About/Info
Under Construction
This website is under construction. As such, no info is guaranteed to be correct, though I'm doing by best. The range is also still under development, we're in the very early stages of TS Design's life. Bear with me!
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About us
At TS Design, we have a range of 3D printed OO gauge railway items, mainly focused on the South East UK and Industrial prototypes... and anything that piques interest! I say 'we' - I am a one-man band, operating in my spare time, for the fun of it - I am not running a big business here! Almost everything available has been made because I wanted one to run myself, it seems a shame to keep the prints to myself afterwards...
The ethos of TS Design is to provide cheap, easy to build kits of locos or rolling stock that would be difficult to justify using traditional RTR manufacturing - hence our focus on one-offs, industrial and pre-grouping stock. However, don't expect 100% superb RTR quality! 3D printing is as much an art as a science, and is tricky to get right and consistent.
Process
A loco (or wagon) starts life as a scaled drawing, obtained from original manufacturers or more recent books/magazines, as well as as many reference photos as possible. These are made into a 3D CAD document, usually in separate parts, such as chassis, body and roof. These parts are then 3D printed on my resin printer, which offers high detail, but is expensive to run and difficult to set up. However, the surface finish is much better than offered by Shapeways or equivalent, so in my opinion, it's worth it!
Building our kits
The parts come with support material still attached, which helps keep them robust in the post. Removing this can be a little daunting, but is covered in several videos on my YouTube channel. Kits will require fiddling and fettling to get right, especially where chassis with conrods are concerned, which will affect the running qualities. You have been warned! The finished resin can vary in flexibility and brittleness, but can be cut, filed and sanded easily. If sanding, be careful and use PPE, as the dust can be toxic. You may need to sand some small areas as it is common for diagonal lines to be present. Slight warps are often present, these can be dealt with by putting the affected area into freshly-boiled water for a few seconds and gently holding in place while it cools down (needless to say, please be careful with boiling water!). Kits do not come with instructions, but there are a few build videos available on our Youtube Channel, with more being uploaded regularly.
Commission/custom work
I may be open to commissions - feel free to ask! However, don't count on me saying yes...
I can also do custom modifications to existing models, which will cost slightly more depending on the amount of work needed. This includes things like different buffer styles, chimneys, cabs etc.
Different scales
This simple answer to 'Do you offer models in different scales/gauges?' is no. The complexity of this depends on the individual kit, and whether a chassis is involved. Feel free to ask (I have done several models in N gauge before) but I can't guarantee it.
Ordering
Available kits (shown on the kit info pages) can be ordered by email, quoting the model no (TS##), quantity and so on. P&P is Royal Mail 2nd Recorded at £5 and is UK only - overseas may be considered but would be on a case-by-case basis and is usually much more expensive. Send orders and enquiries to ts3dmodels@gmail.com. Payment is via PayPal only. Lead times can vary wildly, being a one-man-band with a single, slow printer, one large order can add a week onto the lead time - I will try to advise of the current lead time before you commit to an order.
As everything is printed to order, I cannot offer refunds except in exceptional circumstances!!! If asked, I will send photos of your model before it is dispatched and you have the option to reject it at that point (not ideal either, but at least saves both you and me postage).
This website is under construction. As such, no info is guaranteed to be correct, though I'm doing by best. The range is also still under development, we're in the very early stages of TS Design's life. Bear with me!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About us
At TS Design, we have a range of 3D printed OO gauge railway items, mainly focused on the South East UK and Industrial prototypes... and anything that piques interest! I say 'we' - I am a one-man band, operating in my spare time, for the fun of it - I am not running a big business here! Almost everything available has been made because I wanted one to run myself, it seems a shame to keep the prints to myself afterwards...
The ethos of TS Design is to provide cheap, easy to build kits of locos or rolling stock that would be difficult to justify using traditional RTR manufacturing - hence our focus on one-offs, industrial and pre-grouping stock. However, don't expect 100% superb RTR quality! 3D printing is as much an art as a science, and is tricky to get right and consistent.
Process
A loco (or wagon) starts life as a scaled drawing, obtained from original manufacturers or more recent books/magazines, as well as as many reference photos as possible. These are made into a 3D CAD document, usually in separate parts, such as chassis, body and roof. These parts are then 3D printed on my resin printer, which offers high detail, but is expensive to run and difficult to set up. However, the surface finish is much better than offered by Shapeways or equivalent, so in my opinion, it's worth it!
Building our kits
The parts come with support material still attached, which helps keep them robust in the post. Removing this can be a little daunting, but is covered in several videos on my YouTube channel. Kits will require fiddling and fettling to get right, especially where chassis with conrods are concerned, which will affect the running qualities. You have been warned! The finished resin can vary in flexibility and brittleness, but can be cut, filed and sanded easily. If sanding, be careful and use PPE, as the dust can be toxic. You may need to sand some small areas as it is common for diagonal lines to be present. Slight warps are often present, these can be dealt with by putting the affected area into freshly-boiled water for a few seconds and gently holding in place while it cools down (needless to say, please be careful with boiling water!). Kits do not come with instructions, but there are a few build videos available on our Youtube Channel, with more being uploaded regularly.
Commission/custom work
I may be open to commissions - feel free to ask! However, don't count on me saying yes...
I can also do custom modifications to existing models, which will cost slightly more depending on the amount of work needed. This includes things like different buffer styles, chimneys, cabs etc.
Different scales
This simple answer to 'Do you offer models in different scales/gauges?' is no. The complexity of this depends on the individual kit, and whether a chassis is involved. Feel free to ask (I have done several models in N gauge before) but I can't guarantee it.
Ordering
Available kits (shown on the kit info pages) can be ordered by email, quoting the model no (TS##), quantity and so on. P&P is Royal Mail 2nd Recorded at £5 and is UK only - overseas may be considered but would be on a case-by-case basis and is usually much more expensive. Send orders and enquiries to ts3dmodels@gmail.com. Payment is via PayPal only. Lead times can vary wildly, being a one-man-band with a single, slow printer, one large order can add a week onto the lead time - I will try to advise of the current lead time before you commit to an order.
As everything is printed to order, I cannot offer refunds except in exceptional circumstances!!! If asked, I will send photos of your model before it is dispatched and you have the option to reject it at that point (not ideal either, but at least saves both you and me postage).
