How Do I make the Blast door from the Doom 3 project ?

Hi guys:
I am very new to modding and am interested in making a roll up blast door like the one Crimson sky made for Doom 3 mars city mod.

I am trying to figure it out by looking at the pictures but that doesn't answer some questions I have.

Like where do you find material for the doors and track system?

Any help you can give will be appreciated

Thanks
Charles:)

The roll up blast door took a lot of work for Paul, but if you head over to this project here, some else is tackling the same problem. Maybe that will help you out.

-Dave

Thanks for the link Dave he seems to be tacklng the blast door a lot differantly than Crimson did and I'm not sure if his way will work for me.

If I could just find the material Crimson sky used I have been all over the net looking for plastic 'U' channel for the tracks but I don't know the size to get or the method he used to get the 90 degree bend in it without it collapsing.

Also does anyone know the type and thickness of styrene Crimson sky used for the blast door

Also I can't find plastic tubing that small to put the hinge wire through


Any help will be appreciated

Thanks
Charles

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the method he used to get the 90 degree bend in it without it collapsing.

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There was something in that link about how to cut little slits into it to get it to bend properly.

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If I could just find the material Crimson sky used I have been all over the net looking for plastic 'U' channel for the tracks but I don't know the size to get

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Don't expect to get these new, try looking around for something else that will do the job.

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Also I can't find plastic tubing that small to put the hinge wire through

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Try the local Hobby/Art store.

-Dave

Thanks DaveW
I will look at the hobby store and try to recycle anything that I can think of to make this work.

I'm determined to do it I just might have to wait until the stars align themselves in my favor to get that Light bulb over the head Idea effect.
Then it might just work! he he :)

I started this thread with an improper title it sounded like I was giving instruction's on how to make the blast door! for that I am sorry.

Update: I have found some of the items needed and will attempt to fabricate the Linear actuator If I am successful then I will move on to the blast door.

Anyone who has tried to do this please feel free to offer input because I need all the help I can get.

Thanks
Charles

Good luck man!

-Dave

the U chanel was made by FIRST cutting a "J" shape from sytrene plastic. then I just glued sides on the "J" to create a channel. it is not one solid piece, each channel is 3 pieces. You would not be able to get a smooth curve if it were one U channel, even by heating and bending. it would always distort.

the door itself was fashioned after a garage door. It is simply individual panels hinged on the ends with steel pins.

Here are suppliers of some of the plastic shapes I use:

Evergreen Scale Models

Plastruct

US Plastics

Thanks Crimson

I almost have the actuator fabricated it's as close to yours as I could get working from Pictures.

Some measurements of the main guide rail would be nice I think I have mine a little long! Also the length of the inside piece that slides in the main guide rail.

Also I can't figure out how the spring is mounted on the inside piece that slides in the main guide rail.

And last and most important how did you wire up the motor so it would stop and reverse at the end of it's travel I know that reversing the wires will make it reverse also what voltage do I use for the motor.

As for the door Thank you for clearing up a big mystery about those guide rails I have racked my brain tring to figure out how to bend those sweeping 90 degree bends.

Also for the door I almost have the hinges figured out I may need your help on those.

Love your work this is the first time I have tried to do something like this and I am enjoying it.

Charles

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Originally Posted by Wannabeamodder

And last and most important how did you wire up the motor so it would stop and reverse at the end of it's travel I know that reversing the wires will make it reverse also what voltage do I use for the motor.

As for the door Thank you for clearing up a big mystery about those guide rails I have racked my brain tring to figure out how to bend those sweeping 90degree bends.

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Try using a stepping motor. You can buy a computer controlled one from jaycar.

Here

You can control the motors direction and speed from your PC to.

You have to assemble the kit yourself so you need to be handy with a solder iron or has a friend who has the skills and some time. This is one of the cheapest ones out there.

keep in mind that every single moving part of the mechanism I made has screws for making micro adjustments. there is no other way to assemble this except to include the ability to make the parts mesh perfectly. You'll need a drill press for making precision parts, as well as a tap and die set.

Crimson what kind of glue did you use to glue the tray gear strip to the aluminum?

Charles

I first glued the CD gear strip to a thick piece of .80 gauge styrene with cyanoacrylate (superglue), then as you can see, it was screwed to the aluminum U channel

Thanks Crimson from the pictures I thought it was glued directly to the aluminum.

One question about the motor operation how did you wire it up to a switch and what kind of switch I'm guessing a DPDT pushbutton type switch.
How did you make it stop at the end of it's travel, did you use a limit switch?
Or just manualy turn it off?

Also what thickness of styrene do I need to buy for the rails and blast door?

Thanks
Charles

Well here it is the linear actuator! It's not as purdy as Crimson's but it works! Still have some fine tuning to do and the mount to make but at least I'm this far!

Here are some still pictures .

I have it temporarily mounted to a wood block for testing.
As you can see I had no styrene to mount the side gear strip to so I cut a piece of the cdrom drawer and glued it to that worked good!

Here in this side view you can see where it differs from Crimson's
I could not figure out the end spring he used so I made my own.

This is a back view pretty ugly huh I still have some cutting to do to
make it more tidy looking. Also I installed slides on the under side to give the whole assembly more stability.

In this close up you can see where my gear assembly differs greatly from Crimson's! I could not find a cdrom with the same final drive gear as he used so I had to make do. I used the plastic part of the cdrom where these gears mounted to make it easier to get them in place. I put a very small bolt through the center gear and fastened it with small jam nut's. This let the whole assembly pivot to make setting the gear's position easier.

Here is a Video of it in action.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...26632469626407

LMAO...thats great man..nice work. I commend you for taking on this project. now whats in store for the rest of the mod???

Everytime I open my disc drive, I think of you.

+Rep! Well done dude, so many people have tried this and failed, it's great to see someone finally succeed!

:D

-Dave

Thanks guys for all the nice comments.:)
It was a booger to fabricate! Everything was trial and error but if it had not been for Crimson's pic's I would not have even known this was possible or where to start! As for the rest of the mod I am planning on putting an lcd screen where the drive bays are and having the blast door raise and lower (hopefully).
I still have to make the door I have looked at the site that Crimson uses to buy styrene but can't decide on the thickness to order! Crimson what thickness of styrene do I need for the door and rails?

I just hope I have room to mount the actuator I may have to orient it different but that will also be trial and error.
I had originaly planned on building 2 of these for I am building twin systems for me and my son but that will depend on wether I get this first one to work.
It will be my son's sixth system. I usualy get his hand me down's but this time we will both be equal with Identical systems.
My son has been building and working on system's by himself and with me since he was in grade school and is quite knowledgable. He has helped me a great deal in the making of this project. In fact he is probably going to tackle the other actuator himself! Needless to say I am very proud of his abilities! :)


The spec's for the systems are as follows everything listed I have purchased two of (the ones with * have yet to be purchased).

NZXT Nemisis elite case (Silver)
Thermaltake Toughpower 700w modular power supply
MSI K9A PLatinum Socket AM2 Radeon Xpress 3200 motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2.6ghz
Samsung DVDRW/DVD+-R writer with Lightscribe
52 in one media card reader
Logitech mx518 optical gaming mouse
Saitek Eclipse II Illuminated Keyboard
2GB DDR2 PC6400 ram (not sure which brand to get yet)*
ATI R600 video card (whenever it finally comes out! XP)*
SATAII HDDs (still deciding what make/model/size to get)*
Windows Vista Ultimate *

Here are some pics of the case.
These pics really don't do this case justice!
I guess you are wondering why I would want a blast door behind the main door. I thought it would look cool, no one would know the lcd screen is there until you open the blast door!


This was the best looking (In my opinon) non modded case I could find. I bought these before I decided to attempt this mod had I known earlier I might have went with another case.

I tried to brighten this pic in photoshop but it still does not show off the chrome metal (At least I think it's metal) shield on the front I had thought of carving something in this shield but am afraid of messing it up! Though I am quickly learning if you want to be a modder fear has to go! Just be sure of what you want and go for it! Can I get a Amen! And what ever you screw up bondo will fix lol.

Also as you can see from this pic the temp \fan speed lcd on the top will go well with the lcd screen in the drive bays and it also can be hidden.

In this pic you can see where I plan to mount the lcd screen.
Any suggestions on this will be appreciated.

The only other thing I've modded was a toy gattling gun. It was my son's when he was little and I was going to throw it away, but I wondered if I could get it to run off a 12v pc molex. After experimenting and playing around with it, I got it to work! Instead of having just a stationary gun mounted on top of a PC, however, I went one step further and made it pan and tilt! Here is a couple of pics of it, I know it's off topic but I wanted to share these.

The barrel rotates and makes a shooting sound, which is powered by a PC molex connector header I made that mounts into an empty expansion slot. It has pan and tilt servos that will let it move as you move a joystick. The servos are powered by six 1.5volt batteries, and the the interface is through the serial port.

I am glad I did not trash this thing because they quit making them!

Thank you for letting me share these I promise not to go off topic again.

I need to also mention that without my son's help I would not have been able to post these pics and there would be several grammatical errors! Thanks son!

Charles , aka Wannabeamodder

dang...thats nice....you oughta theme the case with the gun!

youve earned a +1rep from me

I would buld the LCD/door as one single unit that is fitted for the drive bay area. create quick connect plugs (from fan connectors) for power/switching so you can easily remove this unit for troubleshooting and adjustments. Every single part of the Doom3 mod is built into removable modules. Don't build yourself into a corner where parts are hard to access.

As an FYI, I'm running the actuator motor on 12v, not 5v. I wanted a bit more speed and torque so it doesnt get hung up--plus its more dramatic when it opens and slams shut quickly IMO.

When you build the sliding door, use white lithium grease to lubricate the tracks. anything petroleum based will eat the plastics. use this on the aluminum actuator and all the gears too.

As for the thickness of plastics I use, I like to keep a whole range in the shop---its cheap enough material to get a bunch of them. I use all sizes from .020-.080. If you have a hobby shop near you, ask if they carry Plastruct or Evergreen styrene sheets. they are 8"x10" usually. If not, get a bunch of sizes at US Plastics and have them on hand for future projects.

I didnt use a limiter switch at the ends of the actuator travel--the springs in the channel basically create a mechanical one, preventing the gears from stripping while the tension of the springs keeps the teeth engaged at both ends.

Looks great so far, you should be proud of what you've done already!

Thanks Crimson:

Those are some very good suggestion's and I will be doing just that!
The door hinges are a bit of a mystery looking at the pictures.
Could you possibly give me a play by play on how these were constructed?

Also thanks for the voltage you used for the motor I wasn't sure if it would take 12volts in the movie I am using a 9 volt battery to make it work.

Also as for the mechanical limiter doesn't the motor keep spinning after the sliding mechanism stops?
That's what I was afraid of the gears getting jammed and burning up the motor.

Thanks again for all the help, :D

Charles

The gears are made from Delrin, a very tough plastic that is not prone to stripping easily. The motor wont burn up if its only engaged for a short time at the end of travel. You can also use a potentiometer to adjust 12v to something lower if you like. Just make sure the POT is rated to handle the amps of the power supply 12v rail.

I'll see if I can whip up a few pics of the door in SketchUp

Very very simple using Plastruct Styrene tubing and stock plastic sheets. Logicaly, each panel can NOT be wider than the total radius of the curve in the J track that you make or it will jam up. I used thick steel sewing pins for the hing pins--a dab of glue on each head.

Well just knock me over with a feather!

The door hinges make perfect sense now!

I was looking at parts is 1/8 in O.D. tubing big enough or too big?
How about 1/8 in thick styrene for the door panels?

Thanks Crimson :)

Charles

yeah that tubing and sheet stock sopunds about right. Get yourself some ZAP! medium thickness superglue and accelerator spray to assemble. Make this whole assembly as strong as possible, dont scrimp on the glue, but do it neatly. this door will take a mechanical beating, remember.

Problem all the styrene sheets I have looked at are listed in thickness rangeing from .040 thick, .060 thick, .080 thick , .100 thick , 1.25 thick, ect.

I never was good at math does any of these translate into 1/8 in thick?

Charles

0.125 is 1/8".

Also, great job with everything so far, it's looking great! It's not an easy thing to do, and you did it well.

Thanks tybrenis for the info and the nice comments!:)

Charles,aka Wannabeamodder

Why the hell did you call yourself wannabeamodder? You're a modder man, wear your title with pride.

:D

+rep again for the gatling case. NICE.

-Dave

Re:Why the hell did you call yourself wannabeamodder? You're a modder man, wear your title with pride.

Cause Ive wanted to be a modder for a long time but was just too lazy to commit to it.

Charles ( can't quite yet profess to being a modder ) , aka Wannabeamodder

But I'm Learning thanks to you guys! :glasses:

Great mockup sketch Crimson and thanks for mentioning sketchup in one of your posts.
I got it and am having a great time learning to use it!
It really helps you to visualize what you are trying to do.
I am trying to find a vendor that sells 0.125 thick styrene in smaller sheets I really don't need a 4x8 sheet and can't imagine what the shipping would be does anyone know if Hobby Lobby carries this?

Charles

OK ordering parts but when it comes to the glue I'm stuck. lol :)

Crimson said to use ZAP! medium thickness superglue and accelerator spray.

Well I have come up on dozens of zap glues this is the one I think he means please correct me if I am wrong as I do not want to order the wrong thing.

SHEET ZAP
VERY HIGH VISCOSITY FORMULA
SUPER EXTRA THICK
ALLOWS PART POSITIONING FOR APPROXIMATELY 30 TO 40 SECONDS
CURES IN 90 SECONDS
USE ZIP KICKER TO ACCELERATE CURE TIME

Uses:

SHEET ZAP Is a specialty CA adhesive developed specifically for the hobby industry. The thick formula (somewhere between SLO ZAP and ZAP GEL) and slow cure time are perfect for sheeting wings or planking fuselages. Boat modelers will like this glue too. The thicker formula allows you to apply a thin bead right on top of ribs or formers as small as 1/16 inch thick without running over the edges. The slow cure time means you can apply it over the entire wing or fuselage section and have plenty of time to position the sheeting. This is a specialty glue and mostly used in modeling, wood working, antique furniture repair shops will like the extra working time.



Or should I get:

Plasti-ZAP CA++
MEDIUM VISCOSITY FORMULA
CURES CLEAN AND CLEAR
WILL NOT ATACK PAINT
WORKS ON MOST PLASTIC AND VINYL
NON-FLAMMABLE
NON-SNIFFABLE


Uses:

PLASTI ZAP CA++ Is a specialty CA adhesive developed for use on plastic and vinyl items. Most plastic modeling projects can be assembled with PLASTI ZAP CA++ and very small amounts of ZIP KICKER.The special formula in PLASTI ZAP CA++ allows it to screen out any mold release agents resulting in a permanent bond in 15 to 30 seconds.The joint can be filed and sanded in a minute or so, allowing extra fast assembly.

Helpful Hints:

Apply small drops of PLASTI ZAP CA++ to one surface only then mate the parts.For large or long seams apply small drops 1/4 to 1/2 inches apart, one side only, along the entire seam, then join parts. Be careful to keep your fingers away from the glued joints until cured, this glue will bond your skin instantly to your model.For bonding chrome parts, scrape the chrome off of the bonding areas then apply the glue to one side only.If you want to use ZIP KICKER, apply very small amounts with a fine brush or tooth pick.You do not need to apply kicker to the entire joint.For critical applications test sample joints for designed strength requirements.

If anyone can steer me in the right direction I would appreciate it oh and by the way I will be working with styrene.

Thanks
Charles

I would like to show off my first time using sketchup!
I hope these pictures of the linear actuator in differant stages of assembly will help anyone else who may want to build one of these.

Thank you for letting me share these.
Sketchup is one nice little program but I do wish the X Y Z axis control was easier.
Charles

First time using sketchup... ha. I don't believe it.

Those are some great models you've made. As for the Zap glue, really any poylstyrene solvent glue will work, Zap is just a good brand name. The first one sounds easy to use imho. I personally just use pure methylene chloride to glue polystyrene.

Wow nice work. You really have gone and done it so many have asked but not actually gone with it.

+Rep for positive contributions, good sketchup work too!

-Dave