Stargate Universe Destiny Potential 3d printed model

captainreynolds · Jun 25, 2013

LoganCale said:
Well folks, things aren't looking too great for this project right now. Here's Alxfx's response: "no paycheck - not intrested." I asked him what he would want to be paid and he blew me off, as did Barroth1989. It's too bad the people most needed are totally unwilling to help out. My hope is to design one myself down the road, but it's a big project and will take a lot of time. If any of you are able to get in touch with anyone that has a viable 3d model file that we can use, that would be huge. I'm willing to pay a reasonable fee to use the file, just to save the countless hours it would take to do it myself.

captainreynolds: The Printer is a uPrint SE Plus. It prints in ABS plastic. Yes, there is a bit of a stair stepping effect, but it's minor. The resolution is quite good really.

sciroccojunky: That looks really nice. Pretty much what I'm trying to do here. $700 is way too steep for me though. Definitely not in on that.

Your printer is a better res version of the one at my university. How big are you going to make it and are you intending to print it in one piece or in bits to assemble?

And does your printer software take .stl files like ours?

Depending on what you're after I may be able to help as I'm a CAD engineer. I've 3d modelled a fair few starships in my time as well. How much detail would you want putting into it?

LoganCale · Jun 25, 2013

captainreynolds. Yes, the printer does take .stl files. I would have to print in a minimum of 4 pieces because the build envelope is only 8x8x6 I believe. Although, I suspect I would end up printing in even more pieces to minimize material waste. As far as detail goes, I was shooting for a 24" model, so we would want it to be fairly detailed (We could go for something smaller if that makes the whole thing more feasible). I was also toying with the idea of leaving window openings so it could be lit, but I don't know how difficult that would be. The uPrint SE Plus uses a support material in addition to the abs so voids are not an issue, but the support material is just as expensive as the abs, so we try to minimize its use. Which ships have you modeled? Have you printed any of them yet? I'd be interested to see them. And, I'd certainly appreciate any help you can provide. If you want to take on the modeling I'd be happy to have you on board with this project.

captainreynolds · Jun 25, 2013

LoganCale said:
captainreynolds. Yes, the printer does take .stl files. I would have to print in a minimum of 4 pieces because the build envelope is only 8x8x6 I believe. Although, I suspect I would end up printing in even more pieces to minimize material waste. As far as detail goes, I was shooting for a 24" model, so we would want it to be fairly detailed (We could go for something smaller if that makes the whole thing more feasible). I was also toying with the idea of leaving window openings so it could be lit, but I don't know how difficult that would be. The uPrint SE Plus uses a support material in addition to the abs so voids are not an issue, but the support material is just as expensive as the abs, so we try to minimize its use. Which ships have you modeled? Have you printed any of them yet? I'd be interested to see them. And, I'd certainly appreciate any help you can provide. If you want to take on the modeling I'd be happy to have you on board with this project.

Well I've managed to find a few more shots of the model shown earlier in this thread as well as some shots from the show.

From the dimensions of the ship and the size you're after it will be 1/1200 scale as the Destiny is the same length as the Enterprise NCC-1701-E.

It will need to be split down a lot more than 4 pieces. To allow it to be hollow for lighting and to fit into the printer as well as save support material it will need splitting into top and bottom, then into about 5 pieces per half. Will do some test runs to see how best to split it.

What's the minimum wall thickness it will handle before becoming too weak? And is the 8" the height of the printable piece or one of the length/width limits?

I've modelled the TOS enterprise, uss kelvin, uss voyager, jjprise (current project from the revell kit) and the venator class republic star destroyer. Will try and hunt out my old flashdrive as, with the exception of the jjprise, the last build was two years ago. If I can find it then I'll try and get some renders up.

I have 3d printed before but not with any of the starships, it cost me £40/$70 to prototype a digital camera casing that was 3.5x2.5x1" in size, so a starship at any decent size is a bit outside my budget.

I will do a few practice runs and post pics of my progress, just got to hunt down a few more shots of the underside of the ship.

By the way, do you want it with solar collectors extended or retracted?

- - - Updated - - -

Apologies for the stupidly long post by the way.

Tomperys · Jun 25, 2013

Hi pals,

Iam on the same project for some time already. I printed most parts (see destiny-project.com) but some still need corrections to pass the printing. I have problems with that because I dont work in 3D and have no idea how to correct the wrong parts. My designer is actually dont answering right now on my emails. However if I manage somehow to get that corrected parts, its only question of time. Then I will build the model (three 16" long ships) and probably sell them to anyone who would be interested.

LoganCale · Jun 26, 2013

Tomperys, I'm glad you joined us. Your model looks great, I think the biggest issue is the cost. Would we be able to get in touch with your designer to potentially get access to his model as well? My hope would be to 3d print the pieces and then mold and cast them to get costs down to a more reasonable level that most people here could afford. This would be a great collaborative project if you could help. Please let us know.

captainreynolds, I'm pretty sure its 8Wx8Dx6H, but I'll double check on it for you. Also, my thought would be to have the collectors retracted, at least for the first go around. As far as the min wall thickness, I don't really know. The abs is pretty strong stuff. I have a small sample part here with wall thickness that measures under 1/16" and it's quite strong. To be safe 3/32" is probably plenty.

Tomperys · Jun 27, 2013

Hi, he is in RPF as well, but I doubt about that access. He created it directly for me to order and it wasnt so cheap. Thats actually also the reason I cant share the files for free. However as I mentioned before the models will be for sale. I am thinking about three or four 16" long ships with really small shuttles (in scale with the ship) and then in larger quantities 3.5" long miniatures of the Destiny and Shuttle.

captainreynolds · Jun 27, 2013

LoganCale said:
Tomperys, I'm glad you joined us. Your model looks great, I think the biggest issue is the cost. Would we be able to get in touch with your designer to potentially get access to his model as well? My hope would be to 3d print the pieces and then mold and cast them to get costs down to a more reasonable level that most people here could afford. This would be a great collaborative project if you could help. Please let us know.

captainreynolds, I'm pretty sure its 8Wx8Dx6H, but I'll double check on it for you. Also, my thought would be to have the collectors retracted, at least for the first go around. As far as the min wall thickness, I don't really know. The abs is pretty strong stuff. I have a small sample part here with wall thickness that measures under 1/16" and it's quite strong. To be safe 3/32" is probably plenty.

That sounds fine, but yeah, double check. The wall thickness seems to be about the same as the one at my university (work there and slowly working towards my Masters degree). I'll be doing the base shape over next week then taking the ship a section at a time and detailing the crap out of it. Will have to take some artistic licence when it comes to the sections of hull that were missing due to damage and had shielding instead. The ships details are rarely symmetrical from one side to the other.

LoganCale · Jun 28, 2013

captainreynolds - That sounds great. I'll look forward to seeing the progress, and thanks very much for participating in this project. What program do you use? I've been using Solidworks lately and it seems pretty powerful, but I still have a lot to learn myself. I agree about the artistic license. I don't think anyone expects this to be exact, since we're just basing it on photos and video. Hopefully the video I linked in the first post will be of some help with the detail.

captainreynolds · Jun 28, 2013

No problem, going to be building a uss defiant along side her. Using solidworks as well. Been using the video and the blu ray of sgu s1 and s2. Considering she's the same size as the enterprise e, she has a serious amount more hull detailing.

captainreynolds · Jul 2, 2013

By the way I can do you a full detail destiny stargate for the base, if you fancy it?

captainreynolds · Jul 5, 2013

Basic shape almost done, just working on the tower section and nose cone. Will post pics when done. Are you still interested in this, if so what were you thinking in terms of a reasonable price?

sciroccojunky · Jul 5, 2013

captainreynolds said:
By the way I can do you a full detail destiny stargate for the base, if you fancy it?

whoa, I'd be totally down for one of these even outside of the destiny model. But yeah that would be a sick base. Be cool to get good model of each of the gates to be able to get printed. But being my favorite of the 3 series, the Destiny gate would be awesome for standalone or as a base.

as far as a cost, It's tough to say what would be reasonable. for me it's all about accuracy and I'd be willing to pay a tidy sum for one such as that. Tom's cost of $700 seemed reasonable for one that large and already painted. Plus you'd get the 16in and smaller model from what I got from his page. But at the end of the day, what's reasonable for one person is outrageous for another. I'm good with "you get what you pay for".

captainreynolds · Jul 5, 2013

sciroccojunky said:
whoa, I'd be totally down for one of these even outside of the destiny model. But yeah that would be a sick base. Be cool to get good model of each of the gates to be able to get printed. But being my favorite of the 3 series, the Destiny gate would be awesome for standalone or as a base.

as far as a cost, It's tough to say what would be reasonable. for me it's all about accuracy and I'd be willing to pay a tidy sum for one such as that. Tom's cost of $700 seemed reasonable for one that large and already painted. Plus you'd get the 16in and smaller model from what I got from his page. But at the end of the day, what's reasonable for one person is outrageous for another. I'm good with "you get what you pay for".

Might be able to help with the stargates. The milky way gate might prove tricky to get right by printing due to moving parts. The Atlantis and destiny gates aren't to bad, main issue being 3d printer resolution not giving a good enough representation of the fine engraved detail present on the gates. Do you want it in front and back halves and hollowed out for lighting? Or a solid block? And how big if you want a stand alone one?

Finally found a nice lit shot of the underside of Destiny (not easy to find) on blu ray of SGU. Need to redo the shape of the center fin now as it was guessed at originally based on shadowy half images.

And I meant reasonable price for the digital 3d model. What's your budget for it?

captainreynolds · Jul 5, 2013

By the way, if you or anyone you know wants a digital model doing of the uss defiant point them my way. Going to be building a full digital replica of the studio model, renders with full lighting and all, and it would be nice if I had a buyer for it at the end. If asked, it can be done for 3d printing (hollowed out, windows cut through and split into pieces) or can be converted and textured up in 3ds max if someone wants a model to use in fan films. Either way, I'm going for accuracy to the studio model, not the widely disliked cgi model.

sciroccojunky · Jul 5, 2013

captainreynolds said:
Might be able to help with the stargates. The milky way gate might prove tricky to get right by printing due to moving parts. The Atlantis and destiny gates aren't to bad, main issue being 3d printer resolution not giving a good enough representation of the fine engraved detail present on the gates. Do you want it in front and back halves and hollowed out for lighting? Or a solid block? And how big if you want a stand alone one?

Finally found a nice lit shot of the underside of Destiny (not easy to find) on blu ray of SGU. Need to redo the shape of the center fin now as it was guessed at originally based on shadowy half images.

And I meant reasonable price for the digital 3d model. What's your budget for it?

I think static gates would be ok. front halves would also be sweet. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a both sided and movable but realistic with other peoples time. Be cool to make them as large as possible of course So segmenting them into equal sections would be ideal for any and all of the models. Plus, to get any 3d printed model of a decent size needs to be segmented out. Look at Tom's model, his is like 8 pieces and needs to be so to be that big. I think on the gates, both sided and hollow and done in segments would be the best bet. As far as the cost of a digital file, I'm not sure. I was expecting this to be maybe printed out and then molds made and final models being done in resin. That would be the best and economical as a run. i'm sure that way it can be a few hundred bucks for a model. My budget would be around $300-$500 for one. I could stretch the dough Tom was asking but it would be tough, especially with some of the other stuff i'd be liking to get from him and others.

Gates though, I'd be looking for about the same. Just hope they're done at different times to allow for more saving. Andy has been getting most of my disposable income as of late and have some more I'd like. Too much stuff, too little dough seems a reoccurring theme.

captainreynolds · Jul 5, 2013

sciroccojunky said:
I think static gates would be ok. front halves would also be sweet. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a both sided and movable but realistic with other peoples time. Be cool to make them as large as possible of course So segmenting them into equal sections would be ideal for any and all of the models. Plus, to get any 3d printed model of a decent size needs to be segmented out. Look at Tom's model, his is like 8 pieces and needs to be so to be that big. I think on the gates, both sided and hollow and done in segments would be the best bet. As far as the cost of a digital file, I'm not sure. I was expecting this to be maybe printed out and then molds made and final models being done in resin. That would be the best and economical as a run. i'm sure that way it can be a few hundred bucks for a model. My budget would be around $300-$500 for one. I could stretch the dough Tom was asking but it would be tough, especially with some of the other stuff i'd be liking to get from him and others.

Gates though, I'd be looking for about the same. Just hope they're done at different times to allow for more saving. Andy has been getting most of my disposable income as of late and have some more I'd like. Too much stuff, too little dough seems a reoccurring theme.

In which case a little display piece for each gate might work. Build the gate into the stone ramp/stairs and have a dhd (for milky way/Pegasus) as a little set. Thankfully the stargates lend themselves to being segmented. Would about a foot in diameter be about right or bigger?

And yeah, saw Tom's model. Ironically having to use those pics to help with the detailing on the bottom of the ship. There really are very few good references for the underside of Destiny.

Styrene would be the cheapest material wise but the initial equipment setup would be ridiculously expensive and only really economical on a large run. In terms of the $300-500, is that what you were budgeting for the entire model or just the digital files? If it was just for the files, I would never ask that much, though I'm friends with people who would ask that amount.

And I know how you feel with the to much stuff to buy, too little money. There are model kits I've been chasing down for nearly ten years now, but everytime one pops up it is way too expensive. A model kit that was $30 brand new and yet now 16 years later with decals that are useless and a box crumpled beyond recognition it is showing up for $200. That example was an amt defiant kit on eBay 6 months ago.

Let me know what you think is reasonable for the files once you've deducted printing, molding, resin and paint costs from your budget. For something really large scale you'll be lucky to have anything left after those deductions, but run the calcs non the less.

captainreynolds · Jul 6, 2013

Well the good news is, I have this week pretty much free, so I can get the stargates, bases and possibly the dhds done by the end of the week. I can do the high level detail without straining my eyesight as I have a HD 32" computer monitor. In terms of lighting, if you're planning on it, I'd suggest using semi transparent/translucent ABS plastic for printing then light block. The lantean gate can be drilled through for the symbol constellation dots to place fiber optics or LEDs. Light blocking the translucent ABS for the chevron lighting gives it a nice screen accurate glow.

So, do you want to go for it? And how much do you want to be paying for the files?

captainreynolds · Jul 7, 2013

Do you want to go for the stargates? If so I can do them this week, if not then I can take them off my work schedule to take on other projects. Just need to know by tomorrow, Tuesday at the latest.

Arcturus vfx · Jul 7, 2013

I would like to get in on this as i have started my own destiny project. I am am relatively new to the 3d modeling process and am using google sketchup to build the first drafts,here is a link to my pics of the progress Destiny Bridge Sketch Photos by Arcturus11VFXmodeling | Photobucket.
I am working on both the interior and the exterior, the bridge is about 70% done and the exterior is about 60% done. would love to hear any feedback and tips .

LoganCale · Jul 7, 2013

captainreynolds, sorry I've been out of the loop for a bit, work obligations. Sounds like you're making great progress. Really glad to hear it. This project may end up being a great success thanks to your tireless efforts. As for the stargate base, that sounds very cool. As far as priorities go, I would definitely say that the ship would be my priority, but as far as I'm concerned, do whatever you like. If you get sick of starring at the ship and want to work on a base, feel free.

Stargate Universe Destiny Potential 3d printed model

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