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WIP USS Defiant 3D-print build.


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#41 Destructor!!!

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Posted 12 August 2021 - 06:00 PM

rRXutkp.png
 
Finished this part!
 
The nose slots in PERFECTLY. It's snug and seamless and totally solid. You can pick the whole ship up by the nose without anxiety. MASSIVE relief.
That seemingly validates the latch system I'm using all over the ship to connect the hull halves.
 
I will need to redesign the battery cover, though. The tolerances are way too tight, and I have the snap latch on the wrong end for the forces - it unsnapped and the ship pitched forward. I could also afford to lengthen the pylon on the stand - which will make it a MORE accurate representation of DS9, lol.
 
VjecNan.png
 
I have fit-checked some of the electronic components.
Most of the chip mounts need adjusting, but the speaker and the blinker board fit snugly and securely.

 

The light-trough for the "windows" along the inner edge of the hollow in the bottom of the ship is a touch too close to the outer skin, it comes close to breaking through and will be a light-leak issue. I will need to remodel that.
 
wlzVj0B.png
 
The nacelle grilles snap in nicely too - I accidentally printed both sets as starboard grilles, so the port nacelle is currently ungrilled. I will be printing the next set in white PLA anyway - light bleed is encouraged for this component.
These photos all make it look smaller than it feels in the hand.
 
9YENehO.png
 
Size comparison with the old Playmates/AMT Defiant (same mold).
The innacuracies in the proportions and angles of that old mold really stand out like this.



#42 djc242

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Posted 13 August 2021 - 11:30 AM

Wow, really good! If only we had a time machine to go back and prevent all those terrible CG models from ever existing.

#43 MisterPL

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Posted 16 August 2021 - 09:49 AM

I'm liking those grilles! This has come a long way. 



#44 Destructor!!!

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Posted 18 August 2021 - 11:58 AM

0u7EGMx.jpg

 

Top finished printing the day before yesterday. Feels good man!

 

M7Tj0LL.jpg

 

Another 8 hours had the battery cover and the nose cap printed, and I fitted them the next morning. The print hiccup in the printing of the lower nose caused some mating issues, but they were solved with an emory board and some UV-cured glue.

 

zwQcO6y.png

 

SQHwR2M.jpg

 

Some of the same work revealed that the original battery cover/stand design wasn't as poor as I had thought. The new one is still better though, I think. That reminds me: I must print a test rig of that design.

 

T30y0Qg.png

gCcxSdt.png

BgJG6PU.png

Oh, this photo reminds me to print new nacelle grilles in white!

bO4lt05.png

 

Anyway, 5 more hours had the vent buttons and their caddy printed. I put the as-yet un-wired momentary buttons in and assembled it all for a fit-check.

 

30OtcdO.png

 

HW3TC2r.png

 

The buttons are a little tight, but I think I just need to clear some more slag. Most do click though.

 

There is some gapping between the upper and lower hulls. On this one at least, I'll probably have to glue it, but I have already modelled an additional latch into the forward tips of the bow, either side of the "mandible" to hold them together. Additional cleaning and sanding of the grooves where the hulls meet should aid fitment too.

 

What's next? Well, I'm fearing the wiring most, so I think I'll tackle that next. Going to take a day or two before that though.



#45 Destructor!!!

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Posted 18 August 2021 - 12:04 PM

Over-ran my per-post image allowance, so PS:

Close up on the nose:
mWDuyiZ.png

The probe launcher isn't actually there on the studio model, but it's clearly meant to be there on the ship, so I compromised with a subtle one. I'm so pleased with how the deflector surface pattern came out.

My phone's camera is such a potato.

#46 MisterPL

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Posted 18 August 2021 - 05:08 PM

Okay, the ship is pretty and all (masterpiece of understatement) but I'm still swooning over that stand. These are going to look so sweet together once they're painted. 



#47 Alteran195

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Posted 19 August 2021 - 02:22 PM

The ship looks amazing, and I can't get over how perfect and genius that stand is. 



#48 djc242

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Posted 21 August 2021 - 03:30 PM

Just perfect! When you are ready my wallet is at your mercy.

#49 Destructor!!!

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Posted 08 September 2021 - 05:49 PM

3 weeks later, the wind stirs in the west and Destructor takes to the keyboard once more!

 

I had a break, but before I went away, I sucked it up and did the first bit of wiring - the Deflector, window, and formation beacon lights in the nose:

 

gmhSkQI.gif

 

What else? Well, it took a lot of wrestling with stupid anxiety, and a week off visiting friends on the other side of the country, but look!

 

H0ADaYF.png

 

I finally have most of the lighting wired in - I forgot the plasma vents, but they'll be easy to solder in tonight. After this, I'll work on the sound-related lights that light up when you press the associated button (pulse phasers, photons, quantums, maybe even the phaser strip on the spine).

 

Here she is in bright light (phone camera flash plus room light):

 

YGZh6S3.png

 

The lighting shows through well. Even in sunlight, it shows decently.

 

JDcdrHF.png

 

In the dark, the effect is obviously much better.

 

The part I was most concerned about was the warp field grilles. The 2 LEDs per nacelle shine into their own little chambre between the two compartments behind the grille. I made the chambre walls very thin to leak as much light into the compartments as possible, and I was worried it might be too dim.

U4ogF0o.png

 

But they came out great! I have the exposure lowered in this shot so you can begin to see the internal detail through the grilles, but they pop just as well as the rest of the lights.

 

Top down view:

LQDbDgw.png

 

The red glows from the whatever holes in the front and the radiator troughs in the back of the spine are crazy-effective. I'll need to dull them a bit with paint, but that's great because they're supposed to be grey/black with a dull red glow.

 

Bottom view in natural daylight:

t5fkOJ6.png

 

Previous pictures haven't really shown off the windows in the ventral hull, but they work great too! Each side has a fore an aft warm white LED shining into a gully to channel the light along. I was worried the mid point would be a little dark, but just look! It's like the snow that lay round about when good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen!  (deep and crisp and even)

 

When I do start light blocking, I'll be laying silver layers in places to bounce the light internally, and then covering with primer. In some places I'll be layering more silver on top as appropriate to get the light where I need it and minimise waste. Obviously I'll be masking off areas that need to fully transmit.



#50 MisterPL

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Posted 08 September 2021 - 06:18 PM

That's one way to celebrate Star Trek Day! Looking good!



#51 Dilithium1

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Posted 09 September 2021 - 07:01 AM

Not to steal your thunder, but since this thread is hot here is what Ive been making.

 

https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

 

https://youtu.be/M9Nbwpjjcyc

 

Ill be uploading the files to thingiverse so anyone can make one.



#52 Dilithium1

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Posted 09 September 2021 - 11:59 AM

https://www.thingive...m/thing:4961355

 

 



#53 Alteran195

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Posted 10 September 2021 - 08:00 AM

https://www.thingive...m/thing:4961355

https://www.tinkerca...ngs/dHQCSuaNDse
 


 Do you have an assembled version we could see?

#54 Alteran195

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Posted 10 September 2021 - 08:01 AM

3 weeks later, the wind stirs in the west and Destructor takes to the keyboard once more!
 
I had a break, but before I went away, I sucked it up and did the first bit of wiring - the Deflector, window, and formation beacon lights in the nose:
 
gmhSkQI.gif
 
What else? Well, it took a lot of wrestling with stupid anxiety, and a week off visiting friends on the other side of the country, but look!
 
H0ADaYF.png
 
I finally have most of the lighting wired in - I forgot the plasma vents, but they'll be easy to solder in tonight. After this, I'll work on the sound-related lights that light up when you press the associated button (pulse phasers, photons, quantums, maybe even the phaser strip on the spine).
 
Here she is in bright light (phone camera flash plus room light):
 
YGZh6S3.png
 
The lighting shows through well. Even in sunlight, it shows decently.
 
JDcdrHF.png
 
In the dark, the effect is obviously much better.
 
The part I was most concerned about was the warp field grilles. The 2 LEDs per nacelle shine into their own little chambre between the two compartments behind the grille. I made the chambre walls very thin to leak as much light into the compartments as possible, and I was worried it might be too dim.
U4ogF0o.png
 
But they came out great! I have the exposure lowered in this shot so you can begin to see the internal detail through the grilles, but they pop just as well as the rest of the lights.
 
Top down view:
LQDbDgw.png
 
The red glows from the whatever holes in the front and the radiator troughs in the back of the spine are crazy-effective. I'll need to dull them a bit with paint, but that's great because they're supposed to be grey/black with a dull red glow.
 
Bottom view in natural daylight:
t5fkOJ6.png
 
Previous pictures haven't really shown off the windows in the ventral hull, but they work great too! Each side has a fore an aft warm white LED shining into a gully to channel the light along. I was worried the mid point would be a little dark, but just look! It's like the snow that lay round about when good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen!  (deep and crisp and even)
 
When I do start light blocking, I'll be laying silver layers in places to bounce the light internally, and then covering with primer. In some places I'll be layering more silver on top as appropriate to get the light where I need it and minimise waste. Obviously I'll be masking off areas that need to fully transmit.


This is amazing, cant wait to see the final product.

#55 Dilithium1

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Posted 10 September 2021 - 08:55 AM

 Do you have an assembled version we could see?

Working on it now.  Should be early next week.

 

The youtube shows the prototype.



#56 Destructor!!!

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Posted 10 September 2021 - 10:57 PM

Great work Dilithium1! I particularly love the mechanical element to it. You should make your own thread, go into detail about the design and thought processes behind it - I'd be fascinated to read it.
 
As for me, I have fit-checked the other chips. The blinker chip has been in place for a while and aside from some overzealous clips, it fit perfectly. The Sound FX chip and the amplifier chip didn't sit as well, so I had to take a hot soldering iron to the plastic to fit them. They're snug now.
sMcOhQH.png
 
If you look closely, you can see fiber optic filaments running from the forward window LEDs to the outer wall of the nacelles, where they power formation lights.
 
W7GslUn.png
 
 
The previously forgotton plasma vent LEDs are present and illuminated now. You can see the fibre optic filaments sticking out of the nacelle. They'll be trimmed down once the paint job is complete. I also have a filament running out of the nose blinker, top and bottom, as the effect wasn't quite right there with just the light pipe. Incidentally, it's quite obvious where I re-used the forward plasma vent button on the starboard side from my test print: that was a different batch of printer filament, and boy does it transmit light differently!
 
uP7mn2Z.png
 
With the flash off, you can see how well the light transmits through the fibre optics (the blinkies are between blinks right now).

Tried to wire up the buttons, but I ordered 18 AWG wire thinking it would be thinner than the 22 AWG wire I have... the AWG scale is fookin' bass-ackwards. 18 AWG is thick and stiff. (no jokes, please)
Apparently, the AWG scale is based on how many passes through the stretching machine the wire does, getting thinner each time. Frakking dumb scale imho. Just gimme the diameter in mm, ya phoox.

#57 Alteran195

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Posted 11 September 2021 - 08:23 AM

Agreed, would love to see a design thread on that Discovery Refit. 



#58 Destructor!!!

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Posted 02 October 2021 - 11:01 AM

I have wired up the FX lighting. Remember some of these will be painted over the reduce the light bleed. This is Quantum Torpedoes - it turned out incredibly bright.

 

oMQtNUI.png

 

This is Photon Torpedoes.

NtjtpQM.png

I may remove the resistors on these LEDs, or replace them with weaker resistors as these are quite dim compared to the Quantums. That said, the photo makes it look worse than it is.

 

I struggled to get a decent picture of the Pulse Phasers firing, so this will have to do.

1kUbRky.png

I would like them to be brighter, but they're working nicely. Threading the fibre optic filaments down the conduits I printed for them was pretty difficult, especially for the lower pair as they're quite embedded below the "deck" of the interior, and the conduit has to snake around a little. The print tolerance was also a bit tight, so I had to stick a pin in and wiggle to loosen the passage a bit or the fibre optic would not fit.
The cannon snapped off one of them in the process, but I was able to thread it along the fibre optic line and glue it back on like nothing happened.

 

Nazt5ke.png

 

I was feeling so satisfied with my fibre optic running lights on the nacelles. Then I remembered they're supposed to be red and green for port and starboard!

D'oh! I guess I'll see if just markering them after they're snipped does the job.

 

Anyway, I have procrastinated on doing the audio board and am working on painting. I have been held up by no-doubt-Brexit-related supplier delays. I'm waiting on a pair of new Airbrushes from England. I came up with the idea of 3D printing the paint masks for them, so I'm carving out the various hull markings into extruded plant-ons that should limit the various colours to their rightful locations... given a bit of skill in the paint app... hmmm...

 

Impatient, I primed the upper shell and hit it with some metallic spray paint. That didn't look right at all, so I hit that with white, which also looks wrong. When the airbrushes arrive, I'll see what I can do to walk it back.

 

Do you guys have any advice on paint colours/techniques to use?



#59 djc242

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Posted 05 October 2021 - 07:01 PM

Temba, his arms wide.

#60 Destructor!!!

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Posted 10 January 2022 - 09:15 PM

RhEVTEv.png

 

I took a break for several months after getting a job on foot of my new 3D printing skills. I have put a little effort in lately. I have coloured the hull in preparation for producing paint masks to allow easy painting of the final model.

 

GkxNV8g.jpg

 

I also experimentally painted the upper shell (not including the nose) of the prototype for light-blocking and testing hull colour. This consists of a primer coat applied with a 3D-printed mask to block the light-transmitting portions of the hull, and then a top coat applied evenly without the mask. That way the torpedo chevrons (unlit in this photo) and various vents still glow nicely.






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