Finally!!!!!

So it took twelve days to get this model done. So far I have invested over 120 hours worth of time to get this complete. Since much of the details of this model are hard to see when its rendered. I thought I would show you some of those details that get lost in the shadows.

 

Some of the model kits of the Booster showed an Reaction Control System (RCS) between the two main boosters. This would allow controlling the pitch once it got out of the atmosphere. Which seems a little weird since the booster would mostly separate once it got out of the atmosphere.  But hay, it is some much needed detail,

 

Here is another non-rendered shot of the rocket boosters. In keeping with the RCS, I put some more maneuvering thrusters into the rear section. It did not make since to only have them controlling the pitch. By doing this it keeps up with the theme that you now can maneuver this booster in outer space.

 

I also made a connector that fits onto the launching arm and that should fit snuggly between the underside of the two boosters. This piece does not need to be glued in place.

 

Only thing I have to tackle at this point is, can the actual Robotech VF Fighter be inserted into this Booster. Easy fix would be to just print the VF already with the booster but that brings about big legal issues.

 

 





Global Lifter

Well I thought I would tinker on another one of my low poly models and see what I could do with it. I scaled this aircraft so that a Heavy Lifter could fit inside it. Needless to say, this aircraft was supposed to be big to begin with. Unfortunately it is to big, the Shapeways price estimates put it at over $130 and I am two hours into shapeways checking the mesh out with no results yet.

Once it done scanning the file, I will see what needs to be corrected before doing anything else to the model. I am thinking about hollowing out the cargo area so you could put vehicles in its bay plus bring the cost down. This will mean a two part model so you can have the option to glue the bay door up in place or have it down.

I don't know, thought this wouldn't be this much of a time sink. How quickly five hours go by.

Racer

This is one of my older low poly models that has been cleaned up a bit and readied for Shapeways. I had to adjust some of the wings, fins and engine cowling so that shapeways would be able to print it out. This was a much needed break from the Atmospheric Booster & Crawler.

On my short to do list, is finishing the Particle Cannon, Phalanx's alternative blue head and , maybe the Sea Sergeant.

Busy week

I took the past few nice days that we have had to get some much need house work done. It is hard to believe that it is in the 50-60's here in Minnesota. Since all of my windows are already open, I tackled re-staining some window sills and reconditioning some of my living room tables and then sealing them up with two layers of poly coat.

I did find some time, later tonight to answer a few questions on some of the stuff at the shapeway's store. Besides that, I broke out my digital micrometer and started measuring the Robotech Tactic's VF fighter model. I believe I have all of the measurements to now move forward on finishing off the Booster. I still need to figure out working in some attachments so the Booster portion can separate from the Crawler.

Besides all of this, there has been more stuff going on in the back ground. I really wish I could spill the beans on what is going on but I do not want to jinx it. In other news, a local miniature company, has contacted me wanting to know more about 3D printing and see some of the examples of my 3D printed objects. From what I am gathering they are looking into making master molds out of 3D printed masters instead of creating all of their miniatures by hand. It will be fun to share my experiences with what I have done with Shapeways. The technology is so close to being in place to do these sort of detailed miniatures on a level on par with what is currently out there with out a major production facility.

This has left me with thoughts on doing my own Space Combat System that is heavily inspired by Dropzone Commander & Firestorm Armada. I don't know, maybe I should just produce some 1:10,000 scale ships that could be used in Firestorm Armada.

I am also seriously thinking about only offering most of my products in Detailed Plastic. I think you getting a better print quality with this material choice.

Defender Armament: Arrived

As you can see this is the detailed plastic version of the Armament: Defender weapons kit.
I can see the details fairly clearly on these even at this small size. The Vulcan cannon's are 1-1.5mm longer than its standard armaments.  As you can see the search lights are tiny and the MLOP's or Micro Missile Lancher's also fairly small. Luckily enough those MLOP's have a nice pylon attachment that is flat to help mount it to the arms.

When I get a new Radar X kit to put together, I will assemble one with this Armament kit and take more pictures to post up.

Heavy Lifter: Arrived

Much like the resizing chamber, the details are present on this model as well, they just don't look as pronounced like they do on the 3D model. Again, I am sure some of this is due to the fact it is an all white object. I did this one in strong white flexible but I am betting the details would have been better with the detailed plastic.

Resizing Chamber: Printed Copy

Well my resizing chamber showed up this afternoon from Shapeways. I took this picture so you could see some of the details and have an idea of its over all size. Much of the detail of the object is there in comparison to the 3D model, its just not a crisp as I would like it. Then again, this might be because of the fact white sort of softens those details.

This model would make for a great objective marker!

So so close!

It is amazing what you can get done when you have two days off. So as you can see, I have the major portion of the Launching arm roughed in. I still need to go back to smooth out some parts and add the very front connector to it yet. I will do this once I have the booster done. Again I need to tackle mating the Booster to this Launching arm. The Booster in this shot needs to be moved up slightly but it makes for a fantastic mock up shot of the two.

Time to tackle finishing up the Booster. I will also take another look at adding in some details to the lower hull of the crawler. Plus I need to make sure I hit the launching arm with some more smoothing. Speaking of Smoothing, once the Booster is done, I still need to go back and smooth out some more sections. And the Biggest pain, is going to be Fitting my Mocked in VF with Robotech Tactic's VF. Again the legs just past the intakes we be apart of the Booster. Which adds one more item to the list of things to detail out more. Getting of the parts to seat correctly is going to be a nightmare. Between Shapeways wall thickness needing to be .07mm thick and plotting out all of the measurements with a digital micrometer and building them into the mesh. Eh... FUN!

You know I thought, this launching arm would have not taken so long to mesh out. I figured a few hours and I would have the rough shape of it in place. Lol! I started meshing that section just before 10am this morning and just quit messing with it a little before 8:00 PM. Between the angles of it, multiple pictures of the actual drawing and other model kits all shot at very different angles. Well it is enough to make you batty after awhile.

So I am going to take a much needed break from working on this for the next day or two. So when I come back to it I have a fresh pair of eyes on the model again.

Teaser Shot: Crawler & Booster

Since I just finished getting the Control Arm put in place I thought I should revisit how this mesh looks with the Booster added back into the shot. So I mocked up my Booster model and got it in place. I turned on the Control Arm in the up position and switched the down position one off. That's right I already made the two control arms already. I also went back and added two support forks into the recessed area of the hull. So the lowered control arm should just rest on them.  The up position control arm was designed to fit between one of these support forks.

 

Currently this mesh is sitting at 290,000 polys and some spare change. My computer is also starting to feel the affects of the large poly count. So close to having this model done.

Crawler: Day Eight

I rendered this shot with a hard white light so you can see more of the smaller details. Currently this mesh is just shy of 200,000 Polys and will most likely be closer to 250,000 by the time its close to being completed. As you can tell, I finally cut into the mesh for the control/boom arm. The back blast shield is complete. All of the hydraulic lines are in place on the top and side sections of the crawler. All three sides are complete with exception to the rear. I will look at adding in some more details to the rear section as it looks to basic / plain compared to the rest of the model. I revisited the glass canopy and gave it some more shape and smoothing on its edges to help give it more of a curve.

Next few phases is going to be meshing out the control/boom arm and then tackling the launching arm that goes on the turreted like mount. For the control/boom arm, I will be creating two different models for it. One that sits recessed into the crawlers hull and the other that is extended upwards. I will design a socket like area to allow you to interchange these control/boom arms out as you see fit. I know the basket to this arm is not going to be dead on with the look of the actual design. Due to needing a .07mm wall thickness for Shapeways. I'll see what I can come up with thou, that is a close representation of it thou. The launching arm is going to be tricky. There is a lot of detail put into this section. Plus I need to design some functionality into it as well. I want the space booster to connect into the launching arm so a player can detach the space booster from the crawler. Yet make sure it is not a loose connection. This might be tricky since shapeways printing can be off +/1 .01mm.

After these two area's are done. I need to finish my work on the Space Booster.

Crawler: Day Seven

As you can tell, I am getting closer to getting the launching arm set in place. Started working on the blast shield as well. I also put in hose connections on both sides, in that little recessed area.