Millennium Falcon parts for 3d Printing

Need to see what size it really comes out as... but yeah he seems really willing to accommodate. Resizing parts takes him like a day or so. Its the new parts that take time. if it comes in close to studio scale (one can dream) then these parts are almost ready to roll as is :).

for fine molds and MPC they are a done deal. I particularly like the belly gun :)

Jedi Dade
 
MF_McLaren_PartNo2.334.jpg

Thank you Andre for supplying the base model for this. I'll probably be posting versions of the "original" part and of ones that have been modified to fit the falcon dome. Also one with a thicker wall section for smaller builds (like my 32" scale).
 
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IMG_4517.JPG

Here is a test print of the above mentioned part. The wall thickness of the original part is 0.05" - making the wall of this half scale print 0.025". Pretty thin!

I'll be modifying the file to have a thicker wall in places that aren't seen from the outside - to keep the appearance of the thin part, but a bit beefier for handling.
 
So here's a fun one!

Got a small section of Andre's 3D photometric scan of the 5' Falcon and started using it for the digital reconstruction.

MF_DockingRing.328.jpg

We built a generic version of the docking ring...

MF_DockingRing.332.jpg

Then I traced the armored plates onto the generic ring using the 3D scan as an underlay to get exact plate lines. The plates were added to the generic model...

MF_DockingRing.331.jpg

Next the plates were digitally unrolled from the cone shape to make a flat pattern...

Falcon63_DockingRing_2DProfiles_20140720.jpg

A little pew pew on the laser cutter...

IMG_4508.jpg

And I have plates that can be glued on!

IMG_4513.jpg

This is still a bit of a proof of concept. The digital method works well. Now I am experimenting with materials. The above photo show 0.5mm ABS - which gets kinda melty. I cut some in Polyester which are crisp and quite nice - but will be tricky to bond and finish, I think. Next I'm going to try clear styrene - which hopefully will allow enough of the laser's energy to pass through and prevent the heat from building-up. Also switching to a thinner 0.25 mm stock should help as well.
 
Regarding the previous post. I'm still going back and forth between gluing the plates on and just building them into the SLA. One of the benefits of the bonded method is that the surface finish will be exceptional. I won't have to worry about any surface defects in the printing as it will be covered. It also means I 'll have a lot of gluing to do. Not that that is new to anyone who has endeavored to build their own Falcon model...
 
IMG_4520.jpg
One of the cool things about playing with the 3D printer is that I can print my own tools. Here I made a little part that clips onto the docking ring to aid in aligning the plates onto the cone such that I can keep the edges of the plate parallel with the convergence axis. A regular draftsman's triangle or carpenter's square wouldn't give the same result.

You can also see some of the polyester parts I cut. They are really beautiful. Next up will I'll be studying bonding materials to the SLA base and other types of materials to cut.

Cheers,
J.
 
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Excellent work Maruska!

But double work! 3D and laser cutting, plus glueing everything!

Did you print the base docking ring in your Form1?
I want to buy a 3D printer but I'm not decided yet. My options are Ultimaker 2 or a DLP. The material options on the Ultimaker are incredible, more restricted on the resin ones.
 
Heh. Yeah. It's one of the paradoxes of my project. I don't intend to replace traditional methods of model making entirely with printing or other rapid prototyping tools, but documenting things in such a way to be reproducible sometimes feels like I should.

Yeas, all the parts are from my Form 1. The McLaren part looks a lot rougher than it it. It so thin to be transparent and thus you see the inside and outside. I plan on making a thicker one soon...

Cheers,
J.
 
View attachment 351503

Here is a test print of the above mentioned part. The wall thickness of the original part is 0.05" - making the wall of this half scale print 0.025". Pretty thin!

I'll be modifying the file to have a thicker wall in places that aren't seen from the outside - to keep the appearance of the thin part, but a bit beefier for handling.


Great reference & help.....no laser cutter just scapel & plasticard

Thanks again,...great findings

John
 
I was worried you were gonna say something like that. Do they make anything like a laser cutter for a home hobbyist? Hopefully something in the 1000-5000 dollar range?
 
Maruska,


Great looking stuff! I'm glad the CG model parts are working out for you...!

I have more I'll send you a render inventory of. There are all scaled for the 5' MF, of course, but not a problem in 3D.



Regards,

Andre
 
I was worried you were gonna say something like that. Do they make anything like a laser cutter for a home hobbyist? Hopefully something in the 1000-5000 dollar range?

Not laser cutters, but there are little CNC sheet material cutters used by scrapbookers that can take an SVG vector file and cutout the silhouette.

Silhouette CAMEO Electronic Cutting Tool is about $270.

I've never used one, so I can't vouch for its reliability or accuracy, but it seems like it would do the trick.

Plus it uses a knife, not a laser, so the melting would be less of an issue...

Cheers,
Josh
 
Hey all,

Some updates. I finally got around to working on the port-side docking ring. This one was a bit trickier as we didn't have as good a 3d scan of that side, so I had to employ some other photo projection techniques to get the placement of the parting lines correct.

I currently have Andre doing a peer review of the parts, then I'll post them to grabCAD for anyone who wants them.

I'll be posting them a few different ways: I'll post the 3D files of the starboard and port-side rings as shown - with the armor modeled in. And then another version as a blank ring and the 2D files for laser-cutting the plates, if you want to bond the plates on traditionally.

MF_DockingRings_141029_PS_jm.8.png MF_DockingRings_141029_SB_jm.7.png

MF_DockingRings_141029_PS_jm.6.png MF_DockingRings_141029_SB_jm.5.png

Here they are in context. So small compared to the rest of the model! These are shown on our 5' base model...

MF_DockingRings_141029_jm.9.png

Cheers,
J.
 
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ABSOLUTELY AWESOME MARUSKA! Since the Hasbro Falcon is all the rage and in desperate need of re-detailing. Is it possible for you to scale some of the body parts (specifically the canopy, cockpit, smaller radar dish, and needed side wall details?) and make files available? This would be of immense help for us builders! With a 3D printer on hand we could just whip these parts out (if you could isolate them from your model?)

Let us know if this is possible?
 
Yeah. Not an issue at all for the docking rings. Let me know what diameter you'd like them scaled to (at the wide end) and I'll be sure to include versions for the Hasbro Falcon when I release the part files.

As it stands there will be files for the 5' ANH version, and my half scale version...

I'll be doing the other bits eventually too. : )
 

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