1m long Omega Class Destroyer from Babylon 5

[Kingbob]

Hi All

I've wanted a big ass Omega Class Destroyer model ever since i first saw one in Babylon 5. Such a big brutal utilitarian design that you cant help but like it.
Having gotten into 3d printing recently i decided the ship was a good candidate, so I sat down and spent a few months designing one that i could break down into nice printable parts. Basically i designed my own kit.

She's approx 1/1700 scale, which makes it about 1m long. The superstructure is designed to be screwed together, then have the detail parts glued or screwed on afterwards.

She's not quite finished, i have 5 or 6 parts left to design and print, but they're all small parts. Ive also left certain details out that will be done with styrene rod and tubes afterwards, since 3d printers dont do small and round very well.

The "head":






And detail parts waiting to be added:


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There is a drum section on either side of the rotating section:


Then the rotating section, which is quite rigid despite its size due to some internal bracing.




And a PILE of detail parts to be added. More have been printed since this pic.


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The aft section. I saved printing time and plastic by making the detail parts seperate and hollowing the superstructure. Only one of the rear fin parts is attached, was just testing fit.




And a pile of detail parts. Again more have been printed since this pic.


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The engine section is seperate and drops into the aft engine bell.






And of course MORE detail parts:


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These show the various parts for the ship, a bunch of parts have been changed/added since these pics.








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This is its current assembly state. Im using a 16mm aluminium tube down the middle for rigidity and support, obviously i need to trim the tube a bit.
And yes that is a 1m steel ruler next to it.




Comments?

 

[craig g]

OMG!!!
Fabulous work there. I want one so bad and like you I've always loved this ship design

 

[Hoplitespear]

This looks amazing! I'm looking at building a scratch build model myself and have been tempting to get into 3D printing to make some complicated parts. Few small questions, what printer are you using? the quality looks really good! Also what modeling software did you use? And one more, do you have a picture of the 3D model in its complete form?

Keep the progress pic's comming!!

-Hopli

 

[Astro]

Kingbob this is amazing stuff! I have also been a massive fan of this ship design!

 

[Kingbob]

This looks amazing! I'm looking at building a scratch build model myself and have been tempting to get into 3D printing to make some complicated parts. Few small questions, what printer are you using? the quality looks really good! Also what modeling software did you use? And one more, do you have a picture of the 3D model in its complete form?

Keep the progress pic's comming!!

-Hopli

This is the complete model (i think). Might be a few small pieces not on it. I still have a couple of parts to add to the chin, and obviously none of the antenna that will be done in styrene are on this. Still have some bits around the engines to do, but its about 98%.

I've got a couple of 3d printers which helps when big pieces can take 15 hours to print each. But ive spent a fair bit of time getting the printers working nicely, and understanding how they work best. A lot of the separate parts could be combined and printed as single parts, but that means overhangs, support material, rough surfaces where i want smooth, and strength not being where i want it. So i treated it like a kit and just broke it down into its simplest parts.

I'm not a CAD guru, so i drew this in Sketchup of all things! Helps that its a big boxy design.

 

[Hoplitespear]

Sketchup of all things indeed! It amazes me what stuff people draw in that program.
I was thinking of Fusion 360 or blender . Is it easy to convert this to a file for printing then? I guess everything will be glued, or can u actually implement screw holes in sketchup?

Its a nice model, I really have to watch B5 some day :s.

thx for the awnsers!

-Hopli

 

[Kingbob]

Sketchup of all things indeed! It amazes me what stuff people draw in that program.
I was thinking of Fusion 360 or blender . Is it easy to convert this to a file for printing then? I guess everything will be glued, or can u actually implement screw holes in sketchup?

Its a nice model, I really have to watch B5 some day :s.

thx for the awnsers!

-Hopli

I do keep meaning to switch to Fusion 360, even have it installed, and did start a tutorial! I think i have reached the limits of how i use Sketchup though, and should switch to a decent CAD application. There is a plugin for Sketchup that exports STL files, and the printer software uses those, so its pretty simple. Draw, export, print.

I dont know about drawing threaded screw holes, never bothered, i just do holes a fraction smaller than the screw, and the screw then bites into the printed plastic. Easy.
This is held together almost entirely by screws. For internal screws i just used plain philips head, but where a screwhead is visible on the outside, i recessed it, and used Hex head screws, just looks like extra detail. Though i tried to conceal screws where possible.

 

[Kingbob]

Got the blast shields and last of the chin/face parts printed today, and installed for test fitting.
Not all of the "face" detail parts are on, some need to be glued but need sanding smooth first so they wont go on until final assembly begins.


The blast shields are removable at the moment, there are a couple of screws concealed under the forward gun mount, and the bar part. Will help when it comes time to paint. They're nice and smooth on the outside, and done in multiple parts to give a "layered" armour effect with some detail between the layers. The seams/joints need a bit of putty yet.

This will be a great shot once all the details are on, and its painted and lit

 

[Kingbob]

In terms of designing parts, i think she's done. Did the last parts for the chin, then did a name plate, "A", and Earth Alliance logo. They arent just for show on the CAD model, i've printed them as thin parts that i can either paint by hand and glue on, or, use as a paint mask to airbrush the logo on.


For example, at the top is a layered one, to paint/glue by hand. Middle is a base, and bottom is a mask to paint the base borders.

But this should be the complete head, all parts printed and ready for sanding, priming, puttying, sanding, priming, puttying, sanding, priming, puttying, sanding, priming, painting!
Antenna and styrene bits not added obviously.

 

[Muzza]

Brilliant work.

 

[gedmac66]

Don’t know how I missed this , but glad to see another Sandgroper on here ... and one with mad 3D printing skills too !

Welcome aboard .


:cheersGed

 

[Galactican]

This is amazing!!! I'm a Sketchupper, too. I use it to make paper models.

 

[Kingbob]

This is amazing!!! I'm a Sketchupper, too. I use it to make paper models.

Yeah it does what i want it to do mostly. Some things i wish it had, but its good enough.
Every time i try Fusion 360 i get annoyed at how hard it is to do simple things.

 

[Hoplitespear]

Looks amazing!!!!! And happy to see a person who does finishing on his 3D prints!!!! Gonna start my project soon, but prolly without 3D-printing. Its gonna have to be all scratch, no funds for a printer in the foreseeable future.

Keep up the good work!

-Hopli

 

[craig g]

I've been hoping for a styrene kit of this years. Guess it'll never happen now.

 

[mofo77]

awsome work,looks fantastic.
great to see another west australian here

 

[Kingbob]

I've been hoping for a styrene kit of this years. Guess it'll never happen now.

Warp made a resin kit, about 30cm i think, but the build examples i saw varied in quality. I think they're out of production now anyway.

Someone has asked me to print them one at the same 1m length so will be starting printing that soon.
But i'll probably do a rescaled version to about 50cm as well.

 

[Muzza]

Warp made a resin kit, about 30cm i think, but the build examples i saw varied in quality. I think they're out of production now anyway.

Someone has asked me to print them one at the same 1m length so will be starting printing that soon.
But i'll probably do a rescaled version to about 50cm as well.

Maybe he should have asked for a 2 m long one?

 

[Kingbob]

Maybe he should have asked for a 2 m long one?

Someone on scifimodelaction did!

Its entirely doable, just a matter of breaking down the parts to pieces small enough to fit the printer.
Of course if you double the size, you quadruple the amount of plastic, and print time!

 

[craig g]

Warp made a resin kit, about 30cm i think, but the build examples i saw varied in quality. I think they're out of production now anyway.

Someone has asked me to print them one at the same 1m length so will be starting printing that soon.
But i'll probably do a rescaled version to about 50cm as well.

I've looked at the Warp kit but being a resin virgin and having read mixed reviews of the wotk involved and quality of the kit, I've been put off.

A 50cm version sounds awesome to me and I'm sure many others would agree.