Interest Ahsoka - The Map ball - several options (grouped project Wonderknight & eethan)

hello there,

We now have 100% of the tiles details matched, we have been correcting and going back and forth between Julie and me. I felt like a school boy when she sent me the flat map with red corrections on it, I went back to all the tiles and corrected what needed to be corrected again, corrected her correction when I thought it was already correct... but now, I doubt we can get the model more accurate that this, we went really far already and spent at least twice the amount of time we should have spent on it! Each line, each little dot, lighting up or not, all have been double checked, triple checked by Julie and me over and over!
This has been the most difficult, complex model I ever had to match, I used 30 reference images in the 3D scene, going back and forth between each of those images until all details were matching in all views. crazy! I mean, my first 3D scene is saved from the 2nd of September, I have been working on a ball model for over a month, this is a LOT! But even though this is a recent prop and a lot of people have been/are working on this, we didn't want to have the first 3D model, we wanted to have the best model possible, and this takes time.

I'm going to show again some of the same main images so I don't show too much of the faces that are hidden most of the time and that I never saw on any internet model this far. But this shows a bit of the result. I have also tweaked slightly my model for the tiles, getting it closer to the original and moved slightly each tile to match the references when needed, the tiles being glued by hand, they are not all perfectly aligned, and this will be visible in the options 3 through 5 as we are printed the whole model for those :)

It can be difficult to see, but the tiles are all visible here slightly transparent over the reference image and they all match in position :) I have selected some randomly to show they are here :)
obviously some engraving lines are not going to be always 100% on top of the line on the ref, but this is because they are matched on so many images and some compromizes have to be done sometimes to get a better result in all views. This can seem weird seing just one or two images like this, but the more images matched, the more accurate the end model :)
3D_match22.jpg

3D_match23.jpg

3D_match24.jpg
 
Hello there,
I just published a process/technical update on the WIP thread, but wanted to say here as well that engravings are validated, model is cleaned up, a few python scripts were writen to clean all the curves, project them all perfectly on a sphere so they are all at the same curvature/diameter, and I have found a better solution to fo from the curves to the final model :)
good progress :)
engravings_01.jpg

engravings_02.jpg
 
I am interested in option 5 but have a few questions. How will power be supplied? Will there be a plug in connector? Maybe behind a removable piece that can double as a peg type stand attachment point. Battery? Which wouldn't be real useful for constant lighting. Or can there be wireless leds with a wireless coil? Like the trooper Trent jedi remote. Floating would also be awesome!

I use home automation software to control all of my displays (way too many to manually turn off/on) so I would like wireless coil or if not then a plugin connector. What option would you recommend to accommodate one if the planned power source won't work for me?

I want whatever option is the most finished product closest to my needs and I'll DIY the rest.
 
I am interested in option 5 but have a few questions. How will power be supplied? Will there be a plug in connector? Maybe behind a removable piece that can double as a peg type stand attachment point. Battery? Which wouldn't be real useful for constant lighting. Or can there be wireless leds with a wireless coil? Like the trooper Trent jedi remote. Floating would also be awesome!

I use home automation software to control all of my displays (way too many to manually turn off/on) so I would like wireless coil or if not then a plugin connector. What option would you recommend to accommodate one if the planned power source won't work for me?

I want whatever option is the most finished product closest to my needs and I'll DIY the rest.
Hi,
thank you for your interest,
the current plan is to use a lit ball that uses batteries that we will put inside the option 5 ball. We went with this as we found a perfect lit ball with a remote control that would fit right into our 3D model. We chose this option with batteries as it is the only one that really makes sense for an object you'll hold in your hand.

But I understand that some people will only want a display object and would prefer to plug it. We can still think about finding another solution but there is no promises for this.
However, since you are asking about the most advanced option we offer that you could then improve, it is the option 5. This is the only one that is planned for a lit version and will be painted accordingly. For now, the electronics we are using are only a few € of value, so if you take this version, you are free to have fun with it as is in your hand with bateries, or simply remove the inside lit ball and replace it with a system that will suit your need better.

I hope this helps :)
 
If you want to plug it for home automation, look up "battery eliminator". These are fake batteries with a plug in cable (often usb). The only issue then could be the switch: if it's a two states on/off switch, then no problem, just leave it on all the time. But if it's a push switch, then you'll still have to turn it on manually everytime (making the whole cable thing useless)
 
If you want to plug it for home automation, look up "battery eliminator". These are fake batteries with a plug in cable (often usb). The only issue then could be the switch: if it's a two states on/off switch, then no problem, just leave it on all the time. But if it's a push switch, then you'll still have to turn it on manually everytime (making the whole cable thing useless)
Thanks Olivier, will look into it, that could work, there is no switch, it's a remote :)
 
Hi,
thank you for your interest,
the current plan is to use a lit ball that uses batteries that we will put inside the option 5 ball. We went with this as we found a perfect lit ball with a remote control that would fit right into our 3D model. We chose this option with batteries as it is the only one that really makes sense for an object you'll hold in your hand.

But I understand that some people will only want a display object and would prefer to plug it. We can still think about finding another solution but there is no promises for this.
However, since you are asking about the most advanced option we offer that you could then improve, it is the option 5. This is the only one that is planned for a lit version and will be painted accordingly. For now, the electronics we are using are only a few € of value, so if you take this version, you are free to have fun with it as is in your hand with bateries, or simply remove the inside lit ball and replace it with a system that will suit your need better.

I hope this helps :)
Ya that's fine. Put me down for option 5. I can probably come up with some sort of wireless contacts. Pogo pins on a concave base maybe. Thanks
 
Hey guys and gals!
here is the final model for the ball, with a small pass of sculpt/damage to the corners and edges, matched to the references as well as most as possible :) I think it adds a lot of life to the model :)

This model took me just shy of 2 months of work and I am finally finished with it and the printing files as well!

I'll just possibly post a last update regarding the two parts ball, but production is now passed over to Julie from Wonderknight and she will be updating here as well in the next few days I think :)
final_model_03.jpg

final_model_04.jpg
 
Hello there,
well, here is another update!

For the option 2, 4 and 5, the prop is printed is two halves of the full ball with all the details for all tiles as well as all the details from the base Megaminx toy. The 2 halves will seamingly close along the natural recesses on the replicated megaminx.

For the lit version, Julie found a small 7.6cm pre-wired lit ball that fits barely into the prop. I created the 3D model around it to try and make this all work together easily. I mentioned magnets in the first post, there is no room for that in the end, we are still testing for now, but here is what the 3D model looks like for this:
final_model_05.jpg


This was a complex endeavour. I almost went crazy creating the printing file for the first half yesterday as the model is pretty complex and heavy and the slicing software was not having it (for close to 10 hours...).
I finaly made it work and we launched the first test print this morning. 5h later, here is a first cool teaser on this! pretty epic!
IMG_20231031_170844.jpg


I have absolutely zero patience with the anycubic slicer, so I always create all my supports directly in my 3D software. old school style :) but that way I have great control over what I actually want and don't get crazy supports everywhere, just what I really need :)
well, turns out, this complex model worked on the first test print :) The model is very intricate and small, but I have checked with a strong light as much as I could and i don't see printing issues on it :) nice!

I hope you like it :)
Julie gets more busy with life than me so she has a hard time updating, but she should be ready to post some exciting stuff pretty soon, stay tuned :)
cheers
 
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