Case Mod - In Progress Battlestar Galactica Mod: Complete!

Awesome, Bod!

You hurtin' already with the BSG season break? I felt it yesterday. I guess that's what happens when you're addicted, eh?

Keep up the killer modding, bro!

 

I kinda liked the glow around the lettering... are you gonna do something to make the black areas glow a little? And those two blue things up top are temporary, right?

I love the attention to detail on this case :bow: keep it up

 

on reading mother gooses comment about the lighting looking like a cylon eye i had a thought.

would a led bar with the "knight rider" effect light up enough behind it?

might look daggy, but might also be good.

 

I know, I had heard that we might have to wait til January '09 before seeing another new episode, and more importantly, who the 5th cylon is!

I will be painting the lettering which will make them easier to read, so the red glow won't be as necessary as if I left them all black. And yes, the blue things are just pieces of masking tape holding up the frame that covers up the lcd mounting screws. I didn't want to permanently attach it if I have to remove the screen again.

That is actually not a bad idea, especially how the storyline is unfolding, with the recently discovered cylons amongst the Galactica crew. Would really make a statement to that effect!

 

Ok, it's Sunday night and, as promised, here is another update!

I revised the blast door setup yet again, in an attempt to make it even simpler. Trying to synchronize two servos
at varying speeds proved more difficult than I thought, and produced inconsistent results at best. So I have returned
to using just one servo, and having it control both rollers. Since I already have one servo connected directly to the smaller
roller, I will just need to add a small pulley to it, and a long o-ring to attach the larger roller. The speed difference will be
accounted for in the pulley sizes.

Another alteration is to simplify the path that the door has to take. I had originally intended for the door to travel towards
the front, and make a 90° turn into the hard drive cage where the rollers were located. That was adding too much drag, and the
door was getting caught up at the turn. So my solution is to hack away part of the hard drive cage and mount the roller
closer to the window, thus shortening the path.

So here is the roller, and approximately where it will be relocated to:


After cutting away part of the hard drive cage, I took two pieces of aluminum angle bar and sandwiched
them together, with the HD cage in the middle.


Using pop rivets in a staggered fashion, I fastened them together. This will provide a good solid mount for
the cut-down roller holder.


Then I pop-riveted the holder into place, utilizing the holes I drilled prior to riveting down the angle pieces.
Believe it or not, I actually thought ahead for once!


Once I get the second roller in place, I can measure the distance between the two and see how large an o-ring or belt I will need.

 

Bod looking as fantastic as always mate. I can't wait to see the blast doors up and running.

 

Another quicky update:

Worked on making a small pulley for the small roller last night. I measured out a circle about 1/2" diameter on 1/4" thick acrylic and cut it out.


I stuck a bolt through it, then using the ol' drill press, I proceeded to file it down to size. This makes a perfect circle.




Then I made the channel of the pulley with a round file.


Next up, gluing it to the roller, and adjusting the servo mount.

8)

 

Hey! That looks dangerous!

 

But not dangerous enough! nice ghetto Lathe

 

Full of surprises aren't you Bod lol.

 

Dear Boddaker,

Much thanks for the updates. Am thoroughly enjoying reading your work-log. Cannot wait to see the completed project.

Warmest Regards,

Great Uncle Bulgaria.

 

w00t!!!! I just noticed this thread has over 100,000 views! Thanks guys for tuning in! I really appreciate it. I'm trying to keep it interesting! Look for another update real soon.
I've been working on wiring up strings of lLEDs: One for the front medallion, one for the dummy lcd screens, and one for the running lights on the landing deck.

 

All I know is that when this thing is finished, it's going to rival the Doom3 PC in attention to detail. Heck...I don't even like Battlestar Galactica and I'm in love with this mod. (I think I just lost some geek status for that comment ) Anyways...keep it up man; as always your work is of the highest caliber.

 

Thanks, MrWizard!

Moving right along, I'm getting things wired up. Starting with some led strings, one for the dummy lcd screens in the cluster,
and another for backlighting the medallion.

First, I printed some BSG graphics onto transparency paper and cut them out. This particular transparency
paper has an adhesive backing.


Stuck them onto the screens. These leds will be white.


I forgot to take a picture of the leds wired up and in place behind the screens. I will post that and a shot
of it all lit up this weekend.


For the medallion, I drilled six holes behind the bird to fit the leds. These will be red.


Then I soldered them all together in series.


For the medallion base, I routed out some material to make room for the wiring. This will all be hidden
behind the bird, which will be painted.


Here's a shot of the leds placed in the routed area. I drilled a hole through the base at the bottom
for the wires to feed through.


Once I get it all soldered together and tested, I will use some hot glue to keep everything in place,
then sandwich it all together. Then I can paint it!

 

Man, that's awesome. Has any testing been done to see how even the lightup is on them? I'm sure you have, just thought I'd ask.

 

No, not yet. I still have to add some resistance to the led string. According to the led calculator, 6 leds in series will only require a 1 ohm resistor. Each led has a forward voltage of 2v, which brings the source voltage to zero. Maybe I dont need any resistors at all then? (I thought you need resistors to control the current). I think to be safe, I'm going to split the six led's into two groups of 3 and wire them up in parallel. Then each group will have their own 330 ohm resistor. Thoughts from all you electronics gurus?

 

No need to split them all up in parrallel. The single series 1 ohm resistor will be fine, just make sure it is 1/4w, as the 1/8w might run warm.

I wouldn't leave out the resistor, as it does a great job of working with the voltage drop of the leds to kinda regulate the current going through the leds. The resistor makes any tiny voltage variances from the psu while the pc is working a non-issue.

Love the monitors There's alot of empty black space around the side lcd & the glowing lettering, are you gonna give it a bit of a glow, or you got something else planned for that space? I doubt you'll leave it empty!

 

Damn Bod that is looking beautiful.

 

wow great work on those leds...I love how you will be installing them. Routing a channel for them...brilliant, I dare say.

 

I love the 5 screen and with the leds it will have an amazing effect nice work