Mutara Nebula DeBoers E and R Build

[JNordgren42]

Glad to see you're back up and running, this is such an incredible project. Germany to Texas is quite a move, we did California to Texas about 2 1/2 years ago and that put my modeling out of commission for several months. I ended up getting a good water curtain spray booth for airbrushing, the summer heat made painting a very unpleasant chore in the garage until I could move operations inside. My 3D printers are still in the garage, but those can mostly do their thing unattended so the heat isn't such a big deal.

 

[jwood314]

What does your water current air brush booth look like? I am going back to the garage, but it is cooled off now. I don't mind spraying inside with a booth for acrylics, but there is no way with lacquers?

Update #130



Being retired is sort of weird, I will have to go back to work full time, but I can’t go straight back to work for the gubment for a few months, so I am able to work 40+ hours a week on the Reliant. This is allowing a ton of work to get done!



I spent like 40 hours on these fing light boxes for the buttons on the display base. Took quite a while, which is unfortunate. What was fortunate is I know how I will be able to get the light boxes perfectly flush with the top of the base! I am going to use the clear styrene that I use for diffusion as a shim, so I can get those within 0.005 of an inch to the surface. This will work out great. I also have all of the mounting parts dimensioned and finally printed. I know people bag on 3D printers a lot, but there is still skill in the designing and ensure fit and function of the parts. This is also faster and way more accurate for cranking out a bunch of un-interesting boxes.



I got the new shields board in. It all fits with the box it is going into and it works perfectly without a single wire! I need to adjust the code, the pin definitions have changed since I adjusted everything to ensure a better layout.



I am have to glue up the top and sides together. When I did the initial glue up for the sides I forgot to separate the sides and the base, so they were stuck, but the shipping across the seas fixed that error!



I have done 2 trials on how to get the displays the correct colors for the attitude controls. I have one more way to try and I will decide on the way forward. The pic is of acrylic on the clear styrene and it looks pretty good. I am going to try some AK Real lacquer clear colors and see how they look.



The next steps are to get the base glued, the mounting tube and top acrylic plates installed and shimmed out, and all of the large 3d printed assemblies screwed into the base! I found like 15 wires in the base I don’t remember what they do, so there is also a head scratching session coming up, but she is getting close!



I have the sizing of the mounting pole, then painting the mounting pole, painting the mounting base on the model, and touch up on the model left for painting. Then tie the model into the base and finishing up the code.



I am finally thinking of the next big project. I have a model for my daughter to finish, but then I want to do the Odyssey from 2001 and then I will finish the

Enterprise. At some point I go back to work full time and I will have to move the house again in about 8 months, so I might wait until after I move to finish up the E. At least all of the base work will have been design and most of the boards are built.



Cheers,

James

 

[JNordgren42]

What does your water current air brush booth look like? I am going back to the garage, but it is cooled off now. I don't mind spraying inside with a booth for acrylics, but there is no way with lacquers?

This is my setup:

I vent the booth out of the window, it does a really good job keeping the fumes down, but I generally wear a respirator when shooting lacquer or anything hot. It's pretty good size, but probably couldn't handle anything beyond a 1/350 TOS or Refit. We have a 4 bedroom and it's just my wife and I. So I'm lucky to have a dedicated hobby room and close the door when spraying to keep the dogs out and safe. My wife has a super sensitive nose and never smells any fumes.

Here is the Amazon link to the one I got (wifey actually ordered it for me as a surprise XMas present).

Amazon.com

 

[JNordgren42]

And the components for your display are amazing! Can't wait to see it all integrated.

 

[srspicer]

Thanks for posting the link, very nice booth!

 

[BajaTym]

Very cool, indeed. Can you expand a little on how these are assembled and will work? Is that aluminum tape for the light reflection?

 

[jwood314]

Sorry for the delay on my posting. I am working away, but updates here in a second.

JNordgren42 - I like the setup! Your work area is WAY too clean and efficient. How do you get anything done?

BajaTym - I actually thashed all 3 of these boxes and re did them. I didn't like the look of the colored LEDs. Light intensity was WAY to variable across the buttons for me. That took me 2 weeks, part of the reason for my slow posting. Each box is 3 layers put together. I use aluminum HVAC tape for all of my light blocking and reflection and light diffusion. I don't want button hot spots. I draw these boxes up in TinkerCAD and print them out on my own printer. It takes time, but the boxes are always dead on for dimension purposes. In between each layer is transparent polystyrene from Evergreen and painted with frosted paint from a rattlecan, you can buy this stuff from any hobby or big box store. The poly becomes translucent and helps with the light diffusion. Once the colored layer is put on top and then through the top layer, the button light is very well difuse to your eye, the phone does put a bit of a hot spot back on it, but in person looks pretty decent. I use the HVAC tape because it is designed to last for 20 years on an HVAC system that goes through tremendous heat and humidity cycling. I now have models that are 10 years old with this tape and ZERO issues. The tape is still as sticky and strong as the day I put it on, unlike lets say electrical tape.

Update for the model. The rough ins for the individual buttons and text is working out well. I have everything figured out except the STAR TREK on the top and the front panel text, but I have some ideas. So minor issues, lol. The new shield board works well after I updated some of the pin outs. I am not happy with the Reliant light up, going to add a few more lights to the box. I am getting close to finishing the code for large portions of the model and base once the rough ins are done. Some of the light boxes will have to be glued in, so that will have to be the LAST thing I do. The model is still at 99%, maybe a day or two of work to touch up some really minor issues that I can make look better. After that, she gets wired into the base then assemebled, then hopefully off to her new home. I then want to build the Discovery from 2001 with full PE and lights, and sell her. I really like building more than looking. Then I need to finish my daughters Raptor, my sons Viper is done and on his shelf, then off to finish the Enterprise. If I don't go back to work full time, the E might be done in 2025. I can always hope! At least the paint job on the E is about 50 times simplier than what I did on the R.

The pics show the layers of the base. All of the boards you see need some code work done, testing and then installation. The buttons on the right will need the color layer done, which is on the list to do this afternoon.

Cheers!
James

 

[JNordgren42]

JNordgren42 - I like the setup! Your work area is WAY too clean and efficient. How do you get anything done?

Yeah, it worked out really well and was pretty inexpensive. I still want to put up some storage on the walls, but it's nicely functional as-is. And this was taken soon after I set it up. I assure you it's nowhere near as neat currently.

 

[jwood314]

Short update. I spent 6 weeks redoing all of the power in the box, I ran out of power. I had to change from stepper motors to servos and I needed more current. Which drove changes everywhere. I got all of that fixed and working. The shields displays workd on the top now, still need to get the wires folded a bit better to get it all to fit. I found a paint chip on the Reliant herself. I have about 2-3 days of touch ups and finish painting on the model, but that will be the last thing I do, then I will mount her into the base. Here are some pics of changing the power supplies, changing a ton of base parts throughout the base and that takes time to redesign and print and verify and reprint if needed.

I close on a house tomorrow and of course I will take the same level of insanity to the house, and I am redoing a lot of the house. I am an EE, so I will bring the house up to the 2023 NEC code requirements. I also HATE that textured crap on the walls and ceilings, so will be doing a level 5 drywall finsh on the whole house. I love the fire code, so all of the drywall will be 5/8" fire rated, and I will be doubling the insualtion in the house, which means furring out all external walls for more insualtion. Completely air sealing the house. New HVAC, water heater and some plumbing stuff getting swapped. So the model is delayed 9 to 12 months to get that all completed. Woohoo! I am a glutton for punishment.

Cheers,
James

 

[modelerdave]

Short update. I spent 6 weeks redoing all of the power in the box, I ran out of power. I had to change from stepper motors to servos and I needed more current. Which drove changes everywhere. I got all of that fixed and working. The shields displays workd on the top now, still need to get the wires folded a bit better to get it all to fit. I found a paint chip on the Reliant herself. I have about 2-3 days of touch ups and finish painting on the model, but that will be the last thing I do, then I will mount her into the base. Here are some pics of changing the power supplies, changing a ton of base parts throughout the base and that takes time to redesign and print and verify and reprint if needed.

I close on a house tomorrow and of course I will take the same level of insanity to the house, and I am redoing a lot of the house. I am an EE, so I will bring the house up to the 2023 NEC code requirements. I also HATE that textured crap on the walls and ceilings, so will be doing a level 5 drywall finsh on the whole house. I love the fire code, so all of the drywall will be 5/8" fire rated, and I will be doubling the insualtion in the house, which means furring out all external walls for more insualtion. Completely air sealing the house. New HVAC, water heater and some plumbing stuff getting swapped. So the model is delayed 9 to 12 months to get that all completed. Woohoo! I am a glutton for punishment.
View attachment 1912855

View attachment 1912856
Cheers,
James

Come on, James! Priorities! Model before house!