Phaser 1 Kit Buildup plus MM P2 Restoration
- Thread starter asalaw
- Start date
asalaw
Master Member
Me neither!
So, the modeling is done for this iteration, but no shop tonight. Pooped. Print tomorrow.
Last edited:
robn1
Master Member
Noice! Can't wait to see what you do with the P2. Funny you mention mounting points on the inside as I had a similar idea for my fiberglass shells. I made some up with an extra mound of filled epoxy where the brass pins mount for the P1 front. Instead of potting them in I can just drill in straight on the drill press and fit the pins in, worked out pretty well. I just have to make sure it's straight and level under the drill, and go slow so the bit won't wander (I HATE when small bits do that).
Last edited:
asalaw
Master Member
Bits love to wander. The only cure is either a little tap with a center drill or a big tap with a machinist's punch (which might crack the epoxy -- I'd go with the center drill). I guess even one of those little pin vises could make you a good starter divot.
Just finished dinner and Dredd (for the jillionth time), and I'm all hopped up on carbs and überviolence. So I'm gonna at least play with setting up the P2 blueprints (your revisions, obviously).
Yay!
asalaw
Master Member
One of my favorite old noir potboilers, Double Indemnity -- Fred MacMurray says something suggestive to Barbara Stanwyck. She says, "I wonder if I know what you're talking about." He says, "I wonder if you wonder."
Anyhoo, the blueprinting has begun! This is as far as I get tonight -- these need a fair bit of adjusting and such. I have got to turn in, or tomorrow morning future Me is gonna plot my assassination.
Anyhoo, the blueprinting has begun! This is as far as I get tonight -- these need a fair bit of adjusting and such. I have got to turn in, or tomorrow morning future Me is gonna plot my assassination.
asalaw
Master Member
Okay, I'm sticking a fork in these. Unless I decide to add six or seven more rulers.
Photoshop screenshot:
Resulting jpg file:
And here's the link to download the full-size file from my PhotoPhucket.
Shop tonight to print off the P1, if there's a printer available -- Friday nights are notoriously busy.
Photoshop screenshot:
Resulting jpg file:
And here's the link to download the full-size file from my PhotoPhucket.
Shop tonight to print off the P1, if there's a printer available -- Friday nights are notoriously busy.
Last edited by a moderator:
asalaw
Master Member
Me neither! And it can be yours! The Shapeways one will be just their charge to print plus your shipping. I'm not adding any markup at all. I won't know how much that'll be till it's uploaded to Shapeways, though. It's entirely based on the material cost per cubic centimeter, plus their handling fee, plus shipping to you. But the Frosted Plastic and the Acrylic Plastic are dirt cheap to print with.
And if you ever get a 3D printer, or know someone who has one (or use a maker space near you), the .stl files will always be free. I'm not doing this for the money.
Last edited by a moderator:
asalaw
Master Member
Knock yourself out! Yeah, I'm pretty hot to get my first shells from Shapeways. This is absolutely the cheapest and laziest way I can think of to make that Galileo phaser rack I've always wanted.
EDIT -- Off to the shop! I have the makerbot booked at 4, and the lathe at 5 so I can turn my new acrylic emitter(s?). I laid in some 1/2" cast acrylic rod in the hope that it won't crack or shatter so easily while I'm machining it. We'll see.
EDIT -- Off to the shop! I have the makerbot booked at 4, and the lathe at 5 so I can turn my new acrylic emitter(s?). I laid in some 1/2" cast acrylic rod in the hope that it won't crack or shatter so easily while I'm machining it. We'll see.
Last edited:
asalaw
Master Member
Ugh. Very bad day at the shop. Completely wasted my time.
A week or so ago, I took my Techshop membership off of auto-renew, because they're having shop-wide maintenance issues that have just gone on far too long.
"Frustrated" doesn't begin to cover it. "Angry" is also in the rear view. I'm apocalyptically apoplectic. :angry
So, last week I signed up for the newbie walkthrough at this other maker space called NovaLabs. It's in Reston, which is like saying it's nestled between BF Egypt and East ***** Nairobi.
But their classes are much cheaper than Techshop's, and so is their membership, and I'm told they maintain their equipment properly. So after Monday night, I'll have enough solid information to make my decision. But if I were a betting man, I'd bet that Techshop is about to lose my business.
One of the DCs, a fine young lady (yes, I'm old enough to say that) named Olivia, offered to overnight print my shells on another bot that would open up later tonight, with the shop's filament instead of mine (meaning it'll be a free print). That printer seemed to be working very well, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.
So, till Monday at least, it's back to just modeling. Phaser 2 shells, here I come...
UPDATE -- Got an email from Olivia this morning telling my my print came out fine on the other bot and I can pick it up whenever. So at least something got salvaged.
A week or so ago, I took my Techshop membership off of auto-renew, because they're having shop-wide maintenance issues that have just gone on far too long.
- My custom, accurate CNC-embroidered TOS patches are dead in the water because both the embroiderer and the heat press are screwed and have been for over four months.
- My phaser emitter couldn't get done at all tonight, because Lathe #1 STILL has that wobble that broke all my drill bits months ago.
- And to top it all off, tonight the Makerbot had a heater failure midway through my print.
"Frustrated" doesn't begin to cover it. "Angry" is also in the rear view. I'm apocalyptically apoplectic. :angry
So, last week I signed up for the newbie walkthrough at this other maker space called NovaLabs. It's in Reston, which is like saying it's nestled between BF Egypt and East ***** Nairobi.
But their classes are much cheaper than Techshop's, and so is their membership, and I'm told they maintain their equipment properly. So after Monday night, I'll have enough solid information to make my decision. But if I were a betting man, I'd bet that Techshop is about to lose my business.
One of the DCs, a fine young lady (yes, I'm old enough to say that) named Olivia, offered to overnight print my shells on another bot that would open up later tonight, with the shop's filament instead of mine (meaning it'll be a free print). That printer seemed to be working very well, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.
So, till Monday at least, it's back to just modeling. Phaser 2 shells, here I come...
UPDATE -- Got an email from Olivia this morning telling my my print came out fine on the other bot and I can pick it up whenever. So at least something got salvaged.
Last edited:
asalaw
Master Member
Here's how far I've gotten today on the P2 shells. I'm actually making both halves at once, but for clarity in the screencaps I turned off the mirror modifier for some of these. I may well do some more tonight. Just finished watching Game of Thrones, and I'm massively jazzed up.
I accomplished more on this in one day than a whole week with the P1. Blender just keeps getting faster and faster. My topology is a bit messy right now, but I'm going to do some cleanup on the mesh before I split it into two shells.
Also, I have to figure out exactly where I'm going to "fork" this model into a hero version and a midgrade version. If I fork this up, I'm gonna be forked. Because flatware.
I accomplished more on this in one day than a whole week with the P1. Blender just keeps getting faster and faster. My topology is a bit messy right now, but I'm going to do some cleanup on the mesh before I split it into two shells.
Also, I have to figure out exactly where I'm going to "fork" this model into a hero version and a midgrade version. If I fork this up, I'm gonna be forked. Because flatware.
Last edited:
asalaw
Master Member
Update on the NovaLabs trip -- they are definitely getting my business. I'm going to put my Techshop membership on perma-hold unless there's a piece of gear I can't do without, and it actually works.
I've also been killing it in Blender today. Below is where I'm at with the scratch-rebuild of the P2 shells, since I had too many topology problems in the first one. But boy, did those problems ever teach me a few things. This iteration went even faster and is farther along, with much cleaner geometry, and it shows in the way it's shaping up.
I know the front window looks like an adobe hut right now, I just haven't gotten there yet. I built it from front to back, and I'm detailing it from back to front. So the cutout for the fins in back is just the way I want it, but the front still looks like it's made of marshmallows.
I've also been killing it in Blender today. Below is where I'm at with the scratch-rebuild of the P2 shells, since I had too many topology problems in the first one. But boy, did those problems ever teach me a few things.
This iteration went even faster and is farther along, with much cleaner geometry, and it shows in the way it's shaping up.I know the front window looks like an adobe hut right now, I just haven't gotten there yet. I built it from front to back, and I'm detailing it from back to front. So the cutout for the fins in back is just the way I want it, but the front still looks like it's made of marshmallows.
Last edited:
asalaw
Master Member
Forgot to mention a little more about NovaLabs. They have a very well-equipped woodshop and machine shop, and their machine lathe has a digital readout and a milling attachment! One-stop nozzles, here we come!
Also, they just built and are now testing a 2' x 4' vacuum former based on the Proto-Form building plans available at Workshop Publishing. I'm going to build the smaller one and leave it there. The plans are cheap, and I can fundraise through the shop membership for the more expensive parts. You can also get paid to teach classes there, or leave the pay in your account to defray your membership fee. Looks like I might be creating a "Basic Copyright for Makers" class.
They also have a completely different approach to membership and maintenance. They claim their uptime rate on equipment is around 90%, and nothing I saw suggested otherwise. Unlike Techshop, they have specific members who take ownership of specific areas and equipment, instead of spreading that responsibility among the the whole staff and therefore making no one really responsible.
And they, too, have just gotten their hands on a giant industrial CNC machine. It's way cheaper to qualify on than the VF-2 at Techshop (though to be fair, that's just what it costs to certify on that machine).
Here it is:
The lathe is right behind it, back in that corner. I'm pretty sure the guy in the green shirt was trying to use the force to spot-weld something. Or holding back a poo. One of those.
There's also a wood lathe, and even a little Jet benchtop wood lathe that I'm pretty sure I can cut emitters on. If not, there's always the machine lathe.
Chores today, but I'll be back to modeling tonight.
Also, they just built and are now testing a 2' x 4' vacuum former based on the Proto-Form building plans available at Workshop Publishing. I'm going to build the smaller one and leave it there. The plans are cheap, and I can fundraise through the shop membership for the more expensive parts. You can also get paid to teach classes there, or leave the pay in your account to defray your membership fee. Looks like I might be creating a "Basic Copyright for Makers" class.
They also have a completely different approach to membership and maintenance. They claim their uptime rate on equipment is around 90%, and nothing I saw suggested otherwise. Unlike Techshop, they have specific members who take ownership of specific areas and equipment, instead of spreading that responsibility among the the whole staff and therefore making no one really responsible.
And they, too, have just gotten their hands on a giant industrial CNC machine. It's way cheaper to qualify on than the VF-2 at Techshop (though to be fair, that's just what it costs to certify on that machine).
Here it is:
The lathe is right behind it, back in that corner. I'm pretty sure the guy in the green shirt was trying to use the force to spot-weld something. Or holding back a poo. One of those.
There's also a wood lathe, and even a little Jet benchtop wood lathe that I'm pretty sure I can cut emitters on. If not, there's always the machine lathe.
Chores today, but I'll be back to modeling tonight.
Last edited by a moderator:
asalaw
Master Member
Okay, RPFeeples!
Huge progress tonight, just between listening to TOS episodes from Who Mourns for Adonais to the beginning of Doomsday Machine. It's playing in the living room, and I'm on my cheap Chinese bluetooth headphones. Can't get a 5.1 surround system because 91-year-old mom + neighbors = gutting with a butterknife, so I blast my movies & TV inside my head. Ear bleeds and brain tumors are so much easier to deal with than my mom.
Or wired 800W subwoofers! EVER!
Everything's done now except the cradle bar, the slot for the P1 catch, the side dial hole, and the side ribs. That's tomorrow. Then I'll "fork" it off into separate files, one hero, one midgrade, and detail them accordingly. The trigger and nozzle holes get done separately for each version, since the hero isn't sliced down the middle and the midgrade is.
Tonight's work was finishing the front window, opening the rear cavity a bit more for the P1 catch and 10-turn knob space (oops!), and trapping my little geometry mistakes. I murdered them slowly and painfully, because Game of Thrones. I also reshaped the U-hole for the P1 a bit to make it rounder in the back. I left the A-hole alone, because it's sore from Chipotle.
A couple of things about the contours and shapes, which you can see in the shots where I overlaid the blueprint with the model:
Overall, the surface is baby-smooth now, and I'm really happy with it.
The trigger box looks like it's too far forward in the side view. I looked very closely at it, and figured out that it's an illusion caused by the midline of the trigger box being farther forward than its outside corners. If you compare the side views with the bottom views, you can see that the trigger on the GJ and in the drawings is hiding that part of the original prop. So it's the right size and shape, but it doesn't look that way in the side view.
The front view looks as if the front window is plugged, but what you're seeing is the rear end of the P1 cradle through the window.
There was probably something else, but it's gone down some sort of middle-age spaz-heimers memory hole, and I don't mean the one that feels nice. So pictures now.
EDIT --
HAH!! Finally remembered the other thing. The front corner of the P1 cradle is very soft and curvy, but you can see in the drawings that it's a much sharper corner on the GJ. I've been wrestling with that. It's not a hard change at all, it's just sliding a line forward along the side of the model. What I'm struggling with is that even though I know I have to change it to be accurate, I think it's pretty and I'm procrastinating. I can heartlessly cut whole swaths of words when I write, but it's harder to murder my darlings when they look pretty on a screen.
<sigh.>
Guess I have to go tell Cyril the Knife to sharpen up his blade...
Huge progress tonight, just between listening to TOS episodes from Who Mourns for Adonais to the beginning of Doomsday Machine. It's playing in the living room, and I'm on my cheap Chinese bluetooth headphones. Can't get a 5.1 surround system because 91-year-old mom + neighbors = gutting with a butterknife, so I blast my movies & TV inside my head. Ear bleeds and brain tumors are so much easier to deal with than my mom.
Or wired 800W subwoofers! EVER!
Everything's done now except the cradle bar, the slot for the P1 catch, the side dial hole, and the side ribs. That's tomorrow. Then I'll "fork" it off into separate files, one hero, one midgrade, and detail them accordingly. The trigger and nozzle holes get done separately for each version, since the hero isn't sliced down the middle and the midgrade is.
Tonight's work was finishing the front window, opening the rear cavity a bit more for the P1 catch and 10-turn knob space (oops!), and trapping my little geometry mistakes. I murdered them slowly and painfully, because Game of Thrones.
I also reshaped the U-hole for the P1 a bit to make it rounder in the back. I left the A-hole alone, because it's sore from Chipotle. A couple of things about the contours and shapes, which you can see in the shots where I overlaid the blueprint with the model:
Overall, the surface is baby-smooth now, and I'm really happy with it.
The trigger box looks like it's too far forward in the side view. I looked very closely at it, and figured out that it's an illusion caused by the midline of the trigger box being farther forward than its outside corners. If you compare the side views with the bottom views, you can see that the trigger on the GJ and in the drawings is hiding that part of the original prop. So it's the right size and shape, but it doesn't look that way in the side view.
The front view looks as if the front window is plugged, but what you're seeing is the rear end of the P1 cradle through the window.
There was probably something else, but it's gone down some sort of middle-age spaz-heimers memory hole, and I don't mean the one that feels nice. So pictures now.
EDIT --
HAH!! Finally remembered the other thing. The front corner of the P1 cradle is very soft and curvy, but you can see in the drawings that it's a much sharper corner on the GJ. I've been wrestling with that. It's not a hard change at all, it's just sliding a line forward along the side of the model. What I'm struggling with is that even though I know I have to change it to be accurate, I think it's pretty and I'm procrastinating. I can heartlessly cut whole swaths of words when I write, but it's harder to murder my darlings when they look pretty on a screen.
<sigh.>
Guess I have to go tell Cyril the Knife to sharpen up his blade...
Last edited:
asalaw
Master Member
Closer and closer! I'm pooped again, but I corrected the trigger box (my eyes were playing tricks on me, the bastards), the front of the cradle, and a few pesky geometry errors in the fantail that led to some minor reconstruction back there. Near as I can tell, the contours are right on now. Tomorrow it's the cradle bar and side ribs, and a final geometry cleanup before I test print.
On a side note, today I learned about a free cloud-based CAD package called Onshape. I've signed up for it. Now I won't need to use Inventor anymore for certain things, and I can start learning to do CAD 3D modeling for certain things once I'm done with these here props. That is, I'm on a headlong crusade to create my own TOS field kit props, and I'm doing too well with Blender to change horses in midstream. But check it out, it's another tool you can put in your toolbox, and the free-level subscription is very good.
NovaLabs just formed an Onshape user group, that's how I found out about it. My changeover is paying off already!
And now, your moment of phaser porn.
On a side note, today I learned about a free cloud-based CAD package called Onshape. I've signed up for it. Now I won't need to use Inventor anymore for certain things, and I can start learning to do CAD 3D modeling for certain things once I'm done with these here props. That is, I'm on a headlong crusade to create my own TOS field kit props, and I'm doing too well with Blender to change horses in midstream. But check it out, it's another tool you can put in your toolbox, and the free-level subscription is very good.
NovaLabs just formed an Onshape user group, that's how I found out about it. My changeover is paying off already!
And now, your moment of phaser porn.
Last edited by a moderator:
Similar threads
