Chama Ash Pit

These two photographs [As always, if you click on the photograph you can get a high resolution version] show the prototype Chama ash pit, with and without a locomotive for scale.  The pit is fairly simple, and I did also print an air tank to go uphill of the ashpit for clean out.  The facility is very straightforward to model, and though I think I will add some entrance transitions for rails with ties, it printed perfectly the first time.  Note that I have no idea what the ladder-like contraption was used for that is seen in the bottom photo of pg 86 of the Quick Pic Book Steam Service Facilities D&RGW at Chama, NM Book 1 and whether it was used with the pit, or when it was installed].

Chama Sandhouse

I did get a final version printed of the sandhouse, but now I'm getting the bug for more realism for the log supports. I can vary the log diameters, and perhaps create things that look like branch stubs.  So rather than assemble it, I am waiting to for time to work on that and see if it helps.  I should be able to creating fissures with an hobby knife.

Chama Coal Tower - Coaling Bin

The second prototype came out really well.  I was thrilled with the quality of coal gratings that didn't pass Shapeways guidelines, but they still allowed me to print anyway.  Everything came out great.  However, due to bending of the long timber that supports the coal bin door pulleys, I am going to redo this and add a few detail items.  That will require me to print out in FUD, which is more expensive, but that is better than the assembly issues you can see if you look closely at the photos.  The coal bin doors came out great (ignore the bad paint job) with the exception of the individual wood slats.  I have been using various techniques to show gaps between boards, and in most cases they work out great, but it depends on the print angle.  In this case I will have to redo the gap simulator (currently 0.004" square cut-out, I think it needs to be 0.006").  I have been trying to decide how to color the acrylic so that it looks like concrete.  I like the white flexible which has a nice sandy finish just like concrete, but with the details it will go to FUD which can sometimes be smooth as glass.  I have some "aged concrete" Floquil that I painted a sample and let dry, I will look at it tomorrow.

Chama Coal Tower and Base House

Finally, I have a prototype of the Coal Tower and Base House - this took many dozens of hours to generate.  Before anyone nit-picks, there are at least two dozen things that I have to change and fix. 

In general, they printed out well.  Some interesting printing issues:  If you look at the house, the clapboard siding is not as pronounced as I would like (and this was done very early so it will take a lot of time to fix...) and oddly enough, even though it prints out fine around the window blanks (the house windows are a dead even fit for Grandt Line windows, so that is what will go there) but when I did door detail, or the stovepipe detail, the clapboard lines above those doors are wavy and you can clearly see something disrupted the normal 3D printing pattern.  I have no idea why it did that.

The tower itself has a lot sanding that needs to be done, most in hard to reach places (the ladders are notably messy - which is odd because when printed out separately they came out great, but I can't easily insert them after the fact... the tower overall is not nearly as clean as most of my prints.  That may be due to the complexity.  For example, the print completely lost the board detail for the coal storage bin, which is the same as I used in the sandhouse bin sides, so that is very odd.  But on the good side the coal cars came out great (another case of the accessory print going very well).  There were some tower details that didn't print well - I need to find some gears (could use brake wheels) for the chute mechanism.  I actually printed a gear separately and it came out great, but the one that I printed in place was a total loss so I shaved it off.  I also have to beef up the roof over the chute - it printed out too wavy to be of much use.  Also odd, I printed the sheaves at the base and in the tower top, the ones up top printed perfectly, except for the drive shaft, so they were loose and fell out!  The bottom ones printed out fine, but I need to rethink how to assemble them - I can't accurately place them after the fact.  I have a few options, need to think that one through.


That's all for now.  It will take a while to adjust these and print final versions.  As always, comments and questions are welcome.