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The Imperial Engine is Tight!

Okay, I am starting my first build of the Imperial Engine. I have several observations to start out with. First, the prints are amazing! I am using a Creality Ender 3 V3 SE (actually 2 of them). The prints look fantastic. My only criticism thus far is that the connections are too tight. I think they align nicely together, but they are impossible to close without a little sanding or over-exertion. I'd recommend a little more tolerance in the joining pieces in the future. That being said. This guy must be a math genius. Everything aligns perfectly.... Its' just tighter then prom night in there guys.

I am 2/3rds through the print. I will post some pictures after everything is completed and offer a few tips on the assembly. For example, I recommend not putting both sides of the wheels together first on the axles. Feed them through the supports then put on the end caps. I was too worried the parts would snap with the axles having both wheels on then pushing it into the connector.

Finally, my greatest regret is not buying the top tier on kickstarter. I am a personal hobbiest with aspirations of selling models when I retire. This range is detailed, unique, and high quality. Let's just say if the artist does a second kickstarter and it comes with a retroactive commercial license... I am not hesitating!!! He has a fresh product for the miniature market and it is top notch!

Ken

14 comments

Comments (14)

Kenneth Princen

Oct 04

Cults3d.com I did a search for sci-fi and industrial consoles and came across them. I scaled them down a little and trimmed them to fit. Thanks.

Cassidy

Sep 16

Nice! I love the orange, good industrial color choice to compliment the army green. The consoles look like they were made to fit! Looking really good!

Kenneth Princen

Sep 16

Building the interior of the Ironclad.

Paul Rickert

Oct 04

Replying to

Dude, those are great! Where did you get them?

Kenneth Princen

Sep 13

Cassidy,

You can use any of my photos you want for your business. The chain saws work fine. I would have edged the mount a little to raise the blade tip up though to be perfect. I snapped one off from the base. I guess the pins were not in 100%. It is an easy fix to repair. I’ll send more pics to update as I go along. Maybe try to get some that are a little more professional looking. Thanks for tracking my progress!

Ken

Cassidy

Sep 13

Replying to

Okay, glad to know about the mount. Will look into that to see if there's an easy fix. Yes, please send more pics as you can, would love to share! Thank you! -Cassidy

Cassidy

Sep 13

Wow!! These look fantastic! I absolutely love the army green and red. I can only imagine the terror that thing would impose as it pulls up on the battlefield. Your risers are absolutely genius. I would love to utilize this concept in future updates! The side gun looks super cool. Very creative modifications you've done here, very nicely done! Did the "TrainSaws" print okay for you? They came out well with our test prints but I've been anxious to hear from someone with a fresh take. Do they rotate properly? Thank you for sharing the pictures and updates. Would love to share these photos on social media with your permission! -Cassidy

Kenneth Princen

Sep 13

Update on the bogie challenges. I decided to go with 1/4 inch wood dowels cut to size for the axles. They snap in just great. I had to be careful with the wheels since the hole is larger. A great option would be to offer alternate wheels to fit the wood dowels. I prebuilt them before painting and followed the assembly instructions and it works like a charm.

Kenneth Princen

Sep 13

I am printing some internal pieces because I want to outfit the interior. I have found some great panels, industrial enclosures, and consoles. I designed my own mounting brackets for the machingun pintle with shield. I also designed the riser for the chaingun on the top. Those were hard enough lol. I can't imagine the skill it took to design these models.

Kenneth Princen

Sep 13

I am about a third of the way done. I still have a lot of detail to complete on the exterior. I decided to add the chainsaws to clear the tracks.

Kenneth Princen

Sep 13

I am going with a dieselpunk Army Green scheme to the engine. On my second print of the main hull the window area failed a little. I decided to just go with it and open up the back compartment and put in two light machinegun positions. I am going with a red light look as well since it looked more menacing.

Cassidy

Sep 11

Ken, thank you again for the kind words. I’m always anxious to hear how builds are going and to know that people are having a pleasant experience. I’m glad you’ve come up with some creative approaches to solve the issues you've run into. We’re definitely going to look into areas where we can increase tolerances so things aren’t quite so tight in some spots. Some of our builds were sprayed with primer but in hindsight we didn't give much coverage to the connecting parts, probably due to our over familiarity with the design, and some of the parts were assembled prior to spraying - I'll do some backtracking and see which ones we did and didn't paint prior to assembly. I’m really excited to see the continued progress on your build! Do you have any paint schemes in mind? Also, have you checked out the latest front accessories stretch goal pack? They're available on the downloads page now! Thank you for the update! Really enjoying watching your build come to life! -Cassidy

Cassidy

Sep 07

Hey Kenneth!

First off, welcome to the forum! I just want to say a huge thank you for supporting Modular WarTrains. It’s been an enormous project, and hearing from people who are enjoying it really makes all the hard work worthwhile. Your kind words mean the world!

I really appreciate your suggestions, especially your approach to the wheel assembly—it makes a lot of sense and sounds like it’ll make putting together the bogies a lot easier! I’ll definitely look into updating the assembly guide with that method.

I'm sorry to hear you had to sand down some parts. We spent a lot of time testing everything, trying to get the fit just right—not too tight, not too loose—experimenting with different printers and settings, but as you probably know it’s a fine line. If you have a moment to let me know which parts gave you trouble, I’ll tweak the tolerances to give them a bit more room in future versions.

I’m really looking forward to seeing your completed Ironclad, and I can’t wait to hear what you think once it’s all done! Also, just a heads-up: we’re planning to offer commercial licenses again soon. If you’re ever interested in that down the line, there’ll definitely be options available!

Thanks again for all your support and feedback—I truly appreciate it!

-Cassidy

Kenneth Princen

Sep 09

Replying to

So, a lot of operator error along with some trial and error. The Imperial Ironclad is an excellent print and I maintain that pieces fit together tightly. I was a little too eager to get going and should have taken a more measured approach. I had to scrap my first print. So I learned a few valuable lessons.

First, the design was probably fit tested unpainted. If you paint pieces and then try to put them together they will be too tight. I put a picture up. This build I am covering the connections because I like to prime and paint as I assemble. The coverings will allow a better fit when I assemble. If you are the same, this will help out a lot!

Second, I maintain you should assemble the axles and wheels after the carriage is built. I tried pushing the axle through the gap and it feels too tight and I don't want to snap the PLA print. If you plan on them being the same primary color, you can assemble how ever you want I think. Especially if you feel comfortable pushing the axle into place. I personally want my wheels and axles black with the transom and supports my primary color for the model.

Third, I have to remark how well designed this model is. Precision does not do it justice. My failed attempt is solely on me for failing some instructions. You have to carefully test fit pieces depending on your printer and settings. Don't force a piece though because depending on the print layer they can snap off easily. I have learned to be gentle and if I have any reservations I sand a little bit so the fit is smooth.

Along with the precision of the design, I love the no supports. I think for such a large model it is pretty economical on my PLA. I printed at 25% infill for most parts and 50% for the ones calling for high density. Two spools of PLA and I will still get through the second print while printing a couple of tracks.

Full disclosure, I put the cabin on backwards! Be careful because it will seem to fit. It messes up the build. Read the instructions! As a bonus, I messed up the cow catcher. I tried to put it on last and it will not go in place. I decided to cut off the connectors and it slid snuggly up into place. If you want to be able to swap it out at a later time consider cutting off the supports and inserting it last. You can change it out later if you want.

Finally, While the design is great I realized it was not built with magnets in place. You could make simple modifications to transition to magnets if you want to shake things up. A little pre planning is all that is required.

Bonus, there are two weapon slots on top of the ironclad. I took my first stab at blender and built a riser for the turret. I wanted the back weapon to be elevated so it has 360 degree coverage. I plan to include it into my print. If it works out, I will share the piece so it can properly designed and used by anyone wanting it.

I will close saying this kit is amazing. The level of design is incredible. Learning to put it together has been fun. My only concern is that someone buying a printed kit should be pretty experienced and attentive when assembling or they can ruin it. Also, the engine is massive! I am just beginning to appreciate the scale after I saw my completed build failure. It will dominate a table. SO, when it comes to playability I leave that to you. I am a collector and want the train with flat cars to display my models. If I should ever play a game with it, the train will most likely be key terrain with objectives associated with it. But I love trains and a battle in a train yard sounds completely awesome!

Ken