Peter Bryant (who has recently relocated from Whangarei to Auckland) has a passion and ambition to create the most complete NZR & Kiwirail trains set. Most noteworthy is the near-exact replica of the NZR J class 1200 - which was painstakingly 3D modelled by Peter - with the utmost care and paying great minuscule detail to the nuances of Kiwi trains. The finished model is quite an impressive piece. What's more impressive is the functionality of it, too.
Australia Locomotive miniaturised
The NZ120 J (streamlined) is scaled to 1:24 and it tries to remain as closely faithful to its real life counterpart, from the functioning rods & drive wheels, to the boiler and down to the feed water pipes. Nothing is left untouched, valves and rivets can be seen, to give an authentic touch.
Peter also 3D prints miniature passengers and conductors to populate the trains. He doesn't just stop at steam-engine trains either: working cranes and the more modern Kiwirail trains are reproduced as well.
UP Plus 2 3D printer worked to its bones: 50+ hrs per project
The NZ120 J class was printed on the UP Plus 2, a mammoth project which took many hours of printing. Peter went through stacks of sandpaper to achieve a smooth finish without sacrificing any of the details. Afterwards, the scaled locomotive was given a thorough paint-job and was fitted with "window panes" for the cabin. The dedication to replicate the train with such detail is admirable. It takes a lot of skills and time to complete each project and certainly the patience to see it through from start to finish.
Each project varies in the length of printing time, from 43 hours up to 65 hours. All 3D models are based on actual plans of the different trains, this allows Peter to scale to perfection and get the perfect proportions. In fact, we were amazed that these trains were CADed up on TinkerCAD!
Gallery: From freight trains to cranes, everything below are printed with the UP Plus 2!
