"3D Printers" rapid prototyping - for model trains?

How to have any model train you want in ten minutes. Just borrow it for a little while. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZboxMsSz ... ture=share

3rdrail, I was going to hold off on this, but I have been thinking about taking this pro. And by that, I mean not only scanning models, but talking to Seashore and scanning their collection, and producing models for them to sell, as well as scanning other stuff. The greatest advantage to this is that you don't have to keep a stock of models, so there is no waste. The only disadvantage is that not all printers can do a complete car - yet. But for kits, well, there you have it.

I haven't run the numbers on what it would cost for a full setup, but the Makerbot Thing o Matic is 2500 fully built. CAD programs are free if you use open source, and I haven't priced out 3D scanners yet(there are many different kinds).

Contact me if you are interested in more - I could go on and on, but I'll spare everyone today:-)

Oh what I wouldn't give for some low cost Boeing LRV's or Type 7's and some 0600's....

It seems as if you could have a model of every LRV, 7, and 0600 in the entire system if you wanted, on this machine !

The machines in that video looked expensive, luckilly here's a smaller one for $1200 bucks. This could be a great thing for a model club as you could make pretty much anything. This one probably doesn't get the same precision as the ones in the video in the OP, but it could make a decent rough shape you can work with. Don't just think trains, think buildings, trees, vehicles, bridges, etc. Imagine what a club could do with one of these.

http://store.makerbot.com/makerbot-thing-o-matic.html

From the looks of the technology it seems it can copy any object, hopefully too the moving wheels/trucks (but they won't be metal). But you would probably want to remove the motor+trucks on power cars and get some of those to add later, as I doubt it can create anything that sophisticated. Also, unless they come up with a really sophisticated colorizing process, I don't see how it could do custom paint jobs or decal info.

When you think of what a club modeler puts out in model costs, it wouldn't be unreasonable to ask for $1,000 from each member to pick up a quality machine. Then, it would just be a cost for materials each time you used it, which most likely would be negligable. Honestly, I'm surprised that this thing hasn't disappeared from sight into the hands of the militairy. It may have already, with other companies doing these videos, etc. Is this thing copyrighted ? It has the capacity to be bigger than the invention of mass production itself.

The whole concept is fascinating, with all kinds of possibilities in innumerable areas.

And, don't count out the military; in the Army in the late 60's, I was working with technology (classified at the time) that wouldn't hit the consumer marketplace for nearly another decade. I won't go into details, but think digital audio, that led to CD's, ca. 1981...

The concept is open - it basically uses something similar to an inkjet printer. And you can get a makerbot for 2500 - fully built. The potential IS endless - imagine being able to duplicate the unique buildings along a route, making the scene even more accurate!

Aside from the joke that I would instinctively make about scanning a babe such as Lena Olin, I did seriously wonder what would happen if you scanned a human. I noticed that the copied wrench came with working parts such as the axle for the thumb screw which would not be visible from an outer scan. Does the scanner have xray ability (or programmable input feature), and if so, would we get a human copy. complete with central nervous system and arteries ? Lena !

Haha, from what I have seen, no. It would be up to the human operator to modify the scan in a CAD program to make the part that works. That said, you can make working parts in it - so if you wanted to print working doors, you can!

INCREDIBLE!
Think of the potential for G-scale, where decent mechanisms exist, but road-specific details (ie: a NH or B&M style arch-window cab) are either limited or just plain non-existent!
Ok,.. who wants to chip in with me?

As for the moving parts on the wrench, it's not a simple as the video makes it seem, it's not just scan and print, someone would've had to go in through the software to define each different part and the clearances as well as the fine details. You still need to know what you're doing with 3D modelling software to be able to make something even with the most sophisticated of machines.

I thought about that myself, wondering if the video was a sham. I don't think that it was, although I don't think that that guy was able to just waltz in with anything that he wanted to make a copy out of. If the computer was a "smart" machine, in that it could make it's own conclusions, it wouldn't need programing for this demonstration. For example, if it was originally programmed to recognize the shape and function of a screw and an axle, it might recognize the action that the thumb screw and axle had, thus being able to "assume" that the axle needed to extend internally where it could not be seen and be free moving. Do I think that the video was as simple as viewed ? No. I think that there are signs that this was carefully set up, such as the "copy" wrench having a looped holder at it's end that the original didn't have. (Pretty smart computer - it must be a neat one that likes hooks to hang up stuff !) However, I do believe that the basis is there for a full three-dimensional copy apparently, remembering that we are at the first stage of development. I believe that this machine could bang out a streetcar model without breaking a sweat.

The following link explains more about the functioning of the wrench and the work done in the computer before print.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvfqoaCw ... h_response