3D Printing

 Hiya :)

Well I have just spent the last 79 weeks building my own 3D Printer :) If you want to see how I got on then you can see how I built it b/c I have done a build & review on my YouTube Channel - Goto Jimyjames73 on YouTube, then click on Playlist, then click on 3D Printer Build & Review. It comes from a week by week Mag  & build it week by week - complete in 90 Parts by Eaglemoss. In the mag it tells al about 3D Printing & shows you how to use both SketchUp & Blender - both 3D design modelling software (I have found SketchUp easier to use). If you want to know more about the Vector 3 3D Printer then go to :- http://www.3dprinter-collection.com/

 Me again just to answer your Q's.

1. The V3 can produce some detail but not much as it is only a small 3D Printer, not sure about commercial printers.

2. Well as my V3 3D Printer came in weekly parts, Issue 1 - £1.99 all other issues 2 to Issue 90 @ £6.99 apart from 2 issue @ £14.99 due to 2 parts being exspenive!!! Once built, all you have to buy extra is the PLA or ABS Filament.

3. Not sure.

4. As I said above there is restrictions as to size of the V3 Printer, but it does talk about in the magazines that other people building larger 3D Printers printing Larger objects, & no not only can you use plastic but amazingingly enough in the magazine it also talks about people building special 3D printers to print out Food, brick to build building with, body parts - any thing really!!!

5. Well 1st you need to design the object to print - you can use either SketchUp or Blender (SketchUp is easier to use), then you need a Print Program to print it out with, I use 3D Create & Print which you can d/l for free from www.3dprinter-collection.com

6. Well even though I haven't quite finish building my V3, it is complete enough to do some actual 3D Printing,  I had a go at doing some 3D printing but found a part was "faulty" which ment it could not print well :( If you go to my YouTube channel Jimyjames73, click on Playlist, then click on 3D Printer Build & Review you will be able to see how I got on!!!

I hope that my 2 entries/replys help :)

 Lots of good stuff there folks! Thank you all. Much food for thought.

 As I have bought five Hornby short clerestories recently I thought I should try to hollow out and reduce the wall thickness of the interiors I produced for these coaches.

To my delight the revised prints arrived from shapeways today and the work although they do feel a bit more delicate they are still robus enought to handle with care.

I have one 3-D printed prototype loco body and it is not robust. The plastic it was printed from feels as if lacking in strength and as though it may crumble in years to come. I appreciate materials improve and some are better than others for a particular purpose so maybe this rapid prototype would be OK if printed in a different material.

Costs of reasonable quality home printers are coming down with at least one less than £200. There is an active review section on RM Web forum 3-D printing section. I have been tempted to buy but then again laser cutting has also tempted me, so sitting on the fence for now.

I have been 3D printing for a few years now via Shapeways and my early items show no sign of degrading. Some of the plastics are fragile, but this can be overcome by using the appropriate thickness for the material or bracing from behind. I would add that my Siphon J body is no less weak than a Lima Siphon G except that when it breaks it shatters rather than splits

The coach interiors I have printed feel quite flimsey but the flexible material I used is quite durable. Besides once inside the coach they are protected.