1/700 & 1/350 scale BH Cygnus builds

Thanks Martyn, I found one of PrimitiveDave's reference pictures on page 7. I see that the pad sits on top of the central corridor lattice and is not formed into it. However, the picture is at an oblique angle...hard to tell the grid layout. Welcome back PrimitiveDave...your work is helpful for my MPC project. We're pulling for you here. :thumbsup
 
Dang, that's no good, Dave. We're having budget cuts too but so far not that dramatic, though I'm not completely sure my program will survive long-term, not in its current form at least. Good luck, make them pay you more...

Your problems mirror mine. I've had two parts the same arrive in the same order, and one was fine and the other, not so much. Very stupid orientation issues in another case. Etc. I checked on the Shapeways forum and there's a lot of similar complaint there from other users.

I've calculated a total spend for 3D print items of almost $4K. If there was a home 3D printer on the market which was:
a) reliable
b) capable of 0.2mm resolution or better
c) capable of printing thin parts in a sufficiently strong, non-proprietary, inexpensive material and
d) able to handle a build volume of about 30 x 25 x 20cm or better (45cm would be *awesome*)

then I'd be buying. Anything under five figures, I'm in. But nope, you have to go up to the large pro Objet units and their like for that.

My next sets of parts arrive next week...I'm kinda dreading it; if they're bad that could spell the end of this project, at least temporarily.
 
Hmmm -- interesting Martyn. If a lot of people are commenting on the problems, maybe they'll be motivated to fix them. Looking forward to seeing what you get on your next order...

mrchester -- yes, the probe ship landing pad is raised above the central coridor. From what I can tell, it's made of two rings - the outer one round and the inner one an octagon. There are 16 spokes between the inner and outer rings, and I think 8 spokes crossing the inner octagon from point to point. There were mesh panels (probably window screen) between the inner and outer rings on the miniature. They alternated covered/not covered from the straight sides of the octagon. (4 screened sections, 4 open sections) I couldn't represent the screen panels at my scale -- just too small.

Mine is basically eyeballed; I couldn't find a good enough reference to pull actual dimensions from. I realized later that my pad is probably way too big. You can see it spans almost the whole top of the central section. I think it should be more like the span between the two inner lengthwise beams. I just didn't think it was a big enough issue to go back and correct -- like I said, it's really small to begin with.

Martyn is Mr. Reference -- maybe he has some more insight, or will correct me if I've misstated anything. Good luck with your build! And thanks for the good wishes!
 
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Haha, nah, that's about dead right, Dave. The landing pad was a late change; as you know the large domed structures amidships were originally to be the spaceports before being changed to the power centres. I'm not sure if the landing pad as filmed was even drawn up.
 
SIGH. Just got my observatories. They're fantastic, really spot-on...except for all the small missing struts. My model files are fine...but one observatory is missing six struts, the other ten. The parts in question are identical; there's no reason at all these parts should have been stripped out, and differently in each case...whut the?

And my antenna clusters were accepted for print, but rejected at the cleaning stage; they're breaking. Wish they'd give the user the option to clean parts himself.

On the plus side the order included some Narcissus parts which are better than the 'good' ones I already had. Wildly inconsistent results are becoming par for the course...
 
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Dammit man...This makes me want to bury my MPC project out in the back yard. This is very nice. Can't wait to see how you handle the engine horns (upper mounts). I noticed in the movie that the scene before the Palomino lands, the shot flies past the observatory (passing to the left and looking down). I think I see open space between the rings of the riser and and the outer structure. Don't know what thats about. By the way, what is the frame color of the ship?
 
Thanks guys. :)

Funny you should mention the upper bow engines, I'm close to finishing those up. I've also got to go spend some time on the Narcissus project soon though. Anyway, you're not imagining it; there is clear space there on at least one of the two models. It seems as if the structure of the opaque inner part of the bow differed on the two models; one is largely empty while the other has material there. I suspect the decision to leave the bow mostly dark was made after the first model was largely finished but before the bow of the second was far advanced.

The ship's frame colour is a bit of a matter of personal taste. It was built out of brass and copper tube and rod; only a few items were painted as best I can tell. These include some red tanks in the four fuel bays and a thin red line of framing around the dock "keyhole" area.

For the rest it seems to have been aged chemically rather than painted - you see this best if you screencap the Palomino flyover sequence at the point a second or two before the Cygnus turns her lights on. Where the Palomino's spotlight is pointed (and depending on which release of the DVD you're watching) you can see some very nice verdigris colours and brownish patinated copper and so on.

I'm painting my model with copper and bronze craft paints which produce verdigris when hit with ammonium chloride so it will end up being a kind of corroded-looking mix of metallic browns and oxide greens.
 
Martyn,
That piece is really is awesome. Looking forward for future pieces. Will this one be available anytime soon?

Mark
 
Thanks Mark. The observatories are actually two separate pieces, simply because the arrangement for the lower part of the spine differs (the lower spine has two layers of framing instead of just one) and this carries forward into the observatory structure. It's a minor thing but does make a difference. Also, you can see in my pics how the new observatory/spine design mismatches with the old bow core design. Could be resolved with some cutting and careful parts replacements.

If you just wanted these as, er, I don't know, art pieces? I could make them available as-is. Or, if you can wait until I finish the mandible and engine pylons, I'll revisit them. As well as the peculiar Shapeways error I made a few mistakes myself - there is one tie rod that protrudes into the spine cavity area, and there's a couple of missing uprights which I forgot to mirror right/left.
 
Hi Martyn,
Put me in the lunatic category if you want, but I do see these pieces as art. As I have mentioned before, I have several mathematical art pieces from Shapeways and these Cygnus parts fall into that category. Without your drive and dedication ( and some lunacy??) we would not have these parts available. Thank you.

Mark
 
Hi Martyn,
I've checked Shapeways and do not see the observatory piece on your store front. Will it be available?
Thanks,
Mark
 
Sorry man, spent most of last night building my new PC. I'm slowing to a crawl again on the modelling, the section needs breaking down into further subassemblies as it's maxing out my old hardware, despite the new SSD. Figured it'd be quicker to get the new box fully up and running and port everything over to that.
 
Hokay - done. Could have done it from work but don't have my SW password there.

I wanted to update the file and post a 'perfect' version for you but it's really my OCD kicking in, I have to control that. There are about nine missing struts out of 19,000. :lol

I will do it of course, after I finish the mandibles and engine pylons - so if you wish to wait, there'll be a slightly better option before long.
 
Martyn,
Thank you once again. I've elected to wait for the revised version. That will be a really nice addition.
I've never posted pics to the web so I will have to search the FAQ topic to figure it out. Hopefully, I'll find the method to post them like you do, where one clicks on a thumbnail and a sort of slide show opens up.

Mark
 

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