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WIP USS Defiant 3D-print build.


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#21 Destructor!!!

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Posted 06 July 2021 - 08:55 PM


That's RIDICULOUSLY brilliant.

I love those buttons. Obtrusive buttons on toys have been a nitpick of mine since I was wee. This is really taking shape!

 

Thanks man! Feedback from you folks really makes it worthwhile.

This project gets overwhelming at times - I have to stop looking at the big picture and just focus on "what needs doing now" to not just get mentally gridlocked. I have a renewed appreciation for the product designers at Playmates, DST, Aoshima, Eaglemoss, etc... this shit ain't easy!

 

I agree about the buttons thing. I found a working way to do capacitive-touch buttons during my currently-shelved Tricorder project (that and a phaser - 2373 models both - are on my plate) and thought about using that... it might have actually been easier than this, but this is more satisfying. When I return to the Warbird, I'll probably use capacitive panels for the sounds. IIRC, Art Asylum considered doing the same with their ships in the early days.

 

I've done more refinement to the lower section - rethought some of the light paths in terms of "does this part attach to the top or the bottom?" and caught some running lights on the nacelles I had neglected to path lighting to. The interior of the top is still in roughed-out form, but I'm hoping all I'll have to do is copy-paste the places where they touch and fill in the gaps. I'll be integrating the relocated light paths in the next few days. Then I just design latches to keep the halves together and cut the LED mounts by subtracting LED models from the bulkheads.

Then I print!

I haven't thought about how to paint/decal it, but as I type, I'm thinking I might just mask-and-spray for much of the blocky hull colouring, and then decal some subtle plating texture over that, with decals for more intricate parts. I should be able to match the colours closely enough between paint and decal.



#22 MisterPL

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Posted 07 July 2021 - 04:24 PM

The designing, the engineering, the troubleshooting... this is clearly a labor of love. And yes, it does make one appreciate all the effort put in by the pros.

 

So, at what point do you sell your project to DST for manufacturing?  B)  :D



#23 RizzoPSU

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Posted 08 July 2021 - 08:11 PM

Factory issues. Lol

#24 Alteran195

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Posted 10 July 2021 - 11:40 AM

So, at what point do you sell your project to DST for manufacturing?  B)  :D

Rather have it stay independent than sell it to DST and never get it. 



#25 Destructor!!!

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Posted 19 July 2021 - 05:44 PM

An update! Unless I hit a snag in printing (which of course, I will), the logistical modelling is now complete. Last item was modelling snap towers into the top and bottom. This is the top!

 

Gb9Fwew.png

 

 

And this is the bottom - clearly. I need to boolean (carve) holes for the LEDs before I print, but I think I'm done with the major modelling work.

 

RzY1HYF.png



#26 Destructor!!!

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Posted 20 July 2021 - 09:58 PM

Well, the inevitable has happened - I failed to check that it fits within the dimensions of my printer, so I'm going to need to separate the nose from the lower section. That means more logistical modelling to get it to slot in securely and snap into place. I've already started the process.



#27 Destructor!!!

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Posted 21 July 2021 - 08:57 AM

Right. The nose wouldn't fit in the print volume. Huge shocker. Further cuts may be needed as I am seemingly afraid to check the fit as I go...
Anyway, I have designed a slot-snap mechanism for the nose to connect. The top half of the hull, which has considerably less material, will take over 3 days to print, so this part might take the guts of a week. We'll see.
WkvuoKe.png
 
You can see I now have the LED holes carved.
The extra greebles in the "Floor" are chip-mounts, for the blinker and sound electronics, as well as the button-mount for the bridge on/off button. They are not new, I just forgot to make them visible in the previous shot.
 
 
This is how the nose will connect:
9uEtxwX.png
 
The little notches on the sides of the... tongue?... should snap into the prongs I designed into the receptacle in the main hull bottom. The groove down the middle is for wires to go to the lights in the nose.

Ever wonder what a nose-less Defiant looked like?

pAAWoEE.png

Wonder no more.

#28 MisterPL

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Posted 21 July 2021 - 10:02 AM

I don't know enough about this ship but I had to wonder if that nose is supposed to be detachable. It's make a cool action feature and it's not like there isn't precedent with starships.



#29 Destructor!!!

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Posted 22 July 2021 - 08:42 AM

It was never clearly defined in canon, but in the design process for the ship, the nose was referred to as "The Warhead" and was imagined to be a detachable last-ditch weapon with impulse engines and a high-yield antimatter warhead in it. Kind of like self-destructing the ship at the enemy, but using the main body as the escape pod.

 

I agree, it could be a cool play feature, but with the lighting in the nose, it's too tall an order. I'd need to rig a separate battery compartment and on-off switch, and put a second blinker chip into the nose somehow. It would get very cramped and it's just way more work than I want to dive into at this point for a very obscure and unconfirmed feature. It'd be a bit like the bizarre articulating nose on the Playmates version.

 

 

This is the printer's time estimate for the top half of the hull and the nose cap.

 

1AJjjtV.png

 

 

 

And this is the bottom half, which has much more of the sides, the bulk of the nacelle, the battery case, and nearly all of the light-tubes and mounting points inside:

KpnlvV6.png

 

You might look at the previous picture and this one and think "294g + 469g?! This thing will weigh almost a kilogram when it's assembled, wired and powered!!", but a good two-fifths of that weight is likely in the support material holding the parts up.
I had to cant them over and swivel them to fit them inside the printer's build volume (the blue box), but the angle also means the fine details will come out better on faces that might otherwise have been pointing "down" during printing- and therefore be subject to gravity. However, it does mean a LOT more support material is required.



#30 Destructor!!!

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Posted 28 July 2021 - 06:20 AM

K4KIp1s.png

 

The nacelle grilles weren't resolving on the overall print preview, so I separated them out, fattened the "wires", and built a snap-in slot in the nacelle. That way, I can print them at the optimum angle. If I printed them as part of the ship, certain parts would be too thin to print at the angle I need to pose the ship in order to fit within the print bounds. That was an awkward sentence, sorry.

 

 

aSePoZ4.png

 

Here's how it will slot in - looking at it now, I think I'll pare down the snaps at the top - they look too chunksteriffic right now.

 

Currently, my printer is a bit backlogged with logitical and DIY projects, so it'll be a few days before I actually get to print the ship.

 

tSye9mU.png

 

Just having a little fun during the print hiatus with the noselessness. I think this gives it a little more of a timid bearing.

It's actually inspired by my fanboi personal starship design when I was a kid - the Robinson Class USS Aurora (Robinson after Mary Robinson, then-president of Ireland and UN human rights champion, Aurora because my brother said "USS Blabablabs was a stupid name").
Aurora was a diplomatic escort. Defiant-esque in size and shape, but less aggressive. She had standard phaser strips, this inset deflector in place of the nose, plentiful windows, only one set of Pulse Phasers, no Quantum Torpedoes, and onboard, she had VIP quarters and a holodeck for transporting dignitaries, as well as a pair of more conventional horizontal shuttlebays in the tail.



#31 MisterPL

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Posted 28 July 2021 - 08:03 AM

I'm really enjoying the process with this. Was the plan always to make the grilles clear for lighting? (IE - the whole ship would print clear and then be painted)

 

The Robinson Class is pretty nice, even if I was thinking Maureen, not Mary.  ;)  I know a character who might get some use out of such a vessel if the Federation didn't mind. 



#32 Destructor!!!

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Posted 30 July 2021 - 11:56 AM

Interesting, MisterPL, the person who played that character also had the initials PL in their name... whoever that was must be a pretty cool guy!

I've had to do a full refit on my printer as the DIY prints kicked the shit out of it. I'm awaiting a fresh nozzle before printing the Defiant.

 

As for the grilles, actually no - I don't have the capability to print properly clear parts. I'd need a resin printer for that. Mine is an FDM filament melter - resin printers are smelly and not great in enclosed environments like my bedroom.

 

The grilles are designed as literal grilles, chainlink fence type things, as they were on the studio model. Due to the tiny diameter of the "wire" in the chainlinks, they only print right at a certain angle. I'm printing all translucent parts in white PLA and using the design and paint masking to define the borders of the light. I have had great success with this method on the Cerritos model - it turned out much better than I expected:

 

w2JQcYd.jpg

 

The only actually clear parts there are the windows, which are holes filled with clear epoxy glue.



#33 MisterPL

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Posted 01 August 2021 - 11:18 AM

I didn't realize the grilles were actual grilles! That's quite a bit of detail to try to hold. I can see why you're making those decisions.

 

Sounds like you could also use a print room with proper ventilation! 

 

I like the white PLA for windows. I've seen too many lit models that look like Las Vegas. (It must be blinding in those corridors and crew quarters!) I prefer more diffused lighting as opposed to what often seems to be LEDs sticking out of windows.



#34 Destructor!!!

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Posted 03 August 2021 - 09:51 PM

I agree, I try to diffuse the lighting to mitigate flares like that. It's all in pursuit of screen-authenticity.

 

However, the windows were the only case where I actually had holes right through the model. After the painting was done, I smeared a thick clear epoxy glue along the interior of the windows with tape on the outside to provide a flat surface. So they're actually the only genuinely clear parts on the model. I did consciously position the LEDs to limit flares as much as possible, though.

 

The deflector, engines, and nacelles are all achieved with strategic use of thin white PLA (which is coloured using a combo of decals and coloured clothing paint-markers).

 

To my astonishment, the brightness stood up to the DST Enterprise-D:

 

 

 

lvlJrsN.jpg

 

Defiant Status: Test-print of the full scale prototype has been delayed by 3D printer maintenance issues.



#35 Alteran195

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Posted 05 August 2021 - 10:34 AM

That Cerritos is really damn cool, any idea when you'll start selling them?

 

The lighting on it looks way better than on the DST D.



#36 Destructor!!!

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Posted 07 August 2021 - 06:37 AM

I was going to sell them a few months ago, but Etsy was like "nah, you need to list more items than that", so I'm building up my range and will offer various SKUs at various price points.
 
In short, SOON™. Probably once I have the phaser and the Warbird prototyped... maybe sooner.

And holy cow, thanks for the praise!

 

KoRpZVs.jpg

 

Slight design change to the grilles as the first print had parts that were still too thin - not on the preview, but in practice they fell apart. So I coned the inner side into the nacelle cavity a bit to strengthen them with minimal effect on light transmission.

I'm thinking printing these in black was not the best idea, I might reprint in white to transmit more blue light through the structure of the grilles.

Removing them from the lower hull has taken a whole DAY off the print time for it, despite these taking just a single hour to print themselves.

 

8hvQX5n.jpg

 

I'm happy with the mesh structure.

 

IlBc2eb.png

 

I have begun the lower-sections print. This structure of pipes under the nose was one of my biggest areas of concern - but aside from a few burrs and some slag, it's looking great!
Printing continues apace.
ETA 4 days for this part, then another 3 days for the upper part. Then another few hours for battery cover etc.

Then fit checks, sanding, more fit checks (and likely changes to the model files and reprints for stuff I didn't think of), wiring testing, painting, decaling, depression, questioning existence, printing new ones and hopefully sale.



#37 Tiberius

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Posted 07 August 2021 - 04:15 PM

If you want to see what they look like in clear blue resin, send the grill file, and Ill try in translucent blue on mine
Looks like a lot of CAD, one day Ill figure out how to make a model

#38 Destructor!!!

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Posted 08 August 2021 - 11:24 AM

Thanks Tiberius!

 

Here's the STL of the Grilles: https://www.dropbox....rilles.stl?dl=0

 

Update:

 

I messed up the normals on some of the light-tubes, causing them to be filled in on the print. Caught it at about 25% printed. Also noticed when I pulled that print off the bed that the model had been slightly submerged through the floor in the slicer, so the arse-end of the Defiant was not printed. Good thing I had to pull this one, that would have been a disaster on a full print, as it messed up the battery case door mechanism too. I also caught a couple of overhangs that would have failed to print properly. We're at 15% completion now, and the pipes under the nose look even better on this one.

 

One small thing that concerns me is that there are some very visible polygon edges here and there - but I'm much happier sanding a physical model than I am hunting down every facetted bend on the 3D model.



#39 Destructor!!!

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Posted 11 August 2021 - 08:41 PM

v6A4ArH.png

 

Godsdamn, it is so cool to watch this thing emerge s l o w l y from the printer.

 

It's like 5 days later and I'm still printing the lower hull due to a number of setbacks, but it's really looking good.

 

One of the setbacks was the box-out behind the deflector dish in the nose beginning printing in the far corner first, unconnected to the rest of the nose. There is support material under there, so it was cupped in place, but it broke free of the support material, wedged between the print head and the nose, and forced the head upwards, creating a gap. Then it happened each time the head came back over it, meaning all subsequent layers printed with an air-gap between them. This all happened while I was asleep.

 

When I got up, I found the issue, surmised what had happened, and pulled all the botched layers off it. Then I lowered the print head bit-by-bit onto the last "good" layer and edited the print file to start from that layer. The result is that little ridge you can see in the nose section, but I think I can sand and fill that away. The ridge is much less pronounced in the main hull from what I can tell - the support tree makes it hard to see.

 

I have already edited the source file so this shouldn't be an issue in future prints. This is why we prototype!

 

r99FRDA.png

 

Check out the detail on the forward end of the nacelle!

 

dzZPueT.png

 

And here's the "topside" view of the partially-printed lower hull. I know this is basically a jumble of white plastic, but if you compare this image to my previous images from the editor of the lower hull internals, it will start to make some sense.



#40 Destructor!!!

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Posted 12 August 2021 - 08:17 AM

IBqWaYA.png

 

The next day: The USS Defiant bursts out of the space-vines, cloaking as it emerges!

It is TANTALISINGLY close to done now - I mean, the bottom half of the ship is close to done. Then it'll be another 3 days or so of printing on the top half. Then another day or two for the buttons and battery cover.

 

And then obviously painting and wiring and blah blah blah.

 

But it's becoming real, and that's exciting. Every facet and corner and panel line of this thing was made by my hand, it never stops feeling amazing to 3D print something you crafted yourself.






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