Evolution of a Blog

This blog has evolved as I have as a maker. It starts at the beginning of my journey where I began to re-tread my tires in the useful lore of micro electronics and the open-source software that can drive them. While building solutions around micro-electronics are still an occasional topic my more recent focus has been on the 3D Printing side of making.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Have Decided that I Like Railroad Bridges

That is, N-Scale, railroad bridges as they allow me to continue designing and printing small models.

The first one that I did was a pretty much a complete creation based on things that I saw from Google.  I started to paint and weather it but have decided that it needs to be reprinted and re-assembled.  Speaking of which...these are obviously (if you know about 3D Printing) these are printed in pieces and assembled like a kit.   Aayway, there are a number of issues with this model including the need for some extra support at the end ramps and the height and width of the walkway.


My second bridge is a reasonably accurate replica of a plate and girder bridge in particular the one shown below...but only the section to the right and not curved!  And also...one version, the one shown, without the walkway shown in the plans, and one with a solid roadbed and walkway as shown in the plans.


Both of these models are largely printed using a 250 micron nozzle (with the same extrusion width) for the details.  Check out the rivets below.


Current project is a truss bridge, this one of my own design with the goal of looking good as opposed to matching anything in reality.  If I do another bridge I would like to replicate something from full scale but I have not found a subject.




Since N-Scale is even smaller that what I have been doing for FoW (1:160 versus 1:100) it poses equal parts of a challenge for my printers and for my dexterity while fitting into the man cave even better!

The first two models are on Thingiverse for your printing pleasure.  The third will be soon as well.

1 comment:

  1. Hi really enjoying your blog! I was wondering if I could ask you for some advice? My 10yr old son has aspergers and is tech mad. He really wants a 3d printer for his birthday. After doing some research I think a kit would be great as he can really see how it works. But there are so many kits I'm not sure what to look for and unfortunately we haven't got a massive amount of money!We live in the UK.
    Any advice would be gratefully received.

    ReplyDelete