Reply to "What did you do on your layout today?"

RSJB18 posted:

Lee- nice details on the new engine.
Vincent- the tow truck came with a flatbed car from Lionel. It's standard O scale. I like flatbed cars with different loads. Adds some variety to the layout.
LIRR Steamer- Thanks. I had considered adding extra ties to the tubular track but after adding the ballast I decided they weren't necessary. Nice work on your tunnel entrance area too!
Mike and Mark- thanks for the comments. Nice work on the crane Mike.
Ray- the building is coming together. Your making we want a 3D printer now.....
John R- another great car
Johan- beautiful scene

For all- the paper printout scenery is really easy to work with. You can make things as simple or complex as you like by adding 3D pieces like I did on the corner. The best part is that if you make a mistake just throw it out and print another sheet out. Just gotta eat more cereal.....

Bob

Bob, I wish the process would be easier but unless you want to print somebody else's parts that were designed by them (which is often the case) then you will also have to be able to do the design yourself on a CAD system.

There is a lot of inexpensive CAD software out there which may be easy to learn depending on your expertise or how difficult the model is you are trying to design. 

So it is really two separate things, design and then take that designed model to the printer to produce it. There is a learning curve but I believe well worth the effort.

I can get into more complicated models as I have many years experience in CAD designing but just learned to 3D print this past year and it is going pretty well.

If you are interested in it I would recommend a basic CAD software for models not too complicated and you can pick up an inexpensive 3D printer (for under $300) that could get you going.

There is also plenty of help myself included if you need it.