Death Ball? Sphere O' Fear?

[Hand Solo]

As a proof of concept in preparation for a full-scale build of the original Death Star, I'm constructing a small model from a set of 6" acrylic spheres sent to me by Barry Murray of Scotland ( Thanks, Bar! ). I've decided that because they nest very well ( there's a male and female half ) as is, I won't go oblate with this one.

I'm currently in the process of cutting out the primary laser dish with a dial cutter that I use in clockmaking. Progress is slow. Thickness of the acrylic is about 3mm! But I'm getting a nice clean circular cut. Math works out to a 1.5" diameter dish.

Pix later!

 

[Hand Solo]

Well, I made considerable progress in just the first night! The first thing I did was lay in a strip of styrene around the inside of the equator for the upper hemisphere to lay on in order to leave a trench in the proper place. I also finished cutting out the dish ( I got impatient and used the dremel, so now I'll need to fill a little bit! ) and then inverted it, giving me a perfect parabola. I think Barry mentioned this to me once and it works rather nicely! Waste not, want not...

Then I ran a plastic tube up thru the thing. This will act as a wire channel for two HO white LEDs AND as an access for a stand. It engages this threaded nipple-thing at the inside of the north pole. Simple and elegant so far.

 

[rider]

That's looking superb Hand Solo :thumbsup

 

[robn1]

full-scale build of the original Death Star

That things gonna be HUGE! :eek

Rob

 

[Satxer]

Only problem is...how ya gonna get it into space?

 

[tgreco]

in response to your title... all I can ask is:



A boobie?

 

[Patattack]

in response to your title... all I can ask is:



A boobie?

The Deathticle!

 

[Hand Solo]

Thanks all!

" Boobie "....ROFL!!

" Hurt.... Ball " ?

 

[Hand Solo]

Here's what's up so far.

Got the dish built. The thing in the center? A leaving from a 9/32" dial punch!

Then I roughed up the surface to frost it for diffusion.

The reflective coat is white with a black light blocking coat over that with a final primer coat of gray over the first two primer coats. Color coat will go on tonight.

 

[Jawafive]

Man that's lookin' cool!

 

[Hand Solo]

Man that's lookin' cool!

The fun part is about to begin... plotting out and applying the surface blocks, then making all the little teensy holes...

:confused

 

[phase pistol]

That's NO moon....

Keep in mind tho the original Death Star has a nice squatty OVAL profile, like the planet Jupiter. Fat in the middle.

- k

 

[Hand Solo]

That's NO moon....

Keep in mind tho the original Death Star has a nice squatty OVAL profile, like the planet Jupiter. Fat in the middle.

- k

Uh. Yeah! Please read post number one... again.

I have my reasons.

I've decided that because they nest very well ( there's a male and female half ) as is, I won't go oblate with this one.

 

[Smiling Demon]

WOW. that looks amazing!:eek

:thumbsup

 

[Hand Solo]

WOW. that looks amazing!:eek

:thumbsup

I'm shooting the color coat now. :thumbsup

 

[phase pistol]

Uh. Yeah! Please read post number one... again.

I have my reasons.

Now you know I never read threads before posting! :lol

So... terrified of oblate spheroids are ya? So very sad. :sleep

- k

 

[Hand Solo]

Now you know I never read threads before posting! :lol

So... terrified of oblate spheroids are ya? So very sad. :sleep

- k

Well, let's just say, since this one is 'practice', I wanted to K.I.S.S. since it already had a ready-made trench. I figured rather than futz with that, I'd take a chance on it being a little too round instead. It was a compromise.

 

[Hand Solo]

Used tape and primer to get some raised detail on the dish. In person, it's very subtle. I used some harsh, direct halogen lighting off-angle to demonstrate the results.

 

[Hand Solo]

Last shots of the night. Color coat is on. This is where the fun begins!

 

[PHArchivist]

Bob understanding your reasonings for not going oblate, this is a good exercise because it clearly shows the difference of a true sphere.

Also, if I may ask, how are you laying down your paint? Due to the small scale of the study model and the hi-res pics, it appears to have orange peeled. For the purpose of the project, I'm sure that's ok (and it could be knocked down with 400-600 grit. But curious of your thoughts...