Rewanui - a 1940 West Coast NZ layout in 1:64

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

Thank you gentlemen for the kind words.

Russ posted recently on the frustration that can occur when trying to model to one's highest standard.  While achievable, it takes time and if you want to also produce some quantity it can be frustrating.  My solution is small scale manufacturing.  The digital side takes time, but is not hard on the eyes. The 'undo' command removes risk and the 'copy/mirror' commands remove tedium.  Time on the modelling bench then becomes far more productive. Obviously this won't suit everyone.  I've said elsewhere that kits always involve compromise.  The advantage of building your own kits is that the compromises are ones that you can live with.

The basic parts of the car are few and underframe/body/roof assembly uses brass threaded inserts to facilitate screw assembly.  Parts for a clerestory roofed version of the car are illustrated.  The clerestory clips and dowels together, which is pretty low stress.

If things go badly I bin anything I'm not happy with (as the financial, time and emotional investment is low).  I've become a lot more interested in painting and finishing since the actual fabrication time has gone down.

[Bill Gill]

Beautiful work, Lawrence. Your painting ain't shabby either.
I'm curious why are the end platforms separate pieces rather than part of a single piece underframe?
Is it the limit of the size of the printing platform or something else.

[Lawrence@NZFinescale]

I'm curious why are the end platforms separate pieces rather than part of a single piece underframe?
Is it the limit of the size of the printing platform or something else.

An excellent question.  Partly, it's a limit of print bed size, but more importantly it's to orientate parts so that the most visible areas benefit from the printer's best orientation.  So the underframe has downward facing detail (printed upside down), while the platforms have upward and end facing detail, so printed on an angle or with the headstock upwards (varies with the needs of the specific car).