BHP 24 Inch Star Destroyer Project

Watson

Watson

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RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
BHP 24 Inch Star Destroyer Project Update 4-18 Post 27

UPDATE Post 27

The last week has really been a challenge to get any time in the garage working on my Commissioned Refit project, due to the heat here in Texas, so I have had time to devote to my, up until now, SUPER SECRET Star Destroyer project. I have made my plans and have had the entire skin and super structure of an ISD cut from Acylic.

This project has been thwarting me for many years and for two simple reasons I have always stomped the brakes when contemplating building one. The first reason is that there is very little information about the true dimensions of this ship. This lack of information bothered me but I eventually realized that most of the Scratch SD models out there are really based on eye-balled dimensions and I have overcome this issue.

The second issue is really the killer for me. Even armed with good plans and dimensions, I absolutely HATE cutting styrene. More often than not I wind up cutting me instead. I decided to create my plans in a way that would afford me the ability to make them scalable and a way to take most of the hard work, IMHO, out of the project.

For this I decided to have the main skin, super structure and eventually, the internal supports cut with a laser from Acylic. The first five shots are of the proofs that I got in, the rest are pics of the first actual fully cut model. I am starting with the super structure and making changes to the patterns as I go. As you can see I am also killing the mind numbing panel etching by having the pieces laser etched. The POC, proof of concept, model does not have any but the original proofs did.

I wanted to be able to start off with a 24 inch SD but if I decided later to do a 3 or 4 footer, or if I ever got totally insane, a 7.5 footer, I could scale the plans and send the files to be cut.

Out of the box she is going together very smoothly and I do apologize for the lack of pics of the main hull. I plan on taking some tonight as I was taking pics as I built some of the super structure and my battery died in the cam. The entire model is modular and so far matches perfectly. The first proof of concept model was cut from 1/16 acrylic and I have already determined that at the scale I am building the first one, 1/2640, that 1/16 makes some of the smaller parts look out of scale.

As I go along I will be posting more pictures of this project and I hope you guys enjoy the ride as I had a dream and am finally making it a reality. This is not a project I will be working on every day as I have a previous commitment to a client but it will be ongoing.

Greg


http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q002.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q003.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q004.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q005.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q006.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q007.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q008.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q009.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q010.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q011.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q012.JPG
http://www.blockheadpictures.com/Q013.JPG
 
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Wow, very cool Greg, remember you talking about this a short time ago, glad to see it coming to fruition. Keep us posted buddy......lee
 
This is another one of those projects that I have always wanted to do. I will be watching the progress of this project with great interest... now hurry up get started already... ;)

-Bryan
 
Greg, this is really looking awesome... Great work so far.

No kidding on the Texas heat - I'm sorry but 92degrees at 9pm is just insane..

Just curious, who is doing your laser cutting? It looks very nice and the panel line etch looks great. I'll be needing some work done when I get to that stage on my sandcrawler.

Can't wait to see more pics :thumbsup

Dan
 
<div class='quotetop'>(1138 @ Jul 21 2006, 11:16 AM) [snapback]1285174[/snapback]</div>
Just curious, who is doing your laser cutting? It looks very nice and the panel line etch looks great. I'll be needing some work done when I get to that stage on my sandcrawler.
Dan
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Well I originally hired Wynn Studios, but Tom got a C&D from Lucasfilm right in the middle of my desigfn phase and pretty much shut my project down. I was able to find a guy out in California that could do it, albeit not as cheaply as Tom could, and he is less than enthusiastic about doing Star Wars stuff because he does not want to get a C&D, so I am not sure if I will be able to get more than a run out of him. If you PM me your email, I will contact him and give him your info.
 
I, too will be doing laser patterns for the ANH model eventually, so I feel your pain. The panel lines are the real &^$.@ to this kind of project. Without those, it would be pretty easy.

Two words of advice:

1. Use milk plex. It is even better to work with than clear. I started out using clear exclusively, but made the switch to milk plex when I saw how much better it was for engraving.

2. The engraved lines you draw must NOT overlap at all. If they do, the laser will cut deeper at the intersection. This is what makes the panel lines so time consuming and tedious to draw.

There are ways to trick the laser to cut engraved lines in different widths and to different depths. This requires some experimentation. I invested a lot of time (and $$) into the process and got it down pretty good.

I can't believe they sent a C&D to your vendor. All this over a one-off? And how could they have even known the guy was doing the work if your project was secret? I guess we need to keep quiet about the vendors from now on and not publicize who is doing the cutting if this is going to be their tactic.
 
<div class='quotetop'>(star-art @ Jul 21 2006, 12:27 PM) [snapback]1285221[/snapback]</div>
I, too will be doing laser patterns for the ANH model eventually, so I feel your pain. The panel lines are the real &^$.@ to this kind of project. Without those, it would be pretty easy.

Two words of advice:

1. Use milk plex. It is even better to work with than clear. I started out using clear exclusively, but made the switch to milk plex when I saw how much better it was for engraving.

2. The engraved lines you draw must NOT overlap at all. If they do, the laser will cut deeper at the intersection. This is what makes the panel lines so time consuming and tedious to draw.

There are ways to trick the laser to cut engraved lines in different widths and to different depths. This requires some experimentation. I invested a lot of time (and $$) into the process and got it down pretty good.

I can't believe they sent a C&D to your vendor. All this over a one-off? And how could they have even known the guy was doing the work if your project was secret? I guess we need to keep quiet about the vendors from now on and not publicize who is doing the cutting if this is going to be their tactic.
[/b]
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Charles,
He didn't get the C&D for my project, he got the C&D from Lucas for the custom laser etched plaques he was doing for sabers and blasters and such. Like this one he did for me before getting the C&D.
xwingplaque.jpg

At that point he did not want to go the way of Fellano so he had to back out of our arrangement. I totally understood and had to go a different route.

As for the etching I will have to check mine because I have overlaps and I really didnt notice if it cut deeper.

Greg
 
I crisscross lines everyday. The deeper intersections don't matter unless they blow through the material. And that's only an issue with .030" acrylic. Just so you guys know, when you cut lines into your plex there will be no paint IN the scribes. What that means is if you light your models with tubes they will look like something out of Tron. You will probably have to rub paint into the scribes unless they are shallow and wide. At which point they wouldn't be very attractive anyway.
 
<div class='quotetop'>(cobywan @ Jul 21 2006, 01:26 PM) [snapback]1285258[/snapback]</div>
I crisscross lines everyday. The deeper intersections don't matter unless they blow through the material. And that's only an issue with .030" acrylic. Just so you guys know, when you cut lines into your plex there will be no paint IN the scribes. What that means is if you light your models with tubes they will look like something out of Tron. You will probably have to rub paint into the scribes unless they are shallow and wide. At which point they wouldn't be very attractive anyway.
[/b]
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No tubes inside :)

I am just going to be running FO :)
 
I have also done a lot of laser cutting. But I have had problems with crossing lines to the point where I sometimes get holes at the intersections. It probably depends on the width and depth of the engraved lines. Also, I use vector cutting for all my lines to reduce cost and so I don't do raster work which is much slower and more expensive. The vector cuts produce "V" grooves while raster makes a square cut.
 
<div class='quotetop'>(Jestefarean @ Jul 24 2006, 01:21 PM) [snapback]1286762[/snapback]</div>
This is going to be fun to follow.
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Didn't get the pics up that I wanted. My grandmother died Friday morning and I am helping my mom plan the funeral, so time has been tight. She was 92 years old, she had a good life :) Hope to get those uploaded tonight.

G
 
Condolences on your loss, Greg. :( That is horrible news. Glad to hear she made it to such a ripe old age though. :)
 
<div class='quotetop'>(star-art @ Jul 24 2006, 03:54 PM) [snapback]1286857[/snapback]</div>
Condolences on your loss, Greg. :( That is horrible news. Glad to hear she made it to such a ripe old age though. :)
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Yeah she did and I was telling some people the other day that in her life she lived in the following places:

1) New York City - Born there
2) California - Met my Grandad there
3) Japan - After WWII
4) England - During Korea
5) New Mexico
6) Texas - Retired there

I look at that and I know that she had some adventures. Those are places she lived for years at a time, no telling how long this list would be if I started places she had been. The last few years Parkinsons had pretty much made her miserable as she was stuck in bed all day. I am glad she is free from the pain and is back with my grandad now :)

G
 
<div class='quotetop'>(imaginager @ Jul 25 2006, 01:02 PM) [snapback]1287539[/snapback]</div>
Greg, condolences. My last grandparent went 2 years ago this November. It's a tough time. Be well.
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Yeah she was my last one too. Funeral is Thursday. Starting to really comprehend it now :(
 
It's Wonder Woman's Star Destroyer. Looks great.

My condolences RE your grandmother. I'm glad she had a long life.
 
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