3D Printing Meets the Model Railroad - Part I

Thursday, March 27, 2014
(Sunny and cold to be followed by snow)

3D Printing Meets the Model Railroad
(Part I)

   I joined Facebook a couple of months ago in order to try and promote my blog. I wrote a post about Facebook, and it's a great site. I can see why Google is trying to promote their Google+.  There is social media,you can post on a daily basis in the blog style with photos, there are advertisements , and of course, you can meet people. 

  I found someone by the name of  Dan Kummer on Facebook who had some very interesting 3D items. I've written about 3D printing last year, but Dan's items were closer to toys, and his items were great. Naturally, I asked a lot of questions, and Dan said that he had some people that he worked with, and they would be better suited anymore-experienced to help me out.  I received an e-mail a few days later from Sherri Johnson who owns a company by the name of CatsPaw Innovations, LLC.  Sherri  wrote back, and provided me al kinds of information, websites, and of course here own website and Facebook page. I was quite impressed at the business acumen of this lady and how well she has been able to set up her business in such a short time! Sherris's partner is Yolanda Hayes, and both are working very hard to get this 21st century company going, which it is doing quite well!

  For today, I'm just going to introduce and talk about some of Sherri's interesting items that she has produced and sells. In the ensuing post, I will be more technical and provide lots of information. For those who don't know, 3D printing is a method of producing real three-dimenional items in the same way as laser jet or inject printing. A dispenser head moves back and forth and instead of adding ink to paper, adds hot liquid plastic from bottom to top, until an item is created.

  When you think just how fast technology has evolved in the last 30 years in the realm of cell phones, computers, and so forth, you can imagine what 3D printing will be like in 5 years and 10 years. The potential for this industry is limitless, and creativity is infinite.

Please click here to visit Sherri Johnson's fine website

Please click here to visit Sherri Johnson's Facebook page

Sherri sent me the link below to a short but very interest video that shows a printer making the character Yoda from the movies. The video excellently illustrates how a 3D printer produces an item in speeded-up time-lapse video. In the video, the machine is pruning with a 1mm (very thin) plastic spool), and later compares the results to a 2 mm spill of material.

Please click here to see a very interesting 3D printing video

   Sherri has been marketing and promoting her company by attending model railroad expositions, because one of her company's product lines is in fact model railroad items. The company produces 4 sizes of accessories:

O-Scale      (1:48)

S-Scale       (1:64)

HO-Scale    (1:87)

N-Scale      (1: 160)

One of my questions to Sherri  had to do with what I call "banding". Since the printing is created with layering and spools of plastic that is melted, you tend to see round lines or bands rising from top to bottom (you can see that in the photos below). Sherri said that you can use very fine snapper to initially smooth out the bandd, and continue with  acetone ( use in a well-ventialted area) in order to smooth out the lines so that they are less apparent.  I'll stop talking here, and continue as I present the photos below.

Since 3D printing is based on reproductions of real-life living beings and things, the output is limitless. There are what I assume are called software engineers or even "techies" who are creating all kinds of items that can be produced by 3D printers.

That BBQ scene above is great, especially with the dog having "stolen" a snack!

Here is a close-up to show you just how small these printers can print.

The photo above illustrates the different scales and sizes that Sherri and her company are working with.

If you watch cable TV, by now you've probably seen at least 3 programs dedicated to Appalachian "creatures", Bigfoot, and a whole host of other "creatures". I would assume the popularity of this being has caught on in the model railroading world, and having a Yeti or Bigfoot in your first is a definite "must have". You can see the banding here, but it's less apparent as this particular model is the largest size.  Of course,in the future, the technology will allow for much smaller diameter filaments of plastic so that the bands will not show.

I keep forgetting just how small these printers can print!

This is great!

That truck came out quite well, and I assume that acetone was used to smooth out the exterior.

I like the storage back in the truck bed, the water cooler, the gas tank, and the 2 cindery cinderblocks. That ladder is fantastic as well.  What's fascinating is how small-sized figures such as people can be "printed out" in different poses. I like how the man's arms are bent.

Here is the actual size of the bricks in the truck photo. 

It's unbelievable just how small items can be printed.

Love that cat, and the man resting against what I assume is an outhouse (outdoor bathroom).

I think that a plastic base is need as the starting point for all 3D prints. I assume one calls the output prints, since the process is printing, but it's still "strange" to me to call this printing.

These are the colours that Sherri provides to her customers.

I saved my favourite for last . The bus comes as a kit that you'll  assemble at home.

Sherri mentioned that the bus took 3 hours to print. I remember when my first inkject printer took what seemed to be a long time to print an 8" x 10 " (300 dpi) or  8202 mm x 254 mm colour print. In a couple of years, this bus will I'm sure be able to print out in much less time. I would also think that the more expensive commercial models could print this item in much less time. 

This latest technology is here to stay.  I've read that NASA (the US space agency) is having contractors use this technology to produce some of the items for future space items. Their rationale is that the technology is less costly that producing with castings and moulds. I'm sure though that safety is of the first concern, and the most important items rare left to perhaps the traditional technologies.

That's all for today, and I'll for sure be writing the next instalment tomorrow or later in the week.

The uses of such technologies are endless. I had asked Sherri about 3D scanners to capture items and then "translate" them into data for printing.  Sherri in fact answered that she has a 3D scanner, and is in fact learning to work with the scanner and  the 3D printer! If I ever get down to Atlanta, Georgia, I got to meet these great businesswomen (Sherri and Yolanda) and of course the machines!

I'll be writing part II about Sherri and Yolanda in the near future. Sherri sent me so much information, that I need to read it and digest it first before writing.  I really appreciate the time and effort that Sherri spent in writing me to answer all of my questions.

Thanks for dropping by to visit,

and as always, 

have a great part of the day or night, 

wherever you may be,

Stacey

please feel free to write me at:

toysearcher@gmail.com