The Elusive Reading SD45 - Extended Cab...

For the last two weeks I’ve been working on a project that has been somewhat of an elusive thing for most Reading Railroad modellers.

A prototypical RDG - SD45 with that 12” cab bump out…!

Some have tried various methods to achieve it, some have worked really well, others haven’t.

So with my new found eagerness to build things using Fusion 360 to 3D render them, and my 4K Resin printer, I thought why not have a go.

I have two Kato - HO Scale RDG - SD45’s, so I decided to use this as my base.  I measured the cab and took detailed measurements of everything that was detailed enough for HO.

I wanted to 3D render the cab bump out, drip strips & the Sinclair Antenna onto the cab.  So after a week of rendering in Fusion 360, a non-detailed shell - test print yesterday, some fine tuning this morning, and a whopping 4hr & 33min print, the detailed version is here.

I’ll be trying a few more different print angles, and dropping the layers down to 0.02mm print to see if I can get a super smooth finish & details.

I also primed & painted one of the test cabs too, SMS Paints work really well with the Phrozen resin...

More soon.

First GRS TR-2 3D Printed Signal Head assembled...

So today I’ve successfully assembled my first 3D - Printed GRS TR-2 Triangular Colour Light.

It has four separate pieces that are resin 3D printed, the light box, the front background disc, the rear cover/door & mast bracket.

The LED’s are all colour correct to AAR standards, and are 0603 LED’s with magnet wire, the lenses are acrylic light pipes, these are HO scale.

 

The printer has even managed at 0.03mm to print out the US&S logo on the back door.

These will be replacing the older IHC plastic kit heads I had.

Successful Prints…

Well I finally got my first full print build, eight pieces all successful…

Now to see if I can continually replicate it.

3D Printing - First Prints...

So more fine tuning today, have had some really successful prints and a few that haven’t printed properly.

Unfortunately there is no manual for how to get a successful print, first time, every time.  Well apart from the test rook, that comes with the printer.

There are a few settings that can make a print work or not, a lot of the things I’m printing are under 1mm, most around 0.05mm and some down to 0.03mm so settings come into play getting this to work.

At the end of all this trial period this is what I’m trying to achieve, a GRS - TR-2 Triangular Colour Light, with its mast bracket, at least I have one…!

Resin 3D Printing...

Well I decided to delve right down the rabbit hole yesterday into the world of 3D Resin Printing.

I've purchased myself a 4K Resin Printer so that I can start producing my own signal heads, signal parts, and whatever I feel like creating for the layout in the future...

It's going to be a steep learning curve as I have to learn Fusion 360 so that I can design & build parts in 3D, and then I need to get my head around Chitubox for the printing side of things...

This screenshot of a US&S - TR-2 TriLight Head has taken me a full day to get to this point, countless "how too" videos on YouTube, and lots of coffee...

Should have the unit tomorrow, so hopefully an update, and maybe a print by the weekend, stay tuned...

Jason...

Pulp & Paper Mill - Structure Painting...

Airbrushing day today, the first of the structures for the Pulp & Paper Mill are getting primed and first coats of colour.

The bleach plant has had its primer done, and first two coats of SMS - Tan color, the roof will be SMS Light Gull Grey.

The Woodchip Unloading building has been primed, I tried Rust-Oleum - Flat Grey Primer for this, and it goes on great, quick & even coverage, just have to wait overnight for it to fully cure on the plastic.

Jason...

GType/Tri-Light - Signal Mast finished...

Finished up the GType/Tri-Light triple head mast that is using the Showcase Miniatures heads.

Showcase Miniatures - Tri Light Signal Head

The three heads have been added to Tomar brass mast, the LED’s are color correct 0603’s with magnet wire.

These have been an enjoyable build, to the point I’m considering changing over the existing IHC - Searchlight plastic heads for these.  They have more detail and I’ve got the process down to a point I can complete a head in about 30 minutes.

Jason...

Finished the Concrete Areas for the Pulp & Paper Mill...

Finished off the concrete area for the Pulp & Paper Mill this afternoon.  Went really quickly, even having to reprint three A4 sheets because I printed them on the wrong side…

Checked all the track clearances with the SW1500 Switcher and some rolling stock.

I’ll add line marking, expansion joints, and more detailed later on in a second round.

Pulp & Paper Mill - Concrete Standing Areas...

Finished up the major portion of concrete standing areas for the Pulp & Paper Mill today.

Have one more section to go in the truck loading area on the west side of the complex.

Once the concrete areas are finished I’ll give the structures their first coat of paint.

Jason...

Staged Scenery Photos...

Some staged photos with some of the big guns of the Reading…

This will be a great spot for railfanning the layout as trains work their way out of the helix and through the buildings behind the backdrop.

Jason...

Concrete Bridge Foundations...

Tonight I finished up by adding the concrete bridge foundations, Evergreen styrene sheet glued to the timber blocks.  They’ll be painted in a concrete colour and weathered later on.

The whole scene is starting to take shape now…

Backdrop Transition Buildings added...

Another productive day today, installed two more structures into the backdrop transition scene.  The bigger structure/building is one kit that was spread out to cover the remaining areas within the scene.

It adds some variety & bulk to the smaller buildings.  It also managed to cover the backdrop drywall cut on the Locomotive Shops side, and spans the track work too.

The second building was used to hide the corner of the layout frame work, and again blend the foreground backdrop into the scene behind.  Tricking the eye from multiple angles, whilst trying to maintain depth, and make it look plausible, requires a lot of lateral thinking, and trying different configurations.

Eventually the upper fascia will cover the very top portion of the 5 storey building, the mark on the right is 255mm - 10” and is the shadow box gap that will be created when the upper fascia is built.

Helix/Locomotive Shops - Backdrop Transistion Scene...

Working on the backdrop buildings for the helix/locomotive shops transition onto the layout.  These buildings will get a basic paint & weathering.  This scene actually sits between two backdrops, but because it can be seen from sides of the layout I decided to add some basic building & scene to finish off the area...

I knew there was a reason I stocked up on Walthers - Modular kits.  These are perfect for kitbashing buildings for view blocks.

This is the second building backdrop work for the helix/locomotive shops transition between the backdrops.

Again I used a combination of Walthers - Modular kits.  These are really adaptable & quick to put together.  

Two more structures to build and the scene will be ready for painting & weathering.

Bridge/Backdrop Transition changes...

Tweaking the bridge/backdrop transition today, previously the bridge deck was sitting below the backdrop cut line.  I wasn’t happy with it as you could see the cut in the backdrop through the bridge railing.

I’ve now raised the bridge about 20mm - 3/4” so that the bridge deck is in-line with backdrop cut line, and now hides the transition perfectly.

With a few vehicles strategically placed, the view is much better than before from both angles the scene can be viewed from.

Triple Head Signal - Progress...

Installed the last Showcase Miniatures- G-Type/Tri-Light lens cabinet on my scratch built - Triple Head Signal Mast.

I’ve got the process down to about an hour per head, that’s solder the magnet wires onto each 0603 LED, twist all three pairs of wires, install the 1/8” light pipes, glue the LED’s to the light pipes, and then feed the three pairs of magnet wires through the mast stem.

Last step will be to prime the lens hoods, and paint in flat black and install them onto the lens cabinets, and install the lens cabinet backs after a final check of the LED's...