The Y-Wing "Green Leader" Project - NOW OPEN SOURCE!
- Thread starter DaveG
- Start date
If any of you will be attending the RPF Prop Party on July 9th in Los Angeles, I will be bringing a bunch of the components from this project to show.
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=260109
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=260109
Oh, yah they are just always going to be a bit fragile. Actually the 3D printed parts from Shapeways are pretty robust (if expensive), though I might end up replacing the Harrow piping with a piece of bent 1/32 brass wire or plastruct plastic coated steel wire. The vertical vane is fine built up out of styrene. The little alignment pads I added to the inside of the shell should help hold everything in alignment. While not 100% accurate to the original they are not that far off from the globs of glue visible on some of the models and a good deal cleaner. If you don't want them, they will be easy to trim down.
I am hoping that Jason and Masterpiece Models can offer castings of the Sealab cranes for the horizontal vanes. They are certainly castable and as Tox said, robust enough in resin. That would certainly be cheaper than the Shapeways route. I just am too busy to cast up the 160 plus castings that would be needed for all the Y's in t he works.
I will offer this... If anyone would like to use my 3D files to print a set of any or all of the tail vane parts, then mold and cast them for sale you have my blessing. I actually have some tricks to alter the 3D printed parts to make them very easy to mold. The only conditions I have is that the parts be offered at a fair price, you only take payment when castings are done and ready to ship (this policy should become the new norm), and that you'll send me some castings for my Ys (yes I'm building more t han one). PM me if you are interested.
I am hoping that Jason and Masterpiece Models can offer castings of the Sealab cranes for the horizontal vanes. They are certainly castable and as Tox said, robust enough in resin. That would certainly be cheaper than the Shapeways route. I just am too busy to cast up the 160 plus castings that would be needed for all the Y's in t he works.
I will offer this... If anyone would like to use my 3D files to print a set of any or all of the tail vane parts, then mold and cast them for sale you have my blessing. I actually have some tricks to alter the 3D printed parts to make them very easy to mold. The only conditions I have is that the parts be offered at a fair price, you only take payment when castings are done and ready to ship (this policy should become the new norm), and that you'll send me some castings for my Ys (yes I'm building more t han one). PM me if you are interested.
Don - I'll be providing laser cut acrylic bulkheads for the front and rear of the fuselage. The kit parts can be assembled right onto those bulkheads or onto another thin sheet of styrene as an overlay. I used several of the kit parts for reference when laying out the fuselage sections so they should fit pretty well.
CyberGolem
Active Member
I was wondering why a guy with all your savvy and know-how doesn't own a 3D printer? It appears with the quality of work you do that it would fit into your arsenal of tools quite well. I wouldn't consider them affordable but the prices are, at the least, approachable ... ??
Golem, Actually I do own three printers. Two of them are FDM, or Fused Deposition Modeling type printers. These are the most common type of consumer level 3d printers, the type that melt plastic filament and extrude it out of a tiny nozzle layer by layer. Parts from these type of printers are fine for many things, but not for finely detailed parts or parts where you would like a smooth surface without having to do a lot of filling and sanding, which can destroy fine detail. I did actually use these printers to print the main fuselage shells and engine nacelle shells for my Y and several others have done the same. Since these parts have broad flat surfaces it was easy to get smooth surfaces ready for detailing.
The other printer that I own is an ultra high resolution DLP (Digital Light Projection) liquid resin printer. This printer uses a DLP video projector to cure a UV sensitive liquid polymer, layer by layer. The detail on the parts is extraordinary, even better than the small parts I've been getting done at Shapeways, but because of the nature of these types of printers, the part needs to be printed with supports that are trimmed away. For really tiny parts, like the control vanes, this can be a real pain, and even make the part unusable. See the post a little while back showing the test parts Guy76 ran for me on his liquid resin printer. Another issue with my DLP printer is size, because restrictions inherent in DLP projectors the print volume at high resolution is about 1.5" x 2" x 6", not be enough to print the larger parts I need. I can increase the print volume to 3" x 4" x 8" if I cut the resolution in half, but then I won't get the surface and detail quality that I need. Here is a picture of my DLP printer and a couple of parts that I printed with it. Did I mention the printer was a DIY project that I designed and built myself?
As far as the cost of 3D printers that would be able to do the type of prints I need at the quality I demand, there are commercial level printers and prices for them start at around $85,000, and most require service contracts of around $10K to $15K a year. The ultra high res/large volume printers that the company in Hong Kong used for the fuselage parts start at about $250k. This is a hobby for me (my day job is designing Audio-Animatronics Figures® for a pretty large theme park organization), there is no way I could afford or justify those kind of expenditures!
There is actually a liquid resin consumer level printer that I have been considering purchasing, the Form2 which sells for $3,500. It's a liquid resin desktop printer with build volume of 5.7" x 5.7" x 6.9" that uses a laser beam to cure the resin rather than a DLP projector. The resolution isn't quite as high as my DIY printer but it's still pretty nice. The printer Gus76 used to do the test prints for the control vanes was a Form2 and while it didn't work out for those parts, Gus has had tremendous success with it making the engine details for the DeAg Falcon and his stunning X-Wing cockpit. Even so, It's wouldn't have been the right printer for the fuselage shells, so while it's on my "Tools To Get" list, I have to wait a little longer before I can justify it.
The other printer that I own is an ultra high resolution DLP (Digital Light Projection) liquid resin printer. This printer uses a DLP video projector to cure a UV sensitive liquid polymer, layer by layer. The detail on the parts is extraordinary, even better than the small parts I've been getting done at Shapeways, but because of the nature of these types of printers, the part needs to be printed with supports that are trimmed away. For really tiny parts, like the control vanes, this can be a real pain, and even make the part unusable. See the post a little while back showing the test parts Guy76 ran for me on his liquid resin printer. Another issue with my DLP printer is size, because restrictions inherent in DLP projectors the print volume at high resolution is about 1.5" x 2" x 6", not be enough to print the larger parts I need. I can increase the print volume to 3" x 4" x 8" if I cut the resolution in half, but then I won't get the surface and detail quality that I need. Here is a picture of my DLP printer and a couple of parts that I printed with it. Did I mention the printer was a DIY project that I designed and built myself?
As far as the cost of 3D printers that would be able to do the type of prints I need at the quality I demand, there are commercial level printers and prices for them start at around $85,000, and most require service contracts of around $10K to $15K a year. The ultra high res/large volume printers that the company in Hong Kong used for the fuselage parts start at about $250k. This is a hobby for me (my day job is designing Audio-Animatronics Figures® for a pretty large theme park organization), there is no way I could afford or justify those kind of expenditures!
There is actually a liquid resin consumer level printer that I have been considering purchasing, the Form2 which sells for $3,500. It's a liquid resin desktop printer with build volume of 5.7" x 5.7" x 6.9" that uses a laser beam to cure the resin rather than a DLP projector. The resolution isn't quite as high as my DIY printer but it's still pretty nice. The printer Gus76 used to do the test prints for the control vanes was a Form2 and while it didn't work out for those parts, Gus has had tremendous success with it making the engine details for the DeAg Falcon and his stunning X-Wing cockpit. Even so, It's wouldn't have been the right printer for the fuselage shells, so while it's on my "Tools To Get" list, I have to wait a little longer before I can justify it.
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The 3D prints got here from Hong Kong. I'm so exited I can't stand it! They are DROP-DEAD-GORGEOUS! It looks like they actually prime and sand the 3D prints to get rid of any build lines and it's stunningly good. Especially in between the tiny panels on the shroud. Well I guess when your job is to prime and sand castings all day long every day you get pretty good at it! The top and bottom fuselage shells fit together really nicely. I redesigned the shells so that the seam would be on the bottom. A less visible area than the sides where I originally had the parts joining. Into rubber this weekend!
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Hammer3246
Sr Member
Re: The Y-Wing "Green Leader" Project - NOW OPEN SOURCE!
Looking forward to this. The prints look great Dave and I can't wait for the castings, may have to order two (or more)!
Cheers
Looking forward to this. The prints look great Dave and I can't wait for the castings, may have to order two (or more)!
Cheers
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That's the great thing about having molds - I can make more than one! I'm doing two at the moment, Green Leader, and a 'Mad Max/Reevers' kind of retro fit. Like somebody found an old Y in a junkyard and kluged it together to get it flying again.
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CyberGolem
Active Member
You are indeed Jedi Dave. Toys that make toys are the best toys to own.
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