See it. Make it.

[cteno4]

Excellent, amazing how the frames pop, they look beveled!

 

jeff

[maihama eki]

Reviving this.

 

These larger than life advertising soft serve cones are a staple particularly in touristy areas of Japan - beckoning you in on a hot afternoon for a cool treat.

 

 

I am not skilled enough in 3D modeling to do the twisty soft serve top. I've looked for a while for a 3D model from another creator that would be printable. I finally found one, and printed some tiny cones. A little paint searching and mixing and I got a decent result. Which do you choose? Vanilla or Matcha?

 

 

Permanent matcha color paint stain on my cutting board.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by maihama eki

[Kamome]

Nice addition

 

As it’s for tourist areas, the inclusion of purple (sweet potato) and grey (black sesame) are also possibilities.

[Guest]

Gold leaf in Kanazawa.
 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Bob Martin

[maihama eki]

You should all recognize this one.

 

 

I started with this 3D print: https://www.shapeways.com/product/YAGAF8T2B/n-gauge-1-160-scale-gachapon-machines and painted and decaled it.

 

 

 

[cteno4]

Nice!

 

here’s my whack a decade back at a racy capsule machine that was photo spotted by one of JNS’s avid photographers in japan. Just was imagining him there taking pictures of it and some schoolgirls laughing at him.

 

cheers,

 

Jeff

 

 

[Madsing]

Very nice! I need that!

Thanks for sharing. 
Marc

 

[maihama eki]

Today, this black vending machine from Tokyo, 2022. The one on the left with the LCD display of the beverages.

 

In n-scale.

 

[maihama eki]

A little bit on how I made it.

 

It starts with three, 3D prints. Two are in gray plastic - one for the front and sides and one for the back. The third is printed in clear for the front display of the machine.

 

After painting the front and back black and installing the clear piece. I put a piece of shiny aluminum tape on the inside of the back to reflect the light.

 

The placement of the LED in the bottom of the machine with the LED facing back toward the shiny back of the machine.

 

I printed a decal for the front of the machine on clear decal paper. That gets cut out and applied to the front overlapping the clear and black painted surfaces.

 

The final result above.

 

 

[cteno4]

Excellent work @maihama eki! Did you do these on your own machine or service? 
 

you should sell them!

 

jeff

[Madsing]

Wonderful. 3D printers never cease to impress me. I didn’t know it was possible to print clear transparent parts! Very good job!

[maihama eki]

2 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Excellent work @maihama eki! Did you do these on your own machine or service? 
 

you should sell them!

 

jeff

 

Thanks, Jeff. The prints were done by Shapeways. They are in their "Fine Detail Plastic". This is a newer version of this material. When it first came out, they offered it in gray and clear. For some reason, they changed the gray to tan recently.

https://www.shapeways.com/materials/fine-detail-plastic-3

 

I currently create everything in TinkerCAD - free online. TinkerCAD is very basic, but it's hard to beat free.

 

I may some day offer my 3D prints in a Shapeways store. I am building up a decent portfolio. They are quite niche though, so I wouldn't expect to sell many.

 

There is too much time in finishing them (sanding, painting, assembly, ...) to offer them completed. I couldn't do them for a reasonable price.

 

[cteno4]

Cool, selling them on shapeways might help some. Looks like you have worked out all the details and let the buyer do the finishing work.

 

does shapeways let you bundle two type of prints together?

 

again kudos on this.

 

jeff

[Wolf]

10 hours ago, maihama eki said:

They are quite niche though, so I wouldn't expect to sell many.

Just take my money, damn. I tinkered with Illuminated Vending machines a bit too, but thats actually superior to what I did. I really would love that file XD

[Rod.H]

On 9/11/2023 at 8:58 AM, maihama eki said:

Today, this black vending machine from Tokyo, 2022. The one on the left with the LCD display of the beverages.

 

In n-scale.

 

Those machines are now appearing in Australia. Of cause it helps that Kirin and Asahi control some of the local soft drink makers

[bc6]

I wanted some large HVAC for my buildings and the ones commercially available weren't what I was looking for. 

In Grand Theft Auto 5 there are tons of buildings with HVACs in them so I used pictures from there as a base

for the HVAC that I scratch built in Tinkercad with free elements from the internet.

I've sent them off to an online 3D printer and will be getting them soon. I made some modifications to make the 

HVAC units unique.

 

Edit: The HVAC units showed up today and I'm happy as punch with them and the ladders as well. 

I added a Preiser N scale figure for comparison and it looks perfect next to him. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11 by bc6

[bc6]

On 3/27/2023 at 7:56 PM, maihama eki said:

You should all recognize this one.

 

 

I started with this 3D print: https://www.shapeways.com/product/YAGAF8T2B/n-gauge-1-160-scale-gachapon-machines and painted and decaled it.

 

 

 

I see you got this from Shapeways thanks.

Edited January 6 by bc6

[cteno4]

Nice work @bc6, this is the kind of thing that makes me think of getting a 3d printer.

 

jeff

[bc6]

Thanks, Jeff, I'd like to learn more tricks of 3D modeling someday and make other items for my railroad. 

I've started 2 new projects a modern Japanese house and a JR Research Cabin. 

I hope I can complete them as they seem like pretty nice models once they're done.

Nowadays you don't even need a 3D printer I'm sure you've heard of online 3D printers that's how I get my stuff printed.

[cteno4]

Yep actually used a printing service in New Zealand (one of the few places at the time that was doing a lot of model railway prototyping) way back in the old days (like 15 or so years back) to do some printing pre shapeways. If I get back int 3d cad I’ll probably get my own printer to do more iterations quickly. But plenty of projects to keep me busy until then!

 

jeff

[bc6]

Im back again with some cellphone tower projects that I've been working on based on real life examples.

 

 

 

Edited January 18 by bc6

[maihama eki]

Back to this one. Kei trucks always catch my attention in Japan. There are a wide variety of different types. I spotted this refrigerator box version in Kyoto a few years ago.

 

 

So, let's make it in n-scale.

 

 

 

[maihama eki]

Here's how to make your own.

 

Start with the Kato Kei truck that is currently available.

 

Conveniently, the box of the truck is a separate piece and comes off with not too much effort.

 

 

 

 

[maihama eki]

Now we need a new box of the refrigerator variety. Pretty simple 3D model.

 

Printed piece courtesy of Shapeways. Placed on the truck for a test fit.

 

Painting is a little challenging. Start with white all over, then mask and paint some silver details.

[maihama eki]

Finally, we need the penguin logo. I made the graphics in MS Visio, but there are plenty of other options for that.

 

Shrink it down and print a water slide decal. I use Sunnyscopa thin, clear decal film for laser printer. It is very thin, and can be a little challenging if you aren't familiar with water slide decals. Buy it on Amazon. I wish I had a higher resolution printer, but what I have works okay.

 

The End.