mechaninac Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 (edited) Starting a new thread on this subject since this model has now graduated from the virtual realm into the real world as a 1/60 scale SLA resin model. The original thread can be found here. SF-3A assembly.pdf I would be remiss if I neglected to point out that the overall proportions are based on Shin's and Talo's excellent line-art that was posted in the Macross Lineart and Profile Color Scheme Art thread (my heartfelt appreciation for all you do), and the sizing is based on total lenght of 18.36m (60.24ft) with cannons... this thing is big! So, after a few tentative attempts building some minor parts in order to zero-in on the correct amount of clearance to include in each part so as to make assembly easier, and some re-evaluation of parts break-down, I was finally able to have the company's SLA machine all to myself for an over-the-weekend build. The attached images tell the story: Now comes the hard part... a lot of sanding in order to eliminate the fine stair-stepping intrinsic to SLAs. Edited May 7, 2012 by mechaninac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MILKAUTICO Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 amazing!!!!for when the VA-3 INVADER? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miriya Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Are you making kits of this available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coronadlux Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Check his first thread. I think he posted a price too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I saw your photos first and thought, MAN! THAT MUST HAVE BEEN EXPENSIVE! Until I saw you did it on company down time I want an SLA machine for Christmas AWESOME work and I look forward to seeing not so transparent castings! - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechaninac Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 (edited) Are you making kits of this available? If you mean "will I be casting the parts to sell resin kits?" The answer is no, unfortunately. I don't have the know-how, equipment, or inclination to go down that road. I would be open to making it available to a recaster willing to take this to the next level, however, provided I got full credit for the creation of the base model and the first sample out of the molds for my very own... I'm not even interested in a percentage of profits either as this was done for sheer fun. The other possibility I considered is making extra copies in SLA (see PS. bellow), and make those available. This rout would be very limited in numbers and entirely subject to the machine's availability. The neat thing is the possibility of running copies in any scale desired (1/100, 1/72, 1/60, 1/48) by just manipulating the scale percentage at the prep stage. Check his first thread. I think he posted a price too. Sorry, I never mentioned price(s) in the original thread... see above. I saw your photos first and thought, MAN! THAT MUST HAVE BEEN EXPENSIVE! Until I saw you did it on company down time I want an SLA machine for Christmas AWESOME work and I look forward to seeing not so transparent castings! - MT It would have been expensive. That many parts would have added up to anywhere between $750 and $1000 at a service bureau. That model has at least $80 in resin, plus 1.5 hours of pre-build prep, plus about 7+ hours build time, plus 2 hours of clean-up and post cure; if I were to add all the labor and machine associated costs this thing would come in at well over $400. The resin is a water clear formula... gotta go with what the machine has in the tank. --//-- Thank you all for the ecouragement. PS.: When I imported the image upon which I based my model I entered an incorrect number without even noticing, and ended up modeling my 1:1 file too large -- 830in long instead of 720in (this assumes that the SF-3A is 60', 18.3m, long in "real life" -- if anyone has official dimension stats that differ from this, please share so that I can create the most accurate size possible); this means that the SLA model shown is too large for 1/60 (12")... damn! Now I have to start another build scaled from a corrected master (already updated). Because of this, I now have a full set of parts to what amounts to a non-scale model of 14.17" (just shy of true 1/48's 15" length). If anyone would be interested in this oddball that's had a lot of sanding work already done, just PM me and we can discuss further. Edited May 10, 2012 by mechaninac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonc Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Sent you a message regarding recasting. This kit looks pretty damn cool. Excellent work. Seems like there's 2 or 3 of these projects floating around the forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechaninac Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 So, after discovering, to my chagrin, that I had made an input error from the get go which resulted in a model that was way too big for 1/60 and slightly undersized for 1/48, I made all the corrections necessary, and while at it made minor modifications to the fuselage and wing shapes, then ran another copy at the correct size. The smaller size does end up causing some inevitably delicate parts (nose cap and wing pylon), but the model looks so much better in relation to a 1/60 VF-1. In the following images, the Lancer II on the left is the old version, which has been fully sanded: A shot of the 1/60 model from the rear quarter (some parts are not mounted on the mock-up) And with my VF-1J v2 Now, back to sanding and an eventual coat of white primer... For anyone interested, there is a possibility that at least the 1/60 version will be made available as a resin kit; however, nothing has been decided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reïvaj Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Great job so far, Mechaninac! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechaninac Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 (edited) Thanks Reïvaj, this has been a lot of fun to model and prototype. Had some free time today so I cranked out a UN SPACY Kite Stand for the Lancer II. It's modeled to have a 3.5" diameter base disk once built for 1/60 (hopefully this weekend); it's also designed to tilt and rotate with screws holding the pivoting parts in place... won't know if it'll work as intended utill I've had a chance to test a physical model. Edit: replaced image with a better one. Edited May 18, 2012 by mechaninac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derex3592 Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 THAT is just all kinds of SICK and AWESOME! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reïvaj Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Thanks Reïvaj, this has been a lot of fun to model and prototype. Had some free time today so I cranked out a UN SPACY Kite Stand for the Lancer II. It's modeled to have a 3.5" diameter base disk once built for 1/60 (hopefully this weekend); it's also designed to tilt and rotate with screws holding the pivoting parts in place... won't know if it'll work as intended utill I've had a chance to test a physical model. Great stand as well, Mechaninac. Is it going to be compatible with the Yammies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechaninac Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 I never even considered that possibility; the design intent was just to have something on which to mount the SF-3A for display as it does not have landing gears or skids... the design just can't accomodate them realistically. That being said, if the stand is able to support the total weight of the SLA model or resin, if that ever materializes, then I see no reason why it wouldn'd be up to the task of handeling a Yamato 1/60 VF-1; it would just need an adaptor to have the current head fit a standard Yammy stand adaptor, or a different head desing purposed for a Yammy mount. However, I've no idea how stable it would be for anything larger than a VF-11... it was inspired, in part, by a Gundam Action Base 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechaninac Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 (edited) I was able to run the stand a bit sooner than I thought. So here it is in its physical form. The screen capture: The stand components (The individual tiles are meant to make painting easier... paint them red, let dry, and drop them in ): Assembled: Beauty shot with the Lancer II on it... couldn't resist trying it out (the mechanics of the stand work flawlessly ): And a 3D pdf for those who'd like to spin it around: un_spacy-stand.pdf Now, to get back to sanding... Edited May 18, 2012 by mechaninac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MILKAUTICO Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 amazing!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miriya Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I want one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MILKAUTICO Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 i want va-3 invader in 1/60 please!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefuemon Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I'm not so interested in the Lancer, but if you can get that stand produced at a reasonable cost, I'm in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronocidal Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Oh YES, that stand is beautiful. I'd love to buy a few of those actually, though, I'm not really worried about it matching the current yamato stand adapters. I might have to brainstorm a few ideas about how to adapt them though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reïvaj Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I'd be interested too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechaninac Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) Wow, I never thought that the stand would generate this much interest, of all things. Thanks for all the kudos. I gotta look into getting them cast in resin... I think I'll be making a few adjustments to the stand to make it more resilient; the action of metal on resin will strip the screw bosses that allow the stand to be adjusted. I'm thinking of creating a pocket into which a nut can be fitted and glued with CA or epoxy to make the screw adjustment a metal on metal affair. I'll do this to both points of rotation. Second, I plan to beef up the stand's pylon to make it stronger and able to support heavier objects. Third, improve the model to stand attachment to make it a more solid connection and maybe give it a larger resting platform to reduce the stress on the pin/tab model/stand interface. Fourth, adjust the curvature of the pylon a bit to make its shape even more fluid. Fifth, increase the height of the elevation piece's model connection to allow for greater range of fore-aft adjustment. Lastly, for casting, forgo the tiles idea and just have a solid base with the Kite motif engraved on the surface to facilitate masking. If anyone has constructive ideas/criticisms to offer, please feel free to sound off. Cheers all! Edited May 20, 2012 by mechaninac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefuemon Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 As long as it will hold a 1/72 Yellow Sub resin kit Valkyrie, work's for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefuemon Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Any updates on getting that stand produced? I keep buying all these 1/72 scale resin kits that would look so nice on that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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