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Post by Adam on Apr 6, 2020 15:50:01 GMT
On the OGF Live Meetup on Saturday, a few of you asked if i can print figures. I can see the draw of doing this as you can fill all of your passenger car seats and really enrich the layout with more people, animals, etc. It's something I have been thinking about for a while but this question was the push I needed to get started. I plan to post a related thread in the OGF University section later this week with some details of the experimenting I did over the last 2 days and what I believe are some best practices, but I wanted to show you some early success. When you look at this photos understand that A) printing tiny is tricky (but doable) and B) 3D printed models that are not clear geometries will always require some cleanup. A good exacto-knife and hobby snipers usually do the trick. These have gotten a lot of cleanup already, but you can see there is still a bit more to do. Next, paint, my weakest skill. Wish me luck! Short answer, yes, O-Scale figures/people can be printed. Next I plan to try some seated figures which requires a 3D printing trick called "supports".    |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 15:59:33 GMT
Thanks Adam. Does it look like this is a reasonable replacement for Chinese figures from a time/ cost/detail standpoint or is it too early to tell?
We have gotten the painting down fairly well by doing 8-10 figures at one time, But it is still a pain.
Look forward to more from you.
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Post by Adam on Apr 6, 2020 16:02:51 GMT
Thanks Adam. Does it look like this is a reasonable replacement for Chinese figures from a time/ cost/detail standpoint or is it too early to tell? We have gotten the painting down fairly well by doing 8-10 figures at one time, But it is still a pain. Look forward to more from you. From a cost perspective, it is minimal. These are about 1.5 inches tall, so the amount of plastic is virtually nothing. I would say about $0.50 per model, counting the paint and electricity. I do think this is a reasonable replacement but the quality may vary. Let me do a few and reassess the question. Good way to look at it.
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Post by josef on Apr 6, 2020 16:08:58 GMT
Looks good. Hows the facial feature hold up printing these?
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Post by Adam on Apr 6, 2020 16:12:34 GMT
Looks good. Hows the facial feature hold up printing these? Only so-so on these, but I scaled these up from HO. It seems that there are more HO designed people on the sites I usually use. I will look for some O scaled designs and see if that works better.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2020 16:15:34 GMT
Looking good so far Adam. I think that as long as ears, nose, and chin for the males look decent and the same for women then painted these figures can look pretty darn good. Hats for men and longer hair for women too! Paint will do them justice as well.
Thanks,
Gary.
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Post by harborbelt70 on Apr 6, 2020 16:23:01 GMT
I'll weigh in only because this (especially passenger figures) is a subject close to my heart although (a) I don't have a 3D printer and the necessary software myself and (b) I probably have enough painted figures to populate those trains I am working on - at present.
Seated passenger car figures are the Holy Grail. You can get them, painted and in a relatively limited number of poses and "personalities," from the Far East (HK and China). Some of these are knock-offs of German Preiser figures and they look it.
The real issue is size. The interiors of Lionel, MTH and even GGD passenger cars are sub-scale, more like S than true O. True O or "quarter scale" figures, many of which are produced for the quarter scale diorama and dollhouse hobbies, are just too big. This makes no difference for station platform and town scenes but without a permanent layout that is not what I model.
I have experimented with S scale figures from Artistta and 3D printed O and S scale figures from Shapeways. They are all relatively expensive and the 3D printed offerings are sometimes untried designs that Shapeways vetoes before even attempting actually to produce them because they determine that they won't print successfully.
So yes, there is definitely a gap in the market for 3D printed figures, seated or standing, that are suitable for passenger cars. I'll certainly watch this space for whatever Adam comes up with!
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Post by harborbelt70 on Apr 6, 2020 16:41:33 GMT
P.S. Scaling up designs to O from the far more numerous range of HO and even N scale 3D designs can work - subject to the scaled item's size, level of detail and the printing material used.I have posted this before on the old forum but add it again to illustrate what I mean. These are Union Pacific Auxiliary Water Tenders as used on present-day UP Excursion trains, including behind #4014. None of Lionel, MTH and 3rd Rail have ever made them in the accurate design but have "recycled" old slope-sided tender tooling. Not being happy with this I commissioned a supplier who was making the accurate tenders in HO and N scales to do them in O. I had to supply trucks, couplers and frames from Lionel replacement parts; the supplier did all the painting and decal work:
You can tell from the photo that the finish is not the same as on the die cast or brass AWTs that have been released by the importers I referred to. The shells are also incredibly light and wouldn't stand up to much, if any, punishment.
Figures obviously would not have the same issues except as to level of detail. Since the above were made the filament used for 3D printing has developed quite a lot at least in commercial applications. Frankly I'd love to be in a position to develop drawings for printing on my own machine but as I haven't got one or the digital skills to draw it's not an option.
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Post by laz57 on Apr 6, 2020 16:53:51 GMT
Outstanding job ADAM. Now can you make some dancers for Da BUDA BING?  
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Post by Adam on Apr 6, 2020 16:55:53 GMT
Outstanding job ADAM. Now can you make some dancers for Da BUDA BING? LOL! I sure can try! Don’t tell my wife! |
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Post by Country Joe on Apr 6, 2020 16:56:36 GMT
HB, the tenders look great. It's impossible to see any shortcomings in the photo.
I think 3D printing is in it's infancy and we will probably see big improvements in the not too distant future.
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Post by josef on Apr 6, 2020 17:05:15 GMT
Outstanding job ADAM. Now can you make some dancers for Da BUDA BING? LOL! I sure can try! Don’t tell my wife! You guys are hilarious. I'm sure he's thinking of line-dancers and "Achy Breaky Heart" playing in the back ground of the Da Buda Bing. LOL
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Post by Adam on Apr 6, 2020 17:07:57 GMT
LOL! I sure can try! Don’t tell my wife! You guys are hilarious. I'm sure he's thinking of line-dancers and "Acky Breaky Heart" playing in the back ground of the Da Buda Bing. LOL
Yes, that's it, I am sure that is what he was thinking.
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Post by Country Joe on Apr 6, 2020 17:11:13 GMT
LOL! I sure can try! Don’t tell my wife! You guys are hilarious. I'm sure he's thinking of line-dancers and "Acky Breaky Heart" playing in the back ground of the Da Buda Bing. LOL
Line dancers would surely work but since it's Da Bada Bing they would be naked line dancers.
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Post by Adam on Apr 6, 2020 17:12:54 GMT
Straight and to the point Joe!!
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