Z-Freunde International e.V.

Greetings to all,

Along with replenishing many sold out items, I would like to start the new thread about the new articles I managed to develop and produce this year. This is the first part of the new items; more of them will follow later this year.

I decided to resume the production of 3D printed parts I started developing when I was back in Ukraine several years ago – the interior details for passenger cars. Back then, I was not satisfied with the quality and details of existing products in this field – this prompted me to develop my own parts with a level of details and quality that would meet my critical requirements.

The Swiss type APM panorama car and double-deck passenger cars became the most obvious candidates for the upgrading. In my opinion, these two types of coaches suffer from the lack of interior details the most – that’s why I decided to start from them. Another requirement that couldn’t be met with existing solutions was compatibility with my own digital interior lighting kits. Thus, the new parts have been developed with already keeping in mind the interior lighting that can be installed together with them.

ZM-INT-APM – Interior details for SBB type APM panorama car

This product features the smallest details that is possible to create using SLA 3D printing technology – including tables between the seats and very detailed seats with separate headrests:


I would like to point out that the 3D printing technology developed significantly during last years – the parts I printed now offer even better quality than I achieved several years ago – almost invisible printing layers and noticeably smoother surface. Here is a comparison of the new and old parts:


The part is airbrushed with gray lacquer paint. I painted the tabletops manually with precise brush afterwards:


The toilet compartments have holes for the cables to allow making the wiring invisible from outside. The endings of the interiors are designed in a special way to be able accommodate the red taillights that can be optionally installed later:


The detailed report about my digital solution for APM panorama cars is here, I posted it six years ago:
viewtopic.php?p=187968

The updated version of the digital interior lighting kit for APM panorama car is already available. I will post a separate report about it soon.

Here is how the interior details look when installed onto the chassis of the panorama car:


Of course, the part does not require removal of the metal weight insert. The fully assembled car looks absolutely stunning – we don’t see a gaping emptiness through the big panoramic windows anymore:

I decided to take additional care about the security of the item during handling and shipping. I developed a special box with a custom size that perfectly matches the dimensions of the item and cut it out from thick clear PVC film:


Such additional measure protects the part from accidental damage. Of course, the item is shipped not only in this box, bus also in a zip-lock bag with cardboard padding and installation instructions.

For those who would like to take a look at the real prototype, a good selection of interior and exterior pictures of SBB type APM panorama car is here:
https://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/CH/SBB_Apm-pano.php

The article is compatible with the following products: Märklin 81594, 87660, 87661, 87662, 87663.

It is available here:
https://www.1zu220-shop.de/Zmodell/Inne ... 56735.html

Unfortunately, the product is already sold out at the time of publishing this report, but I will try my best to restock it as soon as possible. Therefore, pre-orders are appreciated, but please I kindly ask for a little patience.

Some useful information about materials: I was really impressed when I found out how stable the new 3D print resin is. I started 3D printing and testing these parts already several months ago; I was waiting to see whether the parts would change their shape with time or not. I must admit that even after three months of staying on my desktop, such long and thin parts as interior details for long passenger cars did not show any warping at all – they remain absolutely straight all the time.

Nevertheless, I cannot guarantee this stability forever. I hope it is not a secret to anyone that 3D printed parts (mostly, long and thin ones with asymmetric geometry) may still show certain warping over time, especially when exposed to some harsh conditions like changing temperatures and direct sunlight. This is not a fault, and it can be fixed quite easily. To restore the original form of the part, simply heat it up with a hair dryer to 80-100° C max., carefully straighten it and let it cool completely, holding it in a straightened position while it cools.

I also noticed the following: in some cases, own parts of the panorama car show “banana” effect. Due to this, small gaps may be visible between the chassis and the car body after installing the interior parts. In this case, I would recommend securing the car body to the chassis with glue, wrap the car with rubber bands and leave it to dry for 24 hours.

Important: Use only non-destructive glues that are safe for plastic! For example, Faller Expert Lasercut 170494. Do not use glues for plastic as they may damage the model and paint!


ZM-INT-WU – Interior details for Württemberg design 2-axle passenger cars

Here is one more addition to the new category of my products – interior details for Württemberg design 2-axle passenger cars –the oldest model in the whole Märklin range, available from the very beginning of Z scale, 1972. Although this type of coach was already fitted with interior details in latest editions (for example, 87009), this item can be used for retrofitting older variants like 8700, 8701 and others:


The part comes already sprayed with prototypical color that resembles the light wood. It is compatible with my sliding contacts ZM-SC-006 (https://www.1zu220-shop.de/Zmodell/Zube ... 40771.html) and does not require removal of the metal weight insert.


Here is a detailed report about the disassembly and fitting this type of passenger cars with digital interior lighting, sliding contacts and interior details – I published it six years ago, too:
viewtopic.php?p=187923

The passenger car fitted with interior details and digital interior lighting looks like this:


Here is the list of compatible Märklin products: 8103, 8700, 8701, 8739, 80634, 80911, 81390, 81420, 81563, 81845, 82101, 87001, 87002, 87003, 87009, 98031, 98181

Here is a couple of links where you can see some pictures of real prototypes:
https://bahnwelt.de/das-museum/fahrzeuge/cid-wue-12/
http://www.nmld.nl/de/objekt/2592

The product is available here:
https://www.1zu220-shop.de/Zmodell/Inne ... 56736.html

ZM-TDB-01US – Train departure board, United States version

After introducing the modern DB train departure board last year (viewtopic.php?p=323692), I was inquired by my American friends about a possibility of making the same item, but in the US style – the DB departure board has quite a specific look and therefore can hardly be used for another countries. I accepted this request and developed another variant – featuring different outer color, design of the display, train numbers and destinations. I decided to offer the new item in Europe, too. Mechanically, the new item is based on the previous design:


The departure board is very small – only 21.5 x 11.5 x 2 mm:


Like in previous case, the article consists of a number of different parts:


The main part is a tiny thin circuit board with 84 white LEDs:


The outer frame is made of 0.1 mm etched metal and sprayed with black lacquer paint. It features ultra-thin double-sided stickers on inner sides:


The destination boards can be used in pairs if necessary:

Here are some more pictures taken in low light conditions:


The article comes in the additional small protective box:


The user manual in PDF format is available for download here:


The new article is available here:
https://www.1zu220-shop.de/Zmodell/Zube ... 56733.html


ZM-LP-01W – Park light post, Era III-VI

One of my old and long-awaiting ideas was to create prototypical-size lights for my own layout. Unfortunately, a selection of fine scale lights Märklin was offering in the past is no longer produced, while the variety of model lights from China features mediocre quality and the worst part is, it's completely out of scale. Basically, attractive prices is the only advantage of Chinese model lights. You can easily use their “Z scale” lights on N scale or even bigger scales layouts and so on.

During last months, I finally managed to find some time to realize this project. I decided to start from park light poles. Expectedly, the most challenging part was to find a way to make the light as close to prototypical dimensions as possible. At the same time, I kept in mind desired model rigidity and ease of installation that is also important to customers. Here is the first model from the new series:


The light is 17 mm high (without underground section) that corresponds to 3.74 meters in 1:1 scale – quite a typical light pole used in parks and other recreational areas along alleys and pathways:


The diameter of the thin part of the pole is 0.8 mm. The pole is made of precisely cut stainless steel tubes with different diameters. The size of the ball is 2.5 mm. During designing the light, I came to conclusion that adding one small element greatly increases the realism of the product – I developed pedestals for the light balls and 3D printed them – it is the smallest parts I ever made at all:

The underground part is 5 mm long. The light is equipped with warm white 0402 LED that has a special color tone that resembles the light of energy saving or fluorescent lamps – predecessors of modern LED lighting. White glossy opaque acrylic ball evenly diffuses the light around.

The light is equipped with 28 cm color cables with PTFE insulation. They are thick and strong enough; they do not look like human hair that is too easy to tear.

Each light comes in a small protective plastic box and supplied with 10 kΩ current-limiting resistor:


Here is a comparison of my park light with the typical product from China (claimed as “Z scale”):


I hope it is clear now why I decided to create something on my own.

Important: Do not connect the lights to AC or digital sources; please use only stabilized DC power supply. The voltage range is 8-16V DC; 12V is recommended. In case of higher power supply voltage (for example, 16-24V DC), resistor with higher value is needed (20-22 kΩ). A useful tool for calculating resistor values for LEDs is available here:
https://ledcalculator.net

Important: Please observe polarity and never connect the light directly to the power supply – it will destroy the LED immediately and void the warranty. Always use current-limiting resistor.

I created the small diorama to show how the new park lights look on Z scale layouts – what a cozy atmosphere is here!


Please only note that the benches are in 1:200 scale – for this reason, they may look a little bit too big.

The user manual in PDF format is available for download here:


The new product is available here:
https://www.1zu220-shop.de/Zmodell/Zube ... 56734.html

I hope very much I will find some time to design other types of the street lighting in the future.

Along with the new digital decoders, a number of other useful and interesting layout accessories will be announced later this year. Please I ask for patience – you will not be disappointed!

Best regards,
Alex

Alex, vielen Dank für die Neuheiten. Diese sind wie immer super. Wir können uns sehr glücklich schätzen, Dich in der Spur Z zu haben. Danke.