SR2 Normandy Design and Build - continued

[sjsquirrel]

You could always release the .PDO as as instruction/location file., and do a .pDF which you could make annotations the the line outside of the parts indicating where and how the folds should be.

At this point I don't plan on releasing the PDO file.

I've pretty much settled on a combination approach. I'll just do whatever I need to to explain or illustrate what has to be done. A member over at PM made a timely post recently with a lot of good ideas, several of which I'll try to incorporate into this release.

In the meantime, I've been so busy with life that I haven't even had time to work on paper model stuff at all. All I've managed is keeping up with forum activity while I eat breakfast.

Steve

 

[NeoThyrrus]

I do think .pdo is a great asset to build when there is no lines on the pattern. I don't know how i'll be able to give a good looking to my Rikku if i hadn't the .pdo file ^^
But you can always protect the .pdo file like others do no ?
Whatever you do i'm sure we'll be plenty satisfied with it ^^ and we can always ask for advices on the building to its designer no ? ^^

 

[anthony344]

Hey Steve, How is the progress on the test build coming with the wing & the engine. i hope it turns out well , with all that work you put into it.:thumb:

Keep up the excellent work mate.

 

[sjsquirrel]

Hey Steve, How is the progress on the test build coming with the wing & the engine. i hope it turns out well , with all that work you put into it.:thumb:

Keep up the excellent work mate.

Egads! It's hard to believe it's been almost a month since I made my last post. I haven't even touched the Normandy in that time, and I'm close to not making the deadline for that Concorde people are going to pay me for. I keep thinking "things will slow down after this week", but so far they haven't. However, when they do, the Normandy is at the top of my list.

Steve

 

[Zathros]

I think many people go through the same thing. I am.

 

[sjsquirrel]

Work has resumed.

Well, I'm happy to say that I completed that Concorde build on time (thread and pictures) and have already resumed work on the Normandy.

At present I'm finishing off the second test build of the main hull, and have started building version 2 of the lower hull. The unfold of the 'wings' and engines was done some time back, but there's lots of cleanup and markup to do - adding fold line marks, notes, stuff like that.

At this point I've no idea when it will be done, but I must say I'm excited to be back working on it.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Steve

 

[Zathros]

I can sympathize with all you say.

 

[ThunderChild]

Yay! Glad you're back on this one. This is a true masterpiece in the works and I'm definitely staying tuned.

 

[pferris]

Cant wait to see this finished - any updates?

 

[sjsquirrel]

Cant wait to see this finished - any updates?

Well, I continue to lack focus these days and bounce around from project to project, and yada yada yada, you've heard it all before, but...

I started my second test build of the lower hull, found that the pages were printed with "fit to page" on so they didn't fit the hull (too small). I had to re-print them and rebuild, and found some fit problems, so I had to correct those in the 3D model. Now I need to re-print and re-build those.

Just last week I printed and spray-sealed the wing/engine parts and am ready to start building them. So, there has been progress, but not as fast as I'd like either.

In related news, over the last few months I've had lots of time where I could sit and work on my computer (I have a laptop, and a couple part-time jobs where I can bring it to work with me) and I've made great progress on the 3D mesh cleanup and unfolding of several other projects. By the time I get the Normandy done I'll have several others ready for test building.

I've also developed and completed a couple other neat items that I'll be posting on my web site very soon.

Thanks for giving me a nudge,

Steve

 

[XenoMorpH]

Any updates yet?

 

[sjsquirrel]

Small update

So, I finally started building the wing section. In keeping with my usual practice of working in front of the TV and making huge blunders, I assembled the inner structure of wing spars, then wrapped the skin around it, found some fit problems, trimmed things up and got it all looking pretty good, only to discover (after it all dried nice and solid) that the spars where sticking out the wrong side of the wing base wall1

I have now reprinted the page and have to seal it, but next time I'll get it right, I promise. I know I can, I know I can.....

Cheers,

Steve

 

[pferris]

Merry Xmas and I hope you have a great new year

 

[sjsquirrel]

Happy New Year to you too pferris. Mine is starting off great. Still as swamped as always with work and projects, but getting a handle on things.

Here's a brief update on what's transpired since my last update:

I assembled the second wing section then set it down next to the first one to take a picture, so I could illustrate what not to do, and lo and behold the second one was smaller than the first one. WTF? I had printed the dang thing with fit to page on. F&^@! So, I printed it again, properly this time, and built it again. It's right this time. There are still some fit issues I'll need to sort out in the 3D model and possibly by adjusting the unfold and the build sequence. We'll see. I'm working on the first engine now and should have pictures to post fairly soon.

Cheers everyone.

Steve

 

[pferris]

woo hoo!!

Awesome news - cant wait to see the pics

 

[Spartacus]

Really looking forward to seeing this one.

 

[pokemoz]

I'm really looking forward to this model. I tried the old 3-feet-version but it's not possible without inner structure. Did anyone else tried the old 3-feet-variant and succeeded?

 

[Mathius_gamgee]

So looking forward to seeing this finished!!

 

[sjsquirrel]

I'm really looking forward to this model. I tried the old 3-feet-version but it's not possible without inner structure. Did anyone else tried the old 3-feet-variant and succeeded?

I'm not aware of the model you refer to. Got a link?

In the meantime, and after much delay here are some pics for all of you.

We begin the wing and engine assembly with some framework

Then we add some skin to form the base of the 'wing'

And then a whole bunch of stuff I forgot to take pictures of happens and we end up with two
sub-assemblies ready to join up

Here I'm adding detailing bits to the central portion of the engine assembly.
This is the part shown at right in the picture above

Now we have a good part of the wing and first engine done
The central portion of the engine is reinforced with simple boxes inside.

The front piece is made to be moveable, but in my first build it
didn't hold position by itself.

This was easily corrected by glueing some pieces of cardstock in the gap
between the front piece and the main body of the wing. I built up the thickness of the
material until the front piece held position firmly, then colored it black before gluing it into position.
The fix is invisible.

Now on to the remainder of the engine body.
In the next picture the piece on the left that's cut out is a small section
that connects a bunch of other pieces. It contains two recessed areas on the sides.

The two litte pieces here are the recesses. These get glued inside
the main piece shown at right.

I'm not sure how well this picture shows it, but this is a rear view of the two recesses glued
inside the main piece.

The completed connector piece is on the right here, with the parts the form the
'arms' that will be glued into the recesses. Note that none of these parts are very big.

Now we have those three parts completed, along with the base of the engine outlet section.

And then all of those pieces glued into place.

Now we add some detail layers to the engine outlet. The larger rectangle with the gray and black
lines on it gets glued on top, then the long strip wraps around the outlet body.
The smaller black rectangle piece is actually four layers of stock, with a slight step around the perimeter.
Again the pieces are small, but it's great detail.

This trim piece around the engine outlet consists of two pieces glued back to back.
These are then shaped and edge-glued onto the engine.

Now we start adding all the detailing on top of the engine assembly.

The five parts shown above were a little tricky to install on their own.
I ended up gluing them to a piece of cardstock underneath, as well as to each other. This helped
keep everything in proper position, and then the whole assembly could just be glued onto
the engine.

In the picture below the 'new' part is made from 5 pattern pieces.
The central core of it has a small recessed box glued in the front, then two layers
of skin are added, and finally the detailing at the rear of the piece.
This assembly is the glued in position on top of the previous assembly.

Below is where we are so far.

And below is what we have left to add.

There are two of these arms to be assembled. They consist of a central core
with two layers of skin wrapped around them. This gives more depth and detail to the pieces.
I could have just gone for simple boxes, but that's just not my style.

The tiny detail bits shown below could easily be left
out and almost no one would notice. They are a simplification of
what was a much more interesting shape in the original 3D model,
but at this size the simplified version is enough.
The image below shows a completed "stack" above the pattern pieces
for the other stack. Being black they are hard to photograph and
the pictures probably don't show the finished product well,
but that's the way it goes.

The next two pictures show the two completed arms in place,
with the detailing bits added. These actually serve as good guides
for positioning the next pieces.

In the next image, these pieces are built up from a total
of 5 layers of cardstock. The black piece at left is two layers.
The white piece (it's actually black underneath) is 3 layers.
The black piece is then glued onto the white piece, the ends
trimmed smooth, and the edges colored, then they are glued into place.

And, at long last, it's done. All in all it's turned out as well as I hoped it would. With a few adjustments the final product will be even better.

I've been adjusting the pieces and enhancing the layout
as I go, so things are moving along. There's still a lot of work
to do for instructions and all, but I only have one engine left to build.

At that point all the major parts will have been test built at least once, and that
means the model is getting closer and closer all the time.

Enjoy the pics,

Steve

 

[ThunderChild]

The most awesomest of details on a beautiful model, thanks for a spectacular update SJS!