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1/32 Bailey TB16 Grain and Silage Trailers


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I shared abit about these in the workbench topic but thought you all might like to see the process in abit more detail. 

I had intended to do a large number of these using laser cutting to speed up the process and make them a profitable build. Sadly that didn't quite work out, a few factors took far too long to make even with the time saving so the batch of 10 will be the only batch. 

The project starts as with all my builds, on paper, with a pencil and a ruler. A front, side and rear view where required to then build the CAD model. 

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The CAD model is built on SolidWorks. I create each individual part I want laser cut as a separate piece, and then bring them in to an assembly allowing me to check the fit of all the parts. You can also see the wheels and mudguards in these shots that have been custom designed for the models with the CAD model used to 3D print master patterns that where then moulded. I used Shapeways for the printing and their fine detail plastic material. The cost for one wheel and rim is approximately £10, I think the mudguard was £8. It took about 4 days from ordering to them arriving on the doorstep. 

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The parts are compiled into a .dxf file and I sent them off to CutLaserCut. I asked for a quote to cut 1, 10 and 15 trailers. I have attached the quotes to demonstrate how orders of this nature had to be large. They have a minimum set up cost of £45, then charge per minute of cutting after that. Therefore the price was the same to cut 10 trailers as it was to cut 1,only the material costs increase. 

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Within a week this box of goodies had landed at my door. Well packaged and perfectly cut.

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interesting james ,it  certainly seems a lot on the cutting and materials front at first, but when you work out time cutting each its pennies really, does it have to be acrylic on that? or can they do it in say 3 or 54 mm plasticard, which seems to be the euro guys route at times, 

shame the wheels put your costs up at 10 each, or is that 10 for a set of 4? thats the hardest thing to get right i guess if theres nothing already out there of the shelf .

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To start with I put one set of parts together to check everything fitted. A couple of mistakes/issues where apparent from a manufacturing point of view. The acrylic has a protective film on both sides to stop scratching. They leave this on when lasercutting to stop any scorching of the material, not something that is an issue when I would be painting the surface. So the film had to be removed from every single part, imagine separating hundreds of pieces of double-sided tape! Not fun. So for future reference ask them to remove the film before cutting! 

Also I'd made a few errors whith my drawing so cut some parts that I'd intended to engrave. No real problem as I just glued them back together. I have used Tetrosol 12 to glue the Acrylic, it's the industrial equivalent to Ema plastic weld so fuses the plastic together but takes a few minutes to set rather than seconds. 

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With all the parts fitting together I got the production line up and running.

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Once the acrylic was glued together I added all the sheeting. For this I used 0.5mm plasticard, glued it into place and then scored and snapped to size. It was then time for painting, lockdown hit at this point, and I wasn't sure what to do about paint. I managed to find an online supplier that mixed and shipped RAL colours, the cost of posting paint meant my paint costs where doubled! Living at uni in a first floor flat at the time didn't help the painting situation either. I resorted to spraying on a cardboard box on the driveway when the weather permitted. Eventually everything was painted, a mammoth task! 

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For those that may find it useful I went with RAL 6002 for the colour. It works for the new Bailey Green, as you will see in the photos it's shade varies massively depending on the light. If you where modeling an older Bailey RAL 6005 is a closer match, but not perfect. 

I'll include an upclose of the cast wheel here, they where a nightmare, the tread blocks are too small for the rubber to freely flow into. So I had to rub the rubber onto the walls of the mould first, then fill the rest of the mould. Fine for a couple of casts, frustrating by the 40th tyre! Very pleased with the finished item though. 

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21 minutes ago, Tractorman810 said:

interesting james ,it  certainly seems a lot on the cutting and materials front at first, but when you work out time cutting each its pennies really, does it have to be acrylic on that? or can they do it in say 3 or 54 mm plasticard, which seems to be the euro guys route at times, 

shame the wheels put your costs up at 10 each, or is that 10 for a set of 4? thats the hardest thing to get right i guess if theres nothing already out there of the shelf .

The problem with plasticard is that is contains PVC, this means when the laser burns it chlorine gas is released, this is both dangerous to humans, but also damages components of the cutter, my chemistry is rusty but I think it eats away at the aluminum runners that the laser head runs on. 

The Europeans use a CNC router, the major setback with this is you can't cut square corners, they will always have a rounded/fillited edge to them. I also haven't found a small scale CNC routing company to send work too. 

Sorry I've not been very clear about the wheels. So I order a single print of a wheel, and a single print of a rim. I then make two moulds using the rim master, and four moulds of the tyre (two left hand and two right hand). Therefore the master costs are spread across all 40 casts. From memory the final price per wheel and tyre is below £1.

Edited by Stabliofarmer
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ah a CNC cutter, makes sense, i know the rear cage wheels i have were in plasticard, so corners are possible, but i guess at a bigger radius, and a good few of their kits are in plasticard as well, but i bet your acrylic is a lot stronger and prob quicker to work with as well. wheels make sense now as well, forgot you cast them for other stuff.

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Thanks for sharing this, it is a great insight into your model making process.  

I find these sort of topics really useful for driving inspiration in my model making process.  

The trailers do look amazing, the details and the quality of finish are second to none.  Congratulations.  

By any chance did Bailey Trailers themselves order any of the models?  

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Great background on what it takes to design and make a quality model. I’m sure a lot of people don’t understand what it actually takes to do this and the costs involved, before you even add your time into the equation.

Wish I’d ordered one of these at the time, great trailers!

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Thank you folks, it's nice to share an insight into what's going on behind the scenes. Usually forget to take enough photos to share these days. 

Bailey didn't have any of these no, I spoke to them a number of years ago at the Great Yorkshire and they where interested. But I was alot younger and far less confident in my builds than I am now so didn't persue it. 

The issue with generic parts is once your into the scratch build levels people are spending so much that they want it to be exactly as the real one, and each manufacturer has a different style. The truck ones are tricky now that Marge have set the bar so high, I can't compete with that detail and that's the level people expect at the moment. 

A friend keeps nagging for a KTwo ejector model so I may try again with a batch of them when I can get back to the CAD software at uni. 

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Interesting to see you doing this James, it's a project on my list to do, been dealing with Naomi from CutLaserCut :)

It's finding the right pictures, images, diagrams and dimensions that takes me so long, I've got loads of images, just need to find the dimensions of the trailers!

Edited by Barry
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Very nice work James, I think that they could compete with any of the major manufacturers quite easily. There's only one problem.....looking at the quality of the end product and the way in which model making is ultimately heading just confirms my thoughts that one day the cutting mat and knife will be obsolete.......I feel a bit like a dinosaur looking up to the sky as the comet races past!;)

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Thank you folks

I think the craft knife will always have its place John. The art of scratch building is certainly not one I'd like to see die out. I think the price of good quality laser cutters, 3D printers and CAD software has a way to drop yet before they can really try and push the cutting mat off the table. 

I think I'm going to be really 'chasing' up what 3D printers are capable of with my next agricultural project mind! 

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As all of the above, absolutely top quality trailers you have produced, and a fascinating insight into the whole procedure.

Many thanks for posting up and sharing all the photos, and details, a really informative topic.

Keep up the great work!

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