The Bridge

martink · Post by **martink** » Fri May 29, 2015 2:34 am

Wasn't there supposed to be a bridge somewhere amongst all those houses?

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Fri May 29, 2015 10:38 am

I think so...

With a bit of luck in 3 - 4 weeks I'll have all the buildings printed...and I'l be moving back on to bridge parts.

And with a better handle on the mechanics of the slicing and printing now I use Simplify3D rather than the software originally supplied with my printer, I'm likely to revisit some of the parts I've already printed and are not that happy with the quality of.

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Mon Jun 22, 2015 10:34 pm

Having taken a break from working on The Bridge to prepare Robins Run for the show at the Great Central Railway, I'm now back on the build with avengence....

Seeing as I've been telling everyone that my target for completion is now just under 12 months away, I really need to get some visible progress!!

Picking up where I left off, I've been pushing on with the buildings...and tonight's status is:

Designed & printed: 386 (last reported as 344)
Yet to design: 40 ( last reported as 56)
Total buildings: 426 ( last reported as 400)

I need to get the last 40 buildings done....and then take stock of where I am with printing of the actual bridge parts. I've got two or three clear days this week.....onward!

NoelDollimore · Post by **NoelDollimore** » Mon Jun 22, 2015 11:58 pm

Oh no, not more candles burning at both ends !!!

martink · Post by **martink** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 4:35 pm

I am really impressed by what you are doing with the buildings, both here and on Robin's Run. It is certainly giving me thoughts for longer term projects - things that are practical in T but not in larger scales.

BTW, your final "onward!" quote from a couple of posts ago - you wouldn't be a Journeyquest fan by any chance?

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:47 pm

BTW, your final "onward!" quote from a couple of posts ago - you wouldn't be a Journeyquest fan by any chance?

As I had to google it, the answer has to be No.

I probably memorised the phrase from The Crystal Maze ..... or possibly from almost anywhere!

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:03 am

At the end of an intense week, the tally of buildings now stands as follows:

Designed & printed: 407 (last reported as 386)
Yet to print: 34 ( last reported as 40)
Total buildings: 443 ( last reported as 426)

What the figures don't show is that I only have 20 buildings to design. I've been held up on printing this week by having run out of the grey filament I'm using for printing buildings....a new supply arrived by post this morning!

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:20 pm

At last! Hurrah!

I have ALL of the buildings, sheds, conservatories, and other miscellaneous bits printed. Final tally.....451 parts! And here's the final section of the map populated:

: Img_2069_red.jpg (165.88 KiB) Viewed 8099 times

I can now change the plastic colour to red....and get on with printing the bridge!

The first step is to take stock of where I got to....and then do a few test prints to ensure I have the slicer software dialed in for printing latticework.

Nutter · Post by **Nutter** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 10:50 am

Brilliant progress, can't wait to see the bridge start to emerge from the ground.

ivanf · Post by **ivanf** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 1:11 pm

well done doug!!!

bit of a milestone.....

sorry my contribution was so small... but at least I did help with a little bit on a corner....

good luck with the next bits....

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 2:52 pm

sorry my contribution was so small... but at least I did help with a little bit on a corner....

Not a problem at all, Ivan.

Your assistance was on the basis of what time you had available. However small or large that contribution was, its very much appreciated.

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:26 pm

That'll teach me!

I took the opportunity to have a play with a 0.2mm nozzle in my printer and see how the quality of printing improves....and I've had issues with getting debris (probably overheated plastic) in not only all my 0.2mm nozzles, but all my 0.4mm as well. I've run out of useable nozzles!!!

And I'm not going to bother trying to clear them out. I've tried before....and they always block again almost straight away.

So...I'm now not able to get back on with printing!

For a few days or so......

New nozzles are on order..... and are on their way!

ivanf · Post by **ivanf** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 7:12 pm

hard luck Doug.

experimenting can go that way.... the alternative though is to do what I do... i.e. almost nothing... far less productive.

wrong thready to say it on but the results with the new nozzle do look good so worth the effort. (Hopefully)

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 8:27 pm

the alternative though is to do what I do... i.e. almost nothing

I'm trying that at the moment to see how I get on.

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 5:33 pm

While I'm awaiting the necessary bits so I can get my printer back on track, I've been working on the road sections for the land areas.

The method I'm using is to use the Google Earth prints I have and create road and pavement images that I'll print onto thick paper and cut out so there's a base layer forming the road surface and a second layer cut out to form the pavements. The thickness of the paper gives just the right hint of a pavement edge. Glue the layers together and with a coat of matt varnish you have reasonable looking roads!

Here's progress so far. I've got the basic outlines prepared ready for applying the textures:

: IMG_2095_red.JPG (186.55 KiB) Viewed 8662 times

Just got to pursuade a Scottish council to paint its pavements blue!

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Fri Jul 17, 2015 10:43 am

Had a reply from the council.....financial cuts mean thay can't afford the paint!

So I've had to colour the pavements gray!

Had a quick mock-up to give me an idea of the effect....

: Img_2098_red.jpg (89.76 KiB) Viewed 8616 times

Nutter · Post by **Nutter** » Fri Jul 17, 2015 11:05 am

Like the giant yellow and orange triffids at the kerbside

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Fri Jul 17, 2015 11:10 am

Don't forget the purple people eater on the footpath.

Bottom left hand corner....

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 12:35 am

Still awaiting bits from China. May have to give up on it and order bits from the UK......what a waste of Â£1.98.

(two nozzle barrels @ 99p each, P&P free!)

In the meantime, I've been pressing on with the road surfaces. I'm particularly pleased with the Dalmany station car park & adjacent roundabout:

: Img_2102_red.jpg (167.64 KiB) Viewed 8586 times

It still needs cutting out and a second layer glueing on to form the pavements.

dkightley · Post by **dkightley** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 5:35 pm

At last......

I've finally managed to get a couple of the somewhat finer girder meshes printed:

: Img_2133_red.jpg (153.21 KiB) Viewed 8525 times

The squares on the mat are 1 cm sides, btw.

After I'd reassembled my printer extruder head with new feed tube and nozzle, I then had to tune in the "new" print head with both the print bed and the slicer software to get optimum printing, initially for larger items, but then for the very thin cross-sections as exist in the above girder.

I'm hoping that after my busy period at the museum running the WW2 event over the next week or so is over, I might be able to get the centre tower assembled and fixed together.

At least there'll be something more than bits and pieces to show for all the effort I've put in over the past year or so!!

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