New thread for progress updates on the Phoenix Queen real-world model, shown here as it originally arrived from Shapeways:

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

So! Week before last, the Phoenix Queen 3D-print model I ordered from Shapeways came. I unpacked it, took a photo with my laptop for scale, and then carefully packed it back and shipped it off to the mighty Dave Van Domelen, toy customizer extraordinaire, to be detailed and painted. It took a week to get to him, but arrived in good order on Thursday evening, and he wasted no time in getting started. Tonight he sent me a batch of work-in-progress photos showing the prep work he's done, and I thought I would share them with the class.

In the email these came with, Dave explains that the white is partly primer and partly because the model's red color is a fairly shallow dye job; the base material is white laser-sintered nylon. As you can see, he's started carving some surface details that were absent from the 3D model used to make the print (having been drawn onto the basic shape in Adam's original illustration), and drilled a 1/8" hole in the underside for mounting purposes. I'm starting to kick around ideas for a full-time display base I can model in Solid Edge and maybe print on the SET MakerBot.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Dave just sent along some photos of the completed paint job; he notes:

"Getting good [camera] angles with even slightly shiny finish and flat planes is tricky, it turns out. The brushstrokes were more obvious than I'd like (not nearly as much of a problem when doing minis), but from arm's length or further it looks pretty good."

Indeed, the photographic flash is a harsh mistress. Lesson learned: go for the matte finish next time. Still! That's pretty badass. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Awesome work by Dr. VanDomletron. :)

Dissatisfied with the way the "satin" sealant photographed, Dave went back over the model with a matte sealant, and the results speak for themselves.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Ahh. Yeah, that does make the details rather pop.

Is that the finished product? The BGPD articles' graphics show a bunch of extra surface detail that you might or might not be having him add.

>Is that the finished product? The BGPD articles' graphics show a
>bunch of extra surface detail that you might or might not be having
>him add.

All the little panel lines and whatnot aren't really feasible at that scale, particularly since they weren't present in the 3D model and so would have to be either carved into the model or done trompe l'oeil-style.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Gotcha, thanks. (I was imagining that they would be drawn on.)

>Gotcha, thanks. (I was imagining that they would be drawn on.)

Dave did add a number of surface details that way, and a couple more by actually carving the surface a/o adding some styrene, but the level of panel detail present on, for example, the blueprints proved too fiddly to be feasible at the scale of the Shapeways model (which, at about 5½ inches long, is roughly 1/630), at least with the tools available. (The black lines you see in the photos, e.g. the borders on the yellow stripes and the vents on top, were drawn with a pen.)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.