Trialing the new printer to see what its capable of

A mate sent me some N Scale STL’s to use and try out. I had a successful failure print (so to speak) in that the pilot area did not quite take because of a lack of supports. Very happy though. One thing the details like doors need beefing up so they stand out prouder etc.

Will get some paint on them soon so I can the detail easier but it looks superb and it's 
not even at its finest resolution yet!

One very happy camper!  Prototyping should now be quicker.

3D making prototyping much easier

One small step for man but a giant leap for my 3D prototyping. I get frustrated with having to make minor changes to models and then wait another month before they arrive back in my hands. Three iterations and there is 3 months gone. Having seen the progress in 3D printers, I took the plunge and went for a cheap resin printer capable of doing very fine resolution and after watching online tutorials and reviews, I am glad I did. I was about order my next model from Shapeways that I had uploaded for iteration no 4 when I decided to give the printer a chance to earn its keep for exactly as I had planned for it.

One it excelled on the print and two and most importantly, I had made a booboo again when working in a mirrored version in that I had moved two supports 0.5mm the wrong way and now they were 1mm away from the correct position.

I corrected the model and 2 hours later, the job was complete saving me a month’s turnaround again. Man, I am pumped and as a result, prototyping will be a lot quicker!

Below Flexicoil bogie sideframes for B's and S's - back row steam loco headlights

Website gets a major overhaul

Woohoo! After a couple of weeks toiling at night, www.spiritdesign.com.auhas had a massive website makeover to be more contemporary with today’s standards. Menus have been streamlined, contact form added and available stock on hand (loaded monthly) is available. In addition, some items have been deleted or cut back as it’s hard to keep almost 20 years of kits available all the time. Lastly, the LASER page will be updated soon to provide links. So have a browse and tell me what you think and I hope the new look and feel works for you. Christopher Pearce