[MOC] [WIP] UCS Scale - Babylon 5 Earth Alliance Starfury

[Captain_Quinn]

The lighting kit is an off-the-shelf collection of items from LightMyBricks. Link I wanted it as readily available and easy to install as possible, so any custom wiring and electronics were ruled out straight away.

What I used is:

Universal Power Adaptor 5V 4amp USB Wall Adaptor : link

USB Extension Cable 3 meter : link

USB Power Cable : link

12-Port Expansion Board : link

Cockpit Module:

Bit Lights (Red) 30cm (4 pack) : link

Engines & Thrusters:

Connecting Cables - 50cm (4 pack) : link

2-Port Expansion Board (4-pack : link

Connecting Cables - 15cm (4 pack) : link

2 x 6-Port Expansion Board (2 pack) (for 4x 6-port boards in total) : link

4 x Bit Lights (Blue) 30cm (4 pack) (16 in total) : link

... and that is pretty much the order of assembly.

Now, the wingspan is just under 1 meter, and I selected connecting cables that when combined with the 2port expansion boards reach 65cm. This was because the 50cm connecting cables only just reached from the core of the centre section (there's a space designed to mount the 12port board and a battery pack in lieu of using the wall adaptor), meaning that the 6port board that connects the 4 lights of the engines & thrusters would be in the wing space and not inside the nacelles. Unfortunately 30cm lengths for the cabling on the lights was all that was available, meaning I had to braid and route the cables for the front sections and loop/zip-tie them with the cable for the main engine. Thankfully, I designed the engines with sufficient room inside mainly to keep their weight to a minimum.

Were I to design a lighting kit from scratch, the two major changes to this would be:

1. Single 65cm long connecting cables. This would remove the need for the 4x 2-port boards, and neaten up the cable routing in the wings (the wiring fits inside each technic brick, and is kept in place by the wing plating being installed.

2. Shorter cables on the bit-lights (about 15cm)

The red lights for the cockpit are long enough to allow removal of the cockpit module, rest it on the table in front of the build, and detach the connections from the 12port board without putting any strain on the wiring.

These lights are also small enough to fit inside a 1x1 Round Brick, with the wire just thin enough to allow for that brick to be attached and stay in place with clutch power. Having said that, where I could I've designed the assembly to allow for the wiring to feed through unhindered. One of the updates with the new parts was to address a weakness in connecting the forward facing engines when the wiring was installed. Originally, when the wiring was in place it would not have quite enough clutch power to withstand even a slight bump and (to my eyes at least) would align quite the way I would prefer. The update is a much more stable and secure connection that remains properly aligned.

Speaking of the additional parts, I'm just in the process of resequencing the assembly steps and doing a final error check, but I'll publish a brief text file of what new parts have been included, and what existing part quantities have changed. All up it's a qty change of between 1 and 8 pcs across 29 different parts, for a total increase in piece count of 58 pcs.

 

 

 

[Dracoargenteus]

Thank you! This is brilliant...literally! 

I've seen lighting sets sold from various sellers and never did much proper searching so never heard of or looked into lightmybricks.

And thanks for the update and the answers @Captain_Quinn!

Edited October 7, 2021 by Dracoargenteus

[Dracoargenteus]

GIRN all my adds on the forum are now Light My Bricks. 

Thank you Google! =P

[DelQuinn]

On 5/12/2020 at 12:05 PM, Captain_Quinn said:

I thought it was time I shared something I've been working on in the background of other projects. The corona-virus restrictions on travel, work, etc. have afforded enough time to sink my teeth into the challenges, and I think I have something worth sharing. Understand, this is a work-in-progress, and likely to see changes from what I'm showing here, but current prototype building of the internal hull and wing framing is going well, the cockpit module is complete and the engine build test is proceeding better than expected.

One of the goals with this was to try replicate the proportions, angles and features of what was shown on screen. Unfortunately, there is a lot of conflicting information from online sources. For example, the main thrusters and their vectors were supposedly able to rotate about the centre axis of the engine pod... in order to better angle the engine thrust... but this isn't seen anywhere on screen. The sweep/slope combination for the wings was especially challenging, with early attempts in using multiple ball-socket joints failing utterly under the weight of each wing (each engine pod weighs almost 0.5kg, or just over a pound). Even though the current sweep/slope isn't exactly right, it's structure is fare more stable and buildable.

Some of the features that are being designed in:

• Technic minifig scaled cockpit with opening canopy
• Articulated thrust vector fins, with paired motion on each engine (move one fin, the other moves with it)
• Routing for lighting. There is a space in the top of the cockpit, in each of the main thrusters, and each of the forward and attitude thrusters for a light, with cable routed through engines, wings, and body. I've left space for control board, batteries and switch assembly, with a removable rear panel on the central hull for access. The plan is for the switches to control cockpit lighting (red), main thrusters (bright blue), anterior and attitude thrusters (blue).
• Optional hardpoints for missiles on the wings.

Challenges and work yet to tackle:

• Pilot: whilst it's able to easily fit a technic minifig as pilot, they're not exactly widely available, and generally cost quite a bit. I'm thinking of trying to design a pilot from readily available parts to replace it.
• Stand: the centre of mass for this actually sits about 5 studs behind the rear panel of the centre section. At this stage, I'm thinking I'll sacrifice the centreline lower hull detail and have the stand mount from there. In a perfect world, I'd figure out a way to replicate the Cobra Bay launch harness and use that as a stand.
• Resolving conflicts in part placement/connection. Currently designing this in Studio, and there are still a number of parts collisions happening.
• Part optimisation: so far I've been designing without regard to part/color combinations, or whether a section using a 1x16 brick can be built with combinations of 2x8, etc. It's my intent to build this without having to resort to discontinued parts or particularly rare part/color combinations. An example of this is the transparent panel used in the cockpit roof for the lighting assembly. Originally this was going to be trans-red, so a standard white light LED could be used, but the combination was expensive and awkward. A change to 2 smaller trans-clear panels means having to use a red LED, but if not lighting, this section can be omitted without obvious consequence.
• Lighting: there's a company in Australia called "Light My Bricks" that have some very appealing looking kits to customise a lighting solution. I'm currently looking at 12 lights in total for the attitude thrusters, Between 8 and 16 for the main thrusters, and 2 for the cockpit, depending on the intensity of the lights. Chances are I'll need to design the stand to accommodate control boards, batteries, etc,instead of installing them in the fighter, but I won't know until I get my hands on some of this gear.

Finally, some stats so far:

Dimension: 91cm wide, 50cm tall, 50cm deep.
Part count: currently 5580, but will easily reach 6500, I expect, once the stand is included.
Mass: 5.4kg

Thanks for taking a look :)

Amazing detail. It looks awesome!

Thanks for sharing!

Keep Building!

[Dracoargenteus]

Hail @Captain_Quinn , hope life hasn't intruded too much on you, or unspecified sicknesses. Or at least, that's an assumption, I admit. I have not rendered my own instructions so I hope everything's going well in any event especially in these changing situations. 

How are you doing? And how goes the project?

Take care and be well!

 

[Captain_Quinn]

Thanks @Dracoargenteus. Work is busy (short staffed, heavy case load, welcome to life in Allied Health)... so finding energy to have attentive and productive output is the first hurdle.

I've been developing some artwork using Blender, and getting some very positive results, putting the final finishing touches together. So now might be the right time to share the following.

[manglegrat]

[Dracoargenteus]

Bloody beautiful, @Captain_Quinn, bloody beautiful.

I am both appreciative and apologetic for your work situation and I thank you for the update and tease. 

[Matze]

Where do you get the construction manual ?????

 

[Dracoargenteus]

@Matze hello!
We're all waiting for it. @Captain_Quinn has been working on it and also working full time.

The Manual is Coming.

 

[ElScoorpio]

This is Amazing !!! Cant wait to build it myself.

[Captain_Quinn]

ok, I guess with it being nearly two years since I previewed this MOC, and with you guys showing so much patience as I go through the process of making this worth the wait, an update is in order.

Assembly instructions... build sequencing, step rendering, optimisation and combining for multiple steps per page... from 1600+ pgs down to just over 400. Combined with overlays, pointers, guidelines, highlights, etc, and assembly notes to help understand the build process, this is approx 90% complete.

Parts lists... this is proving to be a bug up my a$$. At this stage, I'm seriously contemplating leaving the parts lists out of the main instructions and having them solely as additional XML, Text and Excel spreadsheet files. Graphical parts lists are nice and all,and previous feedback suggested a "List per section" approach, but I've not been able to find something that works and won't take up excruciatingly long hours to do properly. I have an idea that may be a good compromise between integrated sectional graphical parts lists and something external, but much more practical.

Stickers... graphics are mostly done. Contemplating a few small detailing stickers like maintenance labels, etc, but finding source materials to confirm these is proving challenging. The primary stickers will be the UCS Plaque, and the Dorsal Hull Art for a few select versions, and maybe some EA logos or Serial Numbers for the wings if I can get the sizing right. The first of these are ready to go to the printers.

Wiring instructions... this is another serious challenge, and my hat goes off to the likes of Mirko Soppelsa and his StarBricks instructions for how well he puts that element together. The simplicity of the wiring harness is one saving grace. It's just a matter of how to illustrate it's installation.

So, finish line is approaching. Any major revisions/ideas are being shelved for the next release (Yes, there is a variant release to follow that will incorporate updates).

[Dracoargenteus]

** MASSIVE APPLAUSE FROM THE EVER GROWING AUDIENCE **

** ...and some concern ... OMG variants at 9k+ pieces ... gonna need a bigger house ... **

or was I the only one thinking this??

[Matze]

On 4/13/2022 at 4:26 PM, Captain_Quinn said:

I wait with hope!!!!!

 

[Captain_Quinn]

Pending approval from the folks at Rebrickable...

So, here's the final tally...

436 pages (inc front and back covers), 250mb full color PDF with bookmarks and navigable links.

7910 pcs (according to Studio) or 7829 pcs (according to Rebrickable)... yes, there are some parts that combine and that is why the disparity.

Parts Lists in PDF, Excel/CSV and XML formats, in both complete build and sectional sub-lists.

Sticker set exclusively from Ultimate Collector Stickers, with a pre-release version of the Display Plaque sticker available on my Flick gallery for anyone wanting to print their own.

Once approval received, I'll post the links, etc in a new post... expecting around 48hrs, so just in time for the weekend :)

[Dracoargenteus]

I'm bouncing a lil too much here. I'll be back after I calm down.

[Captain_Quinn]

Details and links over in this thread: