Building The Death Star - PRODUCTION

ralphee said:
Agree with Julien, vacform it for a better edge profile
Click to expand...


That may be a good route to go. Though I don't have a vacuum-former.

Wonder if there is a "poor man's" method to vac-forming? To create this shape, would I really need the "vac" element, or with enough heat, do you suppose the styrene may just take the dish shape due to gravity?

ralphee said:
that acrylic does look a bit wonky donkey!
Click to expand...

Its weird - note how the ground area varies in width. This entire ground area is flat and hence flush with my "sanding board". The portion that is optically clear (unscathed) is where the acrylic begins to "dish" in shape.

Though the ground area varies in width, the inner diameter of the ground area seems to be constant. So, yeah... There is some wonky geometry at play.

DS111808001.jpg
 
You should talk to Julien bud, he's had awsome results with forming using cheap tech...just check his ATST feet :love
Im sure he will fill you in on the knowhow...im yet to tinker with any of that jazz, but im sure a small homemade vac box would work out very well!

lee
 
If I turn the 9" acrylic dish upside down so it is "dome up", then get some fairly thick styrene (thick enough to withstand enough heat to make it malleable without breaking through), I'm thinking that I can press fit it down over the convex dish. Any depressions from my fingers and thumbs would then be on the back side.

Challenge would be that I basically would then have a styrene version of what I already have, and would have to still shape it and pare it down to the correct size. So the only advantaga gained is that the styrene is a softer material to work with.
 
I'd just keep working with what you have........you're almost there now. And your right, you'll still have to trim something that is vac-formed. No difference really. :)

Dave
 
Well no need really a vacforming for a so simple shape, just build a wooden square frame to hold your styrene, heat it then put them on your Death Star, the frame would be large enough to form a large portion.

Then once you're done, just take a compas-cutter and cut your dish at the correct diameter. No trimming need. It took less than 5 minutes to do (from heating the styrene to get the dish cut).

In any case you will have to use the thermoforming process to pull several dishes which you will cut at shape to get all those little panels to detail the inside of the dish itself.

And all those little styrene panels will be glued easily with Tenax or Tamiya cement on the styrene dish. Easier than gluing those panels with CA IMHO !
 
vaderdarth said:
I'd just keep working with what you have........you're almost there now. And your right, you'll still have to trim something that is vac-formed. No difference really. :)

Dave
Click to expand...

Yeah, but were reffering to the uneven rim around the edge Dave, so a lot of difference!
Itll make for a neater, prettier dish, as for trimming the vacform, well kinda like as easy as opening a can of beans!

lee
 
sorry, only after reading your reply to my last post did it dawn on me what the heck I was looking at in the photo with the blue tape.........LOL. It appeared to be clear plastic laying on a brushed metal ring of some sort.......I kept staring at it thinking what the heck???

Dave :)
 
Haha, its cool Dave, thing is with doing it in styrene as Julien stated, itll turn out a much nicer piece detail wise too as i think you would have to use CA on the acrylic for the detailing with styrene, you can go for and adhesive something less "bang it with hammer mate" LOL.

lee
 
how about making your dish using this method i use. i know the eyes are alot smaller but you get the idea, bigger the pipe the bigger the dome. probably trial an error to get it just right. i would probably bake the plastic in an oven at different temps to see how far it "pulled into the pipe.

eyestut.jpg


z
 
I think the easiest way of making the dish of the death star is, just flipping the part that you removed from the dome...

I believe ILM did it like this too.
Because that is the easiest way to have it fitting smoothly with the correct angle..

Simply flip the part that you cut out for the dish to the other side and here is your dish backwards ( inside-out)...

What do you say ?
 
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rahman said:
I think the easiest way of making the dish of the death star is, just flipping the part that you removed from the dome...

I believe ILM did it like this too.
Because that is the easiest way to have it fitting smoothly with the correct angle..

Simply flip the part that you cut out for the dish to the other side and here is your dish backwards ( inside-out)...

What do you say ?
Click to expand...

ITs too small. The cutting tool removes too much material, and it would require a TON of filler. I've read the two or threee VERY general statements about how ILM did it this way, but they never go into detail. So I still wonder if or how they got beyond the shrinkage due to the material removed by the cutting tool.
 
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MonsieurTox said:
Well no need really a vacforming for a so simple shape, just build a wooden square frame to hold your styrene, heat it then put them on your Death Star, the frame would be large enough to form a large portion.

Then once you're done, just take a compas-cutter and cut your dish at the correct diameter. No trimming need. It took less than 5 minutes to do (from heating the styrene to get the dish cut).

In any case you will have to use the thermoforming process to pull several dishes which you will cut at shape to get all those little panels to detail the inside of the dish itself.

And all those little styrene panels will be glued easily with Tenax or Tamiya cement on the styrene dish. Easier than gluing those panels with CA IMHO !
Click to expand...

I may not even need the frame... If I can heat up the sheet of stryene and just press it over the dome, that should work. Good idea.

How much heat? Oven? Heat gun? Boiling water?

And what is a compass-cutter?
 
PHArchivist said:
I may not even need the frame... If I can heat up the sheet of stryene and just press it over the dome, that should work. Good idea.

How much heat? Oven? Heat gun? Boiling water?

And what is a compass-cutter?
Click to expand...

I really would make a frame. An unsupported sheet of styrene will curl up unpredictably when heated. The frame is what applies the mechanical force to the plastic if you're not using vacuum.

A piece of plywood would probably work ok. Cut your hole a little wide, so you have a bit of a margin. Cut your styrene to the same size as the plywood and clip it around the edges with ordinary office bulldog clips. You can heat it in the oven, but I've never had much success with that. I use the stove top. Electric is best, gas will work but it's a bit 'brutal'! Water's no good. Styrene becomes soft at around 150 degrees celsius.

Open windows and/or put the extractor on! Styrene out-gasses when hot! :sick
 
I used to have a compass cutter. It's basically a compass but instead of a pencil it has a blade. Works great!

As for forming styrene, I've done a similar technique of forming a piece over a ball shape to get a fit like what you're doing. I used a heat gun and no frame, worked fine. You'll want to use some cloth oven mitts to work with it, though. Once it starts softening up, smooth it over the sphere with your mitted hand and let it cool.

-B89! :D
 
JD1 said:
I really would make a frame. An unsupported sheet of styrene will curl up unpredictably when heated. The frame is what applies the mechanical force to the plastic if you're not using vacuum.

A piece of plywood would probably work ok. Cut your hole a little wide, so you have a bit of a margin. Cut your styrene to the same size as the plywood and clip it around the edges with ordinary office bulldog clips. You can heat it in the oven, but I've never had much success with that. I use the stove top. Electric is best, gas will work but it's a bit 'brutal'! Water's no good. Styrene becomes soft at around 150 degrees celsius.

Open windows and/or put the extractor on! Styrene out-gasses when hot! :sick
Click to expand...


Good info - lots of things I hadn't thought about. 150 degrees celsius - Thats about 330 F isn't it?
 
That sounds about right. Either way, an electric ring will get hot enough to work.

You'll need to have the sphere or whatever other mold right there though. No running from the kitchen out to the garage! :lol The plastic will only take seconds to cool down below moldable temperature.
 
JD1 said:
That sounds about right. Either way, an electric ring will get hot enough to work.

You'll need to have the sphere or whatever other mold right there though. No running from the kitchen out to the garage! :lol The plastic will only take seconds to cool down below moldable temperature.
Click to expand...

Its funny you mention that, because I've been wondering about that. probably best to bring the dome into the kitchen.

Mine is a gas range. Any further suggestions?
 

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