[Chris Thorpe] is a model railroading aficionado, and from his earliest memories he was infatuated with the narrow gauge locomotives that plied their odd steel tracks in northern Wales. Of course [Chris] went on to create model railroads, but kit makers such as Airfix and Hornby didn’t take much interest in the small odd trains of the Ffestiniog railway.
The days where manufacturing plastic models indicated paying tens of thousands of dollars in tooling for injection molds are slowly pertaining to an end thanks to 3D printing, so [Chris] thought it would be a terrific idea to create his own models of these small locomotives with 3D laser scanners and high quality 3D printers.
[Chris] started a kickstarter to fund a 3D laser scanning expedition to the workshop where the four oldest locomotives of the Ffestiniog railway were being reconditioned for their 150th anniversary. The 3D printed models he’s able to produce with his data have amazing quality; with a bit of paint and a few bits of brass, these models would fit ideal in to any model railway.
Even better than supplying scale narrow gauge engines to model railway enthusiasts around the world is the fact that [Chris] has demonstrated the feasibility of using modern technology to recreate both popular and underappreciated technological relics in plastic for future generations. There’s a lot that can be made with a laser scanner in a railway or air museum or [Jay Leno]’s garage, so we’d love to see a lot more 3D printed models of engineering achievements make their way onto Kickstarter.