Marleen and model trains

October 29, 2008

Dear shapies,

Some of you have met me already at Siggraph, but up to now I have not introduced myself yet at our website. My name is Marleen and since June I became a team member of Shapeways. I am responsible for finance. I have a quite diverse background that combines logistics and operations in paper manufacturing with strategic advice and mergers & acquisitions. I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur and Shapeways is the perfect place for me where Internet, production and lots of hard and fun work comes together.

Some weeks ago I was contacted by Hans van de Burgt working at TNO, and secretary of the Beneluxspoor.net foundation. This foundation runs several websites for model train enthusiasts and her objective is to spread the passion and fun of the model train hobby in the Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg). Hans and his fellow model train friend Karst Drenth - who happens to be one of the specialists in the Netherlands in building handmade model trains out of ‘plotter-cut’ styrene – wanted to test whether 3D printing could be a feasible option for all model train hobbyists.

The great thing about 3D printing for model trains, is that it cuts back the amount of time of building a train from 3 months to just a few days. This makes it fun for so many more people than just the small group that has a lot of patience. In addition, it makes customized models affordable 🙂 !

I immediately liked the idea, and because I have worked in the past for a train network operator (the REAL trains) I have an interest in anything to do with trains. Karst, Hans and I decided to print a scaled carriage in the materials that Shapeways currently offers. We learned a lot from this exercise. The train hobby demands a very high level of detail and easy finishing with sanding, spray painting and gluing. The material that right now suits well is our White Detail but we are determined to take it even a step further; so keep checking our material pages. In the near future we will place an interview with Karst on this blog to share all the details and photos of our tests.

I was honored to be invited by Hans and Karst to visit Eurospoor 2008, which is a convention for the model train hobby. The Beneluxspoor.net Foundation had a huge stand with enthusiasts that are specialized in the electronics, scenery, model train building and so on. It was great to be there, share ideas and to learn that 3D manufacturing can be a solution for many enthusiasts. Hans, Karst and I have lots of great ideas to inspire, help and enable the model train community. So keep checking Shapeways, because encouraging members to buy Karst’s model is only the beginning.