuff, once you get rid of the trucks, the handrails, and the grossly oversized roofwalks, what's left shouldn't necessarily be laughed at. What makes it really work is all the wire handrails, the right paint & decals, etc. There are some differences between classes, I'm doing one of the 1974-built Ce-8's, which are older than the Ce-11. But yeah, if your reaction to the Atlas is 'not quite right', I had the same issue, although the details are much nicer.
Randy- The main reason I was suggesting the Atlas as a basis was it looks more to scale to the prototype than the Bachmann. But then again I have not taken exact measurements yet. Yes you are 100% correct that the B-mann caboose can be picked up for cheap, and we all like cheap. My Dads cousins rebuilt a B-mann years ago and used a MTL frame under it. It holds the rail very well as a result. One problem with the Bmann cab that I am not sure how to address is they all have roofwalks on them and the prototype for which I am modeling does not have the roofwalk. I noticed yours didn't either. How did you overcome that obstacle? Normally it would not be a big deal, but the roof is on top of the model and sticks out like a sore thumb if there are any flaws. Ryan
I've lost track of how many ugly plastic roofwalks I've pulled. It's rapidly become 'all of them' since etched ones became available. But what I do is cut the pegs off and use them as filler in the holes, glueing them in with Testors orange and not being particularly neat about it either. Let it dry for a good week. Then go at it with files and an Xacto knife and file and carve the plastic down to match the panels. Sometimes I have to add a little Squadron putty, but usually not much. I removed about half a panel and moved the cupola over too. Used a Zona saw. I did that a long time ago, maybe... '76 or so. I intended to replace it with the Atlas a year or so ago and was really surprised when I put them side by side how much longer the Atlas one was and the off-center cupola. They did a nice job on the end rails, but the ATSF cars didn't have end ladders. This is kind of 'on the list' of projects that would be great on Shapeways if you could control orientation and the resolution gets just a little better.
I have to admit that every time I think to myself, "What would I do if I could pick a Shapeways project?" I too come up with a caboose, but it's always this one: I realize it's pretty much CB&Q specific (although the Wabash had some very similar), but hey, that's supposed to be the advantage of Shapeways!
