New low price Gn15 wagons

[johna]

Just had a delivery from Shapeways . Very happy with the items. They are the first 3d wagons I have. Just need to find a supplier of Proto 2000 36" wheel sets

John

[docnjoj]

I have been following your progress, Tom and it seems like you are really filling the void in this market. At this point I am holding off till after Christmas with an order, but I fully intend to buy a bunch of your stuff. The wheel situation has me concerned. Any way you can also sell the wheels, at least as a separate item?
David (Doc)

[tebee]

Wheels should be less of a problem for you in the US. I'm going to buy some of the Intermountain ones to check how they work as an alternative as I've heard good things about them but never used them myself.

I've used the Proto 2000 ones in the past and always been impressed with the way they run and track, the seem to have a particularly good profile, Kadee ones work well too, but seem to be a little more inclined to derail on imperfect track.


I''ll see what I can find in the UK wheel ranges to suggest too, but most of these have a poorer profile that US wheels, in particular many lack a flange root radius, and I find they seem to track worse.

There are several ranges available from Germany and Australia which I have heard recommended in the past, but when I investigated them they where about 4 times the price of the Proto 2000 ones.

Tom

[Chris18]

Can I use Hornby R8264 14.1mm wheels on your Gn15 wagons ?

http://www.hornby.com/14-1mm-2-hole-wheels.html

[tebee]

The 14.1 mm ones are a bit too big, flanges will probably scrape the floor. 12mm ones will fit, but I think the 10.5 mm ones look better and are probably nearest to the typically 10 inch wheels used on small 15 inch gauge wagons

Tom

[Chris18]

Thanks for your advice.

[tebee]

Well I've just ordered 14 of these wagons for myself while Shapeways had a 20% discount on, so I'll be able to test some different wheels and see how they work.

Will let you all know when they arrive.

Tom

[Chris18]

Are they ready to order ?

[tebee]

Yes - both these and the skip based range should be fine to order now - I've not updated the earlier, slightly larger range, but will do soon, though my definition of soon may vary from your definition.....

All the ones that say Gn15 small........ should be fine and up-to date barring any stupid mistakes on my part.

I'm looking making the cad files for these available for sharing on Autodesk's new free for hobbyists online CAD platform, so people can modify them as they want, but it's not proving as easy as I thought, so this may end up in the "later" pile.

Tom

[Chris18]

my definition of soon may vary from your definition.....
Tom

Many thanks for your answer Tom. This is my very personnal definition of "soon":
"I don't plan to do something tomorrow if I can do it the next week !"

[chris69]

Hi guys,
just ordered 6 of the chassis and the buffer/couplers.
Hope they will work together.The HORNBY 12mm wheel sets should work on them,I hope......
One more question, do I need some brass bearings?
thanks





Happy New Year
Chris

[tebee]

They should work together - mine are being printed as we speak, when they arrive, probably just after new year I'll let you know for certain......

I've been checking various Hornby wheelsets I have round here - they seem to vary a little in axle length from about 25.2mm to 25.99 mm. If the ones you have are at the long end of this range you might need to deepen the pinpoint bearings in the chassis about 0.1 or 0.2 mm with a drill, but normally you don't need any extra bearings like brass ones as the chassis are made out of nylon which is both hard wearing and has very low friction.

Tom

[chris69]

Hi Tom,
thanks for the info. Got my notice too. The parts should be here around the 7th or so.

best
Chris

[rue_d_etropal]

I have found that there is always some variance with 3d printing and is is better to have the distance between axle boxes slightly too big as it is easier to either fit bearings of add a thin piece of paper/card to reduce gap. Other way is to file down the insides of axle box, which can be hard word given how tough the nylon plastic is.
I like to use the Liliput metal wheels as they have deeper flanges and have a bit of weight in them. I used some Romford wheels, which looked better but were more prone to derail on some of my track. Liliput wheels are available from some Bachmann dealers in big bags as spares.

[tebee]

As some of you may know I've bought my own 3d printer.

Here are some of the Gn15 wagon bodies I've just made .





One rather roughly painted to give you a better idea of the surface




Not prefect, but a fraction of the cost of Shapeways ones

Tomorrow the Shapeways versions arrive, it will be interesting to see the comparison.

[rue_d_etropal]

How long did it take to print?

[tebee]

Just over an hour to print

[rue_d_etropal]

not bad, so if people think they are OK, you should be able to produce enough to take to exhibitions(given that was your headache last time). That would be main reason I might be tempted to get a 3D printer, just don't want to be dependent on it. Also possibly good for first stage testing/prototyping.

It would be interesting to know what tolerance there is in the printing. A little bit of roughness is OK, as long as dimensions are correct.

Downside is that only can produce about a dozen a day, possible 100 a week if you are lucky. If more than one can be printed at a time, obviously more can be produced. Mind you if you are making a profit of say 2 pounds or euros, and actually sell that number per week then that is just enough to live off, but then the machine is in control , not you.

[tebee]

Yes, though I think selling 100 Gn15 wagon bodies a week might be a bit optimistic !

It would not be hard to produce more - simply buy more than 1 machine, it was only £450 so it would not cost a fortune to have a factory producing 500 wagons a week!

It has the advantage it has it's own built in computer, so does not need to connected while you print - just stick an SD card in it preloaded with the print definition file for the object.

I'm just making a few mods to the printer at the moment, to try to make it print more reliably - I'm currently only getting 50% ok at the moment, though most fail in the first couple of mins luckily - it's still a long way from being a plug an' play technology.

Next task will be trying to print the chassis.

The Shapeways Gn15 wagons arrived today - will try and get them coloured tomorrow and get some pics when they dry.

Here is a sneak preview of them in their natural white



Tom

[rue_d_etropal]

I suppose it is a case of get what you pay for. £450 might not be much, but it looks like it requires more to set it up. Worth while sharing details with others with 3D printers. Even if you do get it running better, you still have to print off enough to sell, then find someone to buy them. I can see it being a good idea for a specialist shop, which is dealing directly with real customers. I would be happy to work with a shop/business this way, as long as I had a commission on each model produced.

[KEG]

I am not interested in new business modells or details of homeprinters. Those things should be talked about elsewhere. Title of this thread is: New low price Gn15 wagons

Before investing a single Cent on these, I would love to see detailed and sharp pictures of the new offers.
Completly build with suitable wheels, on rails , and maybe a figure or two for seize comparisation. I hope this is not asking for too much.

Have Fun

Juergen

[tebee]

Reason we started talking about home printing it that it opens the possibility of wagon kits at around £5 that would however need some work to tidy up, as opposed to nearer ready to run ones at £10-15. I'm not sure which people prefer

A couple of pics to wet you appetite





And here is a close up of the flat with removable "Top"



Tom

[chris69]

YES!
5BP is about $7.50 per car...now we are talking!
Anyone can do a bit of cleanup.Hell we all fiddle with them anyway........off to the races!!!!!!

Cheers
Chris

[rue_d_etropal]

those look good. I agree a bit of cleaning up does us no harm. In fact it has been the shift towards more accurate r2r models that is doing the hobby more harm. The trick with designing something people will appreciate long term, is to produce something that takes them most of the way, and allows them to complete the task with minimal effort and skill. That way they actually manage to complete a model they are proud of.
As someone said to me last year, 3D printing is an aid to scratch building, I don't think it always is but it can be.Anything that helps our hobby has to be good, anything that gets people being creative is even more important.

[fatmac]

I'd be tempted at £5 a wagon, hopefully this sort of pricing will be common very soon.