I found this nice little N Scale model of a center door streetcar on Shapeways. Besides the fact that I am very interested in 3-D modeling and printing, this is a good match for the Cincinnati Car Company cars that were run on the South Carolina Power Company rails here in Charleston in the late 20s and 30s. These are the same cars that are now unfortunately rotting away out in the elements.
Looking at the car you can see the very fine striations that are created by the layered 3-D printing process. Take a close look at the roof of the car and you will see the lines that will need to be sanded away. But overall the quality is excellent and the detail is amazing. That is a testament not only to the Shapeways printing process, but also to the person who did the design of this particular model.
The biggest difference between this model and the car you see pictured below, at least the most obvious difference, is the siding. Look below the windows and you will see that the model has wood slatted siding and the original is steel sided. I will need to take care of that in the build process. Of course I will also be fitting windows, a Tomytec power unit, poles, etc. Will just have to figure which of each are appropriate. Oh, and of course get the correct colors for it. And work on the layout. And….
