A 1:80 tanktainer from 3d prints

[Welshbloke]

At present the only way to get some tank containers for your Tomix KoKi 200 is kits. I'm trying a different and cheaper route.

 

Start by going to Thingiverse and downloading the .stl files from here. You'll need to rescale them for 1:80, my slicing software (Flashprint) allows me to change the length and keep the other dimensions in proportion. I measured a Tomix 20' container and adjusted the 3d model to match its 75mm length, this will give you the percentage needed to adjust the other parts to match.

 

I started by printing the base, then the ends and top of the frame as seen here:

 

 

I used the highest resolution and plain white PLA, printing with supports and a raft as otherwise the parts get squashed into the bed. You can see I still need to finish cleaning the top part, it isn't glued here as I need to drop the tank barrel in after printing that and painting the subassemblies.

 

I'm thinking very thin strips of double sided tape should hold it to the KoKi, the original clips clash with a crossbrace and would be somewhat visible too.

[cteno4]

small magnets on the underside of the tank and under the center strip of the koki? if thicker magnets on the tank up into the tank then might span the distance to hold it down well and hide it all.

 

very nice! extruded can work at ho!

 

jeff

[Welshbloke]

Extruded can work in N too. This is a printed body for a GWR carriage gas tank (sent to outlying stations to refill gas lighting tanks, before electricity took over):

 

 

 

I'll look at the magnets, but I'm not sure they'd hold it as steady as tape. I'm worried about it sliding off just enough to get entangled with lineside items, and a very thin strip of tape under each of the base rails should be enough. The barrel is currently printing and should be finished in three and a bit hours, same filament and resolution as the frame.

[cteno4]

Use a small like 3x1 mm on the car and then like a 4x4mm in the tank. Two sets even gapped a few mm will hold down well. 
 

jeff

[Kamome]

Has Morita gone out of business? I bought a couple of his JOT 22T6 container tanks but the old website does not seem to work anymore. 
 

They are not the cheapest but the finished article looked pretty good. Here’s hoping Tomix see fit to expand their HO range past the 12’, 20’ and 31’ boxes

[Welshbloke]

All I can find on Hobbysearch from them is some out of stock kits, they seem to make small batches which sell out very quickly. The main thing I could do with at this point is lettering, as it is I'm planning to have yellow framing and plain white tank.

 

This morning's progress:

 

 

The tank halves are glued but haven't had any other attention yet. I've glued the frame together as the tank will slide in through the gap (it may be slightly undersized). Everything will get a coat of spray primer next, after which I'll start sanding the print ridges off the tank barrel. I want to do it that way around as the paint will help fill them.

[Welshbloke]

Well, it's done. Not great, but done. You know how sometimes projects become a case of accepting compromise because otherwise you'll never finish it?

 

 

I found that my first attempt at the tank had printed at 1:87, tried again and got closer to 1:80 but it's still a bit short.

 

It's held on with a thin strip of double sided tape under each of the long base rails, I applied this to the container then cut away the excess width with a fresh scalpol blade. The barrel is held into the frame with the same stuff. It should be easy to persuade loose if/when I try to make a better hash of it.

Edited December 16, 2019 by Welshbloke
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[Welshbloke]

I had another go...

 

 

This time I enlarged all parts by 8.15%, and used rafts/linear supports to make crisper prints. The walkways needed their thickness doubling to produce something rigid enough to survive removal from the print bed. I printed all parts in their desired colours and rehashed the tank barrel to print as one part rather than two (it's much easier to remove support material and smooth the curve on the underside than it is to join halves neatly).

[Jaco3011]

Looks nice, standard containers used by JOT look a little but different, but let's assume it's non-standard one, or utilized by some other company. Have you tried to put JOT logo on it?

[Kamome]

Wow. Great job.
 

Looks closer to the JOT international 25,000 litre containers. NRS use similar looking tanks so you could paint the frame blue and make some NRS decals.
 

It is annoying there isn’t something commercially available now. I still have one more Morita container to build. The first one was not fun and needs more patience and skill to get pieces to line up. The mixture of plastic, pewter and photo-etched parts is also problematic.

Took a lot of sanding and filling. The finished article for those with expertise looks nice but Mr Morita has ceased trading as far as I can tell. I hope he or someone else decides to produce either a plastic kit or an RTR probably product.

[Welshbloke]

Thanks both, no I haven't tried logos yet. I picked orange as I had orange filament and it looked suitably industrial, white tank barrels seem to be common too. They're only held on with thin strips of double-sided tape, so if something better comes along I can easily relegate them to the corner of a yard scene or similar. 

 

I am a bit surprised Tomix haven't released a 20' tanktainer. They offer a very nice KoKi 200 but not the most common load for one. Wonder if they might be keen to scale their N one up a bit, although I wouldn't be surprised if they end up costing more than the KoKi.

 

Mixed media kits can often be a pain. Best advice I can give is a couple of pairs of smooth-jawed jewellers pliers for folding the photo etch, and for the rest of it keep filing a little bit and checking until you get a good fit before bringing glue in. I did look at the kits but they always seemed to be sold out and they were a bit more than I was willing to spend on an unknown model. These just cost me a few metres of PLA and a bit of superglue to assemble them.