622’s air pump and the end of detail castings

It strikes me that 622’s air pump will likely be one of the last detail castings I ever buy. Certainly, it will be the last brass air pump I buy. The next one will be printed, likely here at home. It’s worth pausing here to enjoy the skill that went into the pattern for this […]

i hijacked this wordpress account

Hello im Renes ,daughter coming at ya !! So it seems that these photos are of my dad,s model train. I think the silver thing is a coin and the tube welll ummm yup i have no idea . Moving on! In conclusion , the shark is still sad , and i still have no […]

Smokebox front

622’s smokebox front is another 3D-printed part. Like the domes and stack, it fit astonishingly well into the boiler. It was actually a nice press-fit. Interestingly, either the boiler jacket is slightly thicker than .020″ (would that happen as it curled?) or there is some inaccuracy in the 3D print. In either case, the smokebox […]

622 gets a stack and domes

That big package from Shapeways contained domes, and I’m impressed enough by the quality of the print, that I don’t think I can improve on them. A coat of primer will tell for certain, but if any sanding is required, it is minimal. Astonishingly, they fit onto the boiler perfectly! I’m still trying to move […]

Boiler saddle

When I mated the boiler and the etched frame for the first time, they produced a dead short. Somehow, I had reversed the framigami pattern so the left side ended up on the top rather than on the bottom as planned. Fortunately I noticed before bringing any destructive electrons to the party. The situation remained […]

Boiler wrapped

I designed the boiler weight undersized to allow for the tolerance of Shapeways stainless steel printing. As with my own girth, I figured it would be easier to shim than to trim the weight. However, even with the additional tolerance, while the barrel allows for slightly more than a .020″ styrene wrapper, the wagon top […]

Styrene tubes for 622’s boiler

One of the supposed benefits of writing and blogging about my projects is that I can go back and repeat a technique that was successful, and sometimes avoid the ones that weren’t. Unfortunately, when it comes to how to roll the plastic sheathing for the boiler, the book on #10 is like a nude by […]

Sunken boiler

I was just about to start sheathing the boiler. It’s important to get the wagon top over the firebox right if the boiler is to fit the front of the cab at all. So, I had the Cricut cut out a template for the formers. It was then that i discovered the boiler was too […]

622’s boiler roughed in

The plan for 622’s boiler is somewhat experimental. Because the engine is a split frame design, and the running boards are connected to the frame, the boiler needs to admit both polarities too. At the same time, these little engines are mostly air, and so, we need to fill the boiler with as much weight […]

Boiler keyhole?

Okay, it may be time to admit I have a keyhole problem. Ever since watching Dan Gelbart’s videos on prototyping, I’ve been thinking about them. This latest design element might be a keyhole too far. What if, instead of screwing down through the smoke stack to hold the front of the boiler in place, I […]