1:35 Scale X-Wing Mechanism

[Hagoth]

Here is an illustration for my thoughts on the magnetic strip and 0.5mm steel pin idea inspired by your work. Sme color coding as your illustrations. The panels are shown 1mm thick but could be 0.75mm thick to give more room for the magnetic strips if needed. The magnetic strips could then be about 0.4mm- 0.5mm thick at most.

When opened there would be a small lip step down from the wing to the panel at the wing hinge point (left end). It could be remedied by turning the round pin to a cam shape but might not be worth it. The pin offset is so there would not be a gap between the wing and the panel when fully opened.

There would still be a small hinge gap filled in by the pin at the center point (right end) of the inner fold but it would only have a 0.25mm diameter so not much bigger than my current design. Only a smaller pin will make that gap smaller. The center pin is attached to the bottom panel and the magnet strip is attached to the top one.

Your idea has potential!

 

[jpress]

Here is an illustration for my thoughts on the magnetic strip and 0.5mm steel pin idea inspired by your work. Sme color coding as your illustrations. The panels are shown 1mm thick but could be 0.75mm thick to give more room for the magnetic strips if needed. The magnetic strips could then be about 0.4mm- 0.5mm thick at most.

When opened there would be a small lip step down from the wing to the panel at the wing hinge point (left end). It could be remedied by turning the round pin to a cam shape but might not be worth it. The pin offset is so there would not be a gap between the wing and the panel when fully opened.

There would still be a small hinge gap filled in by the pin at the center point (right end) of the inner fold but it would only have a 0.25mm diameter so not much bigger than my current design. Only a smaller pin will make that gap smaller. The center pin is attached to the bottom panel and the magnet strip is attached to the top one.

Your idea has potential!

View attachment 1278540

The advice of switching magnet and steel sheet is very interesting.
Let's take your advice further and remove the center hinge pin and place the magnet at the bottom symmetrically with the top.
I think that if the edge is rounded, it can be prevented from being worn out by opening and closing.
Neodymium magnets are strong, so they can attract enough without contact.
If the opening is further increased, the distance between the magnets becomes shorter, so the center will be in close contact.
Please let me know if there is an update for your project.
thank you.

 

[Hagoth]

This brain storm certainly provides some options to explore. Gave me a lot of additional ideas. Thank you for the ideas and feedback.

Found 0.5mm diameter stainless steel rods and 0.5mm thick self adhesive magnetic sheet. I'm not sure the magnetic sheet will be strong enough but it is worth testing out because it would make construction super easy.

Also found some 2mm by 1mm thick and 0.5mm thick neodymium magnets. Not having the magnets full span means I can go with thicker magnets and not compromise the wing mount strength if required. With proper staggered placement the stronger magnets won't hold the wings closed or repel them open (They are at most 1.5mm apart) and are plenty strong enough to hold the hinge rods in place. The thinner magnets might not be an issue even if lined up with each other.

It will be a couple weeks before the new test materials arrive. In the mean time I will see what progress I can make on the 1:17 and 1:48 scale options.

 

[modelcitizen]

just driving by.
if i remember correctly, magnets don't work on stainless?
(if the nickel content is too high)

 

[Hagoth]

just driving by.
if i remember correctly, magnets don't work on stainless?
(if the nickel content is too high)

You are correct. Looking for them in a different material.

 

[Hagoth]

Found HSS stainless steel 0.5mm rods. HSS stainless steel is hard (low nickel) and magnetic.

After some additional investigation turns out I'm ok with what I found before. It was labeled as stainless steel in the title but the grade in the property details is actually HSS and not high nickel.