Space Hulk Plus - Part 2

[original draft - 2018-04-23]

[ed: Worth noting that article Space Hulk Plus - Part 1.5 was released before this one, so expect chronological discrepancies in that regard.]


Space Hulk Connectors (sub-project)
To say that i'm impressed with the openLock concept and results is an understatement. Easily achieved goal definitely help with the motivation (as opposed to struggling to get even simple things moving forward).

So at the start of the weekend this was my goal... everything pictured to have openLock connectors for a relatively small homebrew map.

 While the printer didn't switch off until 11pm sunday i did manage to achieve the results.

Ta da...

The clip systems holds everything in place solidly... not solid enough for carrying around the map unsupported... but it doesn't slide around on the table either, even without some kind of grip material underneath.
The system feels substantially bulkier than the cardboard jigsaw pieces. I didn't do a side by side comparison... however i found an old pic from a game i played last year.

On the assumption that the left-most room is against the left edge of the table (no pics) then the right-most side of the map has maybe 10-15cm of clearance. So while the 3d blocks make the board a bit more 'bloaty' it doesn't make it too large for use.


The weekend results are now in a (probably) temporary box.

 With the remaining pieces here.

I'll probably try to produce a lowly 3 sets per day for the foreseeable future... no rush.
Probably the next goal will be to churn out the pieces for the 'official' map 1 from the missions book.

Unless motivation REALLY drops off, if i manage to get everything process i actually have a very real chance of getting things painted finally... which would be a fan-frackin-tastic!


Maintenance
As the batches were churning out i did a few tweaks on the machine:
i) attached a 2nd mdf sheet under the first, glue and small nails (more mass for the printer bed).
ii) attached printer frame to mdf with brackets, front and back.
iii) the linear bearings under the print bed had some loose nuts/bolts. detached the print bed, tightened everything under there, superglue to prevent slips, reassemble.

Seems to have removed a lot of the groans and chirps coming from the machine as it runs. yhay!


Production Update [2018-04-26]
We had a public holiday yesterday so combined with the previous couple of nights' prints i managed to get all the remaining 'large' plates done (rooms) and all the remaining 'T' and 'L' pieces.
So now i just have the 'X' pieces and straight sections to go.
am very much looking forward to gap filling some of the uglier sections, then adding some control panels, pipe sections and widgets. 

i've also started contemplating redesigning the door pieces. i do like the current design - however...
i think that the friction of clipping the doors in place is going to rapidly screw up the paintwork (that will eventually happen).  i have a few ideas and i'll try my best to retain the actual slot-in door piece, so it will hopefully just be the frame that gets a rework.
in generally i think i'll try to widen the buttresses that sit along the top of the corridor piece to create the stability. so they'll effectively just sit in place, rather than clipping in but will be bigger so they'll be less fragile.   we'll see.

[2018-04-27]
plodding through print-retrofits. have approximately 16 pieces to go. 7 'X' and 9 'straights'. might have them done by end of weekend.
have sliced the new design i did (i did a new door design last night). says it's going to take 2+ hours to print... by x20 doors... eeeep!



[2018-04-30]
Finished!!

A big box of raw bits. Now awaiting gap filling and widget adding.

Printed off one of the new door models and it's actually pretty good. however, i'm going to hold off printing all of them until i've got paint on at least one corridor segment in order to see how much paint the door segments rub off. At the moment it's a snug fit in places so i may need to widen some bits to cater for paint.

It's a mighty fine thing to get something finished.

I noticed towards the last few batches that there were some more (lesser) chirps developing somewhere, but rather than jeopardize completion i just ran with it. will have a maintenance overhaul sometime in the not too distant.

And i also finished off my first roll of PLA.

until next time...