I received sjrashid's J3 Hudson in the mail from Shapeways last week, and I could hardly wait to paint her up and see how she looks on my Micro Steamtown layout! The model has lots of detail and fits nicely over the 35.5mm motorized chassis.
However, I did remove some material from the inside of the shell using a #11 blade. This allows the shell to easily be removed from the chassis. I also used my method of soaking the shell in dishwashing liquid and then rinsing under water. Soak, rinse several times to remove any gunk that remains from the printing process.
Then I coated my shell with several coats of silver paint, before airbrushing with a light gray paint. I went with a lighter gray finish as it really stands out on the layout!
Next, I plan on designing a working Pacific Locomotive for the TGauge.com wheels. We will see how it goes!
Joe.