tundrayeti

and here are my design drawing for the panels i have so far. Please add suggestion or give ideas I can add to future panel designs. there are also design drawing for the upcoming hangar bay door inserts and of course the different support columns additional columns can be added for $4 each. the small supports cantilevers will be $1 each. i will throw in 2 small cantilevers (pictured above) free with each order upon request! Thanks to all who helped me with this project!

Okay everyone here it is! Some of the members on this forum have helped me develop this and it's finally here! I have seen a lot of people admiring others work and wishing that there were certain items available in the scale that they like to collect in. After thinking about this, I got the idea to offer some standard panels for those that want a nice way to display their models without breaking their wallets. What i have come up with are these 16" x 16" panels that can be used to make your diorama stand out. I have posted some pics of the prototype. I will be offering the standard panels for $25 each and for $50 I will be offering the standard set which will include a wall panel, a floor panel (of your choice) and 2 support columns that are in the pictures below. I will b e offering different styles and pieces. I can add personnel doors in your desired scale if you like for no charge. Custom orders and designs are highly encouraged. It may be a little more but i will give a quote and allow you to preview your design before fabrication and delivery. Please feel free to pm me with any questions. as always opinions are most welcome. I will be continually adding to this effort soon I will be offering hangar bay door accessories and eventually some greeble packs to add detail to your diorama. also down the road will be 3D cnc modeling so keep posted!!! (forgive the quality of some of the photos my camera is acting up) [atta c hment=76918:S6301059.JPG]

Mechtech you and I really need to get together. I own a CNC machine and I can help you with any questions. I use cut 2d and cut 3d. If you buy them together, the package is about $400. As far as 3D drawing software goes, if you have no experience then I would suggest Blender. It's freeware and there are lots of tutorials and help sites out there. Blender will export into an STL file or several others that your CNC can use. Rhino is a good program also but if you are inexperienced and budget minded try Blender. even if you don't like it, it didn't cost you anything. If you need any help, let me know I already have an Autodesk suite so perhaps I can at least get you started! I have both 3d studio Max and Autocad.

Thanks for the shout out! My machine is almost tweaked to perfection so in the next week I should be ready get into gear!

I agree. I'm also doing an SC-27 Stargoose as well

That's the beauty of it, I can modify the scale to whatever I want!. I was going for 1/100 for this one to go with my custom hangar deck (check my other posts) But the whole idea for this undertaking is to have a computer model that I can mill on my CNC machine into whatever scale I desire.

I will be trying to machine this model very soon. I just have to finish it and figure out how to break it up.

Thanks to everyone for their interest in the custom panel project! I have attached some design drawings for what are going to be some of the "standard" 16" x 16" panels that will be made avaliable. I'm trying to keep the cost down below $25 each I will be doing a test run of these panels soon and as always, feedback is appreciated and if you want something custom, send me a message and let's see what we can do! Overall response to this idea has been very positive! I will post more idea's as they come.

Well it's pretty much up to anyone's imagination. For my own diorama, I have done both Decking and Wall sections. It's pretty much up to the individual as to what He or She wants. I can tell you that material costs will be cheap. The material that I used is PVC sheeting and will go for around $3-4 per square foot 1/8" thick. That price is based on what i get from my supplier. I try to get it in bigger sheets so the cost is low, but It won't be over $4 a square foot. It should be closer to 3 but with the way things are prices change. The rest of the cost will be determined on how complex the project is, but I can tell you that my total diorama with materials and machine time cost me about $80.00 and that was for a 6' x 4' section including the walls. The doors were a little more due to the thickness of the material but I did both for around $20. I will have some standard stuff available, but of course my whole idea behind doing this stuff is to inspire people and make their vision's come to life without breaking their wallet. Money isn't everything so send me a message. Something can always be worked out. So I say show me your ideas and let's make some cool stuff!!!

Okay, well I have been out of town for a few weeks, but I'm back. I know that there has been a lot of interest in this and due to the costs involved in buying my own 3d printer, I will hold off on it for now. I think that in a year or two there will be a printer out there that will give the detail that I want, at a better price. I have looked into the "garage-built" that some have sent me links to and I may get one of those, just to get one to play with. With each machine, it seemed that there was a trade off between detail and cost. the cheaper the machine, the lower the detail. The V-flash was probably the best for the price so far but i feel that it will come down in the next few years. Now I have some good news for those that expressed interest in some projects. I still have my CNC machine and I have upgraded my software to do 3d applications. I also have found someone who already has a few 3d printers who will print stuff at cost. So although I am holding off on getting the machine, The means to make some projects is still available. So At this time, anyone who has some ideas, let me know. I have a few that have been kicking around in my head for a while. In addition to my VC-33 and SC-27 models, I am also going to try a Gallant H-90 from Mospeada. I always thought the weapon was cool and this will be my first attempt with the new 3d software for my CNC machine. I will also be continuing to make the custom diorama panels for anyone who is interested. Here are the preliminary drawings for the H-90.

Thanks for the link Cowboy! I have been looking into the 3d printer as an alternative. I already own a 3d cnc machine, i was looking into something that would do more detailed work. The cost of materials is very cheap for a cnc compared to the 3d printer, and From what I have seen so far this may not be as cost effective as my CNC machine. I am going to be upgrading my 3d CNC software here very soon and it looks as though there will be a few advantages and disadvantages to the cnc vs the #D printer which I can live with. The largest advantage is cost. not only Was my CNC mach9ine cheaper, but i can use a variety of materials. The disadvantage is that the 3d prnter can do more complex shapes and has slightly better detail. Another advantage is that with CNC machine, i don't have to go through as much painstaking work with the 3d model. in order to print something on the 3d printer, it has to me Manifold or Water tight. this means no stray vertices or lines. My cnc machine simply does not care. So for those of you who were interested in checking out this technology, I haven't given up on the notion yet, but I may wait a bit to see what comes out in 2010. it seems a newer, less expensive machine comes out every couple months so we will see. When i get my 3d scanner and my new software for the cnc machine installed, i will definately post some photos. anyone who is still interested in starting a project, please dont hesitate to email me. thanks all! Oh here is a pic of my machine.

Wow! Very Nice work! I don't think I've seen anyone do a model with the Ghosts yet. As for the disappearing of hobby shops, i still have three here locally that have a nice selection, but as far as price goes it's cheaper to buy online. I remember when I could get a decent detailed aircraft kit for about ten bucks. Now they are in the $40-$50 range and the details suck. I still have some old kits that i use for kitbashing and i have stuff like jet engine details and detailed cockpits. Sad.

Hey Blue! The Material is 1/8" PVC sheets. I have a local vendor that gives it to me pretty cheap. It's about $3 a square foot. There are different thicknesses but this works well. For my doors I used 1/4" PVC sheets. The 1/8" sheets are nice because you can cut them with a metal straight edge and a razor blade or Xacto knife. Of course once i get the cnc set up it will cut out the piece so basically, the final price will depend on how elaborate you want to get. I think it looks great and is still cheaper than buying a bunch of Kotobukiya Chain Bases. I still love the Chain Bases though. I have a few myself.

Shinagami, I will be getting a 3d scanner. pretty much i will have my little "factory" up and running in about a month. I have a CNC machine and The 3d scanner on order. they are being built now and should be done in 3-4 weeks. I have access to a CNC machine which is what i used to make my custom diorama panels. it won't do 3d though and I'd like to experiment with that a little more. If you have an idea of what you would like, send me a photo and when i get up and running, let's see what we can do. There has been a lot of interest in the 3d printer and the CNC project. I'm very excited to see where this will go.

Just an update so no one thinks that this is dead. I'm still waiting for some samples but my job has had me traveling a lot, I will be in Texas this week so I won't know anything for awhile. I will however be making the custom panels available to anyone who is interested. Just drop me a message. I've already had some interest in these so I can do those in the meantime till the printer gets up and running.

Just some quick pics. Still doing some painting. but these should give you an idea of what i was going for. Sorry if some are out of focus, my camera is acting weird with the macro.

Cobywan, Thanks for the link, the detail is awesome, i looked into this machine, it was very expensive and it only prints very small area. (40mm x 50mm). It is very impressive as far as detail goes. I could be wrong but the price that i got for that machine was 55000 GBP which is around 80,000 US. Pretty pricey but i must say i was blown away by the detail on the 1/300 scale soldiers that i saw printed. Awesome. As with anything there is give and take. I'm just trying to see what kind of detail i can get for the best price. I am having samples printed out now So i will post pics and get some feedback. Thanks so much for the info Cobywan, If i hit the lottery tomorrow, I will definitely get one of these machines and let you have first crack at it. All kidding aside i want to thank everyone for their input. Once I have my sample parts, I will make my decision from there.

I suppose i could make it available. i designed this with some other elements in mind. I got my hands on a couple of the old Macross factory kits and went from there. My final layout is 4 foot by 6 foot. The hardest part is drawing out the panels in the space provided. If anyone is interested, just send me a message.

Thanks for the input Chilly. well here are the doors.

thanks for the link Olivers. its very interesting how many do it yourself printers there are out there. i can't seem to find how detailed it is though.

Ice as you requested here are some close ups of the custom panels I had done with a CNC router. I also did some doors which i will be posting soon. I am also waiting for some paint to dry and I will be sure to post some more.

Hey Ice I finished my custom cnc panels, I posted some quick pics on the other thread, but i'll post a quick one here. I used sheets of PVC for this. cheap and routed rather easily.

okay here are some quick pics from my CNC routed custom panel sheets. any comments/questions are welcome.

Well It has been awhile since i have given any updates. I am currently getting some test peices printed so I am waiting on those. The 3D scanner is in the process of being built, and I am waiting on the machine unitl i can see if it can handle the kind of detail we all want. once i get the test pieces, i will be sure to post pictures. I spent yesterday engraving some customized panels for my hangar bay layout. I will paint them and post pictures of those as well. Thanks for the holiday greeting JasonC. I am enjoying my family. but of course also setting some time aside for my projects. have a safe New Year everyone!

I found this. its done in CG but i hope it helps