One of the reasons I wanted to get into 3D printing is because I wanted to make the toys I always wanted as a kid. One might think I'd have tried to do a Godzilla first, but...well, that's something I'm still working toward. But, if it wasn't abundantly clear, I do actually like Thomas the Tank Engine (and steam locomotives in general). I grew up having a bunch of the old ERTL die-cast toys, but I always wanted to have something more detailed, like functional drive rods and such. Well, thanks to my 3D printer, that can be - and has been - arranged.

I modeled these in SketchUp (and Blender, for the face on the bigger one), then painted them up after printing. The small one is about 3.5 inches in length, while the larger one is about 5.25 inches (scaled up 45%). The smaller one's wheels and drive rods technically do move, but the scale at which it's printed makes it rather tight. However, the larger one rolls very freely.

There are still a few kinks to work out, but I'm really enjoying this. And as of this post, I'm in the process of modeling one of my favorite non-American steam locomotives - a certain 57xx pannier tank engine, named after a waterfowl. ;)

I'm so glad I got that printer.