Etched kits

[Dorsetmike]

Steve (Atso)'s thread on wagon kits set me thinking, I've built a few etched coach and van kits over the yearsthe ones I found easiest to assemble have ben the Etched Pixel/Ultima, the body is a single piece with ends and sides folding up crude image below, floor black sides and ends grey


I've also built a few locos, I found cabs a rightr PITA, solder one side to floor, fine, now solder other side to floor, first side often gets hot enough to fall off, it gets worse as you add roof and front; My usual method to prevent this is to solder the first joint with a high melting point solder, then reduce iron heat and use a lower MP solder for next joint, repeat for other joints lowering temperature each time.

Hence my thought for an etched cab,  one piece fold up etch as below, roof (blue) &/or floor (green) could be an option

[Stevie DC]

I can see two issues with the fold up cab idea Mike.

1.) It would be a right PITA to form the curve in the roof without distorting the cab side it is joined to.
2.) You would still have to add overlays to the basic cab to get any detail. Half etching details directly onto the main cab would make the part very weak and loose the benefit of the half etched fold lines.

Loose the integral roof and add some fold up overlays to the etch and I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work. In fact I think some of the designers in the larger scales already use similar ideas to yours - it would certainly be how I would do it if I was so inclined.

[CarriageShed]

As an alternative, why not encourage a 3D printer to produce complete cabs to various specifications?

Perhaps a sort of 3D Eastleigh Works could be set up in time, with 'spare' boilers, cabs, tenders, etc, being available so that modellers can mix-and-match parts to aid in scratch-building or hacking? Atso will have a much better idea than me of how feasible this may be.

[Snowwolflair]

As an alternative, why not encourage a 3D printer to produce complete cabs to various specifications?

Perhaps a sort of 3D Eastleigh Works could be set up in time, with 'spare' boilers, cabs, tenders, etc, being available so that modellers can mix-and-match parts to aid in scratch-building or hacking? Atso will have a much better idea than me of how feasible this may be.

You could do a complete range of GWR boilers and cabs and mix and match.  That's how GWR did it. 

[CarriageShed]

You could do a complete range of GWR boilers and cabs and mix and match.  That's how GWR did it. 

Exactly what I had in mind! Scratch-building for the twenty-first century.

[Bob G]

Perhaps a sort of 3D Eastleigh Works could be set up in time

I thought this was a 3 car DEMU at first reading. Well, we had 3H Hampshire and Berkshire units, 3R Reading Redhill units, and 3D East Sussex Units...

I'd love a 3D 3H, if you see what I mean

Bob