Game Changer For O Gauge Trains - Tripo 3D Ultra

How to use TRIPO 3.1 to make great looking models for your model railroad quickly and easily with no CAD modeling experience necessary on this episode of Toy Train Tips and Tricks. In the process of restoring and operating classic three rail trains, one process has become indispensable to my process and that is 3D printing and whether that means using an FDM filament type printer or a resin printer. 3D printing has allowed me to make repairs to Marks and Lionel engines and rolling stock, has helped me to make new structures for my layout and replace accessory parts and many other things. The downside to the 3D modeling process has been that if the model isn't already available online you have to design it yourself. Now while programs like Tinkercad are pretty simple to use and I can make many many projects using this, but still even a project as simple as this Lionel boxcar door took me about 40 minutes to design and about the same for these Marks caboose handrails and about an hour for the replacement side frames on this Marks caboose. There are other more powerful CAD design programs out there such as Fusion, but honestly even though the learning curve on these is supposed to be pretty gentle I frankly just haven't had the time to invest to learn how to use these. So if I couldn't find the file online and I couldn't make it in Tinkercad, I pretty much didn't make it. Until now. Tripo 3D Ultra is a new professional quality 3D design platform that allows you to create new 3D projects quickly without any knowledge of CAD design whatsoever. The platform allows you to create the highly detailed models you want from one or more photographs or drawings or even by describing in text the object you want to create. And Tripo 3.1's powerful design tools do the rest. Then you can export your model into your favorite slicer program for 3D printing on either a resin or an FDM filament type printer. Tripo provided me free credits to test drive the app because well I'm allergic to paying for anything before I know how it works or what it is. At first glance Tripo looks like it was primarily designed for use by animators, artists, and gamers to create characters and backgrounds for their projects. But actually the included tools are also useful for modelers, hobbyists, and other professionals for creating new high resolution objects or recreating existing ones in precise detail. Let's walk through some examples. It would be an extreme understatement to say that I have a lot of Lionel gondolas like this New York Central 6462. I have them in black and blue and red and lots of other colors from the MPC era colors and road names. But sadly most of my gondolas are empty. I was impressed when I received this Algoma Central gondola with these coil covers. And these are really cool Lionel coil covers and I thought well that would be great for all of my Lionel gondolas. But then I priced them. So the cost of outfitting a fleet of coil cover cars being a little bit beyond what I'm willing to spend, what about 3D printing a version? So I went to Tinkercad as always and I started designing thinking well of course this is a pretty simple geometric shape and this is a pretty simple geometric shape. And after about three weeks of work I had the basic shape output these little details in here and these details here they just weren't right at all. And so after about three weeks of off and on working with it I really had nothing to show for it. But then Tripo gave me some credits to play with and to experiment with the program and report back to you. And using Tripo 3.1 I was able to go from this original to this 3D printed version in about 15 minutes. Not better than three weeks. Let's see how I did it. I grabbed my phone and took photos of this coil cover from several angles then selecting a good three-quarter angle shot I uploaded the photo into my photo editing program. Tripo works best when the photos have a plain background and high contrast. So use your favorite photo editor to remove the background details, enhance the model details and remove anything that doesn't belong. From the Tripo 3.1 homepage I selected 3D workspace, then image to 3D, uploaded my image and clicked generate model. It took a few minutes for Tripo 3.1 to analyze my image and calculate the image on all sides but soon I have a complete and extremely accurate 3D model from my image. Look at the details compared to the original. Then I click to add it to my collection of assets and then downloaded an STL file for my printer. Tripo 3.1 generates models with clean topology and reptopology. That means the models stick together and don't have holes in the digital image and therefore they require less digital cleanup before printing. The generated models are finely detailed and high fidelity and the latest edition of the software includes fully upgraded artist quality HD textures. Tripo 3.1 also features the capability of segmenting the generated models allowing you to fine tune and even modify individual sections of the model and then reassemble with the changes added. As a result less fix is required to get a great looking model from your monitor to the finished physical product. Honestly I've not found the need for any of these cleanup tools yet but it's nice to know they're there if I need them. With the model in your print slicer double check the dimensions of the rendered model against the sizes you want then just slice it and print it and voila a great looking coil cover for my gondola at a fraction of the retail cost. And now I can print more whenever I like. Another Lionel item that I really like is these piggyback cars both the post-war version and MPC and even modern version with the two trailers. But often you find that either the trailers are missing or you find them in different states of disrepair. Missing the fifth wheels, missing the rooves, sometimes missing the wheels. So finding a good pair with all of the parts can be a challenge and can be expensive. Many of these that you find are like almost mint condition examples. Well I'm an operator not a collector and I don't really need mint condition originals. I just need something that looks good on a flat car. Something like this. And again using Tripo 3.1 this was a very simple project. Let's see how I did it. I found the best results were produced when I used the multi-view images tool uploading front back left and right images of my original. I did lose some of the bottom detail but no one will notice when the trailer is streaking by on a freight train. I again set the output to standard quality and clicked generate model. If the first effort is not quite right, Tripo will offer up to three free redos to get it right. Again I saved the model, exported it, and printed. And here's the result. So okay that's great I can make replacement parts from Lionel pieces that already exist. What about if I want something from the real world? What if I want to make a 3D model of a building, a structure, or a sculpture? So this sculpture is located in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. And a couple years ago I saw it and took a picture of it not knowing what it was even. I took the picture just to be curious and put out on the internet and say does anybody know what this is? And apparently no one did because they never answered back. But I thought this would be a very interesting item to test Tripo 3.1's ability to work from a photograph. So I took my photograph, I ran it through my photo editing software, removed all of the background images until I had just this, entered it in, and voila! I scaled this down. The original is actually some 80 feet tall. An O-gauge would make it about here. And I really didn't want to waste that much filament on something that I really don't even know what this thing is. But the details are awesome. And all of this was taken from one photo from a cell phone camera walking down the street and clicking and going, what is that? No fancy photography, no special lighting, and only one angle to shoot from. All right, so if you've got a drawing you've got a photograph to work from, great. Tripo 3.1 can do wonderful things. But what if the object you want to create only exists in your head? And that is where Tripo 3.1 really shines. What if, for example, you want to create a figure, a person? For example, I thought it would be perfect on my railroad to, as a funny scene, to include a railfan. A stereotypical railfan. So I typed in, oh man in his mid-30s, slightly overweight, ball cap turned backwards, carrying a camera, and with a radio on his waist, and this is what came out. Kind of looks like me, doesn't it? A railfan for my railroad. Okay, so what if you have one of those roadside drive-ins, those root beer stands that were popular in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and you need someone to serve the cars that are parked. And of course, back then they did everything on roller skates, right? So I typed in create a 1950s style car hop on roller skates, carrying trays of food and drinks, and there she is ready to serve at my root beer stand. All I have to do is give her a coat of paint. And you want one more example? Well, of course you do. So, I just bought this Lionel bay window caboose at a show last weekend, and we had some issues with the broken platform and missing ladders. So, I could have gone online. I could have looked up the part number. I could have found a dealer, paid for it, and then prayed that USPS would get it to me in a timely manner. Or, I could take this, take a couple of quick photos of it, send it to Tripo 3.1, send it to my 3D printer, and a few hours later, there's the part. And about detail, I never noticed on the Lionel version, if you look very, very, very closely from the brake wheel, there is a little bit of chain detail where in real life the brake wheel would be connected by a chain to the brakes to manually set them. I had never noticed this before, but when I had it up on my screen in Tripo, I could see it plain as day. And here it is on my 3D printed version, exactly like it is on the Lionel version. The only difference here, I need to snap a coat of paint on it, and my ladders are plastic instead of the metal of the original. Otherwise, it's ready to roll. So, you can see how just using a camera, some simple photo editing software, and a 3D printer, and a pair of calipers to check the measurements of your work, you can make just about any part that you can imagine. Whether, again, whether you're fixing a broken Lionel part, whether you're recreating something from the real world, or whether you're just dreaming up something like these people and printing them out, Tripo 3.1 could not be easier. Now that I've tried Tripo 3.1, I'm hooked, and I've been designing new models faster than my printers can spit them out. It's fun, and maybe even a little addicting. If you are ready to give this revolutionary software a try, follow the link on your screen and in the video description to receive an additional 500 credits at sign up, and use the promo code on your screen to get 60% off your first month's subscription. And so, I'm going to continue using Tripo to keep my trains running, and hopefully you do the same, and we'll catch you next time with more toy train tips and tricks.