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Post by robertlcollins on Sept 20, 2021 9:27:15 GMT -5
I thought I'd start posting pictures of my little Z scale model railroad. It's a small loop, 20" by 24", which should be fun to run. The idea of it is a little town set somewhere in the Flint Hills in east-central Kansas, not far from where I live. It's going to be post WW2 so I can run short passenger and freight trains, though I haven't ruled out getting some 1970s equipment at some point. Right now I have the ground cover and track down, and I've put down most of the trees I wanted to. I plan to put down buildings next. If anyone's interested, I'm also posting videos of my progress over on my YouTube channel.  |
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Post by cwrr on Sept 20, 2021 9:35:13 GMT -5
Welcome!
That's a great little layout, I like the scenery!
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Post by robertlcollins on Oct 19, 2021 10:13:02 GMT -5
I got in a 3d printer last week, and spent the weekend printing and painting some buildings on the layout. I plan to put down a few more trees around the town sometime soon .  |
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Post by robertlcollins on Oct 28, 2021 6:48:09 GMT -5
I put down a few more trees and some bushes around the town. I think that part of the scenery is done. I'll see if I can add a few vehicles next.  |
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Post by cwrr on Oct 28, 2021 12:05:33 GMT -5
Looks great so far!
I'd go for some telephone poles along the tracks, some crossing signals, little things to bring out the realistic looks.
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Post by zman on Oct 29, 2021 5:18:36 GMT -5
Great progress! Looking forward to seeing deer, cows, buffalo and/or horses roaming the country side. Maybe a barb wire wooden fence! Have fun!!
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Post by robertlcollins on Oct 30, 2021 6:54:41 GMT -5
Something else I've been tinkering with for the layout is printing freight and passenger cars. This picture is of a boxcar I printed, in the style of a rebuilt boxcar or the like. I printed it in two pieces, the roof and the body. With some sanding of the bottoms of the prints the two glue together. It's a pretty simple model, to be sure. But trucks fit on it, and painted up it should look okay. The body is printed as a solid object, and that gives it weight. For those of you thinking about getting into 3D printing, this method might be a way to get the equipment that isn't being sold otherwise. If you're interested, I can post more of these efforts as I go along.  |
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Post by robertlcollins on Nov 5, 2021 7:14:39 GMT -5
Been thinking about adding a barn, so I designed one, printed it out, and painted it. The first coat was a bright red that didn't quite take. The second coat was all the same color as the roof. I kept the roof color but painted the sides a medium-light brown. I'm going to hold off on adding vehicles for a bit, but I should have some freight cars to show off soon...  |
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Post by robertlcollins on Nov 10, 2021 7:52:11 GMT -5
Here's my first batch of freight cars that I 3d printed. I added tungsten putty to the gondolas to give them more weight. I couldn't do that with the flat car, but I did print it at 100% infill, so it has a little bit of heft. I have a second group of four to paint, but I won't be getting trucks for them until next month. I'll have them running in my next layout video, and I'll try to remember to post it here when it goes live.  |
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Post by markm on Nov 10, 2021 12:35:48 GMT -5
Nice looking layout. I ran something similar when I started.
The cars look good. You might want to consider using metal wheel sets, particularly on the flat car to add weight.
Mark
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Post by zman on Nov 11, 2021 6:17:02 GMT -5
Looks great. What type trucks and couplers are you using?
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Post by robertlcollins on Nov 11, 2021 7:47:28 GMT -5
Micro-trains trucks & couplers.
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Post by cwrr on Nov 11, 2021 11:58:08 GMT -5
Dang, if you could whip up some Milwaukee Road 40' "Ribside" boxcars, that'd be awesome!  |
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Post by robertlcollins on Nov 11, 2021 15:47:47 GMT -5
Dang, if you could whip up some Milwaukee Road 40' "Ribside" boxcars, that'd be awesome! Oh, man!  Your comment reminds me that I had thought about trying to print double-sheathed boxcars, but I worried about how large the gaps would have to be to be noticed, and if that might make printing more difficult. I might take another shot at designing and printing one just to see what it would look like. Thoughts, anyone? |
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Post by cwrr on Nov 12, 2021 15:27:16 GMT -5
Heck yes! There's a seller on that "auction site" that sells alot of Z-scale decals for boxcars now, so whatever you can make up, just paint/decal it.
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