Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 1/12
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Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
Unfortunately, I can spot one glaring error.
In this photo here, you use a Pepsi can for scale -
While I understand this is the REL approved gnomon for studio scale replicas, it is inaccurate.
As you can see here, the modelmakers of the day used..... a different sort of beverage..... as a scale reference in photos.
(Maybe that's why the thing was crooked!)
I trust you will correct this error in future postings.......
Gene
Unfortunately, I can spot one glaring error.
In this photo here, you use a Pepsi can for scale -
While I understand this is the REL approved gnomon for studio scale replicas, it is inaccurate.
As you can see here, the modelmakers of the day used..... a different sort of beverage..... as a scale reference in photos.
(Maybe that's why the thing was crooked!)
I trust you will correct this error in future postings.......
Gene
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t2sides
Master Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
Good catch Gene!!! Knowing Charles he'll fix that right away!!
Seriously, Charles and Richard, this is insanely amazing!! Great job with all the engineering!! This is just outstanding. Construction of the Gal has come a long way since the good ol days.
Keep up the excellent work and updates.
Sean
Good catch Gene!!! Knowing Charles he'll fix that right away!!
Seriously, Charles and Richard, this is insanely amazing!! Great job with all the engineering!! This is just outstanding. Construction of the Gal has come a long way since the good ol days.
Keep up the excellent work and updates.
Sean
star-art
Sr Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
He he. . .
Well, I don't drink that kind of beverage. LOL
Actually, that's Richard's Pepsi. He wanted to use a pack of cigarettes as a scale reference. That would have been more accurate, too. But, I don't smoke, either, so I nixed that idea. (Yeah, I know, I'm boring. . . LOL)
Thanks for the kind words, guys. I know you can truly appreciate how much work goes into something like this. Sometimes we think of it as the project that never ends! :wacko
He he. . .
Well, I don't drink that kind of beverage. LOL
Actually, that's Richard's Pepsi. He wanted to use a pack of cigarettes as a scale reference. That would have been more accurate, too. But, I don't smoke, either, so I nixed that idea. (Yeah, I know, I'm boring. . . LOL)
Thanks for the kind words, guys. I know you can truly appreciate how much work goes into something like this. Sometimes we think of it as the project that never ends! :wacko
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
You know........ Maybe with all his engineering skillz and attention to detail..... maybe Charles should engineer a kit of the Galactica Laser Turret.... (just saying.... :cool )
I say this as your friend - maybe you should...... :cheers
Gene
You know........ Maybe with all his engineering skillz and attention to detail..... maybe Charles should engineer a kit of the Galactica Laser Turret.... (just saying.... :cool )
I say this as your friend - maybe you should......
:cheersGene
Demoriel
Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
Looking great Charles! You need an extra hand when it comes to decorating, i'm available
BTW, you guys see i found that mystery part (at least it was to me) on the sides of the Pyramid? gave Jim the plastic, think he's gonna mold them up.
laser turret on the top of the head near the bridge? or the big one on the neck?
Looking great Charles! You need an extra hand when it comes to decorating, i'm available
BTW, you guys see i found that mystery part (at least it was to me) on the sides of the Pyramid? gave Jim the plastic, think he's gonna mold them up.
laser turret on the top of the head near the bridge? or the big one on the neck?
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customreplicas
New Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
Charles,
Where are all the pix of you building this glorious model? Surely you took some...
...happens to me too.
Jim Key
Charles,
Where are all the pix of you building this glorious model? Surely you took some...
...happens to me too.
Jim Key
star-art
Sr Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
Thanks! I'm not very photogenic these days, Jim, so I prefer to stay out of range of the camera. LOL
Jason, we aren't "decorating" this one -- just building the body shell for the client. A lot of tweaking has taken place in the process. No matter how much time is spent in the design phase, there are always things you need to change during construction. For example, I completely redesigned the landing bay interiors and the rear end caps for this build.
In the future, I also plan to modify the armature, main body, and landing bay structures in the event I get to build another one. We'll be making even more "tweaks" to add back some of the character found in the original. These will include some things I don't think anyone else has tried to recreate so far.
PS The "laser turret" reference is regarding the separate insert model built for the shots involving AA batteries firing at enemy ships. Sean Sides built an amazing replica of a while back and they keep teasing him about making a kit of it.
Thanks! I'm not very photogenic these days, Jim, so I prefer to stay out of range of the camera. LOL
Jason, we aren't "decorating" this one -- just building the body shell for the client. A lot of tweaking has taken place in the process. No matter how much time is spent in the design phase, there are always things you need to change during construction. For example, I completely redesigned the landing bay interiors and the rear end caps for this build.
In the future, I also plan to modify the armature, main body, and landing bay structures in the event I get to build another one. We'll be making even more "tweaks" to add back some of the character found in the original. These will include some things I don't think anyone else has tried to recreate so far.
PS The "laser turret" reference is regarding the separate insert model built for the shots involving AA batteries firing at enemy ships. Sean Sides built an amazing replica of a while back and they keep teasing him about making a kit of it.
star-art
Sr Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
Thanks, guys. I'm neck-deep in wiring right now. I've made 24 pages of detailed wiring diagrams for this project so far. I never thought the lighting for one of these could be so complex. What I've developed is sort of like a "plug and play" harness that looks like it was made in a factory. It's complicated because the head, engine section, and landing bays are removable for detailing. Therefore, the wiring inside each "module" has to plug in or the ship would not be able to come apart again. It's like putting together a wire harness for an automobile.
There are four internal cooling fans in this model and also four temperature sensors to monitor what's going on inside the structure. If anything gets too hot, or if a fan quits working, a microcontroller will shut the lights off automatically. Better safe than sorry for a project that takes as much time, effort, and $$$ as something like this!
We plan on having one more build session starting the middle of next week. That should complete construction. If things go smoothly, I'll have much of the wiring ready by then. It won't be that long before this thing is ready to go into the crate.
Thanks, guys. I'm neck-deep in wiring right now. I've made 24 pages of detailed wiring diagrams for this project so far. I never thought the lighting for one of these could be so complex. What I've developed is sort of like a "plug and play" harness that looks like it was made in a factory. It's complicated because the head, engine section, and landing bays are removable for detailing. Therefore, the wiring inside each "module" has to plug in or the ship would not be able to come apart again. It's like putting together a wire harness for an automobile.
There are four internal cooling fans in this model and also four temperature sensors to monitor what's going on inside the structure. If anything gets too hot, or if a fan quits working, a microcontroller will shut the lights off automatically. Better safe than sorry for a project that takes as much time, effort, and $$$ as something like this!
We plan on having one more build session starting the middle of next week. That should complete construction. If things go smoothly, I'll have much of the wiring ready by then. It won't be that long before this thing is ready to go into the crate.
star-art
Sr Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
Time for another update. . .
Richard has been hard at work finishing the landing bay rear end caps. Making these from scratch has been a real challenge. It’s not easy matching the quality of 3D-printed and/or laser-cut & etched parts. But, I think we’ve managed to do pretty well so far. At this point, the rear end caps have been masked and primed. All that’s left is some final “preening.”
In the meantime, I’ve been working on the complex wiring. I spent weeks designing everything. Now, it’s time to see if what I’ve drawn up actually works as planned. As with all complex projects, a number of things will need to be tweaked along the way.
The landing bay wiring was installed during the previous update. It has now been finalized and connected inside the main body. One of the challenges in this area is the fact not one but two fuses are needed inside each bay. With little or no room to spare, it was not possible to install panel-mounted fuse holders. Thus, I was forced to employ inline fuses. Because they must be accessible in order to change the fuses, these take up a lot of room in the wire harness. Everything must be done through the narrow opening at the end. This includes being able to remove and service the custom printed circuit boards, each custom back-lit interior painting with light box, the 40mm computer fan, and of course the two fuses.
Time for another update. . .
Richard has been hard at work finishing the landing bay rear end caps. Making these from scratch has been a real challenge. It’s not easy matching the quality of 3D-printed and/or laser-cut & etched parts. But, I think we’ve managed to do pretty well so far. At this point, the rear end caps have been masked and primed. All that’s left is some final “preening.”
In the meantime, I’ve been working on the complex wiring. I spent weeks designing everything. Now, it’s time to see if what I’ve drawn up actually works as planned. As with all complex projects, a number of things will need to be tweaked along the way.
The landing bay wiring was installed during the previous update. It has now been finalized and connected inside the main body. One of the challenges in this area is the fact not one but two fuses are needed inside each bay. With little or no room to spare, it was not possible to install panel-mounted fuse holders. Thus, I was forced to employ inline fuses. Because they must be accessible in order to change the fuses, these take up a lot of room in the wire harness. Everything must be done through the narrow opening at the end. This includes being able to remove and service the custom printed circuit boards, each custom back-lit interior painting with light box, the 40mm computer fan, and of course the two fuses.
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star-art
Sr Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
Once all that was sorted, it became apparent that, with all the wires stuffed in there, it might be possible for one or more wires to find their way into the path of the fan blades. I asked Richard to make a custom “fan guard” assembly and he did a brilliant job as usual. It is pretty neat and should be quite effective I think.
So far, I’ve made up and installed the main body harness. That went fairly smoothly. I still need to make the circuit board that will go in the main body (and a similar unit that mounts inside the head section). I also have to make up all the individual LEDs with their own wire harnesses. These will plug into the circuit boards.
The engine wiring was next. There’s a lot going on in there, so it’s the most complicated part of the ship to wire. I’d say it’s about 2/3 done at this point. I still need to install the custom computer control module behind the port side cooling fan. And, of course, we need to fabricate and install the main engine lights themselves. These will be completely custom made.
The computer module will monitor four internal temperature sensors and all four cooling fans. In the event of a problem, it will be programmed to cut power to the printed circuit boards inside the landing bays and/or the main lights inside the engine section, as well as any or all of the cooling fans as needed. For example, it should be able to detect if a fan gets stalled or jammed and shut it down in order to prevent the fan motor from burning up. In addition, if a fan quits working, the associated circuitry will automatically power down to prevent overheating.
A lot of careful planning and design work has gone into figuring all this out. Once I get it all wired up, there will be some extensive testing in order to make sure everything works correctly.
I had hoped we would completely finish the structure during this session. The ship had other plans, however, as we spent a lot of additional time on the wiring. As a result, we still need to build the front end caps and side mount covers. That should happen next week. In the meantime, I still have a lot of soldering and wiring to do!
I’d like to say “thanks” once again to Richard Lindstrom for all his hard work helping me finish this beast. We’ve put in a lot of 12-hour days trying to get it all done.
Until next time. . .
Once all that was sorted, it became apparent that, with all the wires stuffed in there, it might be possible for one or more wires to find their way into the path of the fan blades. I asked Richard to make a custom “fan guard” assembly and he did a brilliant job as usual. It is pretty neat and should be quite effective I think.
So far, I’ve made up and installed the main body harness. That went fairly smoothly. I still need to make the circuit board that will go in the main body (and a similar unit that mounts inside the head section). I also have to make up all the individual LEDs with their own wire harnesses. These will plug into the circuit boards.
The engine wiring was next. There’s a lot going on in there, so it’s the most complicated part of the ship to wire. I’d say it’s about 2/3 done at this point. I still need to install the custom computer control module behind the port side cooling fan. And, of course, we need to fabricate and install the main engine lights themselves. These will be completely custom made.
The computer module will monitor four internal temperature sensors and all four cooling fans. In the event of a problem, it will be programmed to cut power to the printed circuit boards inside the landing bays and/or the main lights inside the engine section, as well as any or all of the cooling fans as needed. For example, it should be able to detect if a fan gets stalled or jammed and shut it down in order to prevent the fan motor from burning up. In addition, if a fan quits working, the associated circuitry will automatically power down to prevent overheating.
A lot of careful planning and design work has gone into figuring all this out. Once I get it all wired up, there will be some extensive testing in order to make sure everything works correctly.
I had hoped we would completely finish the structure during this session. The ship had other plans, however, as we spent a lot of additional time on the wiring. As a result, we still need to build the front end caps and side mount covers. That should happen next week. In the meantime, I still have a lot of soldering and wiring to do!
I’d like to say “thanks” once again to Richard Lindstrom for all his hard work helping me finish this beast. We’ve put in a lot of 12-hour days trying to get it all done.
Until next time. . .
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Richard_2001
New Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 7/16
Charles,
You are welcome!
Richard
Charles,
You are welcome!
Richard
jedimaster
Sr Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 8/24
Wow..... And I was worried about lighting the Narcissus. Two led's with transistors, 4 led Cans for the engines, couple a wires a switch and a battery. My god I'm getting off easy. Nice work fellas. Always a pleasure to watch and learn.
Wow..... And I was worried about lighting the Narcissus. Two led's with transistors, 4 led Cans for the engines, couple a wires a switch and a battery. My god I'm getting off easy. Nice work fellas. Always a pleasure to watch and learn.
star-art
Sr Member
Re: Yet another studio-scale BATTLESTAR UPDATE 8/24
LOL! Most of the complexity here comes from the fact this model can be almost completely disassembled for detailing. That feature adds quite a few headaches to the construction process, but it pays off big time later on. For example, the landing bays, head section, and engine section come off. As a result, all the wiring that connects these areas must plug in. The result looks like the wiring installed inside a car!
LOL! Most of the complexity here comes from the fact this model can be almost completely disassembled for detailing. That feature adds quite a few headaches to the construction process, but it pays off big time later on. For example, the landing bays, head section, and engine section come off. As a result, all the wiring that connects these areas must plug in. The result looks like the wiring installed inside a car!
