Friday, September 12, 2014

Three Bars or Four?

You may remember that back in June I designed and 3D printed some small 3 bar slab wagons. These were reasonably well received albeit with some helpful suggestions. When I ordered the Aberllefenni box wagons I also updated the 3 bar slab wagon and printed another set as well as a 4 bar variant. I got side tracked by building Canopus though and so have only just got around to assembling and painting these.

It's difficult to tell from a photo but I do think the 3 bar version looks much better now that I've extended the bars slightly; it really is a very small change but it gives a much better balanced model. The 4 bar variant is of a similar size although it includes some extra details taken from a number of prototype photos etc, again these are kind of difficult to see in the photo. As usual, both are now available via Penistone Railway Works (3 bar, 4 bar) should you fancy a few.

5 comments:

  1. Mark, people like odd numbers, don't ask me why. Five would work but three is better than four.

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    1. I must admit to preferring the 3 bar version, although I can understand the logic behind the extra support the four bar gives. Don't think I've ever seen suggestions of a 5 bar version though.

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  2. I agree, the bars do give an improved look- certainly for the prototypes that I see here in Blaenau.

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    1. Thanks Iain, it's good to know they look better and closer to reality.

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  3. It's true that odd numbers are generally more visually acceptable than even ones in many things: flower planting is a prime example apparently.

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