# 1:10 scale TOS bridge station



## Fozzie

As a companion piece to my recently completed TOS bridge turbolift alcove, I have started work on a 1:10 scale bridge station. Like the alcove, the bridge station is being scaled to Art Asylum/Diamond's excellent TOS action figures. 

The pieces below were taped together for a test fitting.










Spock is standing on a small platform because the legs of the station have small tabs on them which I will use to aid in positioning and gluing it to its base, so I put him on the platform so his height would be correct in relation to the station behind him. (Even though this will not be Spock's station, I like to use the Spock figure because Leonard Nimoy was right around 6 foot tall which makes for a convenient "yardstick" when checking my build against photographs from the series.)










I am using the McMaster bridge blueprints as the basis for the build. 

For additional support I will be adding a third "leg" in the middle of the station pretty much identical to those on each end.

I am building this with an eye towards lighting it.










Comments and suggestions welcome.


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## Steve H

Looks like it's gonna be fun!

I'll go out on a limb and suggest maybe not using the McMaster blueprints as your main guide. Not to take away anything from his work which was a wonderful effort in its day, but I don't think he had any actual access to sets or construction blueprints, I'm pretty sure his work was all extrapolation from film clip slides. Of course I could be completely wrong. 

Thing is, he, like most of us back in the day, was somewhat hypnotized by the FJ Technical Manual and the earlier Enterprise Blueprints. We now know how far afield of 'reality' the fanspec (fannish speculation) tended to get and the...hm... mis-interpretations? became fixed in many minds. The easy example is just compare the FJ Tech Manual page on the Phaser to what we know now is how it 'actually' worked to see what I mean. That set of assumptions on the parts and working of the Phaser got carried over into the Phaser (designed by Probert? Built by Price) built for ST:TMP. And maybe it doesn't really matter but it's one of those things that just sticks in my head now. 

However, saying that, I'm pretty sure a number of fans out there have built full-scale bridge sets and set pieces based solely on McMaster's blueprints and they tend to look pretty good, so. 

I suspect someone is going to have amazing suggestions for alternate data to use.


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## aeryn43

Wow its like a flashback...I started my 1/8 bridge build with Spock's console.....and look where it got me!!
Yet to build turbo lift.....
IF you decide to do more consoles keep an eye on the angles, I cut out all my panels at the same time using cardboard formers and they still ended up slightly different!


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## SteveR

It would be fun to have removable sections to simulate camera angles from the show.


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## Fozzie

aeryn43 said:


> Wow its like a flashback...I started my 1/8 bridge build with Spock's console.....and look where it got me!!
> Yet to build turbo lift.....
> IF you decide to do more consoles keep an eye on the angles, I cut out all my panels at the same time using cardboard formers and they still ended up slightly different!


Your build is simply incredible...! I am really enjoying following it. Thanks for sharing.

I don't have the space to do the entire bridge (that would be around 37" in diameter at 1:10 scale), so I thought I'd do 2-3 pieces that I can place the TOS crew figures into and display with my 1:350 TOS _Enterprise _from Round 2.

I'm going to make this the station either on the left or right of the alcove so that I can mate them if I want and, perhaps, light them and run them both off of one lighting solution...maybe have it set up so that the simple lighting of the alcove (overhead lights and red alert light) can be easily unplugged from the lighting circuit in the console. Not sure yet. Still thinking about all the lighting.


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## Steve H

SteveR said:


> It would be fun to have removable sections to simulate camera angles from the show.


Yes. Not only the best, most logical way to do it, but it also gives storage options. Each station can also serve as a display for the figures and they can sit on a shelf.

Conversely, gluing it all together in one unit (a non-wild set, similar to what Wise did with the bridge set in ST:TMP) would increase the strength of the whole, but that does limit viewing options.

I would think designing any electronics to be modular, self contained and 'gangable' (hooking all up in a chain or able to be powered individually) would be the way to go.


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## Fozzie

SteveR said:


> It would be fun to have removable sections to simulate camera angles from the show.


I am experimenting with magnets to hold the sections in place. Looks promising. In fact, the red turbolift door in my other build is held in place with magnets so that I can easily remove it in the future if I decide to add the turbolift car behind it (still want to do that...).


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## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> Your build is simply incredible...! I am really enjoying following it. Thanks for sharing.
> 
> I don't have the space to do the entire bridge (that would be around 37" in diameter at 1:10 scale), so I thought I'd do 2-3 pieces that I can place the TOS crew figures into and display with my 1:350 TOS _Enterprise _from Round 2.
> 
> I'm going to make this the station either on the left or right of the alcove so that I can mate them if I want and, perhaps, light them and run them both off of one lighting solution...maybe have it set up so that the simple lighting of the alcove (overhead lights and red alert light) can be easily unplugged from the lighting circuit in the console. Not sure yet. Still thinking about all the lighting.


Space being tight, you might do what some fans have done: Turbolift, Comm and Engineering stations, Captain's Chair and Helm/Nav. That gives you the main master shot 'pie slice' often seen on the show. 

If you choose to really cheat and have just the one station, maybe consider having the desk top removable, so it can be 'redressed' as other stations. If you use the Cameo for the cutting you can always build other stations when the mood takes you.


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## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Space being tight, you might do what some fans have done: Turbolift, Comm and Engineering stations, Captain's Chair and Helm/Nav. That gives you the main master shot 'pie slice' often seen on the show.
> 
> If you choose to really cheat and have just the one station, maybe consider having the desk top removable, so it can be 'redressed' as other stations. If you use the Cameo for the cutting you can always build other stations when the mood takes you.


I have played around with the idea of that very arrangement actually. 

The Silhouette Cameo does make repeatability a bit easier.


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## Fozzie

I am looking at the console buttons and am stumped about how to create the round (hemispherical) buttons at 1mm and 2mm sizes. I thought about using rod stock at that diameter, but sanding something that small into a dome seems daunting--or is that easier than I think?

My plan is to make all the buttons and glue them to the panels, then cast a copy of each panel in clear resin so the buttons can be colored with transparent paint.


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## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> I am looking at the console buttons and am stumped about how to create the round (hemispherical) buttons at 1mm and 2mm sizes. I thought about using rod stock at that diameter, but sanding something that small into a dome seems daunting--or is that easier than I think?
> 
> My plan is to make all the buttons and glue them to the panels, then cast a copy of each panel in clear resin so the buttons can be colored with transparent paint.


Since you're making a master and don't require them to be clear...what about craft beads? 

Or if you can't find beads that small (and I'm pretty sure they do come that small), what about just taking a piece of plastic rod, sanding the end round and sticking it into clay or RTV over and over to make lots of little dimples to pour resin into?

There's a two-part rubber called 'Amazing Mold Putty' that might just be the ticket. Hobby Lobby or Michaels has it for about $20. 

Don't forget the various units of rocker switches and the occasional push button.


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## Fozzie

*Progress report*

This weekend I started taking the bridge station from cardstock to styrene. This is as far as I got. (Everything is glued together except for the light panel stuff at the top.)










I used a "top down" angle because it shows off all the parts that are done. What isn't done are the parts you can't see, essentially the bottom panels (near the floor) and the big panel above the console that has the 2 large screens set into it.


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## SteveR

Steve H said:


> Conversely, gluing it all together in one unit (a non-wild set, similar to what Wise did with the bridge set in ST:TMP) would increase the strength of the whole, but that does limit viewing options.


Maybe a polygonal ring could be constructed that surrounds and unifies the sections at waist level? Or a series of "T" braces, one for each section, could snap into the floor and each other?


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## liskorea317

SteveR said:


> It would be fun to have removable sections to simulate camera angles from the show.


Maybe even make a scaled camera with crew to go with it!


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## Fozzie

Here's a shot of the station as it looks now. I put in the dual viewscreen panel and the bottom pair of panels this morning.

Most everything you see here is glued in place but not everything, which is why there is a noticeable gap btw the dual monitor panel and the ceiling plate above it.

I have a few more parts to work up and put into place and then I'll start working on the seams and gaps.










I included this shot to show the multi-layer construction of the dual screen panel as well as to highlight the finely scribed line that goes around each viewscreen. This will, of course, be painted light blue.


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## ClubTepes

Your work look GREAT.
I think you've got the details right.

The people who suggest making the shows camera angles 'wild' have a good point.

Are you doing this to make some stop motion animations?

If you haven't, perhaps think about it.


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## Fozzie

ClubTepes said:


> Your work look GREAT.
> I think you've got the details right.
> 
> The people who suggest making the shows camera angles 'wild' have a good point.
> 
> Are you doing this to make some stop motion animations?
> 
> If you haven't, perhaps think about it.


Thanks.

No. No plans for stop animation. Just something to go with my 1:350 Big E next year!


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## Fozzie

Finished gluing on the last of the pieces that will make up the shell of the station. My nights this week will be spent working on the seams with an eye towards shooting some primer on it next weekend.

Also time to start really looking at the console buttons and switches and how I'll do those...


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## Fozzie

Most of the putty work on the main station is done, but the torrential rains we've been getting here every day have kept me from priming it to identify the areas that need to be reworked.

This week I turned my attention to one of the more intimidating aspects of the build, the console panels. Once I found some hemispherical beads in the right sizes (1mm & 2mm--small!), however, it went better than I expected. The rectangular buttons were cut from .030 styrene (2/16" x 1/16").

My intent is to cast these in clear resin, coat the buttons with transparent paints, then light from behind with fiber optic strands.










I used high pass sharpen on this photo which brings out the edges of the buttons more than you can see in person.


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## Fozzie

Another shot, this time with the panels gingerly placed into position in the console...


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## mikephys

The console controls look amazing! I'm no expert, but to me they look spot on!


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## CLBrown

I do hope you're considering making those panels available (on, obviously, a limited basis... ) to those who might want to follow on in your footsteps.


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## Fozzie

I had a little trouble casting clear versions of the control panels (detailed here) but my second attempt yielded some very nice pieces that should light up beautifully.

Below that is the face of the upper twin-monitor panel. The pictures chosen are a close match to what was on those monitors during the show's third season (well, in one episode at least). I'm a little disappointed in how this looks in the photo because, in person, it looks fantastic!










This second picture shows how I'm going to do the overhead light panels. A sheet of textured clear plastic (left) which I will diffuse with a bit of vellum paper (right). Aluminum tape was used for light blocking and a pair of LEDs will be mounted in the top of the light boxes.


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## feek61

Wow!! An amazing job! I will be watching this with great interest!! 

If I can help with any of the graphics let me know

Take Care,
Will
tosgraphics.com


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## Fozzie

feek61,
Took a look at your thread on recreating TOS displays. Damn fine work! I'm curious as to how you created the the display face itself. It's black, but then you light up an LED and get colored squares...what material are you using for that display? And how do you get it to be so black, and then so yellow?


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## CLBrown

Fozzie said:


> feek61,
> Took a look at your thread on recreating TOS displays. Damn fine work! I'm curious as to how you created the the display face itself. It's black, but then you light up an LED and get colored squares...what material are you using for that display? And how do you get it to be so black, and then so yellow?


I'm interested in that as well. I've toyed with this, a little bit, by using slide film in my 35mm film camera. But these days, getting film, at all, is nearly impossible (at least without being a professional photographer, I mean). Much less getting slide film and getting it developed (which is a different process than getting traditional prints made, after all).


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## Captain April

This is going to look incredible when it's all put together, even before it's all painted and lit.


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## BOXIE

Gets more amazing as you go on.can't wait to see it put together.


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## Fozzie

The last couple of day's work has been all about the control panel pieces. My intent is to light the buttons up with a light source from below so I started by studying screen captures (thanks, TrekCore.com!) to determine the colors of the buttons. The control panel changed over time and I never did find pictures that _exactly _matched the McMasters blueprints, but, after an evening of research I felt I had mapped out a pretty accurate color guide.

I decanted Tamiya clear paints and painted the buttons, leaving the "white" ones clear. (I tried painting one of them white but it really looked wrong alongside the other translucent buttons.) When that was done, I painted the base of the panel with decanted Tamiya primer before coming back with a coat of black. I hate painting with a brush and this was a particularly trying bit of painting.

I went back a little while ago, scratching off black paint or grey primer that had gotten on to the buttons, and touching up the translucent paint. I also touched up the black areas where light was shining through. 

Simple lighting tests with a small flashlight were promising. I think the buttons are going to light up just as I was hoping.

In other work, I installed the ceiling lights so that I can put the top on and close up the workstation for final priming and painting. I also installed mesh screens near the foot lights. I have a few ideas on what to put behind the screens that I am still kicking around...


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## Fozzie

Okay, this is a really quick jury-rigged shot. The panels are being held in place with masking tape (and none too securely at that) and the light is coming from a flashlight...but you get the idea.


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## Steve H

Oh, get out. you're trying to trick us by pasting a picture of the real bridge station buttons onto your plastic station. I can't be fooled. 

Come on, make Spock's hooded viewer. I wanna see you make the little wheel turn and there be pictures inside. 

OK, enough joking. I think you've got it. Excellent job!


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## Captain April

Don't worry about the color of the buttons. The color came from the Christmas lights inside the panel, and whenever one burned out, they just replaced it with whichever one they grabbed out of the box. Any time the color of the old bulb matched the new one was purely coincidental.


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## Bernard Guignar

Sweet mother of Jesus  that looks fantastic looking forward to seeing this all come together. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

After this a 1:10 TMP bridge would go will with your collection  

Keep up the great work


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## Gemini1999

OMG...!

I've been following this thread and the results are amazing. The techniques being used are scratch model building at its very best.

Keep the updates coming - I'm hooked!


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## CLBrown

Captain April said:


> Don't worry about the color of the buttons. The color came from the Christmas lights inside the panel, and whenever one burned out, they just replaced it with whichever one they grabbed out of the box. Any time the color of the old bulb matched the new one was purely coincidental.


I've always assumed that each little button had a display on top... and the boards are totally programmable. So the colors you may see in one sceen may only reflect the board status at that moment.

So. .. pick a scene, any scene... or just come up with your own... and as far as I'm concerned, it'll be "accurate."


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## RSN

Captain April said:


> Don't worry about the color of the buttons. The color came from the Christmas lights inside the panel, and whenever one burned out, they just replaced it with whichever one they grabbed out of the box. Any time the color of the old bulb matched the new one was purely coincidental.


I was always under the impression that the buttons themselves were colored and lit from below. Seeing panels on screen unlit shows that they still have color to them. I remember an auction a few years back when a box of original colored buttons were sold. At the time, they did say that when one broke off, they were replaced with whatever color button was on hand. Here are what some of them looked like. :thumbsup:


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## Fozzie

RSN said:


> I was always under the impression that the buttons themselves were colored and lit from below.


That's the theory I went with, too. If you look at the photo I posted earlier, the "dead" panels (left) and the "live" panels (right) reflect that.


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## RSN

Fozzie said:


> That's the theory I went with, too. If you look at the photo I posted earlier, the "dead" panels (left) and the "live" panels (right) reflect that.


Yours looks great, don't get hung up on the "Are the colors right?". As has been stated, one way or another, they changed a lot. Can't wait to see it finished.


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## Fozzie

RSN said:


> Yours looks great, don't get hung up on the "Are the colors right?". As has been stated, one way or another, they changed a lot. Can't wait to see it finished.


Thanks. 

And don't worry...I'm not that much of a rivet counter! :thumbsup:


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## CLBrown

RSN said:


> I was always under the impression that the buttons themselves were colored and lit from below. Seeing panels on screen unlit shows that they still have color to them. I remember an auction a few years back when a box of original colored buttons were sold. At the time, they did say that when one broke off, they were replaced with whatever color button was on hand. Here are what some of them looked like. :thumbsup:


That's correct. The colors there were defined by the actual physical buttons.

I wonder how often the buttons broke? I mean, they were using some fairly brittle resin, to be sure, but how often would someone just hammer on them enough to make them break? What, exactly, would an actor have to do in order to crack one of these?

I imagine the helm console... with occasional fights leading to someone getting bent back over it... would see the worst wear-and-tear. But for any other console... I can't recall it happening, can you?


As for the keys in the "real" Enterprise... I really do envision them as being something akin to what you'll see here:
http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/

These keyboards use little OLED displays on top of every key... it's definitely "overkill" (based on the cost of this keyboard, I mean!) but it's a really cool idea, and I wish I could afford one.

That's how I see the bridge buttons... ALL of them, pretty much... little tiny full-color display panels on top of physical buttons. That's not how they made them back in 1965-forward... but that's only because they were on a TV budget, and not really in the 23rd century! :thumbsup:

EDIT: I thought I'd save a few mouse-clicks... here's the "active demo" of the "Optimus Maximum" keyboard... and that, frankly, shows how I envision Trek keypads. In particular, play with the "num lock" and the "shift" and "caps lock" keys.

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/maximus/demo/

Oh, one more thing... there are various "configs" set up above the keyboard as well... see what happens when you choose, say, the "Russian" setup, or the "Half-life" setup... the whole keyboard changes configuration accordingly.


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## RSN

CLBrown said:


> That's correct. The colors there were defined by the actual physical buttons.
> 
> I wonder how often the buttons broke? I mean, they were using some fairly brittle resin, to be sure, but how often would someone just hammer on them enough to make them break? What, exactly, would an actor have to do in order to crack one of these?
> 
> I imagine the helm console... with occasional fights leading to someone getting bent back over it... would see the worst wear-and-tear. But for any other console... I can't recall it happening, can you?
> 
> 
> As for the keys in the "real" Enterprise... I really do envision them as being something akin to what you'll see here:
> http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/
> 
> These keyboards use little OLED displays on top of every key... it's definitely "overkill" (based on the cost of this keyboard, I mean!) but it's a really cool idea, and I wish I could afford one.
> 
> That's how I see the bridge buttons... ALL of them, pretty much... little tiny full-color display panels on top of physical buttons. That's not how they made them back in 1965-forward... but that's only because they were on a TV budget, and not really in the 23rd century! :thumbsup:
> 
> EDIT: I thought I'd save a few mouse-clicks... here's the "active demo" of the "Optimus Maximum" keyboard... and that, frankly, shows how I envision Trek keypads. In particular, play with the "num lock" and the "shift" and "caps lock" keys.
> 
> http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/maximus/demo/


I would expect that most damage would have come from studio stagehands rather than the actors. Removing the "wild" sections, carrying equipment and not paying attention to where cables were going and the like, not to mention the heat from the lights below eating away at the epoxy holding them in place. 

I remember reading, some time ago, that the square, multi-colored displays above the keyboards would get so hot from the lights behind them that they had to limit the time on the scene shots to keep them from melting during a take. That is why so many panels were unlit much of the time.


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## Captain April

I suspect a bigger problem might've been someone pushing a little too hard on a button and having it fall inside the console in question, but that depends on how the whole thing was put together in the first place. And that's probably a secret lost to the mists of time. Or possibly locked away in James Cawley's file cabinet, take your pick.


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## SteveR

Great job. Looking forward to seeing more!


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## Fozzie

SteveR said:


> Great job. Looking forward to seeing more!


I just finished fine sanding the primer coat. Expect to put the first coat of paint on this weekend. Then we'll have a really good idea of what it'll look like. After that, all the remaining work will take place from the backside.

I'll install the console pieces and start working on the 8 splash screens across the back. I have a couple of ideas on how to do those that I want to play around with... 

Also a couple of ideas for the bottom access panels I want to play with...

Need to order some LED strips to handle some of the lighting...

Yeah, still lots to do, but it's coming together!


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## Fozzie

Here's the latest photo of my bridge station. The backsplash screens are missing but the rest of the major elements are in place. The overhead light panels are still masked in this photo.










I am not very happy at the moment. When I pulled the blue painter's tape off it took quite a bit of paint with it. I use Tamiya masking tape for the edges and blue painter's tape to mask off larger areas. I've never had it pull off paint like this before. For some reason, the blue tape really stuck this time. 

Painting has been a huge challenge down here in New Orleans right now. While the rest of the country is in a drought, we are getting heavy thunderstorms every day, sometimes multiple times a day. It's very hot and the humidity is very high. This may have had something to do with the problems I had with the painter's tape.


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## Gemini1999

One trick about the blue painters tape (or any other for that matter) is that you don't want to let the paint fully cure by the time you remove it. If you wait that long, you either have bits of the tape that are difficult to remove, or it pulls some of the tape off with it, which you've experienced.


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## CLBrown

Really fascinating about the tape... sorry to hear that. I've never seen that stuff to cause problems.

Of course, I'm sure you know perfectly well what needs to be done to paint plastic, but I thought I'd ask the following anyway...

1) Did you thoroughly clean the surfaces to be painted, immediately prior to painting (ie, within a day or so, I mean) and did you keep them clean (no fingerprints, etc) in the interim?

2) Were you using a paint which "bonds" to plastic... solvent-based enamels rather than water-based ones... in other words?

And, of course, the most likely issue...

3) Did you take a cool workpiece, from an air-conditioned area, into the "great outdoors" where you'd get slight surface condensation, right before painting?

The "tack" level of the "painters tape" is so low that the only way you'd get paint peel-off would be if the paint wasn't actually adhering to the painted surface... due to finger oils, "cooking smoke residue" or the like, or just condensation, between the paint and the painted surface.

I've actually seen similar things happen in "production" environments... and not with paint, but with metal plating. We were shipping some battery modules, and in order to ship them, you'd have to cover the terminals with heavy tape in order to protect from shorting. The terminals themselves are brass, but are nickle plated to protect from corrosion.

Well, the first production orders arrived from China, and we peeled off the tape from the terminals in order to do first-article inspections... and the nickle plating peeled right off, from virtually all of them. And, curiously, the area where the nickle peeled off was in a "thumbprint" shaped region. A little inspection work, and I was actually able to get the thumbprint of the chinese laborer who'd been using his greasy thumb to seat the brass inserts into their tool prior to the plating operation!

Obviously, we couldn't ship those products to the end-users... and these terminals were insert-molded into the electronic module enclosures... which were welded together. So, in effect the entire first production run of modules was SCRAPPED. All over greasy thumbprints from one guy who didn't follow established production procedures.

There are lots of reasons this might be happening, but I'd be dubious of claims that it's the fault of the tape.


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## Fozzie

Since I'm using the same Tamiya primers and paints that I always use, and the same tapes, I suspect it has something to do with the weather conditions under which I've been forced to do the painting. It has been raining daily for _weeks _here and I should have just tabled the project for a while, probably, instead of pushing ahead with the painting.

It isn't anything that can't be fixed. Just another delay and a bit of a pain.


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## Fozzie

I still have a _lot_ of work to do on this, but with the base in place it is starting to look like something! (The base still has to be painted an appropriate color, of course.)


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## Steve H

Damn, that's nice. Really nice. It makes me say once again it's so sad that due to market conditions Art Asylum/DST can't make these (and of course more ST figures), I'd love a bridge, even just the 'master shot' arc of Science to Engineering, with Captain's Chair and Helm/Nav. 

Oh, speaking of, how are you going to handle the chair? You'll have to really fiddle around with it because I recall these figures just don't sit very well (mostly due to the difference between the hard sculpted plastic and real human butts on real cushions) and I'm not sure Uhura can actually sit at all.


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## Fozzie

No, Uhura can't sit at all. She may just have to stand next to her chair. 

The chair is going to be quite a challenge due to it's shape. I am going to completely finish off the station before tackling that. 

I just spent the last 20 minutes fiddling around with the sound card. I bought one of those cards that allows you to record up to 120 seconds of sound spread over 3 files, each with its own activation button. It looks like I'll be able to place it in the bottom of the unit and have the sound come out through the screens near the floor. I'll put the buttons in the base. I found 3 recordings of bridge sounds on the web and put them into the card. Sounds much better than I expected considering the card was something like $15.


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## Steve H

Well, given the skill and ability you've shown so far with this project, I'm gonna flap my jaws and make some random suggestions. 

1. Find a 2ed Uhura figure, carve off the skirt, pose her sitting and craft a new skirt around her. you can then swap standing and sitting figures at will. At the same time might as well sculpt a ear transceiver unit for her...or make 2, Spock had one from time to time.

2. I suggest vac forming the chair, using two serperate 'bucks' for the inside and outside of the seat, then use the machine to cut the triangles for the outside back. Or maybe one buck would work with a thick enough sheet. Won't even need a vac machine, this is something that could be done with the old school 'soften the plastic sheet then pull it over the buck' method. Not sure how to handle the base of the chair. I'm leaning to a vac form piece and filling the base with something heavy to keep it from tilting when a figure is seated. 

You're going to want a way to make several chairs because I just KNOW you've got a Helm/Nav console in your future.


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## CLBrown

I was going to make suggestions, too, but Steve beat me to all my points!

Definitely, consider doing a "hybrid sculpt" for seated figures... keep the bits you can, sculpt (using Milliput over heavy wire) for from the boots up to the waist. Legs, especially SEATED legs, are pretty easy to sculpt... much moreso than any other body region, anyway!


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## Steve H

CLBrown said:


> I was going to make suggestions, too, but Steve beat me to all my points!
> 
> Definitely, consider doing a "hybrid sculpt" for seated figures... keep the bits you can, sculpt (using Milliput over heavy wire) for from the boots up to the waist. Legs, especially SEATED legs, are pretty easy to sculpt... much moreso than any other body region, anyway!


Actually, with the Art Asylum Trek figures, I think Uhura has full articulation at the hips, the problem is the rubbery material they use for the dress, like they use for the shirts on the men. 

Or...gah, my Trek figures are packed away, did DST cheap out and just make a solid 'skirt hip' that the thighs are jammed into? I can't remember! Cripes, do I even HAVE a Uhura?!

OK, where's that box? Dig dig dig..Spock...Mirror Spock...Kirk in muscle shirt..Klingon..Gorn...HA! Uhura! OK, let's...wow. wow. That's TERRIBLE!

She's got a solid pelvis that the legs fit into, but instead of inset molded swivel/pivot joints, she has a simple forward/back rotation point! She CAN sit but because of the way she's sculpted, the pose, she sits in a very immodest way. Yeah, that would need to be corrected.

(also, the gold on her rank stripes and department badge has really faded. Never seen a paint app do that, wonder if it's outgassing from the rubber?)

Art Asylum did a great job on the sculpts for the Trek figures. I'm sad they don't seem to be able to figure out how to sell them. I do wish they hadn't cheaped out on articulation for the Klingon, missing the thigh rotation means he can't cross his legs.


----------



## Fozzie

Not sure how this is going to work out since is the first time I have tried this, but these are vinyl masks I created for the 8 "backsplash" screens. Clear styrene, transparent paints, and some back-lighting are what I have in mind. I will use static lights and random blinking lights. I feel this is a fairly ambitious undertaking...but we'll see how it works out.










The masks were created using my Cameo Silhouette die cutter. The small squares are 1/16" square. The displays are not exact (due to resolution issues, natch), but should evoke the correct look. These are very loosely based on the great work done at the Star Trek TOS Displays Project.

This is the BigDawgs sound card I mentioned earlier. It looks like I can mount the speaker/board behind one of the screens near the floor and run the actual buttons out to spots near the edge of the base.


----------



## Steve H

FWIW, I love that shot of the sound board, because it looks like a couple of the crew are examining it for defects. 

(and probably placing bets on which bridge crew member starts acting all trippy and strange and stuff. Altho that was more a TNG thing overall...  )


----------



## Fozzie

I've transferred the masks I made for the 8 "backsplash" screens to a sheet of clear styrene (Evergreen 9007). After taking the photo below, I primed the sheet and painted it with Tamiya black. When it dries, I'll start taking off selected pieces of vinyl and painting the "holes" with clear Tamiya paints (yellow, red, green).










You can file the two pieces below under the category "no one will ever see this detail". These are designed to go behind the screens near the floor. The two square pieces in the center of each piece will house LEDs to light up the area. The details on these pieces are totally speculative. If someone does look through the screens I wanted them to see _something_ there.










I continue to try and repair the damage done to the model's paint job by the too sticky blue painter's tape. The finish on a model has never been my strong point and this isn't helping.


----------



## JGG1701

Looking great Foz.:thumbsup:
-Jim


----------



## Fozzie

I was originally going to paint the lighted areas of the displays, but decided that I might get a better result using bits of colored gel film. I have a pack I picked up at Hobby Lobby a while back which included amber, green, red, and blue. The photo below shows how I have affixed bits of the film to the backside of the displays with spray adhesive. (It is useful to remember as you look at this that the small squares are 1/16" in size.)










I often use vellum paper to diffuse the light from my LEDs. For this shot I held the display + vellum paper up to my computer monitor (which was on a web page of mostly white). I got similar results when I tested with an LED flashlight. As you can see, the vellum/gel film combination diffuses the light nicely across the display elements.










I intend to light some of the pieces of each display with a static light source and some with a blinking one. I have a couple of ideas about just how that might work...


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## Chrisisall

He Foz, when you're done with this project, if you find you have no room to display or store it, you can send it to me if you want....


----------



## BolianAdmiral

An awesome project... great work!


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## BOXIE

Just when I think it can't get any better you come up with something new .Fantastic.


----------



## Fozzie

Hurricane Isaac has knocked out power to nearly 45% of the residents of Louisiana--including me. They are estimating 7 days to restore power to 90% of the affected customers. I guess I'll have a lot of reading on this board to catch up on when I finally get power back at my house!

I lost 10 ft of fence, some facia board, and have broken tree limbs to take care of. But no major damage and no one hurt, so all is good. :thumbsup:


P.S. It is amazing how much light a fully lit 1/350 refit can put out in a totally dark room!


----------



## Chrisisall

Fozzie said:


> But no major damage and no one hurt, so all is good. :thumbsup:


This is good to hear.:wave:


----------



## BOXIE

Glad you came through alright.Keep modelling and everything will work out.


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## Fozzie

No internet connection yet, but after 4 days and 1 hour I have electricity again. Woohoo!


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## Chrisisall

As Ash would say, YEAH, BABY!!


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## Fozzie

Hurricane Isaac put a stop to all modeling work for several days, but I was finally able to get back to it today. I just finished adding the gel film to the last of the backsplash displays. 










Tomorrow I will (hopefully) play around with how I'm going to have some parts of the panels blink while the rest of it stays lit all the time. I've got a board that'll drive the LEDS, it is just a matter now of being creative with my lightboxes.


----------



## kdaracal

Wonderful.


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## Fozzie

This is just a test shot. Neither the backsplash panels nor the console panels are glued into place (just held with tape). I put a desk lamp behind it just to light up the panels a bit. I'm pretty pleased with how it looks.










If you look behind the screens near the floor you can see a couple of holes which will hold the LEDs that will light up those sections.

The top panels appear lit from behind because of the lamp, but they won't be in the final product.


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## Chrisisall

Nice work, you bounce back into action well.


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## Captain April

:woohoo::thumbsup:


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## uss_columbia

That looks awesome, Fozzie!


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## Bernard Guignar

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Steve H

It's looking really sweet and amazing,but...but..

OK, where's the comm panel and it's attendant rocker switches? Is it too small and I'm not seeing it because it's not lit?

YES I'm being needlessly nitpicky because the beauty and amazing skill shown demand it!


----------



## CLBrown

Gorgeous work, Fozzie...

I really do hope you plan to "mass produce" (in small quantities, of course) some of the elements you've created there. It's too good to let die...

Presumably, you've got the non-lit elements prepared and ready to tack on separately... but... what about the hood viewers? Several bridge stations have those, not just Spock's station. And they really need to be internally lit, I think.

Are you planning to do that? I'm not being critical... what you've done so far is terrific. But the closer you get to being "screen accurate," the more we're all going to be rooting for it to become "100% screen accurate," ya know?


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## Fozzie

Thanks for all the kinds words, everyone. They are most appreciated.

This is Uhura's comm station. It doesn't have a hooded viewer but it does have one of the little blue comm panels and the rocker switches. I haven't forgotten about those...just haven't gotten to them yet. They have no lighting and can be attached to the existing console pretty easily. There's also the little "clip" where she can store her earpiece.

I'm trying a LOT of new techniques on this piece. I really haven't done a whole lot of scratchbuilding. Most of what I'm trying is working out pretty well, but there are a ton of things I would do differently. I want to finish this one up, though, and then take a minute to think about what I have learned.

BTW, I put this next to my turbolift alcove last night. Looks pretty fine! I will have to do it again and post a picture a little further down the line.


----------



## Fozzie

I should point out that the control panels and the backsplash screens are not random designs...they are based on the actual layouts of the console buttons and displays of Uhura's comm station. If I were to make a companion station to this, the layouts of both would be different (which might include a hooded viewer), but I specifically going for the comm station on this build.


----------



## kdaracal

> _they are based on the actual layouts of the console buttons and displays_


 Craziness!


----------



## mikephys

Fozzie, you are amazing. It has been great fun following this build! I've learned a lot vicariously from the process you are going through. Thank you!


----------



## Fozzie

I began my experiments on how to "animate" the backsplash panels and my first test was quite promising.

Take a look at the photo below. 










The lowest layer of this structure is the "mask" of the computer panels. Layer 2 consists of the colored gels that will give color to the displays. The third layer is a strip of velum paper which will diffuse the light and give a more even appearance to the display. On top of this is a very thin piece of styrene cut into a pattern of where I want the lightbox walls to go. On top of that are the actual walls of the lightbox. Finally, on top of _that _will go a flat piece of styrene with holes drilled in it to hold the LEDs that will light up the panels. In the photo only the leftmost panel has the walls in place. (You can see from the template where the remainder of the walls will go.)

So, how will this work? In each panel there will be at least 2 LEDs. One will be on constantly, but the other will blink. These won't be short, quick blinks. The LEDs will stay in their on and off states for a few seconds at a time. And since each LED in each panel is blinking randomly, it should look quite convincing.

The blinking lights will be controlled by the Tenacontrols "Blinking Computer Lights". (Curiously, I can't find this product on their website, but you can buy it here.) I will be replacing the colored LEDs that come with the board with white LEDs since the gels will provide the display colors.

I was able to test this earlier today and it looks like it will work pretty much as I hoped. I have a lot more work to do before I have a functioning unit, but when I do, I'll post a video here.


----------



## Chrisisall

I love builds that feature SHEER CREATIVITY like this!:thumbsup:


----------



## Steve H

That is a beautiful thing. I may have said that before but it bears repeating. 

You know, given the scale, you *might* be able to wire a batch of micro LEDS into a grid pattern and let each indicator (on the gel sheet) have it's own light. I would imagine making a backing frame for the LEDs out of styrene...

save that for later.


----------



## Fozzie

First light box complete and holy crap...it works!

I have a quite a bit of wiring to do before I will have it ready to show you guys, but in my test this morning it's working just like I hoped it would.

:woohoo:


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H,
here's the first of the two rocker switch pieces. 










To give you a sense of scale, each of the squares on that pink cutting mat are 1/2". Each switch is 1/16" x 2/16". I am not usually very good with tiny things like this, but they came out pretty well, I think. All of it was made with Evergreen styrene products.

I hope to have a video up of the blinking computer displays later this weekend.


----------



## Fozzie

And the second set...with a penny for scale. Some switches are in their "on" position, some in the "off" position.

I will affix these to the console later today.


----------



## Mark Dorais

Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!:thumbsup:


----------



## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> And the second set...with a penny for scale. Some switches are in their "on" position, some in the "off" position.
> 
> I will affix these to the console later today.


What?! They don't actually work? WALK THE ROAD OF SHAME!!!

:tongue:

Seriously, amazing, beautiful work! I am green with envy of your skill!


----------



## Fozzie

Here's a quick and dirty video showing a) the 4 right-hand side computer consoles animated, b) the overhead lamps on, and c) one of the 3 bridge sound effects available.






Also, you'll notice the rocker switches have been installed on the console.


----------



## Fozzie

I got a LOT done today.


Installed the boxes and LEDs behind the foot grills
Installed the right hand side computer panel
Worked up the white LEDs needed to replace the colored ones that came with the blinker board
Wired up the non-blinking lights on the computer displays, the overhead lights, and the foot lights
Finished up the two rocker switch panels and installed them
Attached base

What does that leave left to do?

Build the light box for the left hand computer consoles and wire it up
Install on/off switch
Install 9v and 3v battery packs
Build and install intercom, ear receiver clip, and record decks holder on console
Install lighting for console panels


----------



## mikephys

Fozzie:
Your YouTube video rocks! Your ingenuity is humbling, sir!


----------



## uss_columbia

You keep on amazing us. Nice work!


----------



## Bernard Guignar

That is very impressive :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


----------



## BOXIE

This is absolutely amazing.Keep up the good work.


----------



## Larrold

Completely fantastic! It inspired me to get off the couch today and work on one of my non-modeling projects--restoring a Burke model 115 fiberglass chair into 1:1 replica of the bridge station chairs. BTW... are you going to add a scale replica chair to the scene as well?


----------



## Fozzie

Larrold said:


> Completely fantastic! It inspired me to get off the couch today and work on one of my non-modeling projects--restoring a Burke model 115 fiberglass chair into 1:1 replica of the bridge station chairs. BTW... are you going to add a scale replica chair to the scene as well?


I want to. Haven't really thought a whole lot about how I'm gonna do it yet though.

That sounds like a really cool project! I'd love a "real" bridge chair.


----------



## Fozzie

Got most of the light box done for the second set of computer displays. Much neater/faster job than doing the first one. Used black styrene this time to aid with light blocking.

OT: Built a Tamiya power drill kit this afternoon. Nice little tool. Should come in handy.


----------



## Gemini1999

Fozzie said:


> I want to. Haven't really thought a whole lot about how I'm gonna do it yet though.
> 
> That sounds like a really cool project! I'd love a "real" bridge chair.


Fozzie -

Take a look at this - I wonder if it is the right scale:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Christmas-Holiday-STAR-TREK-Ornament-MR-SPOCK-Figure-/330641147955?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cfbbf8833


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## Captain April

Words cannot express my amazement. At least not words that are suitable for a family forum.

Think "Animal House", when the horse has the heart attack in Dean Wormer's office. A certain phrase Bluto shouts two or three times.


----------



## Blufusion

As far as Brick Price . I think he got the shaft from the production crew from STTMP. He was never in the credits and he did excellecnt work. Just my 2 cents


----------



## Blufusion

i thought the buttons were marbles with light behind them


----------



## johnF

Saw this on FaceBook.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.ph...77847931.33876.142375465800016&type=1&theater


----------



## Steve H

johnF said:


> Saw this on FaceBook.
> http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.ph...77847931.33876.142375465800016&type=1&theater


Normally I avoid any and all links to Facebook just because I'm old (or something  ) but this...

Thank you very much for posting that. Looking at the picture I felt the same thing as those guys, that moment, that feeling of something, I dunno, magical, special. 

And to an earlier post, Brick Price is one of the unsung heroes of Star Trek, from the Phase II iteration to TMP. He, like Andrew Probert got lots of publicity up to TMP then suddenly the names were never mentioned again. If you go by the early publicity for ST:TNG you'll hear lots about Sternbach but Probert got mostly a "yeah, he did some early work" kind of brushoff. Of course we now know just how MUCH Probert contributed to TNG and blah blah blah. 

(I wonder how much of this will end up being covered in the forthcoming 'unauthorized' History of Star Trek book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760343594/ref=oh_details_o03_s01_i00 )


----------



## Fozzie

That is one fantastic photo*. Thanks!

Hadn't heard about that book either. It looks interesting.


*It also reminds me I need to paint a red stripe across the top of the bridge station front...


----------



## Gemini1999

Steve H said:


> Normally I avoid any and all links to Facebook just because I'm old (or something  ) but this...
> 
> Thank you very much for posting that. Looking at the picture I felt the same thing as those guys, that moment, that feeling of something, I dunno, magical, special.
> 
> And to an earlier post, Brick Price is one of the unsung heroes of Star Trek, from the Phase II iteration to TMP. He, like Andrew Probert got lots of publicity up to TMP then suddenly the names were never mentioned again. If you go by the early publicity for ST:TNG you'll hear lots about Sternbach but Probert got mostly a "yeah, he did some early work" kind of brushoff. Of course we now know just how MUCH Probert contributed to TNG and blah blah blah.
> 
> (I wonder how much of this will end up being covered in the forthcoming 'unauthorized' History of Star Trek book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760343594/ref=oh_details_o03_s01_i00 )


In regards to Andy Probert's contributions on both TMP & TNG... I remember Starlog magazine carrying a lot of Probert's pre-production designs and drawing quite prominently while TMP and TNG were in production. I liked Probert's style so much, I kept those magazines just for the drawings. I had read something about Brick Price's work on the models, but once Phase II transitioned into TMP the models were reworked to meet the standard needed for a large screen film. To the best of my recollection, Sternbach's name wasn't often mentioned until around the time that DS9 wwnt into production.


----------



## Fozzie

A broken clothes dryer really slowed me down this weekend, but I am able to offer up this photo of the communications station with all lights working save the blinking lights in the backsplash panels.










The green reflection on the deck is coming from the foot level access panels which have diffused green LEDs buried inside them. You can only see the lights themselves from certain angles, which is nice.

You also can't see the ceiling lights which play across the top dual viewscreens beautifully.

This leaves only a few things left to do:

Install on/off switch
Fix some minor light leakage around the console panels
Install 9v and 3v battery packs
Install blinker board and associated LEDs
Build and install intercom, ear receiver clip, and record decks holder on console


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## BOXIE

This has got to be one of the most fantastic works I have seen in a while.Will you attempt any more of the bridge?


----------



## Steve H

That is seriously, major league impressive. No comedy or other B.S.ing. With the camera at the right level and angle I honestly believe that could pass for a part of the actual set.

I know you're building it as a 'one-off' piece but I can't help but encourage you to build at least the Engineering station to bookend your Turbolift alcove section.


----------



## Fernando Mureb

Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

With all your enormous talent, it is a pity that you will not build the other sections.


----------



## Ductapeforever

Hands down, one of the most impressive scratchbuilds bar none in this century !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Fozzie

Fernando Mureb said:


> Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:
> 
> With all your enormous talent, it is a pity that you will not build the other sections.


Thank you, so much.

As for my future plans with this build, first I have to build a chair.

But I can say that I just spent $25 to secure a hard-to-find Chekov figure that I needed to complete my bridge crew...


----------



## paustin0816

wow that is amazing....just breathtaking


----------



## Nova Mike

Stunning work, very very well done. Thanks for sharing your talents::thumbsup:


----------



## Fozzie

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

Another little bit (and I do mean little)...the faceplate of the intercom.


----------



## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!
> 
> Another little bit (and I do mean little)...the faceplate of the intercom.


Ohhh, boy, here's where I get myself in trouble...

I'm not sure that's the right design for the bridge station comm panel. My memory has it being even smaller and more rectangular. That has the look of the proportions of the wall mount comm panel. At least the audio interface part. Wow, listen to me fall into technobabble at the drop of a hat! 

Also, the comm panels on the bridge stations have a data cart reader slot in front of them. Oops, you'll need to make some data carts. 

Not that it's a bad idea to finish that if I do happen to be right, because I can easily see you wanting to build a section of corridor, or even just a generic wall, as a setpiece for the figures. 

You're eventually going to up and build the entire filming stage, aren't you? Admit it, you've got a garage you're not using and you're going to build all the sets in it.


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Ohhh, boy, here's where I get myself in trouble...
> 
> I'm not sure that's the right design for the bridge station comm panel. My memory has it being even smaller and more rectangular. That has the look of the proportions of the wall mount comm panel. At least the audio interface part. Wow, listen to me fall into technobabble at the drop of a hat!


I got the proportions from an HD photo of a bridge station. I also had my math major friend (thanks, Bruce) double-check me on the scaling math. I'm pretty sure the proportions are correct.

(There's nothing wrong with questioning things. You're not in trouble. )



> Also, the comm panels on the bridge stations have a data cart reader slot in front of them. Oops, you'll need to make some data carts.


Already made. Just waiting to be painted. There's a slot right in front of the intercom and a separate, larger storage area off to the right. I am going to put one cart in front of the intercom and two in the storage area.

Last night I made the data carts, the clip to hold Uhura's earpiece, the faceplate for the comm station, and I built and installed the red alert lightbox & LEDs for the turbolift alcove. The blinker board I am using for the computer displays has a circuit that runs at the right speed for the red alert lights so I built some plug-and-play wiring that goes between the two set pieces so that the alcove light can be run from the bridge station blinker board.


----------



## Fozzie

This morning I put the bridge station next to the turbolift alcove so I could figure out the shape/dimensions of the missing deck plate that will go in front of the alcove. While doing so I realized that with a little photoshopping, I could see how this would look with TWO bridge stations...










The alove still needs a "hat" to make it match up with the bridge station on either side of it and which would also house LEDs needed to send lights down through the screen in the ceiling.

The intercom unit for the comm station was painted this morning. After it dries I will attach it to the console and upload some photos of that. That will complete all the "viewable" work on the console. Still need to attach the batteries and on/off switch.

How big is this layout? It is 19" from the leftmost FRONT tip to the rightmost front tip of the deck. It is about 30" wide at the back and 15" deep.

The spot I'm going to display my 1:350 TOS Enterprise is 18" deep and 48" wide. I wonder if there is any way I could work it out so that the ship "floats" over these bridge display pieces? Hmmm. Wouldn't that be cool...


----------



## ClubTepes

Very nice.

Do you have the Captains chair piece?

It would have been nice if they had made a station with a chair.


----------



## Fozzie

I have the captain's chair that Art Asylum released with a bunch of tribbles.


----------



## Fozzie

Since I had used my Silhouette Cameo die cutter to create the faceplate of the intercom, I was able to use the same file to cut a vinyl mask for the areas I needed to remain white before I painted the piece blue.










Here is the station with the intercom installed. There is a red record card in the slot in front of it. Notice to the right of the intercom the record deck holder with red and yellow cards in it.










Much to my horror, I discovered after super-gluing the intercom in place that I had placed it a little too far down the curve of the control console. It is only off by 1/4" or so, but I'm really annoyed with myself for this slip up. :drunk:

Okay. Next I'll be permanently installing the blinker board, sound board, batteries and switches. After that I plan on making a video of the whole thing lit up, blinking, humming, and populated. Then I start thinking about how to make a chair...


----------



## Steve H

My god that's a beautiful thing to see. Don't worry about the misplacement of the comm panel, I'm sure you're being much more careful than the actual production staff was about such things back in the day. 

Now, isn't that oval on the comm panel a frosted clear that lights up when the comm is active? I seem to recall a push button on the console as well. Actors love having buttons to push and dials to turn. 

Ya know, I should just shut the heck up about this stuff because I sure couldn't make something like this. Keep on keeping on! It's just amazing to see!


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Now, isn't that oval on the comm panel a frosted clear that lights up when the comm is active? I seem to recall a push button on the console as well. Actors love having buttons to push and dials to turn.


Yes, it is. This is it in it's "unlit" state.


----------



## BOXIE

Absolutely amazing.You keep outdoing yourself.Eagerly awaiting the video.


----------



## Gemini1999

Fozzie -

Your bridge model is coming along very nicely. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!


----------



## Fozzie

I've been working on my bridge station chair. I'm no sculptor so the shape isn't correct, but it is close enough to evoke the right feeling, I think. 

The chair is made of sheet styrene as are the cushions. I painted the cushions black and then covered them in black vinyl which really helps sell the illusion of cushions.

I have the X-shaped piece that is the base of the chair made but still need to make the pole that holds up the chair. Oh...the chair hasn't been painted yet either.


----------



## Ductapeforever

By God...that's a Burke chair allright! Great work.


----------



## Steve H

Looks like you got it to me! I seem to recall the chair being a little more 'round' all around but I concede I am likely mistaken. 

Simply outstanding!


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Looks like you got it to me! I seem to recall the chair being a little more 'round' all around but I concede I am likely mistaken.
> 
> Simply outstanding!


You're not mistaken. It should be rounder.


----------



## JGG1701

*You're doing great Foz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbsup:*-Jim


----------



## Gemini1999

Here's a screencap showing an original:










And another:


----------



## Fozzie

Didn't make mine pointy enough at the top. 

Will have to correct that on the next one.


----------



## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> Didn't make mine pointy enough at the top.
> 
> Will have to correct that on the next one.


Well, that's something to consider, to wit: Not only are you attempting to recreate a chair from the '60s that was dressed up some, you're trying to do it in 1/10 scale AND it has to look good when the figure sits in it. 

Don't overlook that fact about the figure. The human body is soft and tends to conform itself whereas the figures are hard ABS (or something) that has not a drop of yield to it. 

One solution may be removable seat cushions. One for when the chair is empty one all scooped out and funky looking that is mostly hidden by the seated figure.

I think this would also give you an access point to throw a thin screw or bolt down into the seat support so it can swivel, and you can control the tension of that swivel. Just in case you get some wild idea of doing a stop-motion film or something.


----------



## Fozzie

Working on a new version of the chair that is shaped more correctly. I also used Aves to create the cushions which looks a lot better than the previous method.










Still working on the finish, obviously, but it looks quite a bit better than my first attempt, I think.


----------



## Bernard Guignar

Nicely done :thumbsup: Keep up the great work


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## Fozzie

I've done an admittedly rushed job on the chair in order to meet a personal life deadline, but it doesn't look too bad.

Another thing I finished today was getting all the lights installed so, for the very first time, I had _all _the blinking lights and all the static lighting up and running. 










I hope to shoot a nice, comprehensive video next weekend and close the door on this one for a while. Going live with a BIG project at work that is going to consume me for the next several weeks.


----------



## Nova Mike

A stunning job, thanks for sharing your fantastic build.:thumbsup:


----------



## Ductapeforever

I vote this Best Model of 2012,......hands down. Great work Sir!


----------



## Fozzie

Attempting to embed my YouTube video but, once again, having trouble with that...


----------



## Fozzie

Thanks to everyone for their very kind comments.

Here's the video I promised, a look at the 1:10 bridge station, but also four (4) other custom _Trek _builds I have done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHtYNgPtP9E&feature=youtu.be


----------



## Bernard Guignar

very impressive body of work on the video Todd Keep it up :thumbsup:


----------



## BOXIE

Absolutely fantastic job!Well worth the wait.


----------



## Fozzie

This weekend I installed the power jack and switch, so that now everything is running off the AC adapter instead of batteries. I also have the alcove's red alert light hooked to the blinker control board via a "quick disconnect" system so the two set pieces can be handled separately. (In the photo below I managed to catch the light in its lit state.)

I also created an extended floor to go in front of the alcove so that it runs up against the bridge station now. Not sure when I'll get to it but the next step is to make a "hat" for the alcove which will include lighting so that it matches the "ceiling" line of the bridge station.










When I first started the alcove, I was planning on doing the turbolift, not a bridge station. Wish I had known then what I know now as I would have done things a bit different to make displaying the pieces together a little easier.

And, yes, Kirk _is_ hitting on Dax...


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## Nova Mike

Simply spectacular :thumbsup:thanks for sharing


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## Fernando Mureb

OMG! You can do, you shall do, you have to do the entire bridge... please... do it!? :wave:


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## Steve H

Excellent. Very, very excellent!

I see your Spock is stuck in 'Vulcan Greeting' mode. You might consider buying a 'junk' opened figure and swap out the hand. Any of the men should do, I'm pretty sure they standardized the hands. They pop off reasonably smoothly. 

Or maybe 'Mirror Universe' Kirk. Man, there was a damn FLOOD of that figure, due to a poor case pack-out choice by Art Asylum. He should be cheap. 

Also, in the (currently closed) 'New Shuttlecraft Kit' thread there's a couple of nice briefing room pics from The Cage posted, it gives you a look at the original, unmodified chairs which may help you in the future. 

And no disrespect meant, but...needs railing. 

(which means you'll need to build the 'standoff' to raise the floor which means you'll need to make the stairs... sorry. I'm a horrible person.)


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## BOXIE

Just when I think it can't get any better ,you come through again.Is that SPACE DOCK I see in the background?


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## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> And no disrespect meant, but...needs railing.


I am dying to do the railing! One of the things that is so awesome about the bridge is that rail.


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## Fozzie

BOXIE said:


> Just when I think it can't get any better ,you come through again.Is that SPACE DOCK I see in the background?


Thanks.

A sort of tribute to the Space Dock. If you watch the video I link to in msg #139 it shows that model all lit up.


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## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> I am dying to do the railing! One of the things that is so awesome about the bridge is that rail.


Well, one potential, at least until you build the standoff, make the supports just long enough to reach the 'floor line' and attach them to some thin brass sheet that can slip under the deck. This gives you the ability to keep the railing piece 'wild' until you build the whole standoff. Or is 'riser' the correct term? I forget. 

I suppose there's no real reason the 'base' to attach the suggested rail posts to can't be thin sheet plastic but I worry about some unexpected accident where *wham* it gets welded to the floor. 

I have so much envy for the skill and ability shown.


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## Fozzie

Fernando Mureb said:


> OMG! You can do, you shall do, you have to do the entire bridge... please... do it!? :wave:


I can't say it hasn't crossed my mind...










One problem with that project is obvious, however--it would be huge! Around 4 foot from the back of the viewscreen to the turbolift (that's what that green circle represents).

A pie wedge that includes the Captain's chair and helm MIGHT be possible though. But I really did want to do the main viewscreen, too... :drunk:


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## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Well, one potential, at least until you build the standoff, make the supports just long enough to reach the 'floor line' and attach them to some thin brass sheet that can slip under the deck.


I was looking at a very similar solution earlier today because I really do want to see what it looks like with railing...


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## Steve H

The other choice I see is cheat like heck, build the rail and supports to the deck line and then 'nail' it to some '2x4s' and 'apple boxes' meant to be kept below the camera line. This gives you a 'wild' railing that while inelegant, at least works.

(yes, I'm thinking of this more and more as a set and not 'just' a model. I can't help it, the detail is that good  )


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## Paulbo

This just keeps getting better! Fantastic!

(Seeing your build convinced me to pick up a Silhouette machine. It should arrive at the end of this week.)


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## Steve H

Paulbo said:


> This just keeps getting better! Fantastic!
> 
> (Seeing your build convinced me to pick up a Silhouette machine. It should arrive at the end of this week.)



OMG, a Cameo in your hands? I fear what may be unleashed 

Seriously, given what you do with etched brass, what happens when you can do similar things with sheet plastic? The mind boggles, and an entire new type of aftermarket accessory set may well be born.


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## Paulbo

I'm getting it for prototyping purposes, not production. (Using the Silhouette for production would be a slow, slow process and not able to keep up with demand, I think.) However ...

I've found a couple of new local shops that supply laser cuttable acrylic and cutting that might extend things a bit.


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## Fozzie

Paulbo said:


> I'm getting it for prototyping purposes, not production. (Using the Silhouette for production would be a slow, slow process and not able to keep up with demand, I think.)


Agreed.

It is great for scratch building, prototyping, making vinyl masks--but not in any great volume. It's a consumer machine not designed to do styrene, but it can be coaxed into being a scratch builder's best friend!


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## Paulbo

That's pretty much my take on it as well, though I've not used it yet. 

I found a package with the "pro" version of the software plus a whole bunch of extra materials, so I can import my CAD/Corel designs and cut them on the machine. The extras will let me experiment.


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## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Excellent. Very, very excellent!
> 
> I see your Spock is stuck in 'Vulcan Greeting' mode. You might consider buying a 'junk' opened figure and swap out the hand. Any of the men should do, I'm pretty sure they standardized the hands. They pop off reasonably smoothly.


You reminded me that I had a little baggie somewhere with additional hands in it. A 5 minute search turned it up and Spock is no longer stuck in "Vulcan Greeting mode". Thanks for reminding me of that feature of the Art Asylum figures (hands down the best _Trek _figures ever made).

(He didn't really say "hands down" did he? Oh, yes, he did! LOL)


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## Steve H

Hey, you're the guy with a bag of hands... 

No, I love the AA Trek figures, and a quick search on eBay showed me there have been many more than I knew, BUT I am so darn annoyed at how they were distributed, the different exclusives, and how they started to cheap out the figures (Kor for one can't sit properly because he doesn't have the thigh swivel), not to mention all the figures NOT made because of the need to crank out variants and gimmicks such as the DS9 characters in the Tribble episode. 

And I worry about the rubbery tunic. I worry if they're going to decay or react and make the plastic melt. 

Saying all that, someday I'll complete at least the classic Trek figures, just need that money thing. 

Sure would be nice if there was a Main Bridge for them to all be on...


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## aeryn43

Excellent work Fozzie:thumbsup::thumbsup:....
Must get back to my 1/8 big bridge build soon! Well after I finish the big Gunstar at least...Not sure my bridge will be ba professional looking as yours tho'....Hand cutting all those panels...oh boy!!


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## Fozzie

Working a lot of hours at the office right now, but every minute I did get for modeling I spent working on the lighting "hat" for the turbolift alcove. As of now I have it built with all the lighting installed and tested. 

I ran a line from the 9v power supply of the bridge station with a quick connect plug to the back of the alcove. The 500ma power supply I was using for the bridge station wasn't up to the task but, luckily, I had a 1,300ma power supply that was strong enough to power everything.

The extra lighting consists of 4 LEDs for the twin trapedzoidal lights built into the "overhang" and a foot of Natural White Smooth Double Density LED tape from Modeler's Brand cut into twin 6" strips. I put a sheet of velum paper over the mesh ceiling of the alcove and then shone the LEDs through that. The "smooth" LED tape has a clear gel-like coating over the LEDs that diffuses the light more than normal and reduces the severity of the hotspots. Btw that tape and the velum paper, I achieved very even lighting in the alcove.

I still need to putty, sand, and finish the hat before I paint and install it. That'll probably have to wait till next weekend though. The end is in sight, just in time for my 1:350 Big E...


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## Paulbo

Fozzie - I have a couple of questions for you ...

If I've read correctly, you haven't been able to get the Silhouette to cut 0.02" or above styrene, just scribe it so you can snap the edges. Is that right? That's all I could get it to do. It cut 0.005" no problem. (I don't have any 0.01" or 0.03" on hand but will get some later this week to test.)

Do you have any tricks, tips, and settings you'd be willing share?

Cheers,
Paul


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## Fozzie

Paulbo said:


> Fozzie - I have a couple of questions for you ...
> 
> If I've read correctly, you haven't been able to get the Silhouette to cut 0.02" or above styrene, just scribe it so you can snap the edges. Is that right? That's all I could get it to do. It cut 0.005" no problem. (I don't have any 0.01" or 0.03" on hand but will get some later this week to test.)
> 
> Do you have any tricks, tips, and settings you'd be willing share?
> 
> Cheers,
> Paul


I'll take this to the thread I have on the Cameo. Look for the answer there.


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## Fozzie

The latest progress on my TOS bridge station/turbolift alcove diorama. I am nearly finished adding a top to the alcove which houses the needed lighting for this piece.

The first shot shows the pieces set up next to each other. I have plans to hide the "seams" between the two pieces at the top and bottom. I also want to add a section of railing. As it, it requires 22" x 16" of display space.










A "deck level" shot. OMG, Captain! There's a Gorn on the bridge! (And a tribble...)










Same shot with the lights off to better show off the lighting in the alcove. The obvious light leak at the front of the mesh screen will disappear when the final glue goes down.


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## Nova Mike

Fantastic thanks for sharing, love this thread.:thumbsup:


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## Steve H

Wow, this sure got pushed to the back due to the excitement over the 1/350th TOS Enterprise!

Still stunned by the work, I was looking for something else and stumbled on this pic:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XNPD380IpBQ/SJpT33NGuSI/AAAAAAAACFc/CS_FtmaJT10/s400/P61_fx4.jpg

Thought it might give you some ideas for the future.


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## Fozzie

That's a great picture! Does break the illusion though, doesn't it? 

Thanks for sharing that.


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## Steve H

HERE the right thread is! Wow, did this get knocked far back by all the 1/350 Enterprise posts! 

Anyway, check this pic out!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdofthegalaxy/7720331082/in/set-72157623111973183

More food for thought.


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## Atlanthia

I love it, I love it, I love it!

Did I mention that I love it.....? :thumbsup:


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## Fozzie

I was never really happy with the bridge chair I came up with for my 1:10 scale bridge station. (Also, as you can see in the picture below, the chair (left) has not aged well.) Recently, I set out to correct that. The chair on the right is a prototype chair created using a 3D printer. I did not spend a lot of time on refining the finish, but simply gave it a quick paint job to see how it looked "on set." 










The chair is more accurate in every respect and much more stable/rugged than the original. (In this photo the new one is on the left and the original on the right.)


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## Steve H

I think you have a winner, it looks MUCH better, the base in particular. 

Gee, you should run up some extras and offer them for sale via various toy collector sites. I suspect there are a good number of fans who would love some chairs for their Trek figures. 

Oh, wait, is that 'roughing out' the helm/nav console area I see going on there? Hmmm?


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## Fernando Mureb

Fozzie said:


>


Hey man! You should teach manners to Miss Uhura. :tongue:


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## Steve H

Fernando Mureb said:


> Hey man! You should teach manners to Miss Uhura. :tongue:


Hey now, don't blame her! Blame Art Asylum for not giving her ball-joint hips and thigh rotation so she can sit more comfortably!

Sexist pigs. The ONE figure that should be designed to sit...


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## Fozzie

It's the lack of seat belts when the ship gets hit by a Klingon disruptor blast...


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## Fozzie

Why am I messing around with this?! I don't have a 3' x 3' place to put something like this!


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## Steve H

It is...your DESTINY!

Or maybe density. I get the two mixed up sometimes. 

But of course that's why you make each station 'wild', so you can group it for beauty pictures then lay out each station (with figures) on a shelf. Home made 'extension cords' can link the lighting and effects functions of the stations so they can blink and boop away. 

Or at least that's one idea.


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## Atlanthia

There's always more room in the heart than there is in the head and I fear that, like with my bridge build, this is a project led by the heart......


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## Fozzie

Deck sections with rail. The rectangular hole in the back is for wiring. It will be covered up by the bridge station. (Yeah, I know it is in the spot where the turbolift goes, but that was just to show off the rail in contrast to Kirk's chair.)

(Sorry for the poor quality of the photographs.)


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## Atlanthia

Okay so that's looking pretty bloody incredible.......as usual!

I am wondering, Fozzie, are you 3d printing here or moulding/casting? I ask because, as you know, I am on exactly the same journey as you and I am hoping that your skills may help me a little..


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## Fozzie

What I'm doing now is 3D printing. It is giving me the precision I need for the complicated angles of the bridge. As you know that is the big challenge with this build! But I will not be printing the entire thing. I will cast the control panels in clear plastic like I did on the original, for example. I don't see any other way to do that. I will also scratch build the little blue comm units, rocker switches--a lot of the fine detail stuff. The black "desk top" station surfaces may also be styrene. I feel like the 3D printer is a tool to fabricate parts, like a vacuum form machine, or casting, but, like all tools, is not good for everything. I would never have the time (nor the patience, probably) to build so many individual bridge stations from scratch, either, so I'm hoping it will help with that part of the project too. Right now time is the most scarce resource for me so anything that helps save me time is a blessing. 

I've designed a deck segment that I should now be able to print multiple copies of and use for every segment except the special ones at the elevator and viewscreen. It has holes in it in strategic places for wiring and, at the moment, I am successfully holding two of them together simply using magnets (a test).

I am printing the deck and rail in the appropriate colors ONLY because I happen to have those colors on hand. Everything will need to be finished and painted later.

I'm committing myself to the "pie segment" that includes Uhura's station, the turbolift alcove, the station next to that, Kirk's chair, and the helm station. What I WANT to do is continue wrapping that around till I get to the viewscreen. I just don't know where I would find space for such a monstrosity!


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## Atlanthia

Well, it looks phenomenal and I can't wait to see more. You are so very skilled that it is a pleasure to behold your work. And thank you for the insight. It helps a great deal.


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## Fozzie

With the weather the way it has been, I can't do any painting or anything, so I've been concentrating on part fabrication. These two photos show my most recent progress.

This photo shows a new bridge station in the works, front view. All the parts were created on a Makerbot Replicator 2 3D printer except for the black surface panels of the console which are sheet styrene. I am using the 3D printer for structural elements, but there will be a lot of traditional styrene work in this build too. The 3D parts are exactly that--parts. This isn't built as one big 3D structure. My printer simply can't build parts that big. So there is a lot of assembly involved.

The yellow arrow is pointing to a hole that is present in all the deck pieces that wires can be run through for lighting.










Here's the same structure from the back. Again, the yellow arrows indicate holes for wiring.










Not shown, but fabricated, are the curved ceiling pieces. I did not build these in my previous bridge station build, but have included them in this one. I think it just looks so much better with that detail. Also, unlike my previous build, I want to put panels on the back side to enclose and hide all the wiring.

If you look closely at the 2nd picture, you can see a sort of "shelf" below the main console. I created this by extending the lower part of the console back into the shell. The reason is to provide a surface on which to mount the LED strips which will light up the console buttons. This is a "lesson learned" from my first build. That is also why you see partial light boxes built around the openings in the ceiling and foot panels.

There has been no painting or seam fixing in any of this yet. Color differences are simply the result of different colors of plastic being used in the printer, or different colored styrene sheets.


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## Steve H

I'm sure you're getting tired of hearing this, but that's just fantastic work. It's looking more and more like a professional kit being assembled. I would even dare to say what you have now could easily serve as the master tooling model for generating a mass produced product.

Heck, if I had the money I'd hire you to prototype a crazy idea I had. 

(Crazy? I keep thinking making a TOS style 'clipboard' that seats an iPad as its 'screen' would be something people would buy. blah blah blah  )

It's too bad Diamond Select doesn't have any confidence with their Star Trek figures, they've made so many blunders with that line. I would bet if they made TOS Enterprise bridge sections they wouldn't be as nice, as accurate as your work.


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## Chrisisall

Steve H said:


> I'm sure you're getting tired of hearing this, but that's just fantastic work.


Yeah, I'm gonna have to stop saying that on this thread myself...


...but it IS fantastic work....


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## Steve H

Chrisisall said:


> Yeah, I'm gonna have to stop saying that on this thread myself...
> 
> 
> ...but it IS fantastic work....


And I would have to say the same on YOUR threads because you're just as skilled. I'd hire you to make prototypes too. 

Just need that damn money...


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## Fozzie

Chrisisall said:


> Yeah, I'm gonna have to stop saying that on this thread myself...
> 
> 
> ...but it IS fantastic work....


Quite a compliment coming from someone with your skills! Thank you!


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## Chrisisall

Fozzie said:


> Quite a compliment coming from someone with your skills! Thank you!


We all have our skill sets- I don't know that I could do what YOU'RE doing here, I certainly couldn't make it look as easy as you are...:thumbsup:


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## Atlanthia

Fozzie, iam so blown away by this project, as you already know, but I would be really interested to know how expensive/inexpensive the 3d printed version will work out compared to styrene sheet construction i.e. more or less expensive. I am seriously thinking of getting one of these things but I am imagining it being a huge learning curve and a whole reel of plastic being wasted during the process, as I would also have to start from scratch on the 3d design software side of things. But generally, which is more expensive, styrene construction followed by moulding and casting, or 3d printing?


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## Fozzie

Atlanthia said:


> Fozzie, iam so blown away by this project, as you already know, but I would be really interested to know how expensive/inexpensive the 3d printed version will work out compared to styrene sheet construction i.e. more or less expensive. I am seriously thinking of getting one of these things but I am imagining it being a huge learning curve and a whole reel of plastic being wasted during the process, as I would also have to start from scratch on the 3d design software side of things. But generally, which is more expensive, styrene construction followed by moulding and casting, or 3d printing?


I'm not sure I can answer that directly, the best I can do, I think is tell you about some of the costs. 

The biggest consumable, of course is plastic. I will talk in weight, since that is how the 3D printer plastic is sold. I use PLA plastic but the costs for ABS are roughly the same. I pay roughly 88 cents an ounce for sheet styrene from my LHS. I pay roughly 94 cents to a dollar for an ounce for PLA for the printer. An ounce of plastic goes a lot further than you think, btw, especially since any large 3D printed object is honeycombed on the inside and not solid plastic.

The initial investment in a 3D printer is huge, of course, so you have to take that into consideration. I use Sketchup 3D software which is free from Google, so no real cost there except the time to learn it. Costs for glue and paint and stuff like that is the same.

Waste. That's a hard one. I've wasted a LOT of plastic learning both methods of construction! I think the best answer there is that I waste plastic faster with the 3D printer! LOL

I think it is cheaper, in most cases, to replicate a part using the printer instead of resin and a mold. You'll get better quality out of resin/mold most of the time, however, and there are some things you simply can't do with the printer. For instance, I am casting the control panels of the bridge stations in clear for lighting purposes.

The biggest advantages to me of the 3D printer are being able to make parts with very precise sizes and angles and the fact that it is faster for me than pure styrene construction. Some people are capable of this level of precision in styrene, but it is not my strength. I find it very difficult. And time is very precious to me. I have a good paying, but very demanding, job and the equation of time vs cost works out for me. It may not be so clear cut for others.

I suspect that it costs me more to do it this way--just my gut--but I don't really have a very good way of measuring just how much. I will say this, though, you can buy an awful lot of styrene/glue/paint for what the printer costs!


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## Atlanthia

That's actually a very good answer, Mate! Thank you!


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## Steve H

There is another aspect. Duplication. Once you've got your virtual part refined to the point you're happy, you can just whip those things out as long as you have plastic for the printer. As Fozzie is saying, time is valuable. Consider the time to, say, make the chairs from scratch, and being frustrated by the little differences that creep in as you cut and sand and carve and putty.

And here's the thing. Once you make your virtual parts, there's no reason whatsoever for NOT making more to sell to the less skilled. Consider it: You go to a Trek con, you set up a table, and you have things for the Trek figures, things like chairs, clipboards, that goofy 'card reader' handheld, maybe some tables, 3 screen viewers, all those little props that Diamond/Art Aslyum will never do. I suspect one could do quite a good bit of trade. Sure beats being another 'knitter of scarves and maker of badges' doesn't it?


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## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> There is another aspect. Duplication.


You're quite right. For the bridge, especially, duplication is a big deal. 95% of the bridge stations are identical. And, if you don't get the angles just right, you will end up with problems mating them all together (learned the hard way). And, of course, there are those damn chairs...! I'm gonna need at least 4 of them, if not more. 

The wife came in the other day, looked at my work table, and said, "So, you decided to build it, I see. WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THAT?"

I really need to come up with an answer to that question...


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## Atlanthia

You could always suggest that she get rid of some of those cookery books that she never uses, or what about the piles of knitting pattern magazines, dating back to the eighties? Or is that just my wife?


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## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> You're quite right. For the bridge, especially, duplication is a big deal. 95% of the bridge stations are identical. And, if you don't get the angles just right, you will end up with problems mating them all together (learned the hard way). And, of course, there are those damn chairs...! I'm gonna need at least 4 of them, if not more.
> 
> The wife came in the other day, looked at my work table, and said, "So, you decided to build it, I see. WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO PUT THAT?"
> 
> I really need to come up with an answer to that question...


Upside down, on the ceiling. Like a fresco painting in 3D. Rare Earth magnets in the figure's feet, steel plates in the base. 

Seriously, I think I had a pretty good idea, store the segments on a shelf, so each is a mini diorama. Hook them together with home made extension cables for lighting effects, but then being able to disconnect the extensions and hook them together in full circle config. 

Or you buy the wife something foolish and expensive. It won't remove the 'stink eye effect' but it'll be more survivable.


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## Fozzie

Another update. I've just about finished all the parts for one bridge station. Below are a couple photos of my progress BADLY taped together!

Everything was 3D printed with the exception of the a) main console face (black styrene), b) backsplash console (black styrene), c) the deepest level of the top viewscreen section (white styrene), and d) the console button panels which were cast in clear resin so they can be lit. I will be using styrene sheet for the 4 back panels on each station as well, even though 3D printed panels (to be used as masters) are shown in the 2nd photo below.

















The weather here has been atrocious so I am not going to try any finishing work for a while yet. I will instead concentrate on printing out parts for a 2nd station as well as working on the pieces I will need to do the rest of the bridge "pie wedge". Most of the seams look like they will be easy to fix. I designed most pieces to print with large, flat sides down (which gives you the best finish in 3D printing) to minimize the amount of finishing work there as well.

For the most part, I am happy with the 3D parts I designed. But there are some which are problematic and will probably get some redesign before I do my next station. The geometry of these things really are challenging.


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## Fozzie

Latest progress pictures. The white board it is resting on is 20" x 30". The bridge station is 11.5" tall. The metal ruler is a foot. Practically nothing is glued together except for the basic structure of the bridge station so it can stand upright. The roll of tape is there to keep it from toppling over since it isn't glued to the base. All of the base pieces have holes in the wall (see lower left of first picture) so that wires can be run throughout.


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## Chrisisall

The wondrous mid point...


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## Fozzie

Weighed some of the pieces today and did some back-of-the-envelope math. I'm guesstimating that there will be about 6.5 lbs of plastic in this thing by the time it is done. The individual station--as shown, unfinished--is already over 10 oz.


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## Steve H

OMG that's going to be beautiful. 

Is that the art Asylum/DST Captain's Chair? does it hold up (detail and quality-wise) to your work? Will you feel the need to eventually scratch build your own?


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## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> OMG that's going to be beautiful.
> 
> Is that the art Asylum/DST Captain's Chair? does it hold up (detail and quality-wise) to your work? Will you feel the need to eventually scratch build your own?


It is the Art Asylum chair. I am going to use it at first because it will allow me to finish faster and this is going to be a long enough build as it is. But I will probably end up scratchbuilding my own after everything else is done.


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## Fozzie

A couple of looks at this weekend's progress. I got a couple more deck sections done, glued all the pairs together, puttied some minor seams, glued on the black edging, glued the entire "Captain's island" together (everything from Uhura's station to Chekov's feet is one section of deck now), printed out 6 chair legs and two more chairs, and built a mockup of the helm console. 



















The helm console was done to check sizing. A hollow version (for lighting) will need to be created eventually.

And, yes, that's enough of the circle to include a viewscreen which I hope to be an actual screen running video clips via a Raspberry Pi computer. The rest of the lighting will be done via an Arduino micro-controller.


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## Steve H

Soooo sweet. I am green with envy, not just over the skill but dude, I want one of my own! 

Keep on keeping on!


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## aeryn43

Damn that's good Fozzie might have to throw my bridge away now!.
Think I am going to rebuild a lot of mine, have just redrawn the beast in 3d so i know that (hopefully) i can create a set of paper templates for each panel that will fit together properly!.


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## Fozzie

aeryn43 said:


> Damn that's good Fozzie might have to throw my bridge away now!.
> Think I am going to rebuild a lot of mine, have just redrawn the beast in 3d so i know that (hopefully) i can create a set of paper templates for each panel that will fit together properly!.


3D software has definitely helped me with getting things to line up! I'm using Google Sketchup. It's easy and it's free and a decent enough tool for what I am doing.

I created two concentric 20-sided "circles" in Sketchup to make the floor panels out of which helped get the angles for that EXACT. I'm going to start with the same template to make ceiling pieces that should line up exactly with the floor pieces. I'm thinking of making removable panels in the tops of the ceiling pieces and putting all the electronics inside of those for easy access. I have holes connecting all the various floor pieces already so I can run wiring anywhere I need to (like to the helm console where there will be no ceiling).

The sections glue together very strongly. I can pick up the entire Captains island and Uhura's station decking without a hint of bending or sag. I am hopeful that I can create a ceiling half-ring that can be handled as one big piece after it is glued together.

This thing's a monster with all the weird angles in it, but it is my favorite TV/movie set piece of all time. I just love how it looks!


----------



## Fozzie

Here's a shot of the underside of the Captain's island and Uhura's station. Each piece has holes in it that line up with holes on its neighbors. After the parts were lined up, connecting rings were inserted to insure exact positioning and glued in place. Then Ambroid Pro Weld was wicked along the seams. The resulting bond is STRONG. The connecting rings are hollow to allow for the passage of wires between the various deck pieces. The long rectangular holes in the back end of Uhura's deck allow wiring to go up into the bridge station.

The helm deck and Uhura's station deck had to be printed in 2 pieces due to size limitations on what I can print. While I can print up to 11" long, I can only print 6" wide and 6" high.


----------



## Fiver

You know... I thought of doing this almost the moment these figures started coming out (how long ago was that now?). I was going to use foam core and cardboard and do a decent job... This goes so far beyond what I had in mind and what I would have settled for. 

This is incredible work and it REALLY does justice to the subject matter! 

Bravo!

Pax,

Fiver


----------



## Steve H

Hm. Not to 'Monday Morning Quarterback' but are you sure you want the Captain's Island to be bonded to the Comms section? Might it have been more practical to just bolt it together so it can be a 'wild' section? 

but I'm thinking of how each station can be its own displayable diorama on a shelf for ease of display and storage. It sounds like you're 'all in' for a massive huge model. Wow. 

Hey, would that qualify as a scratchbuild for a model convention? Dude deserves to win some prizes for this beast.


----------



## aeryn43

I did the same thing Fozzie, created a 20 sided "tube", then I used one section to extrude and create the consoles and the roof section. Only problem is whenever you extrude panels they always go parallel and need points moving!.
all set now to print basic structures onto A3... (1/8 scale just fits on A3).
Also get the benefit of being able to scale up or down as needed. (1/9 Mego sized or maybe 1/6.........anybody got any 12" figures!)
Only wish i could afford a 3d printer!!


----------



## Fozzie

The picture below shows the current state of my build.

I've been playing around with the railing today. I've got the supports finalized and am 90% there on the rail itself. The one on the left is 2x the thickness of the one on the right and I think that is the one I'm going to go with.

Spent most of today working on the two sets of steps. 

Six chairs in total. They still need the 3 triangles and the seat pads, but the hard part on these is done.

The final two deck pieces (where the viewscreen goes) were also done this week, replacing the proto-type "placeholders" that were present in earlier pictures.

If you look closely at the turbolift alcove, you'll see two odd-shaped pieces which will serve as the base units for the walls of the alcove.

Finally, I scooted the entire thing near the front edge of the foam board so I can start thinking about what the front of the base is going to look like.

In addition to what you see here, I've been working on a different version of the bridge station top than what you see in this picture. The decking worked out so well that I'm going to try to do the "ceiling" in much the same way, with interlocking pieces and channels to run wiring. Also, there's so much room up there, I expect that is where the Arduino and other electronic components that will run the lighting and sound will go. The power jack will go in the deck, almost dead center in the back.










The acrylic starfleet emblem against the back wall is something I picked up at a recent ComicCon. I need to build a base for it with LEDs in it to light it from below.


----------



## Steve H

Ach, such a beautiful thing. 

Hey, if you've got a spare Garage floor maybe you can work up to building the entire 'standing sets' on the Desilu stage! Transporter Room is the next logical build...

OK, I'm only kind of kidding. 

But then again, once you design the Transporter Console, you've got the basis for other consoles. Hmmm.


----------



## Model Man

That's really been coming along _fine_! :dude:


----------



## Fozzie

Here's my latest progress. 

As shown in the first photo below, I have begun construction on the turbolift alcove, as well as mass construction of the ceiling wedges. I currently have 8 of the 12 wedges built. 










It is hard to see in the photo above, but each wedge has a removable top. In the photos below, the left wedge is UPSIDE DOWN with the top in place. The right hand wedge is right side up, with the top removed. I designed it this way because it will give me a place to put the electronics where they can be easily accessed for trouble-shooting and re-programming. As the photo shows, the cavity is big enough for a Raspberry Pi, an Arduino UNO, or even an Arduino MEGA. The large circular holes in the walls will allow me to run wires from any wedge in the ceiling to any other. 



















Now, don't forget, I will have 12 of these to play around with. That being said, I've already got 5 of them allocated already.

This final photo shows what will attach to the underside of the wedge for a typical station. Different versions of this will be needed for the alcove (due to its larger backend and lighting) and another version (without the trapezoidal light holes) will be needed for the viewscreen wedges.










The 12 deck wedges and 12 ceiling wedges will end up taking over 100 hours of 3D printing time (time I spend doing other things). 

Expecting the video monitor panel I ordered to use as the viewscreen to arrive today or tomorrow. Can't wait to start building out that piece of the set!


----------



## Chuck_P.R.

That's awesome!

Now you just have to do the transporter room, Kirk's quarters, engineering room, sickbay, conference room, and a couple more and you'll have the entire Trek sound stage. 

I've got some blueprints. If you are interested I can email you a set.


----------



## Fozzie

PM sent.


----------



## Silverblade

This is coming along awesomely. This build is one of my inspirations for a very similar project I am working on, only mine is in 1:18th scale.

Great work! Can't wait to see more.

I have been meaning to ask you a question about the board you use for controlling the blinking backsplash consoles. I have purchased one of these boards and was wondering if you needed a board for each station or if you are using one board for all the stations together.


----------



## Fozzie

Silverblade said:


> This is coming along awesomely. This build is one of my inspirations for a very similar project I am working on, only mine is in 1:18th scale.
> 
> Great work! Can't wait to see more.
> 
> I have been meaning to ask you a question about the board you use for controlling the blinking backsplash consoles. I have purchased one of these boards and was wondering if you needed a board for each station or if you are using one board for all the stations together.


I won't be using the same board for this build. I will be doing it all myself this time using Arduinos. By having a single Arduino pin control a circuit, instead of a single LED, I'll be able to use the one board to handle all of the blinking lights in all of the stations.


----------



## Four Mad Men

This is some seriously nice work!


----------



## Fozzie

The main structure of the turbolift alcove is 90% done, including the rather complicated "ceiling" with its grid-based lighting. I threw this together a few minutes ago just to check out the roof look and thought it was good enough to share. I think the impact of the roof line on the look of this thing is going to be awesome!










I have all the roof pieces done save those that will go over the main viewscreen. Those may need customization (as the turbolift ones did). 

The laptop monitor screen I ordered to use as the main viewscreen came in a couple of days ago. I hooked it up to the Raspberry Pi with a moving starfield on it and a paper template to mask it off to the proper size just to get a sense of how it will look. I think it will look great. (Of course, the wife comes in at this point and, instead of going "Wow!" and "Oh, cool!" she says: "How much did THAT cost?" Sigh.)

When and how to paint and assemble the pieces is going to become an issue soon, especially since some of the electronics are going to have to go in before painting. I'm trying to build all the major parts before I get into any of that though. The major areas left to fabricate are the helm station, the viewscreen section, the wall piece next to it, and the half-sized station next to that. Then I will have all the control panels to build and cast in clear, and all the viewscreens. I'm going to start some experiments soon to try an come up with a way to give me better resolution on the viewscreens than I had on my first bridge station build, but I'm still committed to having them not only light up but blink appropriately.


----------



## Chrisisall

Wow. Crazy.


----------



## Steve H

I'm running out of words, so, how about Frighteningly Impressive? 

Seriously. 

Do you worry that this, this originally simple thing that was the making of one bridge station and a 'flat' for the Turbolift and has become this massive artwork, is reaching Matt Decker obsession levels?


----------



## Fernando Mureb

Seeing this work, I know that I will have to do a build like that one day and surely this thread will be my main reference. Congratulations Fozzie! Astonishing job!


----------



## Fozzie

Latest progress. Very little glue here (which is why the rail supports are all wonky) but you get the idea. The full station on the left will slide over to the left to make room for the half-sized station that belongs in that space, but I wanted to show how the pieces fit together. Very excited because once I get the half-sized station done, I will have created all of the major structural elements (even though I need to make 2 more copies of the full station).


----------



## Chrisisall

Is that McCoy suffering from an accidental cordrazine injection there on the floor??


----------



## Fozzie

Actually, it was a bottle of Romulan Ale...

Another shot, this time with the roof pieces perched precariously in place.


----------



## Chrisisall

Looking amazing, no matter the Doctor's condition!


----------



## Steve H

I assume there will be the 'chaser' lights under the Main Viewer? I see slots.


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> I assume there will be the 'chaser' lights under the Main Viewer? I see slots.


Yes. And lights in the panels on either side of the viewscreen. And on the side panel. And the overheads, the foot panels, the individual station control panels, and the helm. Plus a working viewscreen.

I kind of expect my house lights to dim when I plug this thing in, actually!


----------



## BOXIE

Absolutely amazing.I am at a loss for words.


----------



## Fozzie

I've been waiting for this day for quite a while--a complete ceiling for the bridge! Nothing is glued together, so forgive the seams, but it will give you an idea of what the final model will look like.










In addition to finishing up the ceiling pieces, I also finished the frame of the half-sized Engineering sub-station.


----------



## harristotle

Sweet!


----------



## Atlanthia

So, may I ask, just how much 'cleanup' is required on flat surfaces? I have been doing a lot of research and apparently, it depends greatly on what speed you print it at - the slower, the better. Does that sound about right? I am just concerned that if I invest in a 3D printer, that I will then be trying to sand the print lines out of detailed pieces.


----------



## Paulbo

If you want to eliminate the need for sanding out build lines, be prepared to spend 2 to the power of your overdraft. Parts made by machines in the consumer affordable price range will require cleanup..


----------



## Fozzie

Atlanthia said:


> So, may I ask, just how much 'cleanup' is required on flat surfaces? I have been doing a lot of research and apparently, it depends greatly on what speed you print it at - the slower, the better. Does that sound about right? I am just concerned that if I invest in a 3D printer, that I will then be trying to sand the print lines out of detailed pieces.


I design my parts so that those parts that need to be flat print against the build plate. I use a glass build plate so that there is no texture. Those surfaces come out with a great flat finish and don't need much cleanup at all. Anything not printed against the build plate is going to need cleanup, however--sometimes a lot. The chairs I printed for example, need a lot of finishing as it is all curves with no flat surfaces (they were printed on their sides, btw). The surface is not smooth...you can see/feel the ridges caused by the different layers of plastic.

The deck plates are perfectly smooth, however, as I printed them flat against the glass. Ditto for the "roof" pieces, the steps, and the walls of the turbolift alcove. The bridge is a good candidate for 3D printing simply because it DOES have a lot of flat surfaces. The _Enterprise_ herself, however, will all her curves, would be much harder to get a good finish on.

I print in PLA and, while it is easier to print than ABS, it is definitely harder to finish.


----------



## Fozzie

Also, there is a definite limit to how small a detail you can print. Theoretically, it is the size of your nozzle (mine is .4 mm), but, in reality, it is much larger than that. It is hard to say exactly how small you can get because it depends on what you're printing. Sure, you can print a line that's smaller than a mm, but you won't print a circle that small, or even a square, really. The small details on the consoles (e.g. buttons) will NOT be 3D printed. They will be done with traditional modeling techniques.


----------



## Steve H

Because I am fascinated by process and I've run out of words of praise... 

Does the build plate HAVE to be flat? Could you use, for example, a part of a drinking glass or a glass rod as a curved build plate?

Wait, I think I can see how that would be a problem unless the print head had some form of micro fine laser measuring device or other way to 'understand' the shape of the build plate. hm. Future generation, maybe. 

But otherwise, could there be any advantage to a build plate that is in some way textured? Say if you wanted some sort of detail embossed on one face of the build. 

It's just mental exploring.


----------



## Fozzie

The extruder (think "print head") moves in straight lines along the X-axis and Y-axis (sort of like an inkjet printer in 2 dimensions) and the build plate moves straight down as each layer is printed. As you surmised, you must have a flat build plate to accommodate those movements. (A combination of simultaneous X and Y moves allows it to do circles and curves.)

I print on glass because it gives me the best finish. Some people apply blue painter's tape to their build plate which ends up giving the face of the printed piece a texture. The reason they use tape is to get the piece to stick to the build plate. It will stick-and-release to blue tape, kapton tape, and other surfaces, but usually not to the bare build plate. I actually use hair spray on my glass build plate to get my parts to stick. Hair spray actually has plastic in it. The spray sticks to the plate, my parts stick to the hair spray...sounds a little odd, but it works very well.

To answer your other question, the acrylic build plates that Makerbot sells have their logo etched into them. If you print directly to that, you WILL end up with their logo on the bottom part of your piece.

3D printers are a great tool, but you MUST understand their operation and sometimes severe limitations before you buy one--they are a hefty investment. I encourage anyone thinking of getting one to DO YOUR RESEARCH.


----------



## Atlanthia

Thank you guys for the detailed and illuminating answers! That really helped me a lot. I actually think I have decided what machine I want and I understand a lot more now how you got such beautifully smooth surfaces.


----------



## Fozzie

I have filled in the open bays on the bridge with the frameworks of all of the stations now. Also, almost all of the stations have been glued together. They aren't glued to the deck plates, nor are they glued to each other, but the stations themselves aren't held together by just tape anymore.










There is another piece that goes across the top of each station, creating the mask for either 1 (engineering) or 2 (Uhura's station) viewscreens. Also, a frame for the main viewer at the front of the bridge needs to be created to reduce the overly large opening seen in the photos to the correct dimensions.










You can't see it in these photos, but the grills near the crewmen's feet have all been put in place, and the colored gels for all the ceiling lights have also been installed.


----------



## Chrisisall

My childhood fantasy model...


----------



## Fozzie

This is the roof piece above Uhura's station. The lid has been removed so you can see inside. 

The lens of the light is rippled clear plastic sheet ("water") with two layers of orange gel on top of that. The black is a plastic sheet for light blocking purposes. 

The back half of the "attic" is open so you can run wiring up the back of the station to the attic. I will put the electronics to run all the lighting in these attic areas. As you can see, there's lots of room! There's a tunnel that runs through all the attics connecting them so I can run wires to any point in the model that I need to.


----------



## Model Man

It all almost looks like JJ's ship from the white prisitine nature of it! This has been a fantastic build to follow.


----------



## Fozzie

Model Man said:


> It all almost looks like JJ's ship from the white prisitine nature of it! This has been a fantastic build to follow.


Thanks, Model Man & Chrisisall. Building this particular model in this scale has been a dream of mine for many years.

I think I will be using Model Master Lt. Grey for the "white" parts of the bridge stations. It is a _very _light grey and seems to be a pretty close match to what I see on the Blu-ray editions of the episodes.


----------



## feek61

I love this build and always look forward to checking in and seeing the progress. This is a project that I have wanted to do for years. At least I can do it vicariously through your build.


----------



## Steve H

Damn. Just damn. Makes me cry it's so beautiful. It would have been one of the ultimate ST toys had AA/DST attempted this, but then it also would have been the most frustrating and likely not nearly as accurate.

I suspect this 'little toy' is built better than the actual set.


----------



## Fozzie

A quick and dirty test of my bridge viewscreen running MP4 video. 






I'm not happy with that starfield and hope to find a less dense, more _Trek_-ish one. (If you know of one that's at least 30 seconds in length, let me know.)

I also want to add the blue glow around the edge of the viewscreen.

The screen is a laptop display powered by a Raspberry Pi.

In other progress, All the frames for the upper parts of the bridge station have been created (though not permanently installed). Also all the console tops have been created.


----------



## Chrisisall

Too cool for school.:thumbsup:


----------



## Steve H

Is there a 'smiley' for jaw dropped boggled? because I have no words.


----------



## Mark Dorais

Very Very Very Impressive :thumbsup:


----------



## Fernando Mureb

-  -  - 
*NO WORDS*
 -  -  -


----------



## Fozzie

With all of the main parts created, I have now turned towards some of the smaller pieces. My intent is to have all of the parts made before I start painting/wiring/assembly.

In the photos below:

A) The helm station. The red portion was created hollow to accommodate lighting. The top will be made from sheet styrene, and clear cast control panels. These parts were harder to make than I expected! The graphic shown is simply printed on paper in the photo, but will be a backlit transparency in the final build. This graphic is courtesy of feek61, webmaster of TOSGRAPHICS.COM, who has graciously offered to help me with this build by providing most of the "screen" graphics I will be using (more on this later!). Thanks a thousand times, Will!

B) Backsplash viewer frames. I have all of these made except for the two (2) needed for the Comm station. 

C) Beveled frames to go around the red alert lights. One in the turbolift alcove and one on the panel to the left of the main viewscreen.

D) Bridge station scanner unit. Two. One for Scott's station and one for the environmental station. Hollow to allow for lighting. I may do one lit (on) and one dark (off) just for variety.

E) This orange panel snaps into the wall. I will add tiny jewels/beads to it to make the lights of the panel then cast it in clear epoxy.

F) This orange panel also snaps into the wall. I'll prepare as noted for "E" and cast two, one for either side of the viewscreen.

G) The frames for the viewscreen chaser lights. What you can't see in the photo is that the frames have dividers between the lights that form light blocking compartments.


----------



## Steve H

OK, you're just messing with us now, aren't you? Admit it. You've just found an archive of pictures from the '60s showing the construction of the bridge set and you're claiming it's all just a model you're building. Haw haw haw, can't fool me.


----------



## StarCruiser

Kit it, kit it, kit it!!!


----------



## SteveR

Fozzie said:


> I'm not happy with that starfield and hope to find a less dense, more _Trek_-ish one. (If you know of one that's at least 30 seconds in length, let me know.)


I can make you one. What kind of specs are we talking? (image size, frame rate, codec, format?)

(I'm guessing 24p, but while adding pulldown might be more accurate, it could look like crap.)
(MP4 good enough?)
(forgive the geekage)


----------



## Fozzie

SteveR said:


> I can make you one. What kind of specs are we talking? (image size, frame rate, codec, format?)
> 
> (I'm guessing 24p, but while adding pulldown might be more accurate, it could look like crap.)
> (MP4 good enough?)
> (forgive the geekage)


PM sent.


----------



## Fozzie

Here's a look at the new, more Trek-like starfield that SteveR made for me. It is sooooooooooo much better than the one I had before. Thank you very much, SteveR!


----------



## StarCruiser

All it needs is a thin blue border around the edges...


----------



## Fozzie

StarCruiser said:


> All it needs is a thin blue border around the edges...


That's in the works! I will add it to the final version of the video. 

My plan is to have the stars run for a while, then put in a static image (e.g. the Romulan Neutral Zone graphic from "Balance of Terror"), then more stars, then maybe a Klingon ship, etc.


----------



## Jim Dearden

Fozzie said:


> That's in the works! I will add it to the final version of the video.
> 
> My plan is to have the stars run for a while, then put in a static image (e.g. the Romulan Neutral Zone graphic from "Balance of Terror"), then more stars, then maybe a Klingon ship, etc.


Fozzie, is there a chance you will make the star field loop available? I'm working on the Round 2 Bridge, and would love to add this in. I'm working on all the monitors showing something.

I can re-size and loop it, and would add my own statics to it.

Thanks,

Jim Dearden


----------



## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> That's in the works! I will add it to the final version of the video.
> 
> My plan is to have the stars run for a while, then put in a static image (e.g. the Romulan Neutral Zone graphic from "Balance of Terror"), then more stars, then maybe a Klingon ship, etc.


Raising a point, because this is one of those 'subject to personal taste' issues I think.

That blue border was an artifact of the effects process, coming from the static shot of the screen and the supering in of the star field. 

While it could be suggested the blue neon-like border is the hologram emitter array used to generate the image (or some other technobabble  ) it's also nothing more than a 'safety zone' for the matt or double exposure. So, something to consider.


----------



## Fozzie

Jim Dearden said:


> Fozzie, is there a chance you will make the star field loop available? I'm working on the Round 2 Bridge, and would love to add this in. I'm working on all the monitors showing something.
> 
> I can re-size and loop it, and would add my own statics to it.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jim Dearden


The star field loop was graciously created for me by SteveR. I don't feel that it is mine to give out, however, so I'll leave your request for SteveR to answer.


----------



## Paper Hollywood

This is a very impressive project, Fozzie. So, if you started to do a single station and it's growing into the entire bridge, what next? The entire saucer? An full enterprise that scale should be about 98 feet long. I guess you have to stop somewhere.


----------



## Steve H

Paper Hollywood said:


> This is a very impressive project, Fozzie. So, if you started to do a single station and it's growing into the entire bridge, what next? The entire saucer? An full enterprise that scale should be about 98 feet long. I guess you have to stop somewhere.


I suspect it's a virus slowly taking over his brain, with the ultimate goal to recreate the entire Star Trek 'standing sets' on the Desilu soundstage. 

A corridor would be a somewhat simple project, but he might do an 'Officer's Quarters' build which could be redressed between Kirk and Spock's quarters. OTOH the briefing room set could also be redressed as the rec room. He's already got the chair pattern... 

(yes, I'm a terrible person. But wouldn't all that be COOL?)


----------



## Jim Dearden

Fozzie said:


> The star field loop was graciously created for me by SteveR. I don't feel that it is mine to give out, however, so I'll leave your request for SteveR to answer.


Oops, my bad! Thanks Fozzie!

Jim


----------



## Fozzie

Paper Hollywood said:


> This is a very impressive project, Fozzie. So, if you started to do a single station and it's growing into the entire bridge, what next? The entire saucer? An full enterprise that scale should be about 98 feet long. I guess you have to stop somewhere.


Thanks. 

I have SO MANY projects that I want to do that it is somewhat depressing at times that I know I will never get to them all! I'd love to do all the standing sets, actually, but I simply don't have room in my house for anything like that. I had to cut the turbolift from this build, in fact, simply because it would have made the footprint of the build larger than the space I have to display it. 

After a huge scratchbuild like this, however, I may have to do an out-of-the-box build just to catch my breath...


----------



## Fozzie

As for THIS build, last night I spent working on the top and bottom surfaces of the helm station. These were cut from styrene. The top piece will have backlit button panels that I will need to build then cast in clear resin.


----------



## SteveR

Fozzie said:


> The star field loop was graciously created for me by SteveR. I don't feel that it is mine to give out, however, so I'll leave your request for SteveR to answer.


Thanks for the nod, Fozzie. It's no problem for me to share the video, as long as somebody else hosts the file for download. Whoever is up for that can send me a PM. :thumbsup:


----------



## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> Thanks.
> 
> I have SO MANY projects that I want to do that it is somewhat depressing at times that I know I will never get to them all! I'd love to do all the standing sets, actually, but I simply don't have room in my house for anything like that. I had to cut the turbolift from this build, in fact, simply because it would have made the footprint of the build larger than the space I have to display it.
> 
> After a huge scratchbuild like this, however, I may have to do an out-of-the-box build just to catch my breath...


All props to your effort, it's a wondrous thing to watch evolve.

I have a most crazy suggestion but it rather defeats your purpose. Wouldn't it be nice if this could be 'hosted' in a museum somewhere? Someplace that would have room for a scale Desilu soundstage? Build a segment, lay it in, piece at a time.

Of course you don't get to play with it anymore. That might be a dealbreaker for me, were I doing this. (like ha, it would take a brain transplant or a Teaching Machine for me to have these skills.  )


----------



## Paper Hollywood

Steve H said:


> Wouldn't it be nice if this could be 'hosted' in a museum somewhere? Someplace that would have room for a scale Desilu soundstage?


At this scale I estimate it would fit into a space of about 11'x16'. All you need is a garage you're not using for anything else.


----------



## Fozzie

It's been awhile since I've gotten a chance to work on this project due to real life intruding on my modeling time. The end result of that was good, however, in that I now have more room for my hobby work and a bigger, far more organized work area.

Today I took advantage of the increased elbow room to take care of something that I've been putting off largely because of a need for a large work area to do it in--assembling the "deck" of the bridge. This morning I started gluing together the various deck sub-assemblies into one large platform. 










The power system of the project will reside under the deck. The input will be 12v, but I will create two separate power buses out of that: one 12v and one 5v. The 12v one will run the viewscreen and any LED strip lighting I use. The 5v one will run the Raspberry Pi that drives the viewscreen and the Arduino micro-controllers that will run the other lighting systems.

There will also be some buttons and switches built into the deck along the OUTSIDE edge. The yellow circle (rear of the model) shows the power jack. The switch highlighted by the red circle is a DPDT switch which can be used to activate the Pi and the viewscreen. The blue circle will be where I put the main on/off switch and a button to activate "red alert". There may be other buttons added there as needed.


----------



## Fozzie

Also, I have done some work on the video for the viewscreen. I have added the blue glow around the edge and have included the Romulan neutral zone map from "Balance of Terror" (courtesy of Will Smith of tosgraphics.com--thanks, Will!) and some series footage from "The Doomsday Machine". I intend to add additional footage later.

I will begin molding in clear the panels around the viewscreen and the control panels of the Engineering sub-station as soon as the Smooth-On modling rubber I ordered yesterday arrives.


----------



## Steve H

Oh, oh, I know I've gone insane, because crazy ideas pop into my head...

Micro SD card. That's pretty close to the scale size of the 'computer carts' used on the show. Put a reader at one of the stations, load various vids onto them. Insert cart into slot, Doomsday Machine pops on screen. Swap cart, Melkot Buoy appears. Swap cart, de-cloaking Romulan D-7 appears. 

Tell me this is stupid and completely impossible.


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Oh, oh, I know I've gone insane, because crazy ideas pop into my head...
> 
> Micro SD card. That's pretty close to the scale size of the 'computer carts' used on the show. Put a reader at one of the stations, load various vids onto them. Insert cart into slot, Doomsday Machine pops on screen. Swap cart, Melkot Buoy appears. Swap cart, de-cloaking Romulan D-7 appears.
> 
> Tell me this is stupid and completely impossible.


Actually, it can be done even more simply than that (though that is a pretty cool idea on its own!).

The Pi is set up to play any video found in a certain folder, one after the other. To add a new video, you just have to add a new file. If I were to give the Pi a wi-fi connection, I could attach to it from my computer (wirelessly) and add/change/delete the video without even touching the model. Right now I am using a wired connection, but that could change.


----------



## Fozzie

Disaster.










The full deck piece is so large (3 foot wide) that I had to prime it outside. I was doing it in the shade, but miscalculated how long it would stay in the shade (I was also distracted while in the house and did not get back outside as quickly as I planned). This is the result of just a few minutes in the hot, Louisiana sun.

These photos show only _some _of the damage. It is not salvageable. Most of the walls are no longer straight. This model requires exacting tolerances so this is now a very expensive piece of scrap.

It will take me in the neighborhood of 100 hours of printer time to recreate the pieces, not to mention assembly, and finishing. This is a major setback.

I feel incredibly stupid...and more than a little crushed at the moment.


----------



## Chrisisall

*sends a virtual hug*
You are a major talent, and a resourceful dude; take a breath & don't do anything _Klingon_...


----------



## SteveR

Aw, nuts. Sorry to hear, Fozzie.
Well, no worries, no rush … we'll be here when you get back. 

BTW, since you _are_ a talented and resourceful dude, something tells me you'll figure out better ways to do stuff on the second go-around. Small consolation, I know ...


----------



## Steve H

That's....amazingly horrible. I am so sorry for your setback. I had no idea that kind of plastic was THAT sensitive to heat/sunlight. 

May I gently re-suggest the idea of making all the stations/segments 'wild' and stand-alone, then can be bolted together (and, or course, taken apart)? This would make storage much easier, you could place the stations on a shelf and so on. 

And you're more bulletproofed against this sort of horrible, horrible, completely unforeseen accident causing such a setback...

It'll be OK. It WILL be magnificent. Of this I am sure.


----------



## Nova Mike

So heart wrenching Fozzie I share your pain, from deep dispear though comes glorious rebirth and I look forward to the rebuild :thumbsup:


----------



## Fozzie

Thanks for the sympathy and encouragement, everyone. Since I posted the pictures yesterday I have "gotten back on the horse" and started the rebuild.

I made some changes to the 3D model I was using to make it easier/faster to print, but I also added a couple more locking pins to aid with alignment. I also modeled in the holes that I previously had to drill out for the switches and power plugs. So, yeah, take advantage of the mistake to make things better.

I managed to get about 13 hours of printing in since yesterday, so I have 3 of the 12 deck pieces re-printed. They will have to be cleaned up and glued-together, of course, but it is a pretty good start. Hoping to get another 2-3 sets done by end of day (8-12 more hours of printing) which will be about half of the outer ring pieces. Then I'll need to work on the Captain/Helm island. Printing will, obviously, go much slower when I go back to work tomorrow and only have a few hours in the evening to print.


----------



## Chrisisall

*Roy Batty voice*
THAT'S THE SPIRIT!!


----------



## Fozzie

Interesting development. I did not have enough gray plastic so I am using white now. I had a scrap piece of white so I put it out in the sun today. Well, after HOURS in the sun, it was barely effected. I thought it might be the primer, so I shot it with primer and put it back out...again, unaffected.

I'm beginning to think that the grey & black plastic is, due to the dyes, somehow much more susceptible to the heat. I know that you sometimes have to print different colors at different temperatures. Will have to investigate more.


----------



## jheilman

Darker colors absorb more heat, white reflects it.


----------



## ClubTepes

What material are you printing?
ABS or something else.
ot one of those 'waxy' substances I hope.

I agree with Steve,
Make the sections separate.


----------



## Steve H

ClubTepes said:


> What material are you printing?
> ABS or something else.
> ot one of those 'waxy' substances I hope.
> 
> I agree with Steve,
> Make the sections separate.


I sense Fozzie has some resistance to that idea, and it's cool, it's his hard work, his project, his dream. His vision sees the finished product in a specific light. I understand that. 

I mean no 'sidelines bitching' here, I just try to think it practical terms and in my mind it makes all kinds of sense to build it as 'wild' sections, but it's not my work. I just put the idea out there and hope my thinking is at least clean and logical.


----------



## Fozzie

Making the sections wild is something I have considered but it would make the project considerably more difficult than it already is (and it is _plenty _difficult already). Not only would I have to deal with the issues of seams and such, but what about the power supply? I am building a card to take 12v in and output a 12v and a 5v rail--would that have to be external now instead of under the deck? And, if I did that, would there need to be a power jack in each section so it could be either powered stand alone or as part of the full bridge? I'm going to have one Arduino micro controller to run all the blinking lights, the red alert function, the sound. That would have to go external as well with individual hookups.

All of the problems can, actually, be worked around though. I know how to get around them but it would make for some complex wiring. Since I don't intend to do anything but display it whole, however, I'm not sure it is worth the trouble. I MAY make it so that it can be broken into 2 or more pieces for transport and/or storage, but I doubt I would take that all the way to having the individual stations wild.


----------



## Fozzie

I am using PLA plastic which is the most common form for filament based 3D printing. My mistake was in using black and grey. 

PLA is naturally translucent. To color it, dyes and such are added. These colorants, in many cases, weaken the PLA and/or change its glass point. As it turns out, black is usually the "weakest" color PLA as a result of what is added to it. It has nothing to do with black absorbing more heat (though that doesn't help, I'm sure), but with the actual composition of the plastic. Also, all the parts were actually light grey when they warped, from the primer.

The white piece I put out yesterday has been in the elements for 20 hours now. We had a heat index of 105-112 yesterday. It shows only minor warping. I suspect that if I had built those deck plates out of white that this problem would never have occurred. You live, you learn!


----------



## Fozzie

Any day now I should be getting a kit in the mail that will allow me to start printing ABS on my printer. Printing ABS is much more difficult than printing PLA, especially for large flat sections (of which there are plenty in this model). ABS is much more heat sensitive* and begins to warp and curl on the build plate. It needs just the right temperature throughout the printer in order to print correctly. To that end, I will be adding a heated build plate to the printer and will also have to close in the sides to make a chamber that traps heat. It will take a while for me to learn how to print ABS successfully, but I intend to use it--at least partially--in future builds.

*During printing. Once printed it actually takes heat better than PLA.


----------



## MartyS

If you really want to test the white PLA you should paint it grey and put it back out in the sun, I'd bet the warping will get worse.

What makes PLA biodegradable is it's sensitivity to water, acid, and heat. As with most chemical reactions it's the heat that makes it go faster, so painting PLA and then adding sunlight is not a good combo...

But don't discount the heat absorption of the color either, PLA can soften at 40-50°C, in direct sunlight a dark object can reach that where a white object might not. The inside of a car can easily get hot enough to make PLA sag.

Hope you have a ventilated area to print ABS, from what I hear it smells pretty bad when printing, that's the reason I haven't bothered getting a heated bed on my printer.


----------



## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> Making the sections wild is something I have considered but it would make the project considerably more difficult than it already is (and it is _plenty _difficult already). Not only would I have to deal with the issues of seams and such, but what about the power supply? I am building a card to take 12v in and output a 12v and a 5v rail--would that have to be external now instead of under the deck? And, if I did that, would there need to be a power jack in each section so it could be either powered stand alone or as part of the full bridge? I'm going to have one Arduino micro controller to run all the blinking lights, the red alert function, the sound. That would have to go external as well with individual hookups.
> 
> All of the problems can, actually, be worked around though. I know how to get around them but it would make for some complex wiring. Since I don't intend to do anything but display it whole, however, I'm not sure it is worth the trouble. I MAY make it so that it can be broken into 2 or more pieces for transport and/or storage, but I doubt I would take that all the way to having the individual stations wild.


Well, the way I was thinking...

Wire each station for whatever is needed (lights, video feed, whatever) and make the wiring harness able to reach the next station. There would be a daisy chain of connections running around under the floor, ending in the central power/video driver, whatever. When the sections are pulled apart, you build extension harnesses that plug into the existing station wiring, from one to the other to the other that hide in the 'back' of the shelf where they sit. Depending on how you wire the stations you may decide to build an extra stand-alone power supply, so if, example, you wanted to sit the Science Station on your desk, it could sit there all by itself beeping and blinking and such.

That's the concept in a nutshell. making that happen is likely much more complex than what I think.


----------



## Fozzie

MartyS said:


> If you really want to test the white PLA you should paint it grey and put it back out in the sun, I'd bet the warping will get worse.


I thought so, too, but that didn't happen. I painted it with the grey primer like I did the other pieces and put it back out for several hours but it didn't seem to make any difference--it didn't warp.


----------



## Fozzie

Yep, that is what I would do but it would require a lot more wiring (adding quick connects/disconnects everywhere) as well as an external "brain" and power supply that I could plug in (theoretically) anywhere in the chain. Doable, yes, but not something I think I want to tackle. For what I plan on doing with this thing, it seems like overkill.

Let me just add that going "wild" with it would be cool, no doubt, so I understand why people are suggesting it! 



Steve H said:


> Well, the way I was thinking...
> 
> Wire each station for whatever is needed (lights, video feed, whatever) and make the wiring harness able to reach the next station. There would be a daisy chain of connections running around under the floor, ending in the central power/video driver, whatever. When the sections are pulled apart, you build extension harnesses that plug into the existing station wiring, from one to the other to the other that hide in the 'back' of the shelf where they sit. Depending on how you wire the stations you may decide to build an extra stand-alone power supply, so if, example, you wanted to sit the Science Station on your desk, it could sit there all by itself beeping and blinking and such.
> 
> That's the concept in a nutshell. making that happen is likely much more complex than what I think.


----------



## Fozzie

MartyS said:


> Hope you have a ventilated area to print ABS, from what I hear it smells pretty bad when printing, that's the reason I haven't bothered getting a heated bed on my printer.


I have some ideas on that...


----------



## MartyS

Fozzie said:


> I thought so, too, but that didn't happen. I painted it with the grey primer like I did the other pieces and put it back out for several hours but it didn't seem to make any difference--it didn't warp.


I should have been more specific: Did you paint it outside in the humid air and leave it to dry in the heat/sun? To replicate the first "experiment".

Like I said, PLA hates the combo of water, acid, and heat. So if the paint was dried inside where it's cool it's not much different than putting the bare plastic outside. Making and or breaking down PLA is becoming a popular "green" chemistry lab experiment.

Was the grey PLA from the same company as the white, I've noticed some "brands" need different temperatures to print at the same quality as others (even if they are the same color), so that could be the more important factor. The softening point could just be lower on that batch of grey PLA.


----------



## Fozzie

MartyS said:


> I should have been more specific: Did you paint it outside in the humid air and leave it to dry in the heat/sun? To replicate the first "experiment".
> 
> Like I said, PLA hates the combo of water, acid, and heat. So if the paint was dried inside where it's cool it's not much different than putting the bare plastic outside. Making and or breaking down PLA is becoming a popular "green" chemistry lab experiment.
> 
> Was the grey PLA from the same company as the white, I've noticed some "brands" need different temperatures to print at the same quality as others (even if they are the same color), so that could be the more important factor. The softening point could just be lower on that batch of grey PLA.


I painted them both outside, same conditions. Also same brand. But, yes, the softening point ("glass temperature") of the black & grey is lower than the white. Did you know they actually use some titanium in it to give it the white color? I thought that was a cool piece of trivia.


----------



## Steve H

OK, another crazy idea. Because, as some may say, I'm full of it. Um, them. 

If I recall, you're planning on colored translights for the station screens, right? Backlit gels and images?

Howzabout designing that 'back stage' area in a way you can install another video screen? A screen you can move from station to station for whatever dramatic effect you want? 

Think of it as if on the Desilu stage they had ONE super duper high-res flat video device and because Matt Jefferies was super smart, they didn't want to get locked down to only seeing that magic TV in one place, by moving the device from one station to another as story dictated it created the illusion of ALL the stations having such a TV. 

Baaah I'm twisting metaphors into a moebius loop like a ball of yarn. I think you get what I'm trying for.


----------



## Fozzie

Okay, enough about the "disaster". How about a little progress? 










This is a picture of the mold and castings I made the other day. The smallest rectangle goes on either side of the viewscreen (yes, I'll need another). 

The large square piece is the panel that goes on the wall to the left of the viewscreen.

The other two are the control panels for the Engineering sub station (half-sized station) to the left of the viewscreen.

These are cast in clear epoxy (Easy Cast). The lights will be painted in transparent colors, the faces will be painted the appropriate opaque color, and they will be backlit from behind. This is essentially what I did for the console buttons on the original bridge station build I did.


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> OK, another crazy idea. Because, as some may say, I'm full of it. Um, them.
> 
> If I recall, you're planning on colored translights for the station screens, right? Backlit gels and images?
> 
> Howzabout designing that 'back stage' area in a way you can install another video screen? A screen you can move from station to station for whatever dramatic effect you want?
> 
> Think of it as if on the Desilu stage they had ONE super duper high-res flat video device and because Matt Jefferies was super smart, they didn't want to get locked down to only seeing that magic TV in one place, by moving the device from one station to another as story dictated it created the illusion of ALL the stations having such a TV.
> 
> Baaah I'm twisting metaphors into a moebius loop like a ball of yarn. I think you get what I'm trying for.


I have actually toyed with that idea. The only thing I don't like about it is that it wouldn't match the other static screens which will essentially be photographs. That being said, it isn't off the table yet. (I have some cool little display screens from Adafruit.com screaming to be used for something!) I was thinking that it might be a good fit for that half-sized engineering station. Would be neat to put some kind of engineering diagrams up on it, wouldn't it?


----------



## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> I have actually toyed with that idea. The only thing I don't like about it is that it wouldn't match the other static screens which will essentially be photographs. That being said, it isn't off the table yet. (I have some cool little display screens from Adafruit.com screaming to be used for something!) I was thinking that it might be a good fit for that half-sized engineering station. Would be neat to put some kind of engineering diagrams up on it, wouldn't it?


It would be lovely. And Planetary catalog details over the Science Station. 

I think the most creative thing to try, and SOMEBODY must have done it, is try and adapt 'TNG' style informational screens and graphs and charts into the more spare TOS style. Jefferies did do a few things of that nature, usually as part of a briefing. Think back to 'The Cage' and proto-Spock yelling out "Class M planet, thin atmosphere! *dooowoo* No Inhabitants *dwooo* No signs of life".

anyway, a screen rotating those kind of graphics would be very spiff. I think you've alluded to that already.


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> It would be lovely. And Planetary catalog details over the Science Station.
> 
> I think the most creative thing to try, and SOMEBODY must have done it, is try and adapt 'TNG' style informational screens and graphs and charts into the more spare TOS style. Jefferies did do a few things of that nature, usually as part of a briefing. Think back to 'The Cage' and proto-Spock yelling out "Class M planet, thin atmosphere! *dooowoo* No Inhabitants *dwooo* No signs of life".
> 
> anyway, a screen rotating those kind of graphics would be very spiff. I think you've alluded to that already.


Check out the screen graphics used in "Star Trek: Phase II" episodes, especially the most recent ones. They do exactly what you are describing.


----------



## Jim Dearden

Steve H said:


> It would be lovely. And Planetary catalog details over the Science Station.
> 
> I think the most creative thing to try, and SOMEBODY must have done it, is try and adapt 'TNG' style informational screens and graphs and charts into the more spare TOS style. Jefferies did do a few things of that nature, usually as part of a briefing. Think back to 'The Cage' and proto-Spock yelling out "Class M planet, thin atmosphere! *dooowoo* No Inhabitants *dwooo* No signs of life".
> 
> anyway, a screen rotating those kind of graphics would be very spiff. I think you've alluded to that already.


I'm going to be trying something like that. I've got a bunch of keychain digital picture frames for the upper screens. Eventually, I will have a slideshow on each pertinent to that station.

For example, at the engineering substation, I'm probably going to scan the old star trek blueprints, and turn them into systems graphics. i.e. showing the phaser rooms, med bay, etc.

It's going to be a lot of work, but should look pretty good. I've already got a star-field video loop set up for the main viewer.

Jim


----------



## Fozzie

Back from the brink...a couple of shots of the new, replacement deck for my bridge!


----------



## Steve H

Lovely, lovely, it looks more robust to my clearly uneducated eye. Take THAT solar heat! 

And man does that take up square footage. Nothing has really 'hit home' the physical scale of the project until these pics. I salute your continuing success!


----------



## J_Indy

Steve H said:


> It would be lovely. And Planetary catalog details over the Science Station.
> 
> I think the most creative thing to try, and SOMEBODY must have done it, is try and adapt 'TNG' style informational screens and graphs and charts into the more spare TOS style. Jefferies did do a few things of that nature, usually as part of a briefing. Think back to 'The Cage' and proto-Spock yelling out "Class M planet, thin atmosphere! *dooowoo* No Inhabitants *dwooo* No signs of life".
> 
> anyway, a screen rotating those kind of graphics would be very spiff. I think you've alluded to that already.


Somebody did the animated screens on the AMT bridge. Something like that could mix and match TNG/TOS, whatever, though it looks like a pain to set up....


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Lovely, lovely, it looks more robust to my clearly uneducated eye. Take THAT solar heat!
> 
> And man does that take up square footage. Nothing has really 'hit home' the physical scale of the project until these pics. I salute your continuing success!


Yes, it is. When I redesigned it, I put in some additional bracing and changed the interlocking system from one point to 3 points. (Also, the test piece of white plastic I left outside is still doing great after over a week exposed to the elements. If I had only used THAT plastic when I did it the first time...)

I took that photo holding it specifically to give everyone a truer sense of scale.

Last night I added some metal plates underneath the deck. I want to put some rare earth magnets in the bases of the chairs just to hold them in place.

I hit it with a coat of primer a few minutes ago and will do some touch up seam filling later today. I would like to get it painted this weekend but with heavy rain chances, not sure how that is going to work out. Fingers crossed.

I also pulled some more clear pieces out of the molds last night. I believe I have all the major parts I need to do from the viewscreen all the way round to the Comm station fabricated now. Time to start painting and assembling.

My plan is to get the deck painted, install the core wiring system, then start adding stations, starting with the viewscreen and working my way around.


----------



## Steve H

Hey hey hey, magnets is cheating! Those chairs need to fall over when the ship gets to rockin' and rolling! 

But wait, reflecting... Actually, I can't recall any instance when the ship took such a huge hit that a chair fell over! 

Carry on.


----------



## Fozzie

I know it has been a while since my last update, but I have a bit of progress to share with you all.

These are the two sections I am working on now. I have painted them both and am very happy with the color. The tape covering the overhead light on the half station on the left is still in place. I still need to paint the red stripe along the top edge.

They are not glued into place but, once they are, the seam between them will be diminished somewhat but will not go away entirely--just like the sections on the original bridge.

The red panels on either side of the viewscreen have fiber optic fibers in them that have their tips sanded into dome shapes. The large light panel on the left has its holes drilled, but no fiber optics yet. The chase lights under the viewscreen are all ready for their LEDs.


----------



## Chrisisall

Well done, and glad you're still working on it! 
Awesome!


----------



## Steve H

Now, see, you're doing it again. Taking pics of the actual sets being built and trying to pass them off as a 'model' that you're building. Shame on you for trying to trick everyone! 

Seriously, looking really good. 

Hey, here's a stupid question, probably totally meaningless. 

Can 3-D printers do clear plastic? It strikes me that the 'artifacting' from the printing process may well nicely act as vintage frosted glass or plastic. You could also print the 'diamond' pattern. 

Or did you do that already and I'm just losing my mind?


----------



## Fozzie

Yes, 3D printers can do clear plastic. What you get, however, is not optically clear. It's translucent, not transparent. This is because of how the plastic is laid down in layers. The thicker the layers, the less "frosted" it looks.

I don't use too much clear plastic for modeling purposes out of the 3D printer, but I did make a TNG warp core lamp (from a model freely available on Thingiverse) and, for that, the frosted clear that I got from clear 3D filament was perfect. LEDs light it up nicely.


----------



## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> Yes, 3D printers can do clear plastic. What you get, however, is not optically clear. It's translucent, not transparent. This is because of how the plastic is laid down in layers. The thicker the layers, the less "frosted" it looks.
> 
> I don't use too much clear plastic for modeling purposes out of the 3D printer, but I did make a TNG warp core lamp (from a model freely available on Thingiverse) and, for that, the frosted clear that I got from clear 3D filament was perfect. LEDs light it up nicely.


I reach. I was just thinking that for Red Alert lights translucent may be desirable.

Actually, the 'alert' wedge on the Helm Console might be good in translucent, get that proper milky look that looks cool when the red LED underneath lights up.


----------



## Chrisisall

Steve H said:


> I reach.


You space hippie.


----------



## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> I reach. I was just thinking that for Red Alert lights translucent may be desirable.
> 
> Actually, the 'alert' wedge on the Helm Console might be good in translucent, get that proper milky look that looks cool when the red LED underneath lights up.


I will be using scored sheet plastic for the red alert lights, but, you're right, I plan on using 3D printed plastic to make the red alert wedge on the helm.


----------



## KUROK

chrisisall said:


> you space hippie.


herbert ! Herbert !!!


----------



## Steve H

KUROK said:


> herbert ! Herbert !!!


You tell him, brother!


----------



## Fozzie

Progress has been slow due to...well, life! But I reached a milestone of sorts today that I thought would share. 

The photo below shows the first of multiple Arduino micro-processors that will be used in this model actually hooked into the main power circuit and running the strip of lights at the bottom of the viewscreen. It will also blink the lights in the red panels found on either side of the viewscreen. This Arduino will be tucked away into the base under the deck in front of the viewscreen.

The strip of lights will run both in "chaser" mode from left to right, and in the somewhat random looking "jumping around" mode that we sometimes saw. I used the pattern of jumping around that I was able to observe in "Balance of Terror". 

The power circuit takes in 12v and then is split into separate 12v and 5v lines. The 12v will be used to run the viewscreen while the 5v line will be used for the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and the rest of the lighting.

Video will follow once I have the red panel lights working as well.


----------



## Fozzie

Finally, an update!










This shows my recent progress on my bridge model. This is the (unfinished, but getting there) engineering sub-station just to the left of the viewscreen.

Lights are installed behind the ankle-level access panel, the controls, the upper screen, and the overhead lights. I still need lights behind the red-alert panel and the 4 backsplash displays.

One of the things I have been struggling with was another way to do the control panels. The resin solution I used on my previous bridge station was problematic due to difficulty in casting and painting. It was just too messy. After much thought, I came up with another approach. What if I cut a mask out of vinyl...?










And what if I put that on a sheet of clear plastic...









...and I used layers of canopy glue to build up buttons? The holes cut into the vinyl do a good job of constraining the glue and giving it shape.


















And, finally, what if I used colored plastic sheets behind it to add color?










What do you all think of this solution?


----------



## Chrisisall

I think you worked it out!


----------



## Steve H

Well, I want to take a moment to state again how beautiful and downright epic this build is and how impressed I am by your work and attention to detail. 

I'm serious, if someone were to re-invent the 'Magicam' system your Bridge would easily be able to be used to create a 'virtual' set for actors to be placed in. 

Anyway, re. your controls solution.

It seems very very time consuming. The finished product seems to look good but, just putting this out there, is it crisp enough? It looks fine in a picture but are YOU happy?

The plus side that I see, it easily allows for any custom or 'one-off' panel layout that may be desired. 

Super crazy thought: Per an earlier discussion, have you tried 3-D printer and the translucent plastic? Combine that with a thin sheet plastic mask generated on your fabric cutter printer. 

Just throwing that out in my feeble attempt to spark ideas.


----------



## Fozzie

Thanks for the kind words, Steve. 

Actually, it isn't nearly as time consuming as the epoxy control panels were. Now that I have the technique down, I can do it pretty quickly. The longest part is waiting btw layers as I build up the buttons with the canopy glue. The end result is so superior looking to the epoxy ones I did earlier that I am very happy with it!

I did experiments with my 3D printer and transparent filament but the buttons are so small that the printer really didn't do a good job with it.

I DID experiment with using different sizes of fiber optic filament sanded down into domes--but I couldn't get a consistent shape to the domes and it was horrendously time consuming.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the console tops are done in black semi-gloss while the panels where the buttons are were painted with a gloss black to simulate the smoked plexi that they were made of on the original. Looks pretty good but doesn't show up well in the photos.

Still working out exactly how I'm going to light the 4 backsplash screens. I have several options, just gotta figure out which one is the best.



Steve H said:


> Well, I want to take a moment to state again how beautiful and downright epic this build is and how impressed I am by your work and attention to detail.
> 
> I'm serious, if someone were to re-invent the 'Magicam' system your Bridge would easily be able to be used to create a 'virtual' set for actors to be placed in.
> 
> Anyway, re. your controls solution.
> 
> It seems very very time consuming. The finished product seems to look good but, just putting this out there, is it crisp enough? It looks fine in a picture but are YOU happy?
> 
> The plus side that I see, it easily allows for any custom or 'one-off' panel layout that may be desired.
> 
> Super crazy thought: Per an earlier discussion, have you tried 3-D printer and the translucent plastic? Combine that with a thin sheet plastic mask generated on your fabric cutter printer.
> 
> Just throwing that out in my feeble attempt to spark ideas.


----------



## MartyS

Fozzie said:


> I did experiments with my 3D printer and transparent filament but the buttons are so small that the printer really didn't do a good job with it.


Yeah, transparent doesn't do too well 3D printed. And I've seen people do small stuff well, but it requires modifications to the printer that have to be reversed if you want to print big again. If you could cut the correct shapes into a metal plate to make a mold you could then heat it up and melt the clear filament into it. But then it would probably be really hard to get the buttons out of the mold...

The glue idea is probably the best one for that scale. They look pretty darn good.


----------



## Steve H

Technical question for those that deal with all kinds of lighting.

Is there, or has there been development of a new kind of fiber optic pipe?

I question this due to a pictorial in a recent Japanese hobby book I've recently gotten. Some craftsman in Japan went whole hog lighting up a 1/500 scale Space Battleship Yamato, including formation and running lights on the tips of various fins. They show the process, what seems to be milling out a thin, shallow trench to lay the light fiber in, not clear if they used the fiber as its own filler or if they covered it before painting. The result is VERY bright and fairly omnidirectional lights. I would have though they would have done 'heat flaring' of the fiber but the plastic is SO thin, the points on the fin tips, I can't fathom the process. 

So, a new kind of light fiber? Simply a use of the current gen of 'super bright' LEDs as source light? Thoughts?

Of course it may well be photoshop enhancement but that kind of defeats the bragging point of the job, right?


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## Fozzie

You don't have to flare the tips and, if your light source is bright enough, you can get some pretty strong light coming out of a filament. Cameras also exaggerate the lights a bit. I doubt they are using anything special.


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## Fozzie

Sometimes the parts of a project you dread don't turn out to be so bad, and such it is with building the lightboxes for the backsplash displays. As some of you may remember, I used lightboxes on my original comm station build so that I could make sections of the displays blink independently of other sections. Here's a photo from that first build showing how this was done. It was a tedious and difficult procedure.










Experience, and my 3D printer, have made this much easier this time around. The photo below shows the backsplash screens (printed on transparency), a lightbox fresh out of the printer, and a lightbox with vellum paper glued to the front to diffuse the light. You can see the holes in the back of the lightbox on the left where the LEDs will be inserted from the back.










The next two photos show how the different sections look when lit up. Very crisp with no light leak between the sections.



















The LEDs will be wired up to an Arduino which will blink the lights at different rates (e.g. every second, every 2 seconds, every 4 seconds).


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## PauliusLiekis

Wow! Looks very nice!


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## Fozzie

*Feb 2017 Update*

This project has been sitting on the back burner for quite a while, but I have recently begun to work on it again. Keep in mind as you view the photos below that very little of this is glued together (e.g. railing, steps, individual stations to each other) and that much of it doesn't have it's final coat of paint (e.g. railing, steps, covers on top of each station, helm station). Also, the viewscreen has a place holder printout instead of the laptop monitor screen (which I have removed temporarily) and most of the upper screen photos are just placeholders. The individual stations are mostly done, however, except for the back splash monitors and the wiring for that.

With all those caveats in place, here's the present state of my bridge project.


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## Steve H

Simply outstanding. Takes a hella lot of space, huh? 

I can't remember, were you planning to take the 'circle' that little bit further to encompass Spock's station? I guess what I should ask, did you decide to make it modular in some way so you have display options? Like remove the chunk to the right of Engineering, Add Science and you have the main 'filming angle' version of the Bridge. That keeps the model within the display space you have it currently on. 

I'm guessing you still have buttons to put on the Nav/Helm console. Did you decide if you wanted to put Sulu's pop-up viewer as an option?

Seriously, that is so cool. I admire the skill and work going into it. It's a damn shame DST lost confidence in making the figures. They needed to make a set of 'generic background crew' figures. 

Say! Were you going to make up some 'space clipboards' and 'hand cart readers' props? And Kirk needs some data carts for his chair.


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## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> I can't remember, were you planning to take the 'circle' that little bit further to encompass Spock's station? I guess what I should ask, did you decide to make it modular in some way so you have display options? Like remove the chunk to the right of Engineering, Add Science and you have the main 'filming angle' version of the Bridge. That keeps the model within the display space you have it currently on.


No. What you see is all I intend to build. It's a matter of space.



Steve H said:


> I'm guessing you still have buttons to put on the Nav/Helm console. Did you decide if you wanted to put Sulu's pop-up viewer as an option?


Correct. I've done very little on the Nav/Helm console so far. I will take a stab at the pop-up viewer most likely.



Steve H said:


> Say! Were you going to make up some 'space clipboards' and 'hand cart readers' props? And Kirk needs some data carts for his chair.


Things like viewers for the workstations, rocker button arrays, data cards, etc. will all be added after the back splash monitors are installed. The viewers (there is one on the Engineering station, far left) are actually already built and are just waiting to be installed.

There is a button built into the base which will initiate red alert. There will be a separate circuit that lights all the red alert lights on the bridge in unison. The red alert light near the viewscreen and the CONDITION ALERT screen are already wired to that circuit.


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## Steve H

Sulu's viewer, if memory serves there's a chunk of his console that was just a big hunk of empty that they then cut into for the prop. You could cut the space now and just have a removable cover that you can replace with a drop-in unit that has the viewer and the doors that opened. You might even consider a little home made plug on the bottom so the viewer lights up, running off the rest of the Nav/Helm circuit. 

OTOH you've got the metaphorical tooling to make as many tops to Nav/Helm as you wish (I'm assuming you're 3-D printing this and not just cutting from sheet) so you can finish the console top now and revisit it later if you want.

But Spock's station... look, I hate to be a bug and insist you make more work for yourself, but I can't help but think you're going to look at this when it's all done and it's going to nag at you like a sore tooth. It's just an iconic part of the Bridge, a key set piece that figures so much into the action that takes place on the Bridge. I respectfully suggest at least thinking about it as a stand-alone piece. I'm not sure but I think the only new piece of console equipment you'd have to make is the Library Computer stuff. Hey, it would be a great place for your Mirror Spock to hang out. 

Then you can start on your Transporter Room model...Or maybe the Briefing Room, which can be redressed into Crew Mess or Rec Room. 

OTOH


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## Fozzie

While I agree that Spock's station is iconic, I felt that the arc which included the turbo lift gave more visual variety than just adding another station. Unfortunately, I had to choose one or the other. There was simply no way to get both if I was going to include the viewscreen (which was a must have). I just don't have display space for making the model any larger--though I'd love to have the whole thing!

Also, this angle gives you that oh-so-familiar shot across Kirk into the turbo lift.

I actually wanted the interior of the turbo lift in this build, but no space for it. :-(


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## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Then you can start on your Transporter Room model...Or maybe the Briefing Room, which can be redressed into Crew Mess or Rec Room.
> 
> OTOH


If I had the room, the Transporter Room would _definitely _be next! :grin2:


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## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> While I agree that Spock's station is iconic, I felt that the arc which included the turbo lift gave more visual variety than just adding another station. Unfortunately, I had to choose one or the other. There was simply no way to get both if I was going to include the viewscreen (which was a must have). I just don't have display space for making the model any larger--though I'd love to have the whole thing!


See, here's the thing. You're not being obsessive enough. 

What you do, is, buy a decent sized steel shed, lay down concrete for a base, then re-create the entire soundstage at the Desilu lot in 1/10th scale. 

Problem solved!


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## Fozzie

I have the first bank of "monitors" up and running on the bridge. These are on the environmental station. Portions of some of the monitors blink (which you can't see here) but this still photo gives you some idea of what it looks like. It's a bit over saturated...the best shot I could get, unfortunately.



The graphics are courtesy of our very own Feek61 and TOSGRAPHICS.com. This project, and particularly these super accurate displays, could not have been possible without the fantastic resources and incredible generosity of Will and TOSGRAPHICS.com. Thank you again, Will!

I stuck one of the viewers on the console. It has only been primed and isn't mounted, but someone was asking about them earlier so I stuck it in.

I will likely work on the monitor screens on the half-sized engineering sub station next.


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## jheilman

Amazing. Would love to see this in person. You aren't planning to enter this in the Wonderfest contest are you??


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## Fozzie

jheilman said:


> Amazing. Would love to see this in person. You aren't planning to enter this in the Wonderfest contest are you??


I haven't been able to get to Wonderfest the last couple of years because of work related issues. Seems like we're always bringing a new project live around that time of year. This year will, sadly, be no different. Very frustrating!


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## jheilman

Sorry to hear that. We'll just enjoy your work through photos.


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## Steve H

And amazing and professional work it is! It looks like a prototype for a line of 'Bridge set segments' that DST would never have the guts to make. (the idea didn't work out for Enterprise because there was no promise of getting the whole bridge, plus let's face it, Enterprise was no TOS Star Trek  )

The care in the work, the attention to detail is just stunning. I am just green with envy.


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## Fozzie

I've got 3 of the 4 stations up with working monitors now. Working on Uhura's station today, but I thought I'd share a shot of the 3 that are up and running. I shot in low light so you'd get a better view of the screens. I'll work on something with better light (and video) once all 4 are up and running.


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## Fozzie

Today I finished the monitors on the last station (communications). Each station's monitors are being run by a separate Arduino Mini Pro micro-processor. Once I position and secure the top panel (the part with the "space art" viewscreens), the individual stations will be finished except for the permanent addition of rocker switches, comm units, viewers, etc.


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## JGG1701

Awesome work sir , awesome.
Jim G.G.


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## Fozzie

The turbolift alcove is now finished.


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## Steve H

I don't recall, did you build the Turbolift interior or is it just the doors? Looking at the display space you've got this sitting on, I think you have room for the interior. 

Of course then you have to develop an elegant solution to easily open and close the doors, and make them 'double pocket' ( or not. I think we were shown that in one shot in the show, then never again. It's like any elevator on a sitcom  ) and lighting. At least you won't need to build a 'chase' circuit for the interior to show traveling. 

Either way, that's beautiful work. Just beautiful.


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## Fozzie

I would _like _to build the turbolift interior. When I am done and am placing the model in its final position on the base board, I will play around with positioning and see if it is possible.

I have been thinking about door opening scenarios during my drive home from work.


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## Steve H

Fozzie said:


> I would _like _to build the turbolift interior. When I am done and am placing the model in its final position on the base board, I will play around with positioning and see if it is possible.
> 
> I have been thinking about door opening scenarios during my drive home from work.


OK, I'll spitball some random thoughts. 

1. Don't worry about trying to make the doors open based on figure placement. It's best to be manually operated. They're not walking around on their own (except at night because, you know, Toy Story.  ) so no need for motion or mass sensors.

2. Clearly you're going to want the 'door whoosh' and 'door shoomp' sounds. There should be some way to trigger the proper sound. 

3. Clarifying, I think a form of manual operation is best rather than trying to devise some kind of piston driven 'quick action' remote mechanical affair. Work it like the show. A lever or pully (like window blinds), maybe with a spring powered 'return' for that desirable quick action. The trick is the plastic doors won't have much mass. I'm thinking a 'c' shaped frame holding the doors (and out of sight) traveling in channels might do the job.


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## Fozzie

Next up...


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## Fozzie




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## Steve H

Man that looks so good.

I'm running out of ways to say that.


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## Fozzie

Thanks, Steve H. 

Here's the results of the last few day's work. Some parts are not glued together yet as I still have to install lighting.


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## feek61

Wow!! Looks amazing!!


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## Steve H

I swear, if one were to use that video compositing actors onto miniature sets thing that they tried to do in the '70s*, you could use this bridge as a set. It's that good. 


*dammit, I used to have that process locked down as part of my 'stupid trivia' knowledge, I'm ashamed I can't remember it. This bothers me. I can't even remember if it was a Dykstra or Trumble deal. argh. MAGICAM! is that it?


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## Captain Robert April

Yup, Magicam. Used extensively in "The Starlost" and the original "Cosmos".


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## Fozzie

Engineering station with viewer, rocker switches, intercom, and data card installed. On the far right is a padd from DST/AA. I put Matt Jeffries famous drawing of the _Enterprise _ on the screen.


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## Fozzie

Lot of work going on this weekend. I removed all the stations, flipped the deck over, finished off all the wiring, then flipped it back over and am repainting a good deal of it due to the scratches I have put on it working on it over the past couple of years. I also took the 2' x 4' project board and started work on painting it the floor color of the bridge.

With the stations off, I applied liquid tape to the few remaining bare electrical connections they had, touched up some paint overspray on the Engineering station, and then began installing the housing on the back of each station that will conceal the wiring.

It was pointed out to me that there was a mistake in the design of the main housing of the helm (no "indentation" for the knees of Sulu and Chekov) so I built a replacement housing and painted it.

Finally, I installed a button into the base which will turn sound on/off.

I've still got plenty to do and none of what I've done this weekend is really picture worthy, but once I start reassembling I'll have some new pictures to share.


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## Bernard Guignar

Very nice work there.


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## Fozzie

Helm station has been installed. It is probably 95% complete. I still have to make the detail for the chronometer that goes at the bottom and wire the triangular alert beacon into the red alert circuit. I will also be adding the targeting scope and doing a few minor paint touchups. Finally, Sulu's chair needs its seat cushion which is ready but needs to be painted.


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## Bernard Guignar

Sweet


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## Steve H

It really is a fantastic model project. I am in constant awe with every update that comes along. 

May I make another of my famous suggestions? 

I don't know how you handle the 'seat cushions' on the various chairs, I think they're separate pieces you've sculpted. One problem with action figures (and any model diorama actually) is that in the real world, both people and cushions compress and mold themselves. Naturally those DST/AA Figures ain't gonna compress but maybe it might be interesting to make some compressed "because there's a butt in the seat" cushions to swap out?

The way I would do it would be sculpt a cushion in clay and plop a figure's butt (male and female) in it, then smooth out the obvious places the joint areas impact the mold, then let it harden and pull a RTV mold for resin replacement cushions.

Then chairs will look 'sat' in and figures will look more natural. 

Worth considering or I'm over thinking?


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## Fozzie

Bridge railing installed. Two pair of steps built, but not yet painted.


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## RetiredMSgt1701

Fozzie, glad I found this thread! 

I was wondering where you were hiding the beginning pics of this build and now I have 24 pages of comments and pics to go through to see the wonderful build!

Again, I love the hand rails!

Steve (MSgtUSAFRet) or (RetiredMSgt1701)


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## Fozzie

RetiredMSgt1701,
Check out some of the dates on those early posts. It's been a long road!

And here's another update...steps!


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## Fozzie

These two pictures are just for fun. :smile2:


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## Steve H

That is really nifty. Can I assume you're going to make a 'mark 2' with the lights?

Also, as long as I'm piling work on you, you might as well make some anti-grav lifters. You'll need the prop anyway when you decide to make the anti-matter bomb and 'blood lure' bottle... 

(have I mentioned lately how much I admire your work and dedication to this project? It's honestly one of the single most impressive things I've ever seen anyone do)


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## John P

:lol:!


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## Fozzie

This morning I added an ambient bridge noise soundtrack to the video that is displaying on the viewscreen. The laptop screen I am using for the monitor includes a control board that outputs sound and a small 5 button control panel that lets me, among other things, control the volume.

In addition to this background noise, I am going to add a small sound board controlled by an Arduino that will randomly play other bridge sounds (e.g. button sounds, the sound of the computer "working", Spock's scanner). Since these sounds will be generated in a random order at random times, the soundtrack won't be "predictable".

Finally, when the "red alert" button is pressed, in addition to the various blinking lights around the bridge, the Arduino controlled soundcard will also be used to fire off the red alert klaxon sound.

These are the things I am working on now. I need to get that stuff done before I can finish closing up the backs of the viewscreen and comm station. A video will be coming to demonstrate all that when I'm done.


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## 1711rob

WOW freaking amazing work !!


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## JGG1701

Fozzie said:


> These two pictures are just for fun. :smile2:


The Changeling 
Nice?
-Jim G.G.


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## Zombie_61

Fozzie said:


>


"Captain, I believe Mr. Scott has once again overindulged in his secret supply of scotch."


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## Fozzie

I've been working on adding in the random bridge sounds and the red alert function and have an admittedly terribly shot video to show you some of my progress.

You can hear the "bridge hum" that is coming off of the video that is playing on the viewscreen and then, every 5 seconds or so, a random sound such as a series of beeps. I have them really close together (5 secs) for the sake of the video, but will space them much farther apart once I have it the way I want it.

You can also see red alert being engaged with the appropriate blinking lights and sounds.

I am not at all happy with how this is working and will be trying another tact to get it to work the way I want. I am using an Arduino controlling an Adafruit sound fx card but in "button control mode". This is not giving me the amount of control I need (which is why the red alert sound gets out of sync with the lights) and I will need to see if I can get it to work the way I want by addressing the board in serial control mode.

What is working the way I want is the red alert trigger button, the volume control on the sounds, and the basic overall concept. I just need to refine it a bit.


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## Steve H

I don't know a THING about any of this, so I'll just show my ignorance and make a suggestion. 

Is it possible that the roadblock is too much technical sophistication? My impulse is that the Red Alert sound and light should be its own distinct, separate circuit/device. This would keep it from clashing or otherwise synching with the atmosphere sound and panel effects. 

It reminds me of listening to a radio station at night, the current kind that doesn't seem to have a trained engineer running the boards but trusting a crappy intel based PC running Windows ME to properly do the switching, launch the digicarts correctly and all the other things (and it almost always screws up and blammo, audio stepping on audio or dead air and nobody to fix it. Not EVERY night but man at least twice a week).

Simplify. That's my thought.


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## Fozzie

The problem is that the sound card has two modes of operation and I thought I could get away with using the easier one to implement...but ease of use almost always equals loss of control. So I wired it up the other way--where I have _absolute _control over what it does--and it works just fine and will sync up exactly. I designed a new circuit board for it last night and will etch the board sometime this weekend. It should work exactly like I want after that.

The Adafruit Sound FX board is a cheap but incredibly powerful tool for adding sound to cosplay or models. In the simple "button mode" of operation you don't even need an Arduino to drive it--no programming required.


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## Fozzie

I solved my sound effect playback problems by switching to the serial control mode for the Adafruit SFX board. I made a new circuit board to accommodate the different wiring needed for that mode and paired it with an Arduino for control. I tested it this morning and it is working great!










I have assembled 49 sound files which I've loaded onto the board. I have broken these up into several categories: sound effects, talk, rare, super rare, and specifics.

Specific sounds are ones I will play in certain circumstances. For instance, I have the bridge computer say "working" as the first time every time I turn on the bridge just to let me know everything is, well, working! Other specifics include the red alert sound, phasers, photon torpedoes firing, taking a hit, etc. Some of these will be used when the red alert button is pressed.

Sound effects are the most common sound. There are 26 of these and one of them will play randomly every 1 to 3 minutes.

Talk sounds will play much more infrequently. They include very short phrases like: "Captain's log, supplemental.", "Fascinating.", and "Aye, sir."

Rarer still are the "rare" sounds. These include tribbles, the intercom whistle, and even Nomad.

Finally, we have the "super rare" sounds which will hardly ever come up in the rotation. They include the opening theme (sans voiceover), the opening theme with voiceover, and the closing credits music.

I have only used about 1/3 of the space I have on the sound card for sounds, so I will be able to add others if I want/need them.


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## Steve H

What about the 'background walla' that was common in the earlier episodes? When Red Alert is called there would be sections and stations giving status reports. I don't know if those dialog snips were ever 'out there' by themselves like some of the key sound effects but actually, if one played with the audio (distortion, filters, playing with playback speed and so on) you could write some dialog, record it yourself and lay it 'under' the general bridge bleeps and bloops. 

Don't forget ambient sound. It's much more obvious on TNG but there was a constant 'hum rumble hiss' going on in TOS as well. it's almost subliminal but you notice it when it's not there.


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## feek61

Fozzie said:


> I solved my sound effect playback problems by switching to the serial control mode for the Adafruit SFX board. I made a new circuit board to accommodate the different wiring needed for that mode and paired it with an Arduino for control. I tested it this morning and it is working great!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have assembled 49 sound files which I've loaded onto the board. I have broken these up into several categories: sound effects, talk, rare, super rare, and specifics.
> 
> Specific sounds are ones I will play in certain circumstances. For instance, I have the bridge computer say "working" as the first time every time I turn on the bridge just to let me know everything is, well, working! Other specifics include the red alert sound, phasers, photon torpedoes firing, taking a hit, etc. Some of these will be used when the red alert button is pressed.
> 
> Sound effects are the most common sound. There are 26 of these and one of them will play randomly every 1 to 3 minutes.
> 
> Talk sounds will play much more infrequently. They include very short phrases like: "Captain's log, supplemental.", "Fascinating.", and "Aye, sir."
> 
> Rarer still are the "rare" sounds. These include tribbles, the intercom whistle, and even Nomad.
> 
> Finally, we have the "super rare" sounds which will hardly ever come up in the rotation. They include the opening theme (sans voiceover), the opening theme with voiceover, and the closing credits music.
> 
> I have only used about 1/3 of the space I have on the sound card for sounds, so I will be able to add others if I want/need them.


Fantastic!!!

You could have the turbo-lift door opening sound as well


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## Steve H

I'm not sure if he's got the Turbolift doors operating. Doing my usual job of telling other people how to do their stuff, I suggested he go ahead and build the Turbolift interior and work on a manual door opening device, but I think he has something called 'A Life' that he's had to take care of, so....


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## Fozzie

Steve H said:


> Don't forget ambient sound. It's much more obvious on TNG but there was a constant 'hum rumble hiss' going on in TOS as well. it's almost subliminal but you notice it when it's not there.


The ambient bridge "hum" was laid on top of the video of the moving stars playing on the viewscreen.

The turbolift doors sound is in there. 

The turbolift itself is a possible future project. I actually have room on the project board to add it. I have a few other projects in the works I need to finish before I consider that one, though.

I expect to finish the programming of the Arduino today. It is 90% there. Just need to add in some timing routines.


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## Newbie123

Second time in one day I've been amazed by some truly stunning model making. I definitely need to find a new hobby. 
But I don't want to go too overboard with praise for this magnificent, jaw-dropping project or I won't have anything left to say when you start replacing the figures in the display with small robots. And don't tell me you haven't been thinking about it. 
So, till then, awesome work!


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