19th Century Freight Wagon 01

This is a mixed media model of a 19th century freight wagon.  The prototype for this wagon was used  widely from the late eighteenth century to the mid 19th century, though they were so heavily constructed many lasted quite a long time.  The shape to the body was designed to keep material on board while traversing grades.  

The model below is a quickly made"first draft" made of 3d printed parts and paper. Several parts need refinement, and the body height needs to be adjusted.  Looking forward to making the next steps and doing a more careful build of this one.

Dick Kerr 12

I've been slow in updating the blog, but the Dick Kerr Project is really moving.  There is increasing interest in the possibility of a Dick Kerr kit as people see the project in social media.  I've found that it's possible to achieve the extremely fine detail I want using the Form 2 printer.  This includes profiles beyond the published capabilities of the machine, providing things are appropriately oriented and optimized.  Very glad I upgraded.  A gallery of updates follows.  I'm looking forward to getting this painted.  The floor is laser etched from wood--the only part not made on the Form 2 at this point aside from a couple bits of brass.

Backhead and gears fresh from the printer, Dick Kerr 11

The back head printed beautifully.  The control lever is a bit too far to the left.  I did this for support, but think I can now push it over.  Will also add rivet detail I think.

The chassis looks a bit abstract, but everything seems to fit right.  Looking forward to getting it off the supports.

Gears mesh well! I'm thinking this might actually work now.

Backhead and under the hood for the Dick Kerr 10

I've been busy on the Dick Kerr, mainly working on the "backhead" and technical items.  The detail in the above image looks crude, until you consider how small this little loco is, the cab could be mistaken for an HO scale RS3, and the interior here shown is just a fraction of that.  I've made a couple compromises, but, they should not be noticable through the cab door.

I've also designed a set of spur gears for the revised Mechanism.  The real work was done using the fantastic program Gearotic Motion.  I was originally planning to machine these with the Roland mill, but I am going to use these to put the Form 2 to the test today.  Any significant distortion will cause problems with these small gear of 9mm and 14mm diameter.  If they don't work I can always make them on the Roland.  If they do work, I may need to cast them in a softer plastic.  We'll see.

Bruce Wilson proposed a set up from Hollywood Foundry that looks very good--I may go ahead and make one of my mechanisms, and order a Hollywood Foundry item for the second, just to make the body adaptable to something that is not as custom as my solution.

Oyster Car

Now that things are moving again, there is space to day dream about adding yet another project to the list.  Gasp! Not another.....yes, another.  But I promise there is more progress in the wings on a few fronts.

Colin King's post on the Friends of MRCS Facebook page gets the blame.  The little nugget he posted from Wikipedia for Schools led me to do a bit more digging, which promptly turned up a set of articles in The Cannonball, the newsletter of the Sunrise Trail Division of the NMRA.  The 2 part article series chronicles one modelers journey to building such a car.  I feel a lot better about my random pursuits reading this set of articles, because the author's journey is nearly as long as my life. By those standards I'm at least on pace, or maybe even a speedy modeler.  The two articles can be found here: http://www.sunrisetraildiv.com/ .  The two issues are fall and winter 2014.

Boiler House

This is the last of the retro-posts, after this we're all caught up.  I've gone ahead and dated the posts in appropriate chronology to keep things organized.  We'll see if I can keep current for a bit.

I've always loved the steam boiler house at the Rhode Island State Capital.  It's traditional form and diminutive size make it a perfect model subject.  Added to the list!

Dick Kerr 09

A retro-post from June 3, 2016, we're almost caught up.

I've gone ahead and assembled the first set of Dick Kerr Prints.  All I can say is "wow" to the Form 2. Once primed, these will require very little post production.  I'm confident that I can make the body consistently.  Time now to step back and fill in a couple details such as the cab interior and the brake system.  Also need to work out the mechanism mounting.  Briefly flirted with the idea of making this little monster "dead rail" using my new Blue Rail Board from David Rees.