Hello everyone

I hope this is the appropriate place to ask this question

Does anyone know of who can build/paint a 3d printed model?

The 3d printed model is complete, have the required donor for it

Would really appreciate some help here if possible

Many thanks

&

Happy new year to all

I suggest you may need to be a bit more specific. What do you have, and what needs to happen? It sounds like a loco, if you have a donor? Is it simply swapping a body and finishing it, or is it a proper kit? Does the chassis need modification? Is it a steam loco which may need more complex 'adjustment' or a modern loco?

Yes sorry I should of added more details in the first post

So I see a 3d printed class 444 emu unit appear on eBay

Item number is 177732211831

So I assumed it would require a class 350 emu by Graham farish as a donor unit?

Then need painting into south west trains livery and lights fitted etc

I don't have the 3d printed class 444 as I didn't want to buy it unless I can make sure it's possible for someone to build/paint it

I have some donor units in my collection already, class 350s or class 150s, 156s, and other emus think I have some new Kato chassis as well if required

Do you have any advice on how to proceed here?

Many thanks

Sounds like it's probably a CMAC kit? He does a lot of modern MUs.

The 350 is a 4-car unit with 20m coaches. The 444 is a 5-car unit with 23m coaches, so I think it's likely to be much more complex than simply putting it on a 350 chassis. Does the model include bogies and chassis? If it is a CMAC model it may be worth messaging Charlie to see if he has any suggestions, although I believe 1) he's primarily a OO gauge modeller and 2) I'm not sure he specifically makes concessions for how to finish the models.

The 'usual' chassis used for the 442, which is another 23m EMU is the old Farish 158, so that could be workable. However consider that you'll need glazing (the 350 is totally unsuitable here), and if you want lights that adds a load more complexity.

This isn't trivial - it's something I'd expect to pay a few hundred pounds for. I don't know if someone like @Ensign Elliott has appetite for this sort of thing?

Thanks for the information njee much appreciated and makes complete sense thank you

Yes it is a cmac 3d printed model and I have message the seller just awaiting there reply

Ideally there is someone out there who offer this service - to a fairly high standard if possible with lights etc

Of course I'd imagine it wouldn't be cheap and that's absolutely fine, happy with that and can pay with money and / or offer locos as payment - no issues here

So if you do know anyone or if anyone knows of a service for this kind of thing I would really appreciate it if you can let me know

Rob, who I've tagged, does some respray work, but I'm not sure if he's taken on anything quite like this. I can't immediately think of anyone else who could do it (but I'm hardly the defintiive authority on such things!). The problem you have is that it's a bit of a range of skills - someone adept at wiring in lights may not be the best person to fabricate glazing and do a good quality paint job.

Ah i see that makes sense I appreciate you asking your contact

I hadn't even considered that expecting one person to be able to do all the required skills - painting, building, lights etc I just wrongly assumed, perhaps I am asking/expecting to much for this kind of project


If this is not possible maybe I could explore the possibility of getting a class 350 painted by someone to create a similar looking livery to the class 444

I just think it's a tiny market. Very few people build kits in N, which means there isn't a market for people to build kits on behalf of people! Then things like lights are generally the preserve of RTR, I don't think many people would expect to fit them to a 3D print. You may be able to use the lighting out of the 350, given they're the same cabs. It'll depend a bit on the internal structure of the 3D print.

There are SWR and SWT 450s from Farish, although obviously the 450 is the blue rather than the white if it was SWT you were after.

Why not have a go yourself?

Unfortunately I do not have the skills or confidence to attempt such a task as building/painting a project like this

As much as I really like N gauge & the model railway hobby - I'm out of my depth as it is with basic modelling so much so I do not even have any form of layout yet despite having everything required to build one for the last 10+ years

It's quite pitiful really and what I have attempted in the past is rather embarrassing when I attempted to build a plastic model station kit

That being said, I'm determined to learn and stick with it and hopefully get some form of layout going this year but I doubt I will ever reach any skill level to attempt to build/paint a class 444


Yes I do already have the class 450 in SWT blue livery - don't have the newer SWR livery though - it's just a pity no body does a ready to run model of the class 444 and I would be very surprised if it ever happened just like the class 442 unfortunately

Revolution trains have been amazing though as at least they are bringing high quality EMUs to market such as the electro stars at some point which is exciting

Also I did hear back from Charlie regarding the class 444 and class 350 and you are correct njee20 the class 350 would work if some how the chassis could be extended as they are too short

With the utmost respect, if you are worried about your abilities that much, you really are jumping in at the deep end!

I've been in this game since 1957, and would never think of attempting a project like that!

Best of luck, though.

I just had a look at the eBay listing and it says that it isn't designed for any particular chassis which is worrying. That will mean that fitting a chassis will be part of the project and that's if you can find one with the correct bogie pivots and wheelbase but it mate by possible like the 350 or something.

But this is a HUGE job. The glazing will be a real headache because because there's no provision for it.

There are very few people in the hobby who can even fully build and paint a model like this, and those who can don't do it professionally or offer their services.

Rob as mentioned is a fantastic painter but you'll have to ask him whether he can take something like this on.

Franky there are a lot of 3d printed designs that are for sale but just aren't comprehensive enough to actually get built. Not designed for any chassis, no glazing, no decals, often poorl designed as shapes. It's not good.

But this will cost you many hundreds of pounds even if you can find a builder, just to make you aware. Sorry to be a downer ! I do hope something comes up.

Will.

Quote from: GWR_XC on Today at 05:51:39 AMUnfortunately I do not have the skills or confidence to attempt such a task as building/painting a project like this

How do you know that? If you try, you might surprise yourself.
I didn't think that I had the skills until I tried, and when my club bought a 3D printer I found that what I could make was way beyond my previous dreams.

Why not try something simpler (and cheaper) as a start - maybe something that is designed to fit on a specific chassis, possibly an 0-4-0 or 0-6-0 shunter?
 

Just adding a link to the listing for the 444, makes life easier to refer to it

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=177732211831

Yes I've read before about 3D prints which maybe re-sized from another scale or just drawn up according to the prototype dimensions, and not specifically tailored to make use of RTR parts such as a powered mechanism.   This is nothing new, some of the old white metal loco kits of the 60s/70s/80s required an existing chassis to be hacked about to fit. 

That doesn't mean it's impossible to produce fine model but requires a lot of experience, a wide skill set and a lot of workbench time.   People with such skills all had to start somewhere with simple models and so can you

I absolutely agree with the suggestions to start with baby steps with a known good kit. Something like a Fourdees 009 loco which are known to fit Bachmann chassis well and can be painted and finished to a good standard by a newcomer.

Or there are lots of rolling stock kits from the N Gauge Society to cut your teeth on for very low cost.

The 444 kit could be worked up to as your confidence grows - and it'll be much cheaper if you can do it yourself.

Thank you to everyone who has offered advice it is appreciated and it has helped me a lot to understand

With all what has been said I think it's best to forget the idea of trying to get a class 444 for the moment as it just seems to complex, I'm definitely glad I asked about the possibility though in this forum as I now understand it's far more complex then just using a class 350 as a donor like I initially assumed


So with that - you all recommend someone who is good at painting I'm wondering if this would be possible (I'll try my best to explain)


So get a Graham farish class 350 appollo silver for instance then add another coach to make it a 5 car class 350 emu

Then have it painted into the white class 444 SWT livery as the only obvious thing to me would be the door arrangement not being the same as the real class 444 on the class 350 but they could still be painted red to give the best representation - hope all that makes sense


And thanks for all the encouragement for building models and starting somewhere - I'm fully prepared to learn and make mistakes and ask questions etc and yes I guess it can take years of practice to get to a decent level

But I should add I have tried to build very basic n gauge station platforms in the past and I have even messed that up - I'm truly a terrible modeller so I'm starting at the very bottom like ultra basic stuff it's kinda embarrassing really hence why I have been thinking of building a layout for over 10 years but nothing to show for it

Saying that I'm determined to learn and do it this year - it's just going to take me a lot longer to grasp certain things - that's ok with me but while a lot of things may seem obvious to most to me it can be challenging to understand. But I'm definitely willing to learn

I just need to settle on a theme and period to build a layout ideally would like to start off with something small to learn more and was hoping to do a South West trains theme hence why I asked about the class 444

Anyway I apologize for rambling on and going slightly off topic, thanks again for everyone advice it's been a great help