U.S.S Cygnus 1/700 scale… a study in insanity

[mrchester]

Greeting folks, I’ll respond to the comments above and try to provide some clarification. The thread that showed the development of this ‘kit’ and the bigger 1/350 scale version is: ‘1/700 and 1/350 scale BH Cygnus builds’. That was done by Primitive Dave and Nwerke (Kremin on the Shapeways site). It’s over 45 pages and goes through the trials and tribulations of developing this ship. I posted on the thread trying to get some insight on improving the abomination that MPC turned out. I fell away from anything Cygnus for about 8 years. I managed to make the right decision recently to get the rest of the available parts from the now closed Shapeways. The model is about 80 printed pieces ((and a dozen really tiny antenna details) and a bunch of acrylic components to make up the interior armature.
Szarchie had recently finished this model (which was the reason for me to get mine going) and he had another designer (whose name I’ll find soon) produce for him the probe ship, the command tower upper spire and the Palomino. The were though Shapeways which when I went to his site there (when they were still open) the parts were listed as ‘not for sale’. I have accepted the fact that I will have to scratch build the tower spire and the Probe ship. I am okay with the fact that there may not be a Palomino model for a bit. I would like to be done. In about a month so I can take this to this years Modelpalooza show in October.

 

[mrchester]

Speaking of Szarchie… his build did something I never would have thought of… dying the parts. Some of these prints are just amazing for the detail that is in them. I’ll try to hilight them as construction progresses. However, getting a constant color into multiple layers of framing could lead to really this paint on the outside just to get passable coverage on the inside. Which leads to tonight’s episode: ‘Using a Turkey Frier Without Burning Down Your Garage’…A Quinn/Martin Production. Now that I’ve dated myself…
Szarchie has pics of the dying process, which looks like he was working on a stove in a kitchen. Dining small batches at a time is time consuming and could lead to color inconsistency. However, there is a turkey fryer that was bumping around at my shop and the pot is a rather large size. It even has a thermometer. So, bring it home and set the bad boy up on my open air front patio. I was angling for more of a grey. I used RIT black and pearl grey mixed together. Once it reached 180F I tested the color on some duplicate parts that I had. They came out like a standard automotive primer. I added some dark green to the mix and started dying the first batch of the actual model parts. By happenstance, I managed the hit a color that was almost a match for Tamiya Haze Grey. This will be important later.

 

[mrchester]

The only issues were that the upper and lower spine pieces were too long for the pot and I had to double dip them. The other was with the parts themselves… the bastards floated. Had to keep stirring them with a long set of tongs. A rinse in the kitchen sink came soon after. Dying process took just under two hours…I’ve well spent.

 

[mrchester]

No, since this is a 3D printed kit there are some finish issues with the engine pods, their shields, the power centers, and the Command Tower. The print lines in these parts were a little too obvious for my taste. Since I hit the dye job to match Haze Grey, I could do body work on these pieces. The entire model would get a couple of coats of the grey.

 

[mrchester]

I had to make a modification to the forward engines on the two mandibles, there is a channel on each that did not print cleanly. I filled each with a piece of strip plastic and adds back some detail. Also, some paint booth and Command Tower pics.

 

[mrchester]

To clarify the odd image in the background of the first two pictures in the last post. It’s Moebius’ big Seaview. I have a display coffee table with both versions of the super sub in it. See picture.

 

[Analyzer]

Incredible!

A side question...How sturdy is that?

That thing looks super fragile, although I believe Shapeways uses different materials than the typical 3D resin printers so it may not be nearly as brittle

 

[mrchester]

Greetings Analyzer, all of the big pieces are that durable white flexible stuff… nylon, I think. It sure doesn’t behave like styrene, acrylic, or polycarbonate. Now, in the picture of the Command Tower (last Cygnus pictures above) there are a handful of center section filler pieces that go between the larger sections. These were offered in the clear plastic that the domes and antenna box interiors (and smaller detailed items) are made from. Awkward Diction! These pieces were offered in black nylon also. The original set that I had did not have a good finish so I bought a set of these in clear and black. Now, as for the white stuff and the components, they are pretty durable. I have broken a couple of lattice bars here and there, mainly on older components that I bought years ago. I managed to drop my mostly assembled (and lit) bow section out in the garage with no damage to the components.

 

[Analyzer]

Greetings Analyzer, all of the big pieces are that durable white flexible stuff… nylon, I think. It sure doesn’t behave like styrene, acrylic, or polycarbonate. Now, in the picture of the Command Tower (last Cygnus pictures above) there are a handful of center section filler pieces that go between the larger sections. These were offered in the clear plastic that the domes and antenna box interiors (and smaller detailed items) are made from. Awkward Diction! These pieces were offered in black nylon also. The original set that I had did not have a good finish so I bought a set of these in clear and black. Now, as for the white stuff and the components, they are pretty durable. I have broken a couple of lattice bars here and there, mainly on older components that I bought years ago. I managed to drop my mostly assembled (and lit) bow section out in the garage with no damage to the components.

Definitely sounds like the right choice of materials

 

[mrchester]

I found that the clear stuff does not like sitting on my front porch in the hot Florida sun. It can be influenced by warm water. But that white stuff is rather robust.

 

[mrchester]

Let me get the clear components out of the way. When I made my final purchases, Primitive Dave no longer offered the observation domes, command tower dome, or the antenna boxes. Nwerke offered some of the missing components but no clear parts. I saw a communication on Szarchie’s Cygnus thread that 308Bits offered the missing piece, but the prices were a bit steep. I went ahead and orders some of these pieces an found that they were twice the size that I needed. They were meant for the bigger 1/350 scale kit. After some back and forth with 308Bits, we got the parts dialed in. I have plans for the large pieces that I had ordered.

 

[mrchester]

There are five antenna boxes on this model but two of them are a different height than the other three. The two for the upper and lower spine have locator pins in the corners of their mount spares. The lower corners of the box inserts needed to be files for clearance. I used the light on my cell phone to do the first of many lighting tests.

 

[mrchester]

The observation domes were okay but the command tower dome needed a small modification. It needed to be sanded down a few thousands of an inch. Enter my trusty hobby lathe.

 

[mrchester]

Okay, I’ll address the other main components for this model…the armature stuff. Searching through Szarchie’s build thread( it’s a short thread…must get the proper name for it, though), there are some upgrades for the Primitive Dave armatures. Mainly for the bow section. On the ‘1/700 and 1/350 scale BH Cygnus builds’ page, Dave has his armature files starting on page 19. I believe he has updates within the next few pages. I downloaded everything I could from both sites and made contact with Polalu Electronics. Thems the folks that did Szarchie’s frames.I believe that actual assembly instructions are on Primitive Dave’s site. Below some random pictures of the bow and stern boxes.

 

[mrchester]

In making the long center section I learned that MEK is good acrylic adhesive but might have a drawback…bubbles. The ones that run down the lowest center section can be seen. However, there will be some creative plating and plumbing put on to help hide the boo-boo. The ones to the outside are hidden by the lattice work.

 

[mrchester]

The good thing about these box designs is that they have slots and keys in some places. For the bow and the stern, I’m leaving the bottom plates till last but I can build the frames all around except for the last piece. The center section has a fully printed segment for the front and rear of the section. The stuff in the center is added last. And, the acrylic pieces on the top panels can be left off till final assembly. This thing was well thought out. You the man Dave.
And now a couple of ‘stick em together’ shots of the center section. The lady in the picture is my dearly beloved wife, Monique… I miss her. Damn you, cancer.

 

[rbeach84]

Super-wow! Very good demonstration of the state of the art for 3D printing & some great handling tips... Thank you for sharing this journey!
Regards, Robert

 

[mrchester]

Thanks Robert, my hats off to Primitive Dave and Nwerke for engineering this thing. If you look at some of my other posting on other subjects, you can see my machinist background gives some unique insight into creative model building. Besides the finish on some of my components (some of which are almost ten years old), I’ve found no major issues in this model. Mind you, it helps to have three hands for some of the finished assemblies.

 

[mrchester]

Here are some more pictures of test fitting of the stern. These are without the light box inside… various stages of finished color.

 

[mrchester]