Got the mesh in, so I started on fitting it into the engine pods. I wanted a recessed cone shape,
so it was a bit more involved than just cutting out a basic shape.
Started with a piece of mesh..
..cut into it on one side and overlapped it to make a cone shape.
The more you overlap it, the sharper the cone. This is about where I need to be.
This shot shows the overlap, and how I'm able to match the hexagons pretty closely.
Starting to cut it down to size, bending it as I go.
Cut down even more. Now I can stick it into the pod for a trial fit.
After a few trial fits, I just need to trim a bit here and there.
Done. Looks pretty good!
I've decided to take the easy route with the lighting, and just put a couple white cathodes inside the
side panels throwing light into the pods. That should spill enough out the back, and I won't have to
worry about wiring up individual leds in the center cones like I was planning earlier.
I should be able to finally mount the pods to the side panels within the next day or so. Next update
will show the mounting plates being made, and how they'll go on the side panels.
Honey Roasted Peanuts Ingredients: Salt; Artificial honey roasting agents; Pressed peanut sweepings.
As promised, the pod mounting plate construction:
Here are the pods positioned on the side panel. I guess I got a little carried away when I
applied the ribbing on the side panels all those months ago. Turns out I had to remove some
of them around the area where the pods are. Oh well, at least it's only one side.
I took a sheet of 1/8" styrene, set it behind the pods and traced a line.
Putting my new christmas present to immediate and good use!
Here's that sheet after cutting, including air vent holes.
And here are the pods in place over the mounting plate.
Once glued in place, I can then go in and add ribbing around the pods, and addtional armor plating here and there.
But before I permanently stick the pods on, I still need to do some work to the side panels. I'll get the other side
ready to go too, and do them both at the same time. That will be in the next update, hopefully by the weekend.
Honey Roasted Peanuts Ingredients: Salt; Artificial honey roasting agents; Pressed peanut sweepings.
Sorry I haven't been able to respond the last couple days. That storm that came through the north state on Friday really packed a wallop. 60-70mph winds coupled with heavy rains took out hundreds of trees and power lines, rendering most of the city powerless for days, including our house. We had to transfer all perishables from the fridge to ice chests, and endure 56° temps in the house for two days.
Well, power finally got restored this morning, so I can finally get some work done out in the garage. I really wanted to get those pods on the side panels by this weekend, but it looks like that won't happen for another couple days. Gotta step up the pace to try and make up lost time now.
I am using a CA glue (cyanoacrylate) for the styrene and it seems to adhere well to the plasti paste too. I used it to glue all the ribbing onto the top of the landing bay.
Honey Roasted Peanuts Ingredients: Salt; Artificial honey roasting agents; Pressed peanut sweepings.
Well, here's what I got done tonight. A small, but significant update, as this documents the
ceremonial joining of the engine pods and side panels!
I first glued them down after roughing up the surface of the aluminum a bit.
After they set up, I applied copious amounts of bondo around them, filling in all the gaps.
Here is one side on the case, after adding the armor panels.
And a closeup shot showing how I had to fit the armor to the shape of the pods.
Not much, like I said. But significant none the less! I plan on getting the second armor layer
done tomorrow, and then hopefully a good jump on the armor for the other side.
Honey Roasted Peanuts Ingredients: Salt; Artificial honey roasting agents; Pressed peanut sweepings.
More work done on the side panels!
Got the second layer of armor paneling down. Here's one of the sections penciled out.
..And a shot after gluing it down and removing the left overs.
After getting the side panels to a point where they look half way decent, I thought I would take a few shots
of the whole case together. It's good for me to take a step back every so often and get an overall view of it
as a computer case. I've been so close to it ever since I started, working on small sections by themselves,
that I forgot how important that is.
Still got a long way to go, but it's real nice to see that the pieces actually fit together. lol!
Honey Roasted Peanuts Ingredients: Salt; Artificial honey roasting agents; Pressed peanut sweepings.
So I took a little break from the side panel detailing to work on the landing bay a bit more. I need to
secure it down to the case somehow, so I came up with a simple frame that will bolt to the case,
and the landing bay will bolt to that. Here's what I got so far:
Bent two pieces of aluminum flat bar.
Bent them so they follow the contour of the landing bay's ceiling.
Left enough length at the ends to extend down into the case at the sides.
Positioned them so they pick up existing holes in the case frame that are already countersunk.
Here's a shot of the test fit, looking in from the back. If this case does any racing, I got SAE certified roll bars installed! lol
Once I get the roll bars fastened to the case, I can drill holes through the top of the landing bay,
then conceal them with some stealthy armor panel covers.
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TEASER SHOT!
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This is a partial inventory as I dont have all the parts yet, but this will go inside the case once assembled.
Honey Roasted Peanuts Ingredients: Salt; Artificial honey roasting agents; Pressed peanut sweepings.
Well, I'm still alive, and slowly getting back to working on this thing. What with the cold rainy weather and the whole fam-damily being sick all week, I've been hard pressed to get into the garage at all.
I did manage to bring some panels into the house so I could apply more detail pieces in between coughing fits, so all was not totally lost I guess. lol I'll try to get some pics posted later.
In the mean time, here's another teaser shot. Basically, all the parts in the first teaser assembled (and no, its not a dual res! lol).
Honey Roasted Peanuts Ingredients: Salt; Artificial honey roasting agents; Pressed peanut sweepings.
Ok here's what I got to show ya. While I was laid up in the house, I managed to get some details
put on the side panels. Of course my son had to lend me a helping hand. He turned out to be a pretty good sander!
I got both side panels detailed, as well as the front panel. Once I get a coat of primer on them I will
take some more shots. (primer always makes things look so much better!)
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TEASER #3
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Here is the unit installed in the case. Actually, this thing won't even be seen once the case is finished!
Honey Roasted Peanuts Ingredients: Salt; Artificial honey roasting agents; Pressed peanut sweepings.
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MYSTERY MODULE REVEALED!
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OK, here it is: The mystery module is neither a dual res, nor ambient light tubes, but an integral part of a
functional blast door mechanism! That's right folks, BSG will have fully operational motorized blast doors,
one on each side.
So far I've got both doors built, and one side totally loaded up onto the spool. Check it out:
The doors themselves are made up of .010 sheets and .040 strips of styrene, spaced 1/8" apart.
The result is a strong but flexible door that looks and acts like a segmented garage roll-up type door.
I glued styrene C-channel to the top and bottom of a piece of clear acrylic. These will be the tracks in which the doors will travel.
Here is the whole thing positioned in the side panel. I forgot to take pictures of it, but I added a gentle curve
to the acrylic on the front end heading towards the hard drive cage.
The door in its closed position.
I had to cut away part of the drive cage to allow the doors to pass through to the spool.
To provide a smooth corner for the doors to travel around, I cut a channel out of a piece of acrylic tubing
and fit it over the sharp edge of the drive cage.
A shot from the front...
A shot from the side...
Here is the panel on the case, with the blast door in its fully open position. It could open more,
but the drive cage's posterior support beam is right there with nothing exciting to see beyond
that, so there's no need to open any further.
Shot from the front. You can see the door reeled up on the spool, demonstrating how flexible it is.
Now it's on to the other side to finish the tracks and door fitment. I'm still waiting on the servos and limit switches,
so I won't be able to finish the blast door assembly until then. But it's not like I won't have any work to do while I'm waiting! lol
Honey Roasted Peanuts Ingredients: Salt; Artificial honey roasting agents; Pressed peanut sweepings.