1:48 Scale Y Wing

[Flintlock]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

Good luck with it!

I think you should re-do your drawing of the cockpit pod though, if you want to base your build on it. The top of the canopy (the horizontal plane above the "rectangular" windows) actually is a flat plane, there´s no sharp bend in it, it´s just very very slightly (hardly noticeable) bent as a whole. And the whole canopy is much flatter. And it´s quite much wider. If you´re interested, I could provide some - more or less - "ortho" pics of my MR Y´s cockpit pod and canopy. Just let me know.

Hey, that would be great! I made those drawings based on the Fine Molds kit. This was just a quick drawing and I wasn't going to start until I made sure it was quite correct.

But those ortho shots would help a lot.

 

[darth_daniel]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

Okay...I´ve taken some pics for you. Tell me your email adress and I´ll send along a .rar file containing the pics. They´re just freehand though and not perfect orthos of course, but they should give you a better idea than the FM Y (which is great, but not exactly perfect).
One thing I was told though is that the cockpit pod should actually widen slightly as you go down along the vertical panels of the cockpit pod, so their lower edges should be a bit wider apart than their upper edges (if that explanation makes any sense...). The MR Y doesn´t feature this.

 

[Flintlock]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

Ok, I see what you are talking about now. When it comes to the vertical panels, I knew this from the Fine Molds because it features that. I just started with a simple vertical at the back and made it wider on the bottom up front. I need to take another look at the FM head because it looks correct - maybe I just didn't pay enough attention. I know of the other inaccuracies of that kit too.

Thanks a lot for the ortho pics. The head section is the only portion I did not have good reference shots for. Now I have better ones!

 

[Flintlock]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

I was finally able to take some shots of the body halves that I had printed on a 3D printer:

Unfortunately, I am forced to put this project on hold for now. But I am still making progress, how ever slow it may be.

 

[Nwerke]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

That's looking good, dude, shame you have to suspend it.

Re your mould troubles, it's a horrible temptation to demould before your resin is truly set up. Resin can be sensitive to weather conditions so it's best just to force yourself to leave it for a good long while.

Also, with your next moulds, spend time playing with your masters for a while in different orientations before you clay them up. A lot of people mould things set up in their main orientation (e.g. they set up a mould for a cube shaped object with the cube flat relative to the pour hole). A much better orientation is to have it up on one of its corners. You might find an orientation for your cockpit that is better than what you first think of.

Cheers,
Martyn

 

[Jedi Dade]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

Yes absolutely think in 3D whne making up your molds... Gravity will win if you orient it well "Most" of the time and your cast will be bubble free without a presure pot. However sometimes there's no good way to orient something...

One "trick" that a lot of people don't do - (I'm not sure why really) is to pour "partial" pours let it cure... rotate and pour again. You may need to clear out the pour area a bit - or just plan ahead and make then nice and big - then you can let gravity work for you... sucking the resin into the details in more then one axis... I've done this for a few things that were "oddly shaped" and got decent results... Not a s good as a presure pot mind you but decent...

Just a though... or 2

Jedi Dade

 

[Flintlock]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

Thanks for the tips guys. The molds are excellent, and I can cast the top piece with no problem. For some reason, though, a lot of air gets trapped in the mold for the bottom piece. I created air-escape routes and widened the gate. Also, I need to hold it a bit at an angle.

I will see if there is a better way to make the mold, and possibly re-mold it at a later date. I plan on eventually getting a pressure pot, so we'll see.

 

[Flintlock]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

I work at a college, and we have 2 3D printers here. I just found out that the Center for Business and Industry runs a service whereby I could have several parts printed at a much lower price than other online services. Looks like I may have the rest of the 1:48 Y parts printed! The first parts were free, but I don't mind paying... I plan on getting these pieces printed:

Engine tubes and domes (as 1 piece)
Engine inserts/nozzles
Rear vectrals
Head
Canopy
Neck side pieces (8 Rad parts)

Since I have a new camera now, there will be updates...

 

[Flintlock]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

Almost print-ready!

 

[Flintlock]

Re: 1/48 Scale Y Wing

Here are the parts I am trying to get printed before this weekend. They are the same pictures I sent to the printer so that they orient them the right way.

 

[Flintlock]

Awww crap! They can start printing tomorrow, but they won't be ready until Monday... That's OK. There is plenty I can do this weekend...

 

[darth_daniel]

That´s sweet. Are you planning to make this into a kit? You´d already have one customer...:lol

BTW may I ask how much do such printed parts cost? Let´s say, the fuselage halves?

 

[Flintlock]

That´s sweet. Are you planning to make this into a kit? You´d already have one customer...:lol

BTW may I ask how much do such printed parts cost? Let´s say, the fuselage halves?

I got lucky and got the halves for free as a favor. At a typical online printing service, I think I was quoted $80, but that machine works a little differently - It deposits cubes of material and flash-fuses them. It's high resolution, and each cube is 0.003". The machine mine was printed out on deposits 0.010" diameter strands of heated plastic that cools. I can not tell you how much it would cost on a machine like this. The main factors that affect cost are the base the part is printed on, the time it takes to print, and how much material you use volume-wise.

The good thing about having them where I work is that they are already bought and paid for (by the state). The cost for the printers is not spread over every order. The material is $5 per cubic inch, and it only takes about 15 minutes of the lab tech's time to set it up. The base is $5.21.

And, to answer your other question, yes I plan on making a kit - this and the TIE Fighter/Interceptor as well.

 

[darth_daniel]

Hm...interesting. I hope this technology will get cheaper soon. Can´t await having my own 3D-printer standing at home! :lol

Great news about the kit, you definately have one customer.

 

[Qrest Fourstar]

Im third!!

 

[Flintlock]

Thanks for the interest guys. Just keep in mind it's not going to be super-accurate detail-wise. I only found so many half-size kits. Some of them are not quite the same as the studio counterparts. Still in other areas I am forced to get creative...

Here is an update shot.

 

[Flintlock]

Ooops, don't want to forget this shot...

 

[stonky]

I've often considered printing some of my 3D stuff so I'm watching this thread with great interest. Good stuff!

 

[Flintlock]

Here are some better pictures I took about 10 minutes ago...

 

[darth_daniel]

Cool.
Some of the parts look right, others don´t. I guess it´ll be impossible to find all the needed ones in the right size, but what you´ve found already is a great effort.