One fan housing just about done… Still need to draw up the actual fans, but this is a start in the right direction for replacement of the overly thick USAT fans.
The fans as of now…
The steps that are to be etched. The smaller holes will be half etched from the bottom, and using a NWSL riveter, will be raised as rivets on the top surface. I may try 3D printing these as well, but I’m thinking they won’t be as strong as brass etch.
Who are you having do the etching?
Chris Kieffer said:
Who are you having do the etching?
Once I have a bunch, I’m going to send it off to PPD limited. They seem to be the most cost effective place. About $40 for a sheet of A4 paper (plus tax and postage). It certainly isn’t cheap by any means, but I’ve heard a lot of good things from different modelers about the etching services they provide.
Basically everything on the Snow Dozer will be etched (I will break that project down into sub projects as I’m sure it would be in the hundreds of dollars…), and a few parts on the GP30
So far etched parts;
Fans, grills, steps, diamond plate, grab iron brackets (this is for pretty much any project). I haven’t started the diamond plate yet, but that should be pretty fast and easy. The grills on the other hand are going to be a bit more complex. I might actually try two different versions of the steps. One version, half etch everything, leaving the little ‘buttons’ a full etch, then the bigger holes a whole etch, and then version two full etch on the larger holes, half etch on the bottom for the little ‘buttons’.
Seriously, Chris if you want/need any etched parts, let me know, and we can add them. I’m all for sharing and getting the most cost effective shipment.
What are your plans for using the NWSL riveter ? Will you be making a jig to hold the fans you plan to etch ?
The riveter will be used to create the small raised “buttons” on the safety tread. Half etched from the backside, so in theory it should be easy to locate.
I’m not sure yet on the actual fans. Trying to think how I can take a flat part and add the angle of the fan. I was thinking of driving the fans with a pager motor tied to a sound output on a ESU decoder. Its been done in O.
Maybe I should wait until the new year and then it will officially be a 10
year project. 
One of the big things I noticed on my prototype way back in the day was the rear fan had a flared radiator fan vs a straight fan. At the time or shortly after I drew up a version in CAD. Well I finally got a decent print. The file needs some tweaking still like the additional hold down bolts and maybe a touch more “flare” from the base but the overall look is what I’m after.
I’m not planning on working on this project that much, but this was one of those stumbling blocks I couldn’t get past with scratch building.
Edit: I see I should go back and edit the old posts with the photos to get them back to embedded. Humm maybe when/if I make more progress on this project.
So cool that you’re picking up the old thread and project Craig, very inspiring.
I don’t know how fast I’ll pick it up but I’m trying to not start more half done projects. I have so so many half done things. Many of them stalled out due to the fact that I didn’t have a 3d printer.
I hear you. Many of mine stalled for the same reason, and I couldn’t afford more Shapeways prints. (especially for test prints).
So that’s why I say it’s inspirational that you’re at least poking the thing again, and moving forward from where you were. Nice!
Shapeway sure priced themselves out of business. Between the long lead times and the pricing it’s much more affordable for hobbyists to print at home. And given that test prints are almost a necessity for 3d modeling it makes it even more frustrating.
About the only thing I can think of that I might use Shapeways for in the future is brass casting of 3d parts if that part is super critical to a brass model.
1 Like
First let me say great work being done on the GP30, I wish I didn’t model in LGB scale at times because it limits me to very few engines I can rebuild. My odd scale at 1:22.5 vs. 1/29th like USA Trains. Keep up the good work, I’m a modeler first and a runner second, just the way I have always enjoyed the hobby.
trainman
John,
I really enjoy modeling as well. I have a hard time when it comes to projects about starting them and not finishing them. This scale is fun because you can really get into the details on models. But the drawback of that is, there’s not much manufacturing support like HO. I’ve always envisioned that I would take the Cannon & Co lineup of detail parts and offer them up for scale in 1/29. With 3D printing, this actually sounds more obtainable than in the past.
I tell myself every year to try and cross off some half completed projects, but it never seems to happen. Somehow or another building the layout at the moment seems to take priority during the nice months, and then the winter months I head back to the shop and look at all the half completed stuff laying around. Time will tell if I will actually get back into this model…
Is this next to be finished ?
Maybe. I started making a list of to do things. That was one of them. I won’t say how many else are on that same list.
I have a self imposed deadline of Oct 1st, 2023 to complete a few models. And good ones to take to the 2023 RPM meet in Portland. It’s the first weekend in October. I brought a pile of stuff this year.
Ironically the Snow Dozer got stalled for the same reason that the GP30 did. I needed 3d printed parts.
I’m one of those A-B persons, that is when I start a project I do it till finished, then start another. I’ve always been this way so I feel like I get a lot done over time.
trainman
Yes - Especially all the 2013 posts that just have links. Just get rid of the parenthesis !
I have numerous unfinished projects several of which are 10 or more years old. What I can’t figure out, is when I’m bored and need something to do I don’t pick up an old one rather than starting a new one!
Well Jon I edited the ones I could. To lazy at the moment to go dig around in the Facebook archives to find the photos, download them and reupload them to Flickr. I remember why I stopped uploading on Flickr because I got locked out on that account. I had to make a new one and I still don’t know the login or password for the really really old Flickr account that the '13 photos are from.