Motorized 1/72 VF-1 Ranger and Launch Arm Completed

[arbit]

Thanks kajnrig, I worry about putting everything together with all the wiring and tight spaces. But the arm itself is very strong. That metal tube is not only for show, it runs all the way through. Actually I weighed the valk because it felt so heavy, but it only weighs 100 grams even with all the stuff inside.

 

[NZEOD]

On ‎6‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 9:36 AM, arbit said:

Preparing the electronics in the base, and threading the wires one by one.

That is two Trinkets, one for the lights and sounds, and one dedicated to the motor. There is a motor driver IC, an amp, a speaker, two LiPo's and LiPo chargers, and an SD card.

If you replace the Trinkets with Arduino Micros, this whole set up costs less than USD 20, with most of the cost going to the batteries.

Most importantly, anyone, and I mean anyone, can manage the Arduino. So let me know if you are interested.

Dude... seriously... Proud of how far and fast you've come with this

[arbit]

Thanks. Having WM Cheng's guides helps move things along. I tried to bring lots of ideas from different modelers, and a touch of my own ideas for a change.

Edited April 7, 2018 by arbit

[arbit]

Hope you all like it. It's dedicated to you...

 

Edited April 11, 2018 by arbit

[007-vf1]

Simply fantastic!

great build arbit

 

[arbit]

Mixed response in my house: My 8-yr old says he likes fast wings going "Zoooooom!". And my wife wants to know how I will conceal the brown and yellow wires...

 

[derex3592]

that came out GREAT!!!

[arbit]

Sorry my video sucked... I need to redo it in widescreen and daylight. And more close in for quality.

Edited April 9, 2018 by arbit

[kajnrig]

On 4/8/2018 at 4:50 AM, arbit said:

Mixed response in my house: My 8-yr old says he likes fast wings going "Zoooooom!". And my wife wants to know how I will conceal the brown and yellow wires...

 

Everybody's a critic...

[Xigfrid]

Whoa , that's the next level modeling thread Amazing  work on this

[arbit]

2 hours ago, Xigfrid said:

Whoa , that's the next level modeling thread Amazing  work on this

Thanks Xigfrid. That's very kind of you. Funny thing is, I'm in awe of your work. No idea how you do it! 

[arbit]

This is the "Not 1/1 GU-11 Gunpod" 

And it costs a lot less.

Edited April 10, 2018 by arbit

[arbit]

I have an improved video for you guys. 

 

Edited April 11, 2018 by arbit

[arbit]

Xigfrid is 3D designing the gear to put on Shapeways to give it smoother balance.

Could someone with an open valk, or two (ahem...Nzeod), measure the inside of these points please?

Edited April 13, 2018 by arbit

[NZEOD]

Yellow centre of wing pivot pin to centre of wing pivot pin is 47.5mm

Pink centre line of wing pivots to rear is 20mm

Edited April 13, 2018 by NZEOD

[arbit]

Thanks Nzeod. 

The gear is in Xigfrid's shop if anyone feels adventurous.

[NZEOD]

I can lay a ruler across the parts and photograph them if you like. You caught me last night while I was working on the vf-4

[arbit]

18 hours ago, NZEOD said:

I can lay a ruler across the parts and photograph them if you like. You caught me last night while I was working on the vf-4

Doesnt hurt to get your view. These are the dimensions. Based on your measurements, we are good. 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2018 by arbit

[NZEOD]

the 22.1 measurement you have should be from rear (where you have it) to CENTRE of the pin

[arbit]

11 hours ago, NZEOD said:

the 22.1 measurement you have should be from rear (where you have it) to CENTRE of the pin

I dont understand your comment. Please rephrase with what you are suggesting.

Edited April 14, 2018 by arbit

[slide]

I think he means that the line measuring 22.1mm should not proceed all the way to the end of the arm [where it does], but in the middle of the slot for the pin [ie: it should terminate at the same point you are referencing for your 40.4mm measurement]

 

Like this I think:

Edited April 14, 2018 by slide

[arbit]

27 minutes ago, slide said:

I think he means that the line measuring 22.1mm should not proceed all the way to the end of the arm [where it does], but in the middle of the slot for the pin [ie: it should terminate at the same point you are referencing for your 40.4mm measurement]

 

I'll try to smash something up in ms.paint to better illustrate.

The notch is at 20mm. Centered to the wing points. You can center it where ever you like. What really matters is how evenly it connects to the wings. 

In my actual model I was grabbing the wings a bit below center. But I also dug below the line to get a full wing opening. It was hand-made, so it required an iterative process until I got it right.

It can only be perfected with a CAD drawing with gears, which Xigfrid doesn't do.

Overall, this new gear fits the 20mm distance centered at the notch. It is also balanced on both sides, flat, and made with one piece with clean notches. All of which will make it many times better than my hand made one.

Mine also got bent during testing multiple times, so while it started out smooth, it ended up jerky. There are 18th century watch makers turning over in their graves.

Edited April 14, 2018 by arbit

[slide]

1 hour ago, arbit said:

The notch is at 20mm. 

 

That's what I mean:

1 hour ago, slide said:

Like this I think:

EDIT: what I think NZEOD meant was that the notch should be at 22.1mm

 

I'll stop here though, as any further interpretation on my part would be purely that.

Edited April 14, 2018 by slide

[arbit]

15 minutes ago, slide said:

That's what I mean:

I may not be understanding. So, here is my reasoning: The space in the valk is 20mm from the pink line to the center of the wing pivots, therefore the gear is 20mm long to the center of the notches. This way I dont have to dig below the pink line as i did at the tail of the valk (I had to dig below the pink line we are measuring 20mm from).

But honestly, i dont think it matters, as long as the gear fits in the space, final adjustments need to be made when connecting to wings.

Edited April 14, 2018 by arbit

[wmkjr]

Just saw the drawing of your scratch built one. So the original drawing's labeling is correct as the it's pretty close. The bottom 22.1mm is the total length, the unlabeled top should be 20mm to center of pin.

[arbit]

I thought this would be my only motorized valk, but with Xigfrid doing his magic, I am planning a couple more!

Here is a night version showing off the wing lights.

 

[slide]

Bravo @arbit ! 

[arbit]

Xigfrid has gone out of control!!!  

[arbit]

Finished some bits and bobs. 

[arbit]

The final 3D designed gears are up on Xigfrid's Shapeways store.

Xigfrid has worked really hard on these. They are only USD 4, so I hope you will give him your moral support for his efforts!

They are extremely sleek, and slimmed down to require the minimum drilling. He has designed them to make it as easy as possible for others to install, with both the gears and rail. You just need to drill their position and install with a 6mm motor and M2 nut (6x7mm motors will also fit). No scratch-building is required.

I will make a new thread soon for installing mine once they arrive, and I will be happy to help anyone install them.

Edited April 26, 2018 by arbit

[arbit]

Back to the wing lighting issue. As you know from this WIP I had a lot of problems with those because I insisted on a red, blue and white leds, wired on only a single pair of wires to save space for the motor.

One solution: I have seen others use 3x white leds, which are no problem to parallel on a single pair of wires, and then paint the ports red and blue.

Second solution: I am not sure if they will fit in the 1/72 yet (that's for my next project), but definitely okay in the 1/48, we can use smd resistors to parallel red, blue and white leds safely.

Third and easiest solution: Use a red and a blue SMD in each wing, and forget the whites. 

Edited July 24, 2018 by arbit

[Return To Kit Form]

Looking grest Arbit. I love the 3D designed parts. I'm goint pick some up and give this motorising thing a try!

[arbit]

15 hours ago, Return To Kit Form said:

Looking grest Arbit. I love the 3D designed parts. I'm goint pick some up and give this motorising thing a try!

Go for it. I will help walk you through it. 

But you probably don't want to add as many lights as I did at first, because it is really tight for space.   

I was lucky to pull it off, but I also had a lot of practice from previous projects.

[arbit]

The Arduino sketch for lighting and sound is attached for anyone who wants a look.

(The sketch for the reversing motor was attached separately earlier. )

VF-1_Project_Full.ino

WS2812_Definitions.h

[arbit]

Careful, since I mentioned them here, Gizmoszone seems out of business but still taking money. Just won a non-delivery case against them, and they have insufficient paypal funds as well. 

Anyone know who else has 6mm low speed motors (12mm length)? The 6mm planetary motors on ebay are too long (L 19mm) for the valk.

com

Edited October 12, 2018 by arbit