Thank you Al Tru color are a good line
What kind of primer do you use, Al? And do you use “adhesion promoter”?
I just spray the parts no primer needed.
Finalizing the drilling plan and jigs…
127 holes per car, huh… Maybe I need to rethink my life…
The good news is that my goal to reduce the number of drill bit changes seems to be working. I decided yesterday to pick one bit size (the pilot diameter for several #1 lag screws) and rework what I could to that diameter (3/64").
That meant a test was needed for making my own NBW’s, with shanks having that diameter as well. The print came out fine, and with great detail.
And using this new “tough” resin, it’s pretty strong – at least as strong as, say, an injection-molded kit feature of the same size. The thing pressed into the 3/64" hole nicely, and is stuck there. Not sure if I can get it out without breaking… which is fine!
This resin can be bought in white, and colored… a rusty hue would be cool…
Having said that, these 3dp parts probably need some paint coating for use outdoors to protect them against UV. More to come on that.
Next steps are to fine-tune all the printed parts (will take awhile) and do a first pass at printing, drilling and assembly.
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Detail Freak !
Shouldn’t you be out weeding your RR !
I learned yesterday that my phone has a “Macro” mode, and here’s 1 car’s worth of NBW’s I just printed.
This morning I finished the drill jigs. It took quite awhile to make sure the lasered bits were facing the right way, because the holes aren’t always symmetric, and each piece can flip one way or the other. I sometimes did it right before gluing…
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Cliff have you considered adding resin pigments?
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Yes, that’s exactly what I was referring to, by adding color to achieve a rusty look. I’ve not done it before, so thanks for the link!
No worries. I’ve been trying to justify a resin printer so have been looking at possible advantages. Prusa has a mixologist chart.
The drilling by jig went reasonably well on a test batch, so here’s 1 car’s worth of wood bits.
Then came some pre-assembly.
Next steps is final chassis assembly. After which a lot of 3d printed bits get prepped and added. This is 1 car’s worth of those parts.
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You’ve given us your NBW HOLE count. What’s the rivet count +/- 50? (Or did I miss this ?)
You remind me, Bill, that a co-member in the V&T Historical Society actually gave a talk about rivets on these cars. I don’t recall the details… it wasn’t exactly riv— naah I won’t say it. But one of his main points was that since each can had its own history of mishaps and repairs and patching, each had a different rivet count.
I haven’t counted mine; but I’m thankful they’re all included in the print!
Got the two types of chassis done, one for narrow gauge on the left, and standard on the right.
The diff is the bin spacers for the NG. Bringing in the wheels meant they had to elevate the bin to clear them. Also, a couple holes are different for the brakes, since all that got squeezed inward.
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This evening I’ve been trying to slam some parts together to have something to show at the DnB. Long way to go, lots of issues discovered, but at least some things worked.
The main challenge was to get it on it’s feet, at least in a preliminary fashion. The journal boxes & springs & bearings worked ok, but I had to have something to temporarily retain them. Finally cobbed up journal straps of aluminum.
Last thing for tonight was gluing the bin down with good ol’ E6000. Just like the prototype. 
Off to MA in the AM!
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Since the NELSTS show, I’ve been working on the many design flaws in my first article build, such as the bin badle bowing (and not having a decently-printed rim), and numerous tweaks to the model and how a particular part is oriented and supported when printing. I think I’m close to a final design.
It was at this point of time when I thought I’d be switching over to trestle-building. But the ore car details are all in my mind still, and if I drop it I don’t know when I’ll get back to it (just like the trestles, Sean 
). So I’ve decided to plow on with this effort and see it through.
Goal: 10 cars narrow gauge, one standard gauge for show and tell.
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Cliff have you played around with your slicer’s organic supports on your resin printer? I’m finding that they are sometimes more versatile and I use up less filament on my printer.
Here is an example I pulled off the Prusa site.
Hi Bill, I haven’t heard of that. I don’t think Photon Workshop has that but I’ll keep my eyes open.
I’m used to placing my own supports, and it’s been working pretty well.
This morning has been all drilling, about 3 hours to drill 1,284 holes using jigs. Some parts have holes on 2 or 3 sides.
Now comes sanding, that’ll keep me busy for awhile.
And which should fill in all those small holes quite nicely… 
Loving the detail Cliff - keep up the good work.
Cheers
N
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