3D Printer: Raise3D

Well folk's looks like I finally found a printer that can do the job that I need done.
to boast 10 micron layers, a powerful slicing software and a big enough build space.

Ill have more details coming in latter but ultimately this means I can by pass shapeways and print directly.  This should allow me to cut prices by at least 40%.

In other news, my 1/2400 scale Garfish from shapeways should be here in the next few days. Do to legal rights I cant offer it up for sale,  sorry folks,

Day 3: Ikazuchi

I got a chance to spend a little more time on this mesh. Added anti-fighter guns to all the command tower splines. I installed the Radar dishes on both sides. Cut the panel lines into all the hanger bays. I also added in windows for the secondary control towers which are under the upper fighter bays on both sides. I also played with the idea of adding in ship registrations to the sides of it. I started with the 21st Mars Division , I may add in the Division Logo later on.

I did grab a bunch of pictures of the Ikazuchi from the Shadow Chronicles. I hate to say this but from what I saw the ship was a low poly design. Most of the details like the hexagonal plating was done via a texture graphic. By the time I get this ship done I am expecting it to have double the amount of polys over the mesh used in the movie.

Still have a lot of work to do to this mesh.

Day 2: Ikazuchi

Cut into the mesh to get those panel lines to stick out. All the Anti-ship turrets have been detailed out. I am going to take a small break from working on this ship to get some more close up shots of it from the Shadow Chronicles. All the turrets have been pegged for a future option of magnetizing them. If the hull wall is thick enough to do it.

Project: Ikazuchi

Day 1: Got most of the basic out line of the mesh in place. I hallowed this one out fro the get go to help reduce it's cost.
Most of the panel lines are there, I just need to cut them into the mesh. This of coarse is the Shadow Chronicles version of the Ikazuchi. I may do another variant that represents the Ikazuchi we have seen in the 3rd Gen, which launches it's fighters in Battliod mode. If I build one with open Mech Launchers.

Garfish: Possible Final.

Just when I thought I might be done. It was brought to my attention the heavy lift thrusters that was used in "Ghost Town" to get this ship off the ground. This also reminded me of the door to get into the Garfish. I put three heavy lift thrusters on the lower side of the hull both on the port and starboard sides. Four forward and only two aft.
The doors are just a little forward of the very front port and starboard windows. I did put in probably more detail into them than you can see here in the render.

I also did a test 1/2400 scale on Shapeways this afternoon to see how much it would cost in Frosted Ultra Detail.
It would cost a little over $36 and be 3 inches in length. In White Plastic it would be $8 and a lot of tweaking to get it to print. The amount of detail put into this ship would disappear.

Minor Up-date: I redesigned the turret with a rounded peg that will be inserted into the turret's base. My hope is that this can be magnetized to give us some turret rotation

Invid Clam Ship

Well I got the details in place tonight after work. I also designed the doors to have a peg for support. This give us the option to either glue it in place, hope friction keeps it there or you could magnetize it. In 1/285th Scale this ship would be roughly 8 inches long. 1/2400 it would be just a little over an inch long. The Invid inside this ship are not designed for the 1/285th scale. I would have to go back and add in some more basic details.

This ship was designed to be used for a fleet scale type of game.

Keep this thought in mind. 1/2400 scale the Ikazuchi would be 11 inches long. The Izumo would be close to 24 inches long.

Invid Clam Ship

Since the Garfish and the rest of the REF fleet needs something to shoot at. I thought it would be wise to start working on the Clam ship. I will have two versions of this ship meshed out. One with the doors open as seen above and one with the doors closed. I may also look into putting different Invid shapes in the mech bay to show something other than scouts.
Currently I managed to fit 380 Invid scouts into the Clam ship.

More Garfish

Here is another perspective shot of the Garfish. I am still not sure about the main engine thruster positions. I am currently open to second opinions on this matter. I also spent some time breaking this ship up into portions for a possible shapeways printing. The Grand total to print this ship out to 1/285th scale would be $2,098. Granted this ship would be 24 inch long when assembled but $2,100 dollars? Yeah, not happening via Shapeways, not for the quality that you will get.

Anyways I am looking into a few local 3D Printing companies around my area. My guess is anything would be cheaper than what Shapeways is currently offering at their detail level. For that price you could buy a printer and do it your self.

Garfish Break Down

Now it is time to break down the Garfish into manageable sections. I still need to pull all the engines out and build in pegs so the parts line up correctly when assembled. The Upper Mech Bay and the Lower Hanger Section are two pieces. This will allow me to change out the lower section to other ship configurations (Sensor Pod etc..)

Garfish Day 7

Poly Count: 310,000
Over all shape of the ship is now in place. Time to go back and add in more details.

Garfish Day: 6

Poly Count: 260,000

Getting closer finishing the Garfish. I am going to touch up the smaller engine fins since they seem to have to much of a hook to them. All the Aft ribbing still needs to be put in place and I still need to add in some more details around the main engines.

Garfish Day 5

Poly Count: 238,0
I have the basic out line of the ship in place. Still have a lot of detail work I still need to do. Get the main thruster fins in place and all of the ribbing between the upper and lower hull.

The image in the middle was rendered in "day light" this gives you a better idea of the detail you would see on the object. My normal blue tinted render adds a slight metallic look to it which can make some of those fine details seem to disappear unless you really zoom in.

Garfish Day 4

 

 



Current Poly Count 176,000

Well I went back and started adding in more details to the lower hanger / mech bay section. I also got the fins in place for the thrusters. Speaking of thrusters, I should really go back and add in more detail to the out side of the thruster bell. It looks good now, but just a little more added detail would really make it shine.

Other things to address is making the six missile launchers more curved / rounded, currently they are to squared off and a little more curves would go a long way.

I still have plenty of work that needs to be done in this area before I move on to the aft section of this ship.