That CNC is being moved a few miles from the old plant to the plant I work at on Thursday. It and an edge bander is all that is left in this shop, and I think they have been runnung it with out the dust colector running.
Oh I see now I thought maybe their vacuum was not working or it just throws a lot of dust. Sure is a nice strong looking machine Mark and Trish
Sorry for the delay on this build, I had a few problems with the parts I cut out so I re designed them and have cut them out. I hope to make some progress on the cockpit / nose area this weekend. Attached files
Looking amazing Travis, I am really enjoying this build!! Keep the pics coming!! all I can say is WOW!! John
Ok, I have started to work on the nose of the shuttle I soaked the back side of 1/32 balsa and draped it over the frame work and added some sheets to build up the bottom area. I was going to build a cockpit but it would have to be put in before I draped the balsa over it, the glass on this ship is almost pitch black, so you would not be able to see in it so I decided to do without. Attached files
The top of the cockpit and the lower section is phlatformed, the paneling and the back side of the "head" is sheet styrene scored with my vinyl cutter, and than hand cut. the gray parts are model kit pices glued on for detail.
Looks great Travis, When is the deadline for this project? I have to see this in person some day Thanks John
Deadline is May 13 the Friday before Wonderfest. http://www.wonderfest.com/ I hope to have it done by the end of April. Lorne Peterson is to be there this year, he is one of the ILM model makers on the entire Star Wars series.
Here is the grill intake of the main body that the dorsal fin attaches to. Again, this is balsa wraped and than Phlatformed. Attached files
Well The rotating of the wings will not work as I had hoped, I did not take into account the leverage it would take at the pivot point to rotate the length of the wing, So I have redesigned the "gears" and incorporated a stop to the back that matches the shape of the framing this will leave the wings in flight mode. I managed to get the wings on for a test fit and they held them selves in position so I got a few pics. Attached files
I took a break from working on the shuttle itself and started working on the lighting, I am at a point where I need to pre-wire everything before I add the skin to the body. I have tried and failed to make my own light circuit board, so I will have to get someone to make me one. What I need, or have planed for, is 6 super-bright white 5mm leds (2) for each wing tip on all 3 wings, these need to blink and have the blink rate adjustable. I have 4 super-bright blue 5mm leds for the engines I would like these to "pulsate" and have the pulsating rate adjustable, if possible. I may add a couple 5mm red leds inside the model and run fiber optics to various areas on the ship. I have the leds wired, but I need a controller board. I will need it to run on 9-12 volts. It will be in the base and network wire will run up the mount tube, there will be a connector that will be at the bottom of the ship so I can remove the model from the stand if needed. Attached files
Once again, Amazing work Travis, I wish I could help you with the lights, does Radioshack have a circuit board you could use? If I think of something I will post it here for you!! This looks SWEET !!!! John
I am going to buy a lighting kit from Madman lighting, he makes pre-made "plug and play" boards that will do exactly what I want.
I have started some of the painting here is the cockpit/nose of the shuttle. I am using Tamiya colors XF-54 Dark Sea Gray as the primmer/base color than XF-1 Flat Black for the pre-shading and XF-23 Light Blue for the top color. This gives the grayish blue color that the Tie Fighters were seen in. This is going to be a Rebel Alliance stolen Imperial Shuttle that has been heavily modified. Attached files
Here is the Main Dorsal wing and the intake that mates it to the body of the Shutle I have also started on building the body of the shuttle. Attached files
It's funny you updated today. My son and I are sitting here watching Return of the Jedi and I just saw the shuttle and wondered how you project was going. It is looking incredible! I am looking forward to seeing the finished pictures. Tim
I have more done to the main body This Polaroid i1035 camera I have sucks in low light , so I took these outside. Attached files