Thought I'd lay the terrain today, fate had different plans. The frame popped off. I am not entirely surprised since all that was holding it is Tamiya glue and a plastic base with dissimilar properties. So, the glue was not effective. It seemed to hold, initially. Anyway, out came my JB Weld 24 hour epoxy. I went with long cure epoxy for maximum hold.

Lastly, I marred the base so that Sculpey has something to bite into. I have my doubts going with sculpey because it can shrink. But, it seems, shrinkage is common to all the air dry clays. I am going to try it... part of the learning process. Worst case, I pop it up and use Apoxie Sculpt.

Later.

Gamera

Yeah the shadow box looks like a great idea to display the Chariot without having to deal with space dust. 

And a 3D rock will be much lighter saving wear and tear on your delicate back, the pain, THE PAIN! 

 

CapnMac82

 

 

Bakster

Power will be routed via an umbilcal to a battery box. It is like what I did with the Icarus.

 

 

Keep an eye out or USB "C" connectors.  The power options are good, and the cables are ubiquitous, and you can run the diorama from a phone charger, or a portable "power pack" (which could be handy on a competition table).

 

Good input, Capn.

Yeah the shadow box looks like a great idea to display the Chariot without having to deal with space dust. 

And a 3D rock will be much lighter saving wear and tear on your delicate back, the pain, THE PAIN! 

Bakster

Power will be routed via an umbilcal to a battery box. It is like what I did with the Icarus.

Keep an eye out or USB "C" connectors.  The power options are good, and the cables are ubiquitous, and you can run the diorama from a phone charger, or a portable "power pack" (which could be handy on a competition table).

mustang1989

Clean work on this so far Steve. The 3D printed rock idea sounds like a viable option but hear what you're saying on "extra steps". Will be watching for more on this one.......

 

Thanks, Joe!

Clean work on this so far Steve. The 3D printed rock idea sounds like a viable option but hear what you're saying on "extra steps". Will be watching for more on this one.......

Todays work: I notched a hole in the base for a power connector. Power will be routed via an umbilcal to a battery box. It is like what I did with the Icarus.

Cool options are available for power where one can 3D print rocks or such that can house a 9 volt battery. Nice idea, but limited space and my lack of motivation has me going this route. It's a whole to do. I'd have to buy a file then probably pay someone to print it.

Below: I made a frame using Evergreen. Inside of the frame will be the terrain pad. I purchased Sculpey Air Dry Clay for this. I have not used this before, so, it is a potential boondoggle. Though, it should be a reversable boondoggle. I had watched a video where a person used it on a diorama and to good success. Worth a go.

And that is all for this weekend.

"The tight fit is distinctive, and a cool effect.  But, it does not leave a lot of room for canting the base a bit, as they often seemed to park on a slope in the series (but would also be a way to encourage people to see all the "inside" detailing through that enormous greenhouse"

Thanks, Capn. I agree. The smaller size will limit options for the diorama. When I weighed the pros and cons, I expect I can still hold to my original vision for the project. I try to avoid large dioramas because they are hard to display, and I have no room for that. This should fit in a glass case that I hope to purchase one day. If I make it to the finsh with this thing, I surely will want to display it.

Bakster

Here is what I purchased for the base/enclosure.

I did a fair amount of online searches, also stopped at two stores. This is the closest size I could find that trips my trigger, and is functional. I particularly like the small footprint.

More to come.

There's a "terrarium in a terrarium" sort of vibe there,  which will be cool.

Now, if only hoby shops still had the magenta & fushia-dyed lichen for that distinctly unworldly look.

The tight fit is distinctive, and a cool effect.  But, it does not leave a lot of room for canting the base a bit, as they often seemed to park on a slope in the series (but would also be a way to encourage people to see all the "inside" detailing through that enormous greenhouse.

Finding off-the-shelf answers will have its limitations, of course.

mustang1989

That's going to work out perfect Steve!! 

 

Hey Joe, thanks!  I agree!

That's going to work out perfect Steve!! 

Here is what I purchased for the base/enclosure.

The undercarriage is taped on for these photos and not quite straight.

I did a fair amount of online searches, also stopped at two stores. This is the closest size I could find that trips my trigger, and is functional. I particularly like the small footprint. 

More to come.

Yeah man. The project lives.

Thanks, Gam!

PhoenixG

Bakster, the lighting is fabulous. Even if the camera is messing with the colors and intensity, the results are stunning. 

It's great to see pieces starting to come together.  We're getting a glimpse into the vision you've held in your head for the LIS Chariot.  All I can say is, worth waiting for.

You're on a roll man.  Keep it going!

 

Hey PG... it is good to see you back on the forum. Thanks for the nice comments and encouragement. It is much appreciated. I will keep at until I can't. With favor, this will get done!

I am currently researching what to buy for the base. I need to sort that out before I go too far with the tracks. More to come.

Great to see you around!

mustang1989

Sometimes things just have a way of turning out and it looks like it did just that for you Steve. 

 Haven't been on here in a while to comment on the good work I'm seein' but it sure looks like you've got this one under control buddy.

 

Hay-a Joe, thanks for chiming in. Yeah, making progress. 

Sometimes things just have a way of turning out and it looks like it did just that for you Steve. 

 Haven't been on here in a while to comment on the good work I'm seein' but it sure looks like you've got this one under control buddy.

Bakster, the lighting is fabulous. Even if the camera is messing with the colors and intensity, the results are stunning. 

It's great to see pieces starting to come together.  We're getting a glimpse into the vision you've held in your head for the LIS Chariot.  All I can say is, worth waiting for.

You're on a roll man.  Keep it going!

Sorry to hear about the issues Bakster but looks like you've got things under control! 

Captain: WOW, now those are hailballs! 

Well, the optics are installed.  Quite the rats nest. I used UV resin to secure the optics into the light engines.

Side note: This project almost bit the big one. I glued the strands in place and one errant strand didn't make it into the light housing. Along with that, tension on one strand was pushing it back up into the terrain scanner housing. So, when I moved the housings around, it unseated the strand. Fortunately, UV resin was not as strong as epoxy would be. I could crack the resin off and start over. Had I used epoxy, this project would be over with. Also fortunate, with all the manhandling I did to break the strands free, I didnt break anything else. It was precarious but the project lives to see another day. Thank you, Lord.

I should note that the camera skews the colors terribly, and it blows out the detail. It skews the intensity as well. It looks far better in person. Also, I was gonna create a GIF showing how the blinking lights look. Well, a recent computer upgrade left me without software. Along with that, my camera is no longer supported by any available software. I could not pull the video file from the camera. Finding a new path for a GIF is a project for another day.

From here, I will probably move towards working on the tracks and the transmission assembly.

CapnMac82

 

 

Bakster

Their own personal wave tank.

 

 

Ok, fist response was eaten by a 405 Forbidden Error.  Gee, thanks, Kalmbach.

That canal points near due East.  It's dredged to ten meters, 5.5 fathoms of wather depth.  The side walls are another 6-8 feet above that, to give a measure to how deep those swells are in the fetch off the Lake.

Was enough energy built up that the fetch was still breaking a day later, even without a gale blowing behind it.

 

Very interesting about that canal!

Bakster

Their own personal wave tank.

Ok, fist response was eaten by a 405 Forbidden Error.  Gee, thanks, Kalmbach.

That canal points near due East.  It's dredged to ten meters, 5.5 fathoms of wather depth.  The side walls are another 6-8 feet above that, to give a measure to how deep those swells are in the fetch off the Lake.

Was enough energy built up that the fetch was still breaking a day later, even without a gale blowing behind it.

That is fun to watch, Capn. Their own personal wave tank.

That hail is crazy.

Gamera

And grapefruit sized hail!?!?! OMG!!!

As in:

Mind, the folk up at Duluth, north of Baxter are a touch nuts, too.

This is a dude jetskiing gale-force breakers in the Canal at a balmy 43°F (video is about 4x speed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz2nGEUoL4Q

Excellent weather for being in the basement working on a Chariot.

Looks good Bakster, she's coming along well! 

And grapefruit sized hail!?!?! OMG!!! 

I first read that as golfball sized Captain, which is scarey enough but GRAPEFRUIT!|?!?!?!?

Last hail we had was thankfully about pea sized... 

Looks good Bakster, she's coming along well! 

And grapefruit sized hail!?!?! OMG!!! 

I first read that as golfball sized Captain, which is scarey enough for GRAPEFRUIT!|?!?!?!?

Last hail we had was thankfully about pea sized... 

"Last week, locations only about an hour's drive NW of here had grapefruit size hail o_O"

I can't imagine it. Truly terrifying. 

Bakster

Some golf ball size hail, damaged many cars and homes. I lucked out with dime size hail.

Last week, locations only about an hour's drive NW of here had grapefruit size hail o_O

Couple of weeks ago, we has a short, but intense burst of hail while I was out driving, and I now have a starburst ding i nmy windshield.

We are scheduled for another bout of storms this w/e.  But, it may rain on me heading to Houston on Wednesday.

Tropical forecast has a lot of energy in it, but, it's snapped back into la niña and there's a huge cold current across the Pacific.  There's a correspnding forecast for over-warm air on the north side of the Atlantic Inter Tropical Convergence Zone.  But the steering current suggest against North American landfalls.

This model suggests a stron SW jet stream over the Great Lakes region (also a very strong "Roaring 40s" in the Indian Ocean.

Maybe we all need to Dr Smith the Jupiter II when it lanches in 2024 (per canon).  :)

CapnMac82

with it. Was in Austin Wednesday & Thursday last week.  Coming back on Thursday hit bad weather between temple and Waco

CapnMac82

But, you have glue where you foodstuffs are, and finding that half tube in the crisper drawer later can be disconcerting.

Laughing. 

Bakster

PS: Some nasty weather in Texas. I hope you didn't get hit with it.

Was in Austin Wednesday & Thursday last week.  Coming back on Thursday hit bad weather between temple and Waco that was particularly awful, as in sheets of rain, visibility to 1/8 mile or less, and very gusty winds.  So, it was slow going on the interstate, perhaps 45 mph in some spots (and not much of the traffic bailed off, either).   Not a lot of fun when a gust would push the ride while the amount of rain on the road was right at the hydroplaning amount.  So, there would be some slipping, then the tires would grab again.  Not fun, and this lasted more than an hour of the three hour drive.  But, I survived.

But, it did make watching the gale force winds in Duluth all the more poignant.

Getting things to glue dow where they ought to is always "a thing."  And, yes, CA have the worst shelf life of all.  In storage or opened.  You can get some extra life out of opened CA by storing it in the fridge, as that's lower humidity.  But, you have glue where you foodstuffs are, and finding that half tube in the crisper drawer later can be disconcerting.