johnlove_mk_II Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Got the Silhouette yesterday. Plugged it in to the USB … loaded up their “Connect” software for Adobe Illustrator … drew some support disks … loaded the cutter with .020” sheet styrene … “sent” the file to the cutter … and presto, perfect circles. So flippin’ simple. The mind races. (Sorry for the crappy phone picts.) I didn’t cut through completely, but it did score the plastic enough to snap it out cleanly. CLEANLY. Can't wait to put this thing through it's paces. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Yes, I really need to get me one of these. I've considered it in the past but never pulled the trigger. Another cool function I believe they have is something like trace cuts. So you can put some inkjet printed decals in it and have it cut out the shapes of them. A great feature so you can print on white paper without having to worry about a color border. I think the Silhouette has that feature. Can't wait to see what you can do with it. Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 First weekend with the Silhouette. I’m pretty floored … the things that are possible seem endless. I actually had a hard time getting to sleep after my first night messing with it, I just kept thinking of different ways to make this, that and the other. A few test cuts and it’s apparent that cutting small tight circles is a no-go. The limiting factor seems to be the blade … it’s set at a 45 degree-ish angle and it rotates to allow the blade to pivot around edges. When cutting small details, you’d get distorted shapes as the blade would swing around to change direction … larger details, on the other hand, come out great. So using more x and y cuts yields better results. Also, scribing is really nice. Just set the blade to a shallow setting and load up the art and send it to the cutter. I'm getting a dedicated scribing head soon ... this should allow for "tighter" detail, I hope. I cut and scribed the forward and aft skirt wraps for the S-IVB stage. The whole process for both skirts took about 20 minutes … by hand, that would have taken weeks. (The plastic is .010”) I’ll lay this on the plastruct tube, and then apply all the stingers between the scribed lines and add all the other details. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Wow, very nice. I can see that is going to be a very useful tool. I am gonna hafta get me one. Keep up the great work, I'm learning! Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hotdog Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 Hi John, Those details look great! You are going to have so much fun making all your own custom doo-dads for your rocket I ordered a Silhouette Cameo today. It's just a larger version of the same thing you have. I'm hoping to use it to produce the tile sets for the 1:72 shuttle. I'll have to chop off the wing tips in order to make the belly tile piece fit the 12" wide max width, but shouldn't be a big problem. I'll include the wing tips as separate pieces. Doing this myself at home will eliminate two big factors that have held me up (cost and thickness of styrene sheet). Did you notice the cheaper CB09 blades you can get on eBay? These are a lot cheaper than the OEM blades which are a hefty $10 a pop. From what I've read, the blades have to be replaced after 4 or 5 uses, so this can add up quick! There is also an aftermarket engraving tool I picked up, and I'm hoping using that will increase the life of my blades. Looking forward to seeing what else you create with your Silhouette! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I did ... both are, or are soon to be ordered. I know it's crazy but I'm also looking at using a laser diode from a old DVD burner for etching. There are a lot of plans and ideas out there. But perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) Thought maybe I'd start playing with this toy again ... Building things from scratch requires a lot of drawings, here's what I've been making patterns for as of late. The S-II thrust structure and heat shield Edited October 16, 2014 by johnlove_mk_II Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Considering how difficult it would be to cast a the F-1 engine, especially the nozzles I've decided to go with the 1/72 LVM F-1s. From the reviews I've read an the pictures I seen they look a very nice replacement over the kit parts. My cursory plan of action will be to modify the LVM parts by removing and adding details to better represent the later F-1s. (It looks like the LVM parts were mastered with a mix of the known references, some of which were not the final design.) I'll likely fill in the holes representing the fasteners, and cover the outside with foil tape and then emboss the fastener details on the foil. I'm also going to look to replacing the heat exchanger as well, it seems sort of rudimentary. The castings are pretty nice. There are a few pin-holes here and there and 2 two of the nozzles are slightly out of round, but they're workable. The only thing that gave me a bit of pause was the way they were packed. When I picked up the box from the porch there was a distinct "resin-on-resin" rattle. The parts where packed loose with peanuts and I guess there might have been some settling between here and there. At any rate, there was no damage … but I was a little apprehensive opening the box. All in all I think they're going to look pretty darn amazing when all is said and done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Been ramping-up to start gluing hundreds of stringers … tedious beyond all understandable ideas of tedium. I had made several practice attempts and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get them to line up in a halfway decent way, the glue was going this way and that. Holding down a tiny strip of styrene and artfully sliding just enough liquid cement hold it down … and doing it a hundred times over? I need a jig. I thought for a while doing a few sketches and came up with a few workable ideas, but ultimately ended up with this … While building my 1/72 shuttle cockpit I devised a simple metal plate magnet jig to help hold things at 90° while I ran glue between the joints. I just did a little configuring and presto … Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Very nice. I love seeing good ideas that people come up with to solve problems. Looks like you've got many hours of joy gluing strips...Oh I don't envy you. Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Youngtiger1 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Very nice attention to detail. I love it. I don't know how I missed it until now. Your work is a must to follow :thumbsup:/> Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 I received my Apogee F-1 engines yesterday. I also ordered their fins, which have the correct cross section vs Dragon's flat slabs, and their vac-formed S-IC fairnings. The molding detail on the fairings is kinda soft. I think I can scratch build a better version. I don't know when I'll get around to modding my Saturn V but now I have no excuse... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Thanks Mike ... I'm actually ramping up work on this project so maybe the posts will come a little more often than once every two months. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) Started detailing the Dragon CM with some scratch-built details and the Newware photo etch parts. Overall everything is looking pretty great. The plan is to paint it with chrome Alclad II rather than trying to add really tiny tape strips. The Command module hatch was actually a pretty tedious adventure. It took me three tries to get the outer frame part to fit somewhat correctly. My pattern was either to tall or short … the third try I made it way larger than I though it need to be, it fit almost perfectly … go figure. The hatch porthole wasn't so difficult. The Newware photo etch details look great. I was a little concerned that they would effect the fit of the BPC, it still fits pretty well ... all be it not so snugly. Edited November 10, 2014 by johnlove_mk_II Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 That little Command Module looks terrific! The seam between the Hull and the Heat Shield is invisible ... is the CM one piece? or did you do a really good job of sanding? And the little circular 'sensor' below the hatch, is that a kit part? And the additional part on the hatch looks perfect! You do do nice work! Thanx! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 John, this is coming along great. Really like all the details you're adding. The Newware parts look good too. Keep up the great work! Hey Pete, I know John will come in and give ya the low down on his work, but I do know about the seam. Dragon actually did a smart thing and made the seam for the heat shield inside the lower fillet radius, underneath the heat shield transition. So there is no seam work showing when it's mounted on the Saturn V. Their 1/48th CSM is the same way and it is, in my opinion, the way they all should be done. Very clean and easy to sand if you need to. Some of the other choices they made may not be the best, but that one is good. Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Thanks Pete. Bill’s right, Dragon actually did a reasonable job with the CM - it’s a pretty nice representation out of the box. The little part under the hatch is a bit out of the Newware upgrade, It represents some sort of attachment loop used during recovery. Tonight I’m adding thruster details and the other assorted vents and ports, then I’m turning attention to the service module. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 (edited) Well the thrusters on the CM are tiny ... very tiny. I tried a few different times to drill a tiny hole - in a tiny disk … they were never centered, or they completely destroyed the disk. I tried to drill a hole in a sheet of styrene, then punch out the disk around it. I still couldn’t get them centered. I think I’m going to use decals, what do you guys think? Edited November 12, 2014 by johnlove_mk_II Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 I think that will look just fine. We're talking about some pretty small holes here so I don't think a decal will be too unrealistic. This is one of the reasons I'm planning on just doing mine with the protection cover on and not removable. Too scare to tackle all of these small details. Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Decals will do very nicely! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Spent time this weekend working on the aft part of the service module. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnlove_mk_II Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Began adding New Ware photo etched parts to the service module. Now, I can deal with adding PE with cyanoacrylate … the small stuff is easy, but when it comes to large, flat areas … holy cow, I really hate the stuff. I had read about Gator's Grip Glue and decided to give it a go. Wow, what a difference … I wish I had this stuff to begin with. Cleans up with water and holds everything thing down very well … and It doesn't tend to glue my fingers to everything. This stuff is great, order from Kenny here. (It literally appeared on my front door step instantly … or two days after I ordered … which is pretty freaking fast. ) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hotdog Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I've been wondering where I can get Gator Grip glue! Been asking around all over town. I will order some SOON! Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 IIRC Hobby Lobby carries it.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hotdog Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Couldn't find it at either of my local Hobby Lobby stores :( Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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