[TrotFox]

I guess I should weigh in here since I've started doing a thing.....

I have started the construction of a Combine from the Carter Brother's Masterclass. As I don't have any funds to speak of for purchasing a kit I am 3D printing the panels at work and replacing the filament as I use it. Finishing to remove the extrusion marks will be an interesting chore but we work with what we have access to, don't we?

I'll post pictures as the various sub-assemblies come to fruition.

Trot, the ever-broke, fox...

 

[Pete Thornton]

Welcome back.
FYI: Bachmann's latest coach trucks are $15/pair at Star Hobby.

 

[Dwight Ennis]

Welcome back Trot.

 

[R.W. Marty]

Trot, Great to see you posting again.
You picked a great build.
Rick

 

[pcentral]

Good to see you posting Trot! I always wanted a Carter Bros. car. Rick was going to make me a shortened up version when he was cutting the kits many years ago but then kids came along and we kinda fell off the radar! I guess if he had made me one it would be a bag of parts just like my C.P. Hunnington. Waiting for me to someday build it or to find someone that will build it for me! lol

Look forward to watching your progress!

Steve

 

[Pete Thornton]

AS far as I know, you can still get a wood kit for the coach from Harald at the lasergang in Germany. In 2015 he was selling them for 109Euro+36Euro shipping, which comes to $170 today.
His website seems to be having problems, so maybe not? His email is [email protected]

 

[TrotFox]

Pete,

A wood kit in the future is a definite possibility. No funds for it right now but it would certainly be less of a chore than this is proving to be! Also, I have some old B'mann coach trucks that will work in the short term. I couldn't find them on Star Hobby's site to see what the new ones look like though. My eventual plan is to model up and print functional (sprung and maybe swung) Carter Brother's truck in the future. I haven't dedicated any time to that effort yet though. I figure with the photos in the instructions and some research I can likely come up with something usable.

Progress notes:

* PLA can't be welded by anything but heat so it's mechanical adhesives all the way.
* PLA softens at a temperature that isn't uncomfortable to fingers... belt-sanding has to be a slow, careful process!
* I wasn't able to get a decent enough texture from the printer so I'm likely going to be cutting the cladding from 1/32" plywood and scribing match-board lines into it.
* The triangular pattern on some of the parts is an intentional, high-surface-area- setup to ensure better bonding between panels.
* The Airwolf 3D HD printer we have at work is only capable of a, 11-3/8" long print so all the long panels had to be broken in half and bonded later. I created lap joints by staggering the inner & middle panels cuts.
* The frame I cut into 3 pieces. I am having a local machine shop water-jet a piece of 3/16" steel (replacing the 2 2mm middle layers) for weight and strength.
*I am passing this off as an experience learning to tune the printer to anyone who asks at work. To be sure, this isn't much of a stretch as I've used all sorts of techniques to get better prints while using less filament as I go.

To everyone else, Heya'll!

Trot, the superglue'd, fox...

 

[Pete Thornton]

I couldn't find them on Star Hobby's site to see what the new ones look like though.

They aren't advertised usually. He got a deal from Bachmann as they couldn't supply any more metal wheelsets, so they sold him the trucks cheap. They look like the old ones, only shinier and they have electrical pickups.

Your 3D print progress is fascinating. We had coach sides laser cut from styrene by Alan at G.A.L.; a totally different process.

 

[TrotFox]

Just a photo dump....

 

[Pete Thornton]

Looks great!

 

[pcentral]

Trot,
It's coming along very nicely! I really like the seats, they would look good as a stand alone item even.

Pete,
While I would love to get a wood kit as I'm sure I could shorten it up as originally planned, such a purchase is out of the question right now. Thanks for the information though.

Steve

 

[TrotFox]

I tried printing out a truck side-frame.... The details didn't exactly make it. I did find the difference of size interesting though so I thought it worth posting a photo of the properly scaled (partial) 4' sideframe next to a Bachmann sideframe. It's kind of dwarfed! I'm likely to strip off the details and try again with the intention of adding cast NBW details during assembly.

Trot, the comparative, fox...

 

[TrotFox]

NOPE! I, am an ID10T. I should have noticed something was weird when I didn't have to re-scale the parts as I printed them but I forgot that I'd attempted to model them full-size. The conversion from native files to STL format made all my inch measurements into metric so these prints were actually at an accidental 1:25.4 scale instead of 1:20.3. Close enough to sort of make sense but way too small.

Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until Monday to try re-printing things. Fortunately I'll have more bits modeled by then!

I tried printing out a truck side-frame.... The details didn't exactly make it. I did find the difference of size interesting though

Trot, the mathematically-challenged, fox...

 

[FHPB]

Nice project!

Hmmm. This makes me think. I have some Hartford coach roof ends cast in resin. I wonder how hard it would be to do something similar on a 3d printer?

 

[ddrum31]

How's the Coach coming along?

Jason