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Scratch Built 3D Printed Ship WIP

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  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by PFJN on Friday, October 27, 2017 1:46 PM

Hi,

Yeah, you can use CAD for the vinyl cutter.  The model that I use (an older model from Silhouette) uses a .DXF format as its base import/export standard, which is a standard CAD interchange format.  As such, if you can sketch up in 2D CAD what you want to "cut" with the cutter it hopefully shouldn't be hard to import that to the machine.  I've been making the "windows" for my build that way.

Pat

PS. I think that there are actually a number of simple 2D CAD programs for free on the internet that might be suitable for sketching up 2D "masks" for cutting out of vinyl.

1st Group BuildSP

  • Member since
    September 2016
  • From: Albany, New York
Posted by ManCityFan on Friday, October 27, 2017 4:35 PM

PFJN

Hi,

Yeah, you can use CAD for the vinyl cutter.  The model that I use (an older model from Silhouette) uses a .DXF format as its base import/export standard, which is a standard CAD interchange format.  As such, if you can sketch up in 2D CAD what you want to "cut" with the cutter it hopefully shouldn't be hard to import that to the machine.  I've been making the "windows" for my build that way.

Pat

PS. I think that there are actually a number of simple 2D CAD programs for free on the internet that might be suitable for sketching up 2D "masks" for cutting out of vinyl.

 

Thank you for the information!  Really looking forward to your next progress report.  

Dwayne or Dman or just D.  All comments are welcome on my builds. 

  • Member since
    January 2016
  • From: A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Posted by Hunter on Sunday, October 29, 2017 10:17 AM

Pat,

Sir this project build is absolutely amazing. Sorry I'm late, but I will be here until she is complete. You difinitely have my attention. Wonderful work thus far!

Hunter 

      

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by PFJN on Monday, October 30, 2017 9:26 PM

Hi,

Thanks.  I've been continueing to work on this build for the last several days, but mostly its just been touching up small spots with sanding, filling and a bit of painting.  Hopefully that's coming to a conclusion soon, and I will soon be able to try snd get more of the superstructure together.  I will try and post some pictures in the next couple days, once I reach that point. Smile

Pat

 

1st Group BuildSP

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by PFJN on Tuesday, October 31, 2017 10:58 PM

Hi,

I went ahead and tried dipping many of the pieces in"Future" floor polish to see if a) it might hide some of the smaller dimples and such in the surface, b) it would give a nice shine, and c) how well it might serve to coat/protect the vinyl cutouts that I am using for windows.

Below are a couple close ups of the one piece where I have currently added "windows".  (I think if you click on the pictures they should expand).  In general I am very happy with how this part hgas turned out and how well the "Future" floor polish seems to cover/seal eveything.

12

Next, here are a couple pictures of the upper most decks.  I think that these look pretty decent, but since I glued the upper deck in place before doing this current work it's kind of hard to try and sand/polish the sides, possibly leaving them a little "rougher" in appearance than the pieces shown above.  I still have to touch up one or two spots on this piece, and maybe redip it in the floor polish again, prior to adding the "windows".  After that I intend to redip it in the floor polish to give it a final "sealing" coat, and then add the "wood" deck veneers.

3

4

These next couple of pictures show the forward part of the next deck down.  Here you can see that the sides aren't necessarily 100% smooth everywhere, but like the piece above I'm hoping that once I add the vinyl cutouts and do the final clear "sealing" coat it might not look too bad.

5

6

Finally, here is the rest of the superstructure.  I don't think it looks too bad, though if you look closely you can see some slight indentations here and there, etc (especially in the last picture about 1/3rd the way aft of the bow).  Since I have to touch up some of the paint just a little, I may tray and tough up some of the larger blemishes as well, before redipping it in clear coat, prior to adding the windows.

7

8

I do have all the windows drawn up and ready to cut out though, so hopefully once I do these few tough ups, and let the clear coat thoroughly dry I can start adding the vinyl "windows". Smile

Pat

1st Group BuildSP

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Friday, September 7, 2018 9:32 AM

Stop ! 

 Don't complain any more !

 You are breaking new ground here ! This is awesome that you are goint full tilt on something no one else has tried at all that I know of . 

 Your little imperfections just scream prototype with untried material . Problem there ? Heck No , I love it!

 When you get it done try another material . I understand that they have one  that is sanding friendly and smoother . Maybe your machine can even use it without requiring new parts  ! Keep this up . I can't wait to see the finished product !

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by PFJN on Sunday, September 9, 2018 9:10 PM

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback.  I can't believe that its been almost a year since I last worked on this build.  Unfortunately a couple things came up and I had to set all my model building aside for a while.  I am looking forward to getting back to it soon though.

Pat

1st Group BuildSP

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by PFJN on Sunday, September 16, 2018 1:30 AM

Hi,

While digging around on my computer, I stumbled across some videos that I had put together last year to demonstrate some of the features of the design of this ship.  They were made in a Home Design software that I had bought called Cheif Architect, that comes with alot of vendor furhished 3D parts, but which also allows you to add your own parts too. 

As such I was able to build up parts of my ship (as stand alone "buildings") and do some "walkthroughs" of those spaces.  For many of the spaces I used pieces that came with the software (or that could be downloaded from the company's website) but for some of the pieces (like the circular elevators that you can see in the "atrium" video) or the lifeboats that you can see in the "Whirlpool" video) those were either models that I built myself or (in the case of the lifeboats) modes that I downloaded from elsewhere and imported into the program.

Anyway, although they aren't really part of the physical model that I am building, they do help demonstrate parts of the ship, and since I had them I figured I'd go ahead and post them, to help give an idea of what the ship is intended to look like.

Here is a markup of some images of the vessel showing the location of the spaces shown in these videos.

Profile

Stern View

This 1st video (below) shows the forward Reading Room/Lounge on the ship.  Its located forward on the main deck away from the other public spaces onboard (and just below the bridge).  It meant to give passengers a kind of "quiet space" onboard with panoramic views for sightseeing and/or reading up on the places the ship is sailing through.  On either side of this space is a weather vestibule that provides access to an open deck forward of this space.

One thing I need to apologize for in some of these videos is that, while the program came with the ability to use a 3D "backdrop" for outside scenes which would accurately reflect changing views as you move about, for the most part I kind of just used a "fixed" backdrop.  As such it may look kind of funny that things on the horizon and waves etc move with you.  Sorry about that Surprise  It was kind of a learning process for me.

Library

(click image for video)

This next video shows the main Dining Hall located aft on the Main Deck, with large full height windows.  At the foward end of the Dining Hall to port and starboard are doors that lead to stairs to the Garage and Swim platform area below.  In addition as the video leads you past the bar at the front end of this space you can also see a dumbwaiter and door to stairs that lead to the galley on the deck below (forward of the Garage).

 

Dining Hall

(click image for video)

The next video shows a "Water Toys" garage and walk off swim platform, located on the decks beneath the main Dining Hall.  (Sorry, it looks like I used a mountain scene backdrop instead of a water themed one here.  I guess that we can just pretend that the ship is going the the inside passage of Alaska or something Stick out tongue)

Garage

(click image for video)

The next video shows a bar/lounge and external deck on the deck above the Main Dining Hall.  

Lounge

(click image for video)

The next video shows an enclosed Whirlpool/Jacuzzi space on the next deck up that looks out over an open deck aft.  Here you can see parts of the Lifeboat models that I downloaded off the internet and imported into the program.

AP Spa

(click image for video) 

And the final video shows a walkthrough of the main Atrium, going from the main passenger entrance on the Main Deck up to the top deck, where the Whirlpool area is.  Here, the doors to the left at the begining of the video are the main entrances to the Main Dining Hall. 

As you move forward on the Main Deck you can see the Ship Purser/Front Desk to your right, the two circular glass (pnuematically operated) lifts, a passageway leading forward to pasenger staterooms, and the Reading Room, then on the other side of the ship a shop/store front, and the main staircase.

As you go up to the next deck you pass a space on the port side of the ship for a Beauty Saloon and Spa, then you can see the two elevators and forward passageway to passenger staterooms on this deck, and a Ship's Gym on the Starboard side and finally the main lounge aft (which doesn't show the furnishings in this part of the walkthrough - in order to make the model a little smaller).

As you go up to the next deck, if you were to turn left/aft you'd enter the Whirlpool area, and as you go right you see the elevators and passageway to the forward passenger cabins. 

Atrium

(click image for video)

PS.  Here is an image of a typical passenger stateroom as well, showing a fold down bed.  I didn't do a walkthrough of these spaces though, so I just have some images.

Staterooms

Pat

1st Group BuildSP

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Wednesday, October 3, 2018 1:56 PM

Hey pat !

 Have you done any models of the bridge area ? I would like to see them . Are you planning traditional or ultra modern ? T.B.

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by PFJN on Thursday, October 4, 2018 9:19 PM

Hi,

I hadn't really thpught about that, til you asked.  But thinking about it now, I guess maybe a bit of a mix of both.

I'm not necessarily a big fan of the overly austere look of some more modern ships (like shown below), but can appreciate their functionality and modern interfaces.

Sikuliaq

I do like the look of having some wood surfaces, though this image below might be a bit too much for a working ship (as opposed to a yacht).

Yacht

North Pacific 59

Maybe I might try and work something up that's a bit of a cross between the two this weekend. Smile

Pat

1st Group BuildSP

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Friday, October 5, 2018 8:55 AM

PFJN

Hi,

Yeah, you can use CAD for the vinyl cutter.  The model that I use (an older model from Silhouette) uses a .DXF format as its base import/export standard, which is a standard CAD interchange format.  As such, if you can sketch up in 2D CAD what you want to "cut" with the cutter it hopefully shouldn't be hard to import that to the machine.  I've been making the "windows" for my build that way.

Pat

PS. I think that there are actually a number of simple 2D CAD programs for free on the internet that might be suitable for sketching up 2D "masks" for cutting out of vinyl.

 

Cricut machines of the Explore line do allow import of your own drawings, in several formats.

I am having a hard time finding a free or cheap CAD.  I used to use Autodesk's Autosketch (actually a decent CAD program) but they had a drastic price increase.  My old version will not run on Windows 10, so I need a good 2D CAD.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Thursday, October 11, 2018 8:04 AM

Hi !

 The Second bridge you show is very close to the bridge area on some of " Clean Bay/ Clean Seas " Ships . They are converted supply and anchor handling ships from offshore oil rig work .

 I built two models for them and Both had a lot of wood and faux wood on the bridge . Clean Bay One had somewhat less but , not much .

 You would be right on with this . And for your information it was set up with both . It had a Kirk Chair , but it had a Wheel , Binnacle and Engine telegraph too .

  • Member since
    January 2015
Posted by PFJN on Tuesday, October 23, 2018 3:51 PM

Hi,

I sumbled across another couple videos on my computer today while looking for something else.  These show a flyby of my model that I did in a program called Vue Esprit.  In the larger format video you can see where I messed up something with the clouds at the beginning.  In addition the motion is a litlle jerky in the middle, probably because I am still learning the program, and likely didn't have everything set correctly, or my movement points set suitably Tongue Tied

Anyway, just wanted to post them if anyone is interested.

PF

Small Video

Large Video

 

1st Group BuildSP

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