Scratch Build – In Progress [Bit-Tech/Intel NUC Competition] Vesper - Prize arrived and some new plans :D

Nana nana nana nana UPDATE!

First up I would like to mention that should I become a looting zombie, the twinkies are not safe (don't even like the damn things, just that devious...).

Second would be an apology for taking so long, not much I can do about that other than say that things hopefully won't be quite so spaced out in the future.

Third, I fixed that damn picture that for some reason broke it's resize. No idea how that happens, but if I find accessing my log from a mobile device annoying as a result, I can guarantee others will too.

And last but not least, the 3D printed sides have arrived! They're still in their rough states so need a fair bit of work, but I'm very happy with the results. I'm also incredibly pleased with how quick the process was. I sent the model on Friday and it was ready Monday morning, so in normal midweek hours it would have been a next day pickup! Digits 2 Widgets offer a great service and I'll definitely be using them again in the future.















Thanks guys for the supportive comments! Oh and Nexxo, well it does make sense, after all Vesper is derived from the Latin for bat which is vespertito

 

They look really nice, even the macro shot showing the layers looks good to me.

Nice use of 3d printing Maki.

 

Woah! The resolution on their printer is insane! If it's ABS, I see some Tamiya modeling putty in your future. Automotive mud would be too hard.
-And someone besides Waynio updated!

 

Hehe cheers Waynio and Cheaps! Feels good to get some actual progress down really, should be a fair bit quicker paced now

I had these parts printed in SLS Nylon, which is how the resolution is so high. It also makes the finished product incredibly durable and lightweight, the combined weight of the panels is probably of the order of 140g? They basically laser sinter individual layers of nylon powder, rather than a nozzle laying down a melted material.

The best bit too is that I won't have to use any of that stuff Cheaps. The nature of the nylon means I can just sand it down like you would for aluminium or acrylic I'll need to prime it properly etc. but that's about it. The final paintjob will be a good reason to break out the ol' airbrush again, just to get a good, even coat if anything.

 

Done at CRDM?

I love SLS and SLA, there the only two technologies I'll use for professional work. FDM just isn't worth the effort.

 

I went with Digits 2 Widgets as they're located only a few minutes from where I work. It was really great to be able to go in and check out the machines themselves and get to know the guys working there a little. Plus I'm a friend of the founder's son, which sealed the deal really.

I can certainly see why you'd want to stick with SLS, the finish is great and the parts are so solid, not to mention the accuracy and speed of production. We have a small, tabetop 3D printer in the foyer at uni, it's ruddy useless. Took two days to print off a low resolution bust of Walt Disney (note sure why somebody wanted that), plus it can't be machined afterwards.

 

AhhhG! I'm in acronym limbo-acrolimbo!

 

Those printed panels looks amazing!! Even like the layers up close...

 

Looking great so far. Panels came out really nice.

 

How much did those cost to produce, if you don't mind me asking?

 

@Cheapskate: Haha

@Quizz_kid: Cheers! Yeah I quite like the effect too actually. I don't think it would suit this particular design, but it could certainly be interesting for a future project. Almost have a wood-like grain to them I guess.

@Boorach: Thanks!

@Stuartwood89:I'd rather not go into specifics for this particular model, but their service is pretty reasonably priced. Digits 2 Widgets have a calculator on their site which is really handy for working out rough pricing. If you're toying with the idea of having something printed, definitely have a go with that to see what the maximum predicted cost could be.

 

SLS is actually very cheap when it comes to batch production, as you can nest components within the whole build volume of the machine, which helps cut down the running costs.

Being Nylon it might as well be steel tbh, you can really beat on it and not panic for breaking it.

 

The 3D printed panels are excellent, a good solution to making them, I don't know how it would be possible by hand and have them look identical. A big dilemma on the layers they look really good

 

Yeah the only way I can really think of to make the sides by hand would be to make a mould and cast them in resin or something. Actually, considering how the sides are mirrored, that method probably wouldn't work as two moulds would have to be made.

 

Impressive, really great job ! How much does it cost to print that ?

 

Look at what he said above.

I went to their calculator and simply punched in 19x19x1 cm and got around €30 as an estimate.

 

Oh great, I hadn't seen the link

 

Right only a tiny update today. The weather's been really wet recently for me, which has really stalled the priming and painting stages. Luckily the sun was out yesterday evening and today so I managed to get things going a little.

After thinking things over, I decided that it would be best to keep to the original idea of being smooth, rather than keeping the texture. There were a couple of reasons for this, first up is that it just didn't look quite right with the paint applied. The second one is that the two sides aren't completely symmetrical. One was facing down in the printer, the other up, this resulted in the patterns being very different in scale. One side was very smooth, whilst the other (the side pictured above) was quite rough. This would have looked really odd on the finished case.

So I got to work sanding, smoothing and priming. I'm about 6 coats in now, almost there. There are still some marks left, but they're very subtle and will be smoothed out pretty soon.

Also, thanks to the long weekend, the wood bits have also been delayed. Deadline wise I'm a-ok, but everybody else seems to be either finished or about to!

 

Looking good!

 

Do I see just a hint of shiny? You totally need to make the cables look like hermit crab legs.
Finished-ish on my side. -Taken it apart a dozen times...