Ztrains: Z Scale Guest: Paul Gear

A New Way To Model: Z Scale Goes 3D
The MakeMyModel company of Florida utilizes 3D printing and strong design skills to bring a host of products to the Z scale world at reasonable prices. They feature such diverse items as cars, pickup trucks, lineside details and online customizable structures... just to name a few. MakeMyModel has also introduced vehicles with working headlights via fiber optic lines. Here we speak with Paul Gear, one of the MakeMyModel principals, about their products, their 3D print technology and their view of Z scale.


	Paul Gear, MakeMyModel

Ztrains: Who is MakeMyModel? Tell us a bit about yourselves and your background.
Paul Gear: MakeMyModel was started by my partner, Brad Visser and myself. We are located in Central Florida, where I've lived most my life. Brad and I have been in the design engineering consulting business for almost 20 years. We met while working at Parametric Technology Corp., a 3D CAD software company. We had very similar ideas and career goals, our strengths and weaknesses canceled each other out, and we work very well together which sparked a great friendship and business partnership. Almost 12 years ago, in 1996, we formed our own company, Advanced Parametric Concepts, which is MakeMyModel's parent company.

We do consulting work for several fortune 500 companies who design gas and steam turbines, electrical generators, yachts, and pumping systems. Our specialty services are focused on design automation and integrating Pro/Engineer, a 3D solid modeling software, easily and intelligently within companies that use it. Many of our customers are interested in seeing prototypes of their designs. Several years ago, we decided to start offering rapid-prototyping services directly to our customers because it was less expensive and more convenient to produce our own models. We evaluated numerous rapid-prototyping technologies and selected 3D printing due to its high resolution, accuracy and the ability to create very complex shapes in a single model.

Ztrains: How did you decide to enter the Z scale market?
Paul Gear: I got into Z scale trains after traveling to Germany. I was looking around a toy store and fell in love with Marklin's Z scale trains. When I came back to the U.S., I tried to setup a layout for my trains and could not find many accessories. I had an N scale layout when I was younger, and I was very disappointed with the selection of Z scale accessories. I decided to take advantage of our 3D printer to create accessories for my layout. The combination of realizing there was such a large void in this market and analyzing how much it cost to create these models made me more curious. After doing a little more research, Brad and I decided to take a chance and MakeMyModel was born.



	Fiber optic lighting. Click to enlarge.

Ztrains: You've just announced your new line of vehicles that offer working headlights, tell us about these.
Paul Gear: We are very excited about being able to add lights to such small vehicles. Because 3D printing can create shapes that cannot be created by other manufacturing means, we created curved holes that start from the bottom of the vehicles and snake their way up to the headlights, which a fiber optic wire can be fed up through. Fiber optics is the cleanest way to add lighting to such small vehicles. We see great possibilities for the combination of fiber optics and our unique model for doing things like working taillights, blinkers and even Christmas lights on houses.



	3D print process illustrated. Click to enlarge.

Ztrains: We've spoken a bit about 3D printing, what exactly is 3D printing?
Paul Gear: It is very similar to standard ink jet printers, but instead of squirting out droplets of ink, it squirts out droplets of liquid acrylic and wax that is then cured (hardened) by an ultraviolet light. The wax is used as a temporary mold and the acrylic becomes the final product. By passing back and forth and then moving up by a very small amount thousands of times it slowly builds up a 3D object. The printing time for a Z scale model is around 4 to 6 hours. When the printing is complete, the model is removed from the printer and placed into an oven where the wax (temporary mold) is melted away.

Ztrains: What particular challenges do you find working with Z scale models?
Paul Gear: They are so small! The biggest challenge is trying to make accurate details, yet create models that will not break when you handle them. The 3D printer has the capability to make such fine detail true to scale, but these pieces are very fragile.

Ztrains: Some of your models are configurable by the customer right online at your website, what does this mean?
Paul Gear: We feel this technology will change model railroading forever. We want modelers to have more of a variety to choose from, and a way to make their layouts unique and more personalized. Take a train station for example. I don't want to use the same train station on every layout I make, and I might not want my station to look exactly the same as the person down the street either. Utilizing custom software that we developed, our customers can go to our web page and customize their own building by using a simple user interface to describe their design. Our computers then electronically send the customer a photo realistic rendering of their design and a simple 2D engineering drawing for them to evaluate. Within minutes, they can try numerous ideas and variations until they are completely satisfied with their design. Once a customer is completely happy with their design, our computer generates the necessary data to send to the 3D printer to build their custom model. The customer can print out the drawing and the photo render for their records, they get a custom made product, and it's all for the same cost as a standard model.

Ztrains: How are your models typically finished regarding paint and decals?
Paul Gear: At this time, we only sell unpainted models. We recommend using water-based acrylic paints. Some of our customers have sent in photos of their finished models and I'm amazed at the amount of detailing they've done. One person has added decals to our school bus, another detailed the utility truck to have open storage doors on the side.



	Building and de-waxing models. Click to enlarge.

Ztrains: What are some of the major benefits of 3D printing in Z scale?
Paul Gear: Using the 3D printer allows us to come out with numerous products without overhead costs of designing, building and storing molds. Because this process doesn't require expensive timely mold creation time, we can have a finished product ready for production within days of completing the 3D computer model. In less than 1 year, we've released over 120 new products. It also allows us to deliver a completely assembled model, which is a major benefit to some, considering the size of the models. We are able to supply assembled structures at prices comparable to models previously only available in kit form. Being able to supply custom models less expensively is definitely a benefit.

Ztrains: What do you see as the future for 3D printing in general, and specifically as it applies to Z scale?
Paul Gear: When the prices of the 3D printing machines, and especially the material it uses, comes down, I can envision all plastic products being produced using this technology, eliminating cost of molds, reducing product design cycle times. In the near future machines will be able to produce much higher resolution for more detail, cheaper, faster, using stronger materials and even in full color. Because of those advancements, we will be able to introduce more of a variety of products. Everyone's models will not have to be identical. Z scalers will be designing their own products and their own unique layouts. I am surprised though, I thought that having the ability to create custom models at the same cost as production models would take off much faster than it has. This is the wave of the future.

Ztrains: You currently have quite a selection of models for Z, what pieces do you see adding in the future?
Paul Gear: We are planning to add more styles of passenger and commercial vehicles, forklifts, sail boats, loads, houses and other structures.

Ztrains: Is there anything that has surprised you about working with Z scale models and/or modelers?
Paul Gear: I am extremely impressed with the passion of the Z scale modelers we have dealt with; their attention to detail even at such a small scale is amazing. Their willingness to work with us and understand we are going through learning curves, technical issues, and issues with starting a small business on the side. We are very thankful for the model railroad industry's publishers, such as Ztrains, willing to help us get news about our products and technology. Ztrack magazine has been a tremendous help to us, helping us to present our products both in the magazine and at the trade show. The different online user groups have been very supportive and helpful. All the feedback has been a major help to us.

August 18, 2008

NTS 2008 Video: Steve Gibbs

Steve Gibbs has edited and published a 9 minute video from the recent 2008 National Train Show in Anaheim, California and it nicely highlights what's cooking these days in Z scale.

Sit back, relax and enjoy this look into Z scale at a major train show.

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