1/700 & 1/350 scale BH Cygnus builds

I realized that l should be more clear. The main problem I had was that sometimes they would reject certain obj files I tried to upload, no matter what I did. Customer service told me it was a bug in their system, and converted the file to stl for me. I've output subsequent parts in stl format and so far they have all worked fine.
 
Simon, I will find a way! :D

Dave, me too, I badly want to hold one of these suckers up to a light and see how it looks.

.stl files seem to work well. The only problems I have had so far have been sheer size (difficult), manifold issues and carelessness. When I get it right they upload nicely.

BTW, I hope posting so many renders isn't a problem? I'm finding this CG-to-reality transition really fascinating - BTW I'd be really interested to see your renders hint hint. :D

Just ordered a bunch of stuff. I shouldn't have included this one, it's a proto/test mule only, not really ready for print...couldn't resist. :)
 
Dave, a bit of transport pipe ref for ya.

Ha! I'm served for crowing about that main module. I just realized there's an entire category of bracing framing I left out.

We're gonna need to go to decals.
 
Okay Martyn -- you asked! Here are some screen caps of the center top framework I'm working on now. There are main sections and connector sections. The tubes on the main section will lock over the pegs on the connector section. The meshes look kind of sloppy, because I'm building for rapid prototyping, not for render. Also, they look large in the pictures, but the entire structure is less than 5 inches wide and just over 4 inches long. If anyone has any critiques, please feel free. I plan to order the pieces on Friday.
 
Nice, Dave, thanks! I have a fraction of that work done myself. I will actually end up with a part that looks very similar to yours, I think. For now I have left the uprights on the outer sections as freestanding pillars because the horizontals for those are a part of the power centre module framing. I should probably address that. Nobody will spot a tiny bit of doubled framing at these sizes. Anyway, no critiques, looks great to me.
 
Just got my main engine delivered. Again, an experimental piece, and I managed to leave four block details out of the nozzle area. :facepalm Easily fixed with some styrene but I have some changes in mind.

Wanted to see how something this large would print out, what the surface would be like etc. It's definitely not perfect, you'd sand it if you were making a pristine ship. Fortunately I'm not, so I think I may include more detail with this piece, like the three mounting trusses and the catwalk.

Since the entire ship is so heavily weathered the slight growth rings may not be a problem. I'll paint it and we'll see.
 
Niiiiiiiiiice! I keep being tempted to make tacky references to how much bigger yours is than mine! ;-)

I completely agree with you about the texture of the parts. I would hate it if I was making say, a Naboo cruiser, but for this, the rough finish and slight stair-stepping just add to the effect. You'd expect a little weathering from all the particles being pulled into the BH. When painted up, the pieces really look like pitted old metal.

Oh yeah, as for the uprights on the center section, I know the horizontal bar I've added is extra, but no one will be able to see it tucked in there, and I really want something to hold the uprights in alignment. Sometimes thin pieces seem to bend, and I think that would be more noticeable than the extra bar. I've also added a support piece on the connector section to hold up the cross tube. Again, it's not going to be tha noticeable, and I'd prefer the extra stability.
 
LOL. I came up with three different snappy responses to that, none of them printable. :)

I will sand the front cap; it's a circular step pyramid, hehe. For the main engine I don't think it's enough of a minus to bother, which is good since I really want to produce them integrally with their trusses if possible.

Coming to the same conclusions re the horizontal bar. I'll only need to do it on the power centre section for mine. I spotted your support piece - likely do something similar myself, maybe a truss will work at my scale. :)
 
New parts -- a mixed bag.

First, Fuel Module A. The part came out really well at first glance, but I forgot to anchor the middle section of tanks to the frame and they all fell out. :facepalm Easy enough to glue back in place, but it made me rethink the part. I think I will make most of the tanks a separate section for ease of painting. Other than my mistake, the piece looks really cool, IMHO.

I jumped ahead and made parts for the observatories. I really shouldn't have, because I haven't done any work on the structure that they will attach to, but I just wanted to see something different. The transparent dome was rejected at production for being too thin for the size. The replacement part is on order. The tower and base came out really nice. So did the antennas. The leg and cap piece, not so much. The legs bent, which is fixable, but the antenna supports twisted and broke. I've made a sturdier replacement piece and will order this week. In the meantime, you get the idea.

Let me know what you think!
 
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Dave, spectacular!

The fuel module tanks are best kept separate IMO - some of them are painted red and ochre and so on, so much easier to deal with separately. How thin was your dome? I've just ordered a tower dome, I made it fairly thin too. Uh oh.

I shouldn't have challenged the gods the way I did above. My outboard module got rejected at the point of printing - parts too thin for a large part. I hoped this might just be a customer service precaution against warping - which would be fine, since it slips over a lightbox - but no, apparently the part could break in the tray and ruin an entire batch of other parts in the process.

I wasn't willing to compromise the materials any further (also, it'd be my fifth rebuild of this section, nnnnarrrgh!) so I added some beefier sacrificial framing inside the part instead and re-upped. Fingers crossed!

Whoo - anyone who might think that this method of obtaining a model is some kind of an easy shortcut...think again. This is a grind. Unless you can get a completed CG model from somewhere up front, be prepared for hundreds of hours in front of the keyboard. My butt is numb!!!
 
I think the dome was 1 mm thick, and they wanted 1.5. Or was it 1.5 and 2? I think the former, but I'll check tomorrow.

Good luck with the module - fifth times a charm! I know how frustrating it is when things get rejected.

It's a lot of work for sure, but exciting!
 
Hey guys....I can't begin to tell you how cool it is to watch this take shape. The parts you're getting are amazing! I'm assuming they are as delicate as they look? Good luck with this and I can't wait to see your final products!
 
Thanks P/Dave. Mine's about 1.67...I can't find a tute or table for 'clear detail' plastic giving minimum dims, so fingers crossed.

I'm very bummed right now. Just browsing the tutes again and came across one I'd missed. The minimum size given for for White Strong Flexible plastic is 0.7 mm and I'd adhered to that; my bracing parts are .85mm and my main beams are 1.1mm. (Reduced from what I had intended - 1.25mm - because of that stuffup a couple of weeks back.)

Now it seems none of this is likely to be any good. I won't hear back on my latest revisions for a week or more, but I think maybe I'd better get started on a version using 2mm longerons. I just came across this:

"Even though you could use a minimum wall thickness of 1mm when using White, Strong & Flexible we recommend that you stick to 2mm. We would also never recommend making large portions of your model this thin because this would make it excessively delicate."

- arrrrghh! Why couldn't I have found that FIRST?!??

Hoping this is older info and that 1mm isn't the real minimum. What's the cross-section on your longerons, btw?
 
Thank you, daverep! I still have yet to get a successful print of a fretwork part, so I can't say myself. At the rate I'm going I never will. :lol
 
Thank you, daverep! I still have yet to get a successful print of a fretwork part, so I can't say myself. At the rate I'm going I never will. :lol

I'm sure you will! :lol It's cool that technology has advanced so much that it allows you two to do this. I've always thought the Cygnus was an outstanding model with all of it's layers. What 3D program are you using? You may have said in this or the other thread, but it's escaping me now.
 
I've been using 1 mm for the major elements (lengthwise and cross beams) and .75 mm for most of the diagonals. It's way out of scale and looks very fat and clunky on the screen, but the actual parts look fine. I don't think anyone will pull out their pocket micrometer and measure the frame cross section of your model. Okay, a couple of guys here would, but most people will just be impressed regardless. ;-) I think the human eye really doesn't resolve the difference between 1.1 and 2 mm that well anyway. I've received a couple of parts where straight beams rendered as curly ribbons because they were too thin, so I'd go ahead and make the changes.
 
Auuugh...don't say that...I'm *slow*!!! It'll take forever. :lol

Thanks for the info. It's annoying that Shapeways appear to have some contradictions here - their online calculator suggests I should be able to get away with 1.25mm, which was my intent in the first place. So do other parts of the site. But there are two tutes which suggest I'm an idiot. (Well, there are many more things in life which suggest this, but...) :)

Oh well...1.1mm is what I have, I've added 3mm internal braces...maybe it'll pass muster, but it's frustrating having to wait another ten days to find out, since I have another order pending. Especially thinking it most likely won't. On with the engines in the meantime, I guess...

I do agree regarding resolution, scale etc. The results you're getting are way way more impressive than the old MPC kit, to the point that being overscale is just lost in the wow factor. Even at 1/350 and 1.1mm my parts are overscale too - they should be about .85mm max, and .425mm for the bracing.

REALLY don't want to go to 2mm. Think I'll probably bawww about it for a while longer. :lol
 
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Oh, daverep -- the parts are not as delicate as you'd think. Fine, unsupported sections can tend to warp a bit, but even the small observatory antennas have some resilience. I had to push against them with a drill to open the hole for the brass rod and they held up fine. I could crush most of the pieces in my hand if I tried, but the same would go for styrene at that size as well. A little care is needed, but they're not going to crumble in your hands if you're not careful.
 
No, not an idiot. :) It's a learning process! I said that it was expensive on the other forum I'm posting on. One of the guys commented that as a model it was expensive, but as a independent study college course in advanced fabrication techniques it was cheap. I'm trying to keep that in mind. ;-)

Meanwhile, after having a string of parts rejected myself, I know what you're going through!
 

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