Fuel Distribution Center construction progress update 1 - Vertical Storage Tank

My father recently purchased several tank cars for his HO scale train layout, the Siberian Express, so naturally when I saw a Fuel Distribution Center posted on Thingiverse by kabrumble, I thought it would be a good addition to his layout and maybe give him some momentum. I like many of kabrumble's designs and have printed several of them but there always seems to be one part that just doesn't slice correctly, so I thought I would share how I've tweaked, repaired, and/or upgraded each of the parts. The tools that I will be using are an Anet A8 printer, Simplify3D to slice and mostly OpenSCAD with a little bit of Blender. Blender is a very sophisticated program that I am not very good at so when I run into a problem I first have to decide if it is faster to just recreate the piece in OpenSCAD or just tweak a few planes with Blender. Usually I just use OpenSCAD. For this progress update that was all that I needed. 

Let's start with the vertical tank. After spending over 3 1/2 hours printing the tank with the cap I realized this was going to be a long process. If I were to do it again I might get a piece of plumbing pipe and redesign a cap for it. Really the only thing that I redesigned was the ladder and handrail around the top of the tank. 

Vertical Tank, Cap & Base: 

Nothing special here. It just took a long time to print. Afterwards I drilled a hole in the top to put a red blinking light. 

Print Settings

  • Layer Thickness: 0.2mm
  • Shells: 1
  • Top & Bottom Layers: 4
  • Infill: 15%. I might change this to 0 next time. 

Handrail:

Original handrail in the foreground.
I had to redesign the handrails because where the uprights and the headrail met did not render correctly in Simplify3D. I redesigned this by taking the difference of 2 cylinders for the handrail. I set the number of sides of the cylinder so that the uprights were at each corner of the cylindrical polygon. This would make the handrail straight between each upright. The uprights are slightly larger than the handrail to give it a little extra strength. After rendering the STL file with OpenSCAD I used blender to remove one of the handrail sections for the ladder to pass through.

To glue the handrail on I just touch the bottom of each upright in a small puddle of CA glue and then set it in place. I glued the handrail on after the ladder. 

Print Settings

  • Layer Thickness: 0.2mm
  • Shells: 1
  • Top & Bottom Layers: 4
  • Infill: 15%. I might change this to 0 next time. 
New handrail before removing a section.


Ladder:

Printing the ladder edge didn't seem like it would work very well but it probably could. I thought it would be better to create a new ladder that was flat and then warm up the plastic and bend it around the handle of my X-acto knife to get the curve at the top.

I redesigned the ladder in OpenSCAD and spaced the rungs 12inches apart which is the OSHA standard today. 

I printed the ladder with the top couple of rungs missing for the curve at the top but left the last rung there to help set the spacing on the other side of the curve at the top of the ladder. After letting the print bed cool and removing the ladder I warmed up the print bed again with the X-acto knife on it and then quickly bent the top of the ladder around the handle and let it cool. Next I took some print scraps and glued them to the back of the ladder to space it out from the tank. 

Print Settings

  • Layer Thickness: 0.2mm
  • Shells: 1
  • Top & Bottom Layers: 4
  • Infill: 15%. I might change this to 0 next time. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HO Scale Atlas Bridge Shoes

Image
Part of the reason for creating the VnBJan2021 Diorama was to figure out to to connect my bridge to the layout. I found the HO Scale Bridge Shoe (Pedestal) by bkpsu on Thingiverse and printed it out but it looked too big, so I decided to use OpenSCAD and started over. One of the reasons that I love OpenSCAD is that if you create it right you can incrementally adjust things until you get them just right without having to manually move lots of little points. Since all values are calculated it is also easy to revert back to a previous version and try a different combination of settings.  I started with the basic upright shape which is a hull of a cylinder and a cube. I adjusted the position so that everything was centered so that it would be easier to position later.  Next I put that in a module with the option to add a nut and remove the center. After that I created three uprights for the base and added base a plate underneath. I chose 0.8mm because it would give me three layers at a
Read more

Walthers 2021 National Model Railroader's Build Off

So I've decided to take a short detour down the Walther's National Model Railroader's Build Off. Initially I'll post information about the contents of the Individual Class Coal Country kit . I just received most of the kit on 2/9/2021. The track appears to have been shipped in a different package, which seems reasonable since its dimensions are considerably different than the rest of the pieces. The kit cost $100 + shipping. If purchased the pieces individually it would have cost $184.83 the full prices or $173.83 with the sale prices. If you are a part of the Year Master's Club you get the 10% of which brings the price down to $90 + free shipping, seemed like a good deal to me even if I don't win the contest. Package Contents: Walther's Cornerstone - Coal Flood Loader Part # 933-3051 Price: $39.98 (on sale 2/9/2021 for $33.98) https://www.walthers.com/coal-flood-loader-kit-4-x-6-x-11-quot-10-2-x-15-2-x-27-9cm Walther's Cornerstone - Industry Office Part
Read more

HO Scale Chain Link Fence

Image
 After watching Luke Towan's Chain link fence video I was inspired to create my own version.  Since not everyone has soldering skills or styrene readily available I decided to create a 3d printed version. Here's a comparison of the materials used in the different methods: Metal: 18 Gauge Galvanized Steel Wire  Nylon Tulle  Solder (60% Tin 40% Lead) Flux  Super Glue (Thin and Gel versions)  32 Gauge Jewelry Wire  Rustoleum Winter Grey Spray Paint  Dull Coat  Styrene: 0.8mm Styrene Rod  Plastic Cement Nylon Tulle  Super Glue (Thin and Gel versions)  32 Gauge Jewelry Wire  Rustoleum Winter Grey Spray Paint  Dull Coat   3D Printed: 3d Printed posts (thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4712473 ) (Uses approximately 290mm of filament for 60 scale feet) Nylon Tulle ( Amazon ) Super Glue ( Amazon )  Thread or 32 Gauge Jewelry Wire  Silver or Grey Spray Paint  ( Michaels ) Dull Coat  .One advantage of the 3d printed version is that it is cheaper and quicker to create.
Read more