I am thinking of/would like/must have a J65 for my layout - OK, it has more than enough small locos, and I don't think the J65's escaped to the country from their Docklands habitat, but what the hell, I'm the CEO!
I noticed an outfit called CDC offers a 3D kit for it - looks like two parts, body and chassis, which might be within my limited assembly capabilities, but I know nothing of this new technology or of the company and the quality of its products. It seems to be moulded in a type of nylon, which is not the easiest plastic to paint effectively. Anyone out there had some experience in this area?
Having inspected some of these kits (but not purchased as I model N gauge), they do look nice and Charlie does know how to design some good models!
However, any 3D print produced by Shapeways (who CDC use) will require a degree of rubbing down to get the best result. Most of these prints use a material called White Strong and Flexible (SWF) which is produced using sintered Nylon powder. This results in a grainy and porous surface that'll also need to be sealed before a good surface can be achieved.
SWF is not a material I use that often in N gauge as it is incapable of producing fine enough detail and is one of the more difficult materials to clean up in 2mm scale; but can be more easily worked in 4mm and 7mm scales. Rather than me talk about the clean up process, a much better indication of what you'll be letting yourself into can be found here:
The F5 is also a CDC kit and shows what can be achieved with a bit of time smoothing out the prints. For locomotives in N gauge nowadays, 3D printing is my preferred construction method.
I have some 3D locomotives in FUD with chassis in WSF. This combination is fine as the FUD is far better than the WSF and can take superglue for details whereas the WSF can't. The only glue I've got to work with it is 5 minute Epoxy.
