SHIP recreation - EAS Agamemnon from Babylon 5

[Captain_Quinn]

Very cool. Can you leverage the pin-connections to the power functions motor to stabilise the frame? 

The challenge as far as I can tell will be the distance to the technic turntable and the amount of twisting that a technic axle can withstand if you're looking at a direct motor-turntable drive. After that, like you've said, it's a matter of friction, momentum, torque, etc. I was talking to my father and brother (both are mechanical engineers) about this challenge and they started talking about planetary gears as a solution, but placing multiple axles and cogs is going to be massively challenging in the confines of the current design.

What's the position/alignment of the motors axle compared to the centre of the turntable? Aligned with the centre or off axis?

[Rolsen]

The motor is centered with the turntable vertically, but is offset horizontally.  I think a direct drive would be simplest, but I'm not sure how to stabilize the axle.  You're correct the distance is quite far and would subject the axle to a lot of twisting and bending.

Just at the very early stages with this.  Haven't put a lot of thought into it yet.

[Captain_Quinn]

The other factor that comes to mind with a direct drive is the torque/power of the motor and the ability to vary those to suit. I'm not familiar enough with the PF motors to know whether or not that's possible... so my thinking at this stage is to may try a combination of parallel axles and stepping down of gears, along with a planetary arrangement to spread the forces and balance them between the sides of the inner turntable. Having the PF motors axis off-centre to the turntable could work in your favour here, especially if you want to have the final drive axle on axis with the centre of the turntable. Looking at some of the planetary gear setups that use those particular turntables, it looks like a central drive gear (sun gear) with two planetary gears driving the internal ring of moving part. That alone should have a reduction gear effect, more so if your central drive gear is smaller than the planetary gears.

I think if you can have a short enough axles, and the right step down combination of gears to increase torque/reduce speed, you can make this work without to much stress on the components.

[Juxtapoisson]

I have nothing to add, but wanted to show my support for this project!

[Captain_Quinn]

ok, so a (not so) quick update on where development is at on my v1.2.x series of this design...

Prototype build: this highlighted some areas for improvement and simplification that have been implemented. This (at the time) reduced the part count and the number of build steps, not to mention the complexity of, and challenge in building, certain sections. These changes were all internal and have not affected the appearance.

Parts selection: in uploading the design to Bricklink and generating a parts/wanted list, a few alarm bells started ringing in terms of parts availability and cost. This has led to several redesigns, most of which are visible. Redesigns of the engine section to address the influence of gravity involved using parts that, as it turns out, are quite expensive. A bit of creative license in detailing later, and the cost of sourcing the necessary parts for that section dropped by almost USD$100. Another aspect of the build that was tempting to change were areas of surface detail that could be made using alternate parts... for example, a section of 4 2x2 tiles could be replaced with 4 1x4 tiles, or 2 4x2 tiles. At this stage I've avoided such changes unless they improve the stability of the section involved, or significantly reduced the costs for parts. 

Instructions: these are in the works. Several attempts at these had been made whilst I was prototyping and redesigning. I learned early in the process that implementing changes to instructions is not easily achieved mid process. I had hoped to have these finished before certain professional/educational commitments (I'm a final year allied health student undertaking clinical immersions this year) but priorities have shuffled this project down the list. However, some excellent progress has been made on various aspects of the final instructions, and whilst they may not be as awe-inspiring as Mirko Soppelsa's Star Bricks in terms of production quality, but I hope that the ideas coming to fruition in that regard will be appealing to not only the Babylon 5 fanbase, but both the broader Lego and Scifi communities. 

Current state: version 1.2.37.5.... so, 37 major revisions in design to @manglegrat's release, with a few updates to details on the last of those. A 'quick and dirty' conversion of the design file into instructions has been rendered, 92% of the 4722 parts are boxed up with the remainder on order... and my kids are on standby for a final build test (the idea being that if a 10 yr old and 13 yr old can build this, anyone older can). Artwork for the instructions is being sourced/produced, a photographer has been approached, along with some 'value-add' contributions from the B5 community. Barring any major impediments or problems identified by the "child duo build test", this will be the release version. I'm aiming to display this build along with a few other builds at our local Lego AFOL Clubs next exhibition in a fortnight.

Future developments: as has been discussed here, the two previous designers, @Rolsen and @manglegrat, deserve massive props for their designs, on which this is based. One of the challenges for future versions has been motorising the rotating mid-section... and suffice to say, when I need a break from the work on this project, studies, family, pets, door-to-door salespeople... this particular challenge is what I turn my attention to (no dad-joke worthy pun intended on that). I _think_ I've come up with a design that addresses the challenges presented by the scale of this design and maintains the stability between sections. I need to prototype build this design, which will require reading up on the PF motors, their specs and their requirements. 

Goal: to release professional quality build instructions (electronic and print-on-demand) on par with those produced by @StarBricks and @Davdup by mid-2018 via a donation-ware model, with all proceeds going to global humanitarian charities. My goal here is not to profit on the intellectual property or previous design works of others, but to spread an enjoyment of Lego, Scifi and Babylon 5 to a wider audience. It's my hope that the quality of the design, build and instructions will motivate those wanting to include this in their collections to help charities such as Doctors Without Borders (Medicin Sans Frontiers), Unicef and the like. My thanks to Rolsen and Manglegrat for agreeing to and endorsing this particular aspect, as without both their works and agreement on this, I'd not likely have gone down a release path.

[manglegrat]

Sounds awesome, man! Good luck with v1.2.37.5 & the AFOL club exhibit - plz share pics. 

You'll have my donation as soon as it's up. Eager to see the final awesome product! 

[Captain_Quinn]

Quick update...

Exhibiting my build (which I've dubbed the EAS Achilles) with the local AFOL group this weekend. In preparing it for transport I've learned that no matter how much you try reinforcing some structures in Lego, there's going to be bend and flex. 

Anyway, here's a quick snapshot of that part of my display.

Instruction development is coming along nicely, although I keep finding errors/improvements. Improvements have been noted for future updates and only errors are being corrected now.

 

[Rolsen]

Really cool to see another build of my design realized in the brick!  Achilles is great!  I love that you gave it another of the Omega Class names.

Out of curiosity, did you increase the length of the two rectangular front facing mine launchers (under the 3x round domed "tanks" under the fighter launch bay) from 3 studs long to 4 studs long?

[Captain_Quinn]

They're still 1x3 for the most part, but I raised the mount location to avoid a conflict and didn't account for that change... which now looking at it, makes for an easier situation in building the launchers.

Thanks for picking that up. Easy fix that I can implement without having to change any of the instructions work done so far.

[Lothos]

Hot damn, that's a fantastic recreation! 

[Heuwin]

Hello

I finally found the time and bricks to build Ryans and manglegrats Omega Destroyer design myself. I call it the Alexander, General Hagues and Major Ryans ship during the confrontation with President Clark.

As you can see I added a fourth pillar. The engine section and the lower engines were pointing downward to much for my liking so I made this change to the support structure.

I removed the 1x4 tile and replaced the 1x2 with center stud with plain 1x2 tiles. They just lie on the pillar which gives the engine section enough structural support.

I also readded the 1x2 grille from Ryans original design to the outer rotating section. I replaced one part for price reasons the 4599a tap was so expensive new that I swapped in the 4599b (many of them face each other anyway)

While building the rotating section I realized I was missing 4 2x4 bricks and 2 2x8 plates in the model I think they are not in the parts list, since they fit in the model and make it symmetric I added those during building.

The ring next to the rotating section was really fragile and broke apart like 20 times before I stumbled over the "patch" on flickr which made the ring much more sturdy. I also replaced the 1x8 brick with a 1x6 brick and two 1x1 bricks with a stud on one side which doubled the connectors that hold the assembly together.

I really don't like blue technic pins, had to replace them with lbg and black ones :)

I used HERMA 8018 for the transparent decals and HERMA 9534 for the white ones. I'm very satisfied with the transparent ones. The white A is great as well. The nameplate could have a slighty higher resolution, I'm not yet sure if the sticker can't resolve higher or the source file just did not have more pixels, I will investigate further for the upcoming Nova...

On a sidenote I printed a whole sheet of EA logos and Names for Omega destroyers from the wiki since I didn't want to put a sheet into the laser printer twice. If someone needs a decal for their Omega just send me a message they are free of course just shipping would be nice ;).

 

And finally another two tiny changes. I'm pretty certain that the Omegas have an asymmetric front cannon layout and I changed the front layout so the 1x6 DBG tile is held in place by two studs adds another tiny bit of stability.

Thanks to JMS, Ron Thornton, Ryan Olsen and manglegrat for this very entertaining build. I decided to build the Nova as well with my son but probably need a bigger house to display them :) anyway great job designing this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2018 by Heuwin

[Captain_Quinn]

Might want to check the permissions on the images you linked... nothing comes up, just a big blank space with a grey circle and minus sign in the centre.

[Heuwin]

Thanks for the notice I switched the image hoster and can see them now on my laptop not logged in. Hope it works now :).

Edited August 19, 2018 by Heuwin

[ScottishDave]

Thank you @Heuwin for that post. I'm just starting on this adventure myself, also using @manglegrat's LXF file: so your post was very timely.

I was wondering why half the pictures I found online had the forward cannon flipped. Now I know. Thanks for that - it was driving me nuts.

If you happen to have the Excalibur on your decal sheet, I'm happy to pay postage. PM me once you have 10 posts and we'll discuss.

 

 

[Rolsen]

Awesome work guys!  So fun to see more people build this!

[manglegrat]

+1 to @Rolsen's note. Great to see new additions to the fleet!

Great mods, @Heuwin, mods are what it's all about! Have fun building/modding the Nova-class, too. And thanks for the comparison pic with the Saturn V - awesome idea. 

@ScottishDave, I find it highly amusing you're building this now - from a file coming from me, another "Scottish Dave"...  Good luck, have fun & please post pics, too!

[ScottishDave]

That’s pure dead brilliant, @manglegrat. Of course I’ll post pictures.

[Sybux]

@Captain_Quinn I've just discovered this forum and find all the job you made and other to this beautiful space ship. Did you finished the Instruction development and if yes, where are they available.

[Captain_Quinn]

@Sybux Yeah mate, still working on the instructions. This past year has been an almighty crap-fest for me with university and some family/health issues requiring my attention.

I've been refining the design as I error check the build steps, which is a temptation I really need to not give in to. I'd love to be able to motorise either of the designs (rolsen/manglegrats, or mine) but the constrained space makes that challenging in the extreme. I suspect a scale change will be necessary to fit the components unless I can adjust the internals of the rotating section to fit motor, receiver and batteries inside.

 

[Sybux]

@Captain_Quinn I'm sorry for the sad news about your family and I hope all is better now. 

Concerning the MOC, of course the motorised one would be a great creation. If I can help you in any way, don't hesitate if I can I'll do my best.

[Captain_Quinn]

Thanks, @Sybux. It hasn't been easy, but we got through. As the saying goes.... didn't come this far just to come this far.

Anyway, here's a sneak peak of the instructions in-progress...

[Rolsen]

Awesome work @Captain_Quinn!  That blue wireframe artwork is very nice!

[manglegrat]

Those look amazing, @Captain_Quinn!

Eagerly awaiting the final product (which I will happily advertise on my Rebrickable page). Do you have an ETA?

Edited January 22, 2019 by manglegrat

[Captain_Quinn]

Thanks @manglegrat, no ETA at this stage. I'm up to page 130 of the instructions, and I've barely got the stand and internal framing down. There's still the hull plating of foreward and aft sections, the engine section, rotating section and foreward bay/weapons. Sequencing of steps and editing images is taking considerable time in order to make things logical and easily understood. I'm also experimenting with some Buffer Exchange commands in LPub to have arrows indicate connections and such. I'm cutting back on a lot of the extras I'd hoped to include, as the digital artists whose work I'd like to use mostly haven't responded. Thankfully, a really good resource with connections to the original 3D artists that worked on the show has given approval to use his material. I'll PM you and @Rolsen about some additional 'History' info and images once I have a proof of the instructions to send you guys.

So far, instructions will be A4 Landscape format suitable for printing/binding, but ideally suited to use on electronic devices with screens 8" or larger. Anything smaller is going to be challenging at best. I'm doing my best to optimise the number of steps and minimise page count so that it doesn't break the bank for anyone that does go ahead and print.

[alvinofdiaspar]

Incredible @Captain_Quinn - love the texture on the build.