French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

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EPOCH3
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French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#1

Post by EPOCH3 » 30 Apr 2016, 18:04

Hi - new project to go with the German 77mm Fk96 n/A -
I recently designed a 3D model of the French 75mm Mle 1897 as used late in WWI.
I looked at buying the Des kit in resin but I wasn't very happy with what was there
so I tried doing one myself. I also did the limber and ammo wagons to go with it.
Until the kinks are worked out, every time I get a new part for the first time its a
bit of "hold your breath" and "cross your fingers" as to whether it will come out right.
Got the first part back today and it looks pretty good. The Limber has some very small
railings and straps that I thought would not print right or get broken at best but it
showed up intact. Posted a few screen captures of the design and I will post a few
more pictures of parts as the other parts show up.

For those who are interested, printed cost for the main Limber assembly was $28.

Happy Modeling.
Attachments
4.jpg
5a.jpg
75mm 1 Lr.jpg
75mm lr 3.jpg
75mm lr 5.jpg

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
Joined: 30 Jul 2006, 23:22
Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#2

Post by EPOCH3 » 30 Apr 2016, 18:08

Here are a few more pictures of the model and Limber just rec'd - due to the transparent nature of the
material, these small parts don't really photograph well.

Regards
Attachments
IMGP6566 lr.jpg
IMGP6565 lr.jpg
Fr WIP 2 lr.jpg
Fr 75 mm MLe 1897 1 lr.jpg


EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
Joined: 30 Jul 2006, 23:22
Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#3

Post by EPOCH3 » 02 May 2016, 18:57

Some new parts for the project just in.

I attached a runner (to be cut off) across the top of the splinter shield to add some strength during build (and shipping) because I was concerned that it was too large a surface without adequate support and very thin (to try and stay in scale). The shield showed up still warped a bit but a little very hot water and it snapped into the right position.

I am printing two versions of the main gun chassis. One that has the brakes and seats etc all integrated into the part (this adds significant structural integrity) and the second version I am printing as a test to see if I can get away with making the brake assembly such that they will rotate 90 degrees (like the real gun) so that the model can be shown in both a transport mode as well as a firing mode (when firing, the wheels sit on the brakes). The second part shown is the brake assy/arm with tie rods - surprisingly, the tie rods "float" and printed separately (but all connected properly).

More later and happy modeling!
Attachments
IMGP6598 lr.jpg
IMGP6590 lr.jpg
IMGP6585 lr.jpg
IMGP6579 lr.jpg
IMGP6571 lr.jpg

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
Joined: 30 Jul 2006, 23:22
Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#4

Post by EPOCH3 » 02 May 2016, 18:58

Here is the brake assy
Attachments
IMGP6600 lr 1.jpg

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
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Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#5

Post by EPOCH3 » 07 May 2016, 14:20

Here are a couple of quick pictures of some new parts for the French 75mm I just made.

1) Mini-sprue I made for small parts (lower portion of folding splinter shield, trunnion caps, axle parts etc)

2) Included a slightly better shot of the main carriage assy previously posted.

3 Barrel and elevation mechanism. While the picture doesn't show it, the top gun is 1 single piece while the lower gun is two pieces. The lower barrel assy can slide back and forth so that firing various positions during recoil phase can be shown.



Happy Modeling!
Attachments
IMGP6651 lr 2.jpg
IMGP6623 lr 2.jpg
IMGP6640 lr 2.jpg

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
Joined: 30 Jul 2006, 23:22
Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#6

Post by EPOCH3 » 11 May 2016, 23:39

primer applied to the limber: I use a light coat of metalizer lacquer paint (Testors 1455 gun metal). I will then use a paper blending tool to slightly buff out the surfaces a little here and there to get a little more realistic metallic look prior to painting.
Attachments
fr 75 4.jpg
Fr 75 3.jpg

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
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Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#7

Post by EPOCH3 » 12 May 2016, 16:52

A few quick pictures of several parts for the French 75mm project I just rec'd in the mail.

I printed an extra set of wheels in a new material offering which claims to be
a high resolution material but stronger than the photosensitive resin
I have printed in to date (which is a bit brittle). The material is identified as
High Definition Acrylate (black parts in the pictures). The sample parts I made
look very nice indeed with a look and feel almost like polystyrene... I do not
know yet if the more complicated parts can be printed in this material but
I plan to reprint the Limber assy (as shown in the previous photos) in this new
material to test that out.

For those interested - the wheel set in the translucent resin material is about $18 while
the same set in the black High Definition Acrylate is about $12.

Happy Modeling
Attachments
IMGP6709.jpg
IMGP6701.jpg
IMGP6700.jpg
IMGP6692.jpg
IMGP6690.jpg

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
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Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#8

Post by EPOCH3 » 25 May 2016, 16:07

A couple of additional pictures for the French 75mm:

A) First two pics showing how the articulated brake assembly with "floating" tie rods can be rotated 90 degrees from traveling position to firing position. The brakes, brake assy, tie rods and slide were printed as a single part.

B) sighting assembly.

Happy Modeling!
Attachments
IMGP6753 lr.jpg
IMGP6754 lr.jpg
IMGP6747 lr.jpg

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
Joined: 30 Jul 2006, 23:22
Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#9

Post by EPOCH3 » 25 May 2016, 18:03

Here is a little better picture showing the detail
of how the tie rods connect to other parts.
These were printed as a multiple component, single part.
Attachments
IMGP6753 lr2.jpg

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Christoffer
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Location: Odessa

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#10

Post by Christoffer » 29 Jul 2016, 08:04

Terrific French Canon.

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Hauptmann Holston
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Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#11

Post by Hauptmann Holston » 29 Jul 2016, 17:59

Another fantastic 3D printed cannon Epoch3
"Tanks"
Herr Heer Holston

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gregoire14
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Joined: 14 Feb 2014, 14:56

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#12

Post by gregoire14 » 07 Aug 2016, 14:46

great job, when running 3D is great, by cons must know how the subject in 3D before printing is already hard (at least for me)
in any case, bravo

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
Joined: 30 Jul 2006, 23:22
Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#13

Post by EPOCH3 » 21 Oct 2016, 21:42

Shapeways recently introduced a new High Definition Acrylate material which I decided to experiment with and use on the French 75mm Limber (see above). I had previously used it for some simple wheels which turned out very nice but it wasn't yet possible to do more complicated parts using this material. That seems to be changing - I recently resubmitted the limber design and was successful getting it printed in the High Definition Acrylate material. Shapeways is also testing a feature that will allow you to leave the supports on if you wish - this probably saves them a lot of money not removing them but I thought it was a good idea because it should help reduce breakage when the parts are shipped through the mail. I received the part just today and I am really surprised at how well this turned out. The supports need to be removed manually but for anyone interested, I am uploading some photos of the part as it was received. This material is strong but the supports are very thin and as a result are somewhat flexible. In most cases I made a simple cut using a utility knife and then just tore them away. I only did a first pass at removing the supports and will finish that up later as time permits. All in all I like this material very much and will definitely be using it where I can.

Kind Regards
Attachments
DSC_0738.JPG
DSC_0737.JPG
DSC_0735.JPG
DSC_0733.JPG
DSC_0730.JPG

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
Joined: 30 Jul 2006, 23:22
Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#14

Post by EPOCH3 » 21 Oct 2016, 21:43

I few more picture -
Regards
Attachments
DSC_0761.JPG
DSC_0758.JPG
DSC_0750.JPG
DSC_0743.JPG
DSC_0740.JPG

EPOCH3
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Posts: 641
Joined: 30 Jul 2006, 23:22
Location: RI USA

Re: French 75 Mle 1897 with Limber 3D printed

#15

Post by EPOCH3 » 22 Oct 2016, 20:35

To test out how cylindrical geometries would print in this newer High Definition Acrylate material, I decided to do a test reprint of the barrel assy for the French 75mm model above. The test geometry is actually printed as two separate parts in the above photos but I decided to integrate them into a single part for the test. Please find attached a few pictures of the barrel assy that I just received. I printed this part with supports removed (so Shapeways expends the labor to remove them). One side looks pretty good while the reverse side (where the supports were) looks spotted and pitted somewhat. The pictures look worse that it does in physical form and should smooth out with a light sanding.

For anyone interested, I did another part test for large vertical surfaces and include here just for convenience. I recently designed a small German WWI narrow guage (0.6m) ammo wagon for a friend and decided to model it so that various side panel configurations could be easily made. One configuration employs all four side panels which was a good part to make in order to test thin walled, vertical surfaces. The model showed up very bent - like it had been squeezed/pressed (not happy). It was originally very distorted but I ran it through a quick bath of very hot water and to my pleasant surprise it snapped immediately back into shape with pretty much true corners (like in just 3 seconds). There is a slight waviness to some surfaces but again, it looks worse in the pictures than in physical form and I think would disappear when primed etc. I am quite pleased with the latch and little details etc. Overall I would give it a grade of B+.

I hope some of this info helps others who are interested in model making using 3D printers and alternative technologies but can't find relevant examples. Kind regards
Attachments
DSC_0746 a.jpg
DSC_0741 a.jpg
DSC_0738 a.jpg
DSC_0734 a.jpg
DSC_0731 a.jpg

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