Blue Plastic Tracks

Oh my, whatever could it be?

Just before I do actually say anything, I should mention that I wasn't sure which sub-forum to post this in given it isn't technically a modification though some modification would be necessary to another Plarail toy in order for it to work. Sounds odd, right? No, you've probably already guessed that you'll be cannibalising something, but for what? Well, over the course of about two weeks I set about designing something that I'd always wanted as a kid but had never been able to obtain. If you're a TLDR kind of person, just skip over the next paragraph.

Some history; As I was a child, I watched Thomas the Tank Engine and to be honest I'd be surprised if the majority of the people on this forum didn't. Trains were the coolest things on the planet back then, so my parents took me to a local rail museum - the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum, as it used to be called, in Thirlmere - during one of their annual big events. This was around 2004 I believe and there were two massive green engines which absolutely blew my four year old mind, not least the beautiful five chime whistles. They were, of course, 3801 and 3830 of the NSWGR C38 class. 3801 is a streamlined engine and most likely the more famous of the two. Visiting this steam festival at Thirlmere became as regular as the events themselves until eventually my family and I moved half-way across the country. Since then I've made sure to visit the museum at any chance I get, the most recent being in March of this year where sadly only 3820 was accessible though 3830 sat further away in a fenced-off area.

TLDR: I like the NSWGR C38 pacifics.

As a child I always wanted toys of the engines I could go see and ride behind in person and as TOMY/Plarail was my favourite range of Thomas toys, I really wanted a plarail C38. Plarail didn't make them - and if they began now that wouldn't be terrible - so earlier this year I took it upon myself to whip up something to potentially be 3D printed as I have a printer and without meaning to sound like I'm blowing my own whistle as it were, because I definitely am, I'm quite good at 3D modelling. I held off from joining this forum once I had finished the design and rendering stages of the model because I ended up using it for a school assignment and to avoid someone seeing it online and saying "Oh you didn't make that".

TLDR: I designed it a while ago.

Designed? Don't you mean you made it a while ago? Not exactly, I haven't printed any parts yet though I have a lot more free time on my hands now and will most likely do so.

Now, for what you most likely came here for; images!




Now, I'm sure some people will have questions and so I'll answer what I presume will be the main one; "What pre-existing TOMY toy did you base that on?"
A TOMY Henry that I'd rather cruelly cut up many years ago to use for a custom project which didn't happen. I also had a Gordon I disassembled at some point too which helped with a mock-up of the motor, but the tender area was based on Henry specifically to use his parts. Theoretically.

"What of the future?"/"Will you make more?"/"Will you make X engine for me?"
Who knows?

Enjoy.

That is some fantastic 3D modeling Fly, can't wait to see what your 3D printing will look like. Do you have a quality printer and scanner? Some of use have dreamed of being able to create custom parts that look like factory made.

Can't say it's of amazing quality, having tried to print model cars in the past and also a different TOMY baseplate and no I don't have a scanner.


Generally from what I've seen, scanners tend to produce messy results at best and so I wouldn't really want to sit through a 'cleaning' process on top of making modifications. I do try to be exact with measurements though and the baseplate I attempted to print a while ago was just able to accommodate a TOMY Thomas motor, so that's always a plus. Factory quality would require a rather expensive machine of perhaps $10,000 and upward, mine costing only a tenth of that with my four Tomix engines covering the cost. I'm okay with putting a bit of effort in for personalised projects but if there is enough demand I do have a Shapeways store I could potentially upload things to as they have, from what I have seen, high quality print finishes.

I also have this custom from a last year which I did for a friend who then turned out not to want it.

I tried to use the steps on the side as a position to hold the clips for the body and it could fit a normal Thomas shell, so I consider it a success. There is also enough room for a battery - just - underneath the water cap space.

Those designs look awesome. Great work..

We may actually get more Thomas Motorized Plarail characters with this kind of tech!

I actually thank you for doing this. I mentioned in a previous thread that i wanted plarail to make a C38 3801 locomotive and you have made this dream come true. If you do decide to produce this one, I will certainly buy one, Thankyou Very Much

Well I wasn't aware of your previous comment though it's always a good think to find out others share ideas. You know the saying, great minds think alike. As for Thomas characters, they aren't really my forte but if I do open up to suggestions or commissions, however one wants to word it, I'll keep it on my mind. I was wondering if I should do another variant of the C38, being the non-streamlined variant. If Plarail ever did put it into production they could save money by using the same moulds for all of the parts, some of which are already shared with existing models, and only create two more moulds to get an extra six or seven variants to the already existing 3 possibilities if I've estimated correctly. Seems cost effective in my head, but then the reality is they are relying on people actually wanting those variants, regardless of how subtle, of a class of locomotive most likely completely unknown abroad.

Yes, still. I'll think over what I want to do with myself in the coming future because there are a lot of other factors.

Your computer generated 3D modeling is superb but how well that transfers into an actual working model is what I would like to see.

This reminds me of the Bulleid Pacifics that we have here in the UK, and are you planning on using Neville's wheels for this or are you printing them too?

On a side note, your 3D design is excellent. I commend your talent and hope to see this running one day.

I will definitely be 3D printing this at some point, wheels included because they're a bit different to the Bulleid Firth Brown design of most of Bulleid's locomotives. I had thought about using Neville's base plate originally but changed my mind after leaving the project to collect dust for a while. Thank you and one day you just might.