The 3d printed result looks fantastic, my friend @michel-verschuere!
Again, kudos to your skills!

Thanks @fiveten, @johnb, @holzhamer! And @mikegolf, good to hear from you as well my friend! How have you been!?

Continued the work on the elevator cap today. Wanted to do more but work prevented so. Here is where I am at:
Hinges: Drew the basic hinges required to make the elevator cap door workable. First, I entered a few lines of 3D shape defining code in OpenScad, you can see this here

I like OpenScad because it is freeware but also because the syntax is rather simple. You can define basic 3D shapes and then build from there using logic operations such as union, difference etc. The result is an .stl file which is then converted into a printer ready code in .gcode. The .stl is read by Slic3r (also freeware) and this program generates the .gcode that has the main printer settings (nozzle speed, coordinates and temperatures) in it. This is the view from Slicer for the same hinge shapes (I need 3):

Now my printer is working for me as if it was my little slave:


On the elevator cap front: Lots of chiseling for the moment. I wanted to open the front hatch and had to work through about 8mm of polyamide. I drilled out the rough hole and then set to chiseling x 1000. You can see the result (and the dust, it really is just plastic dust, my name is not Tony Montana 😉 ) here


Will continue in the morning, refining the chiseling job and then sanding.

Happy modeling!

I really admire modelers who are adept at using 3D printing, Michel (@michel-verschuere). Having the skill and equipment to print parts really opens up new possibilities. Well done.

@fiveten @gblair @johnb thanks for your comments.
I have mixed feelings about 3D printing though: Sometimes it can feel like cheating for a scratch builder like me, but it does offer endless possibilities. I think it will be possible to print anything you like in high definition and at democratic costs (yet higher than kits) in the next years. I myself built my printer myself from a kit about six years ago. It has limitations in resolution but I learned a lot about the technique using it, so in the end well worth the money.

However, I can not hope to reach todays standards with that printer so I did the maths for me: Whenever I need a large shape well printed, I send it to a 3D printing service. You make the .stl and they convert it to the printer format. Then you pay (all online) and within a few weeks a little parcel will be delivered to your address! Like that, you can use an industrial grade printer w/o paying or leasing it. As for the resin printers: I know they have great definition and have become dead cheap but since I print only occasionally and don't feel like spending half an evening cleaning smelly resin after a print, I held back buying a thing like that.

That's a bit my view on 3D printing. Not really a threat for kit makers but maybe rather so for some aftermarket shops...

@fiveten, some already do. I notice more advertising by AM suppliers for short series on 3D printed parts, even figures! Must be Resin stuff...

Finished the chiseling job just now. My right index finger is completely numb, not to mention from clicking my mouse on this and others webites 😉 Must have taken me at least two hours yesterday and today as the polyamide is quite hard plastic and I have no electric tools for this job. The advantage of laboreous chiseling is that it DOES go slow so you can correct in time to arrive at a smooth and straight result. Talking about the result, here it is:

Remember that the aim is to arrive at the armored elevator cap you can see in these pictures:



Getting there but slowly...

I now glued the door shut with soluble PVA glue in order to turn to the hinge mechanism. When this is finished, the door will close perfectly straight that way (I hope).

Will keep you posted, happy modeling!

Michel.

Now here I fitted the hinges, the brass tube is just for the purpose of lining it all out. I cut the 3D printed hinges to length and then fitted them using CA glue. Looks ok, the hinge connecting to the body of the armored elevator cap is for tomorrow!

@skyraider3d and @michaelt thanks for checking in!

Happy modeling, Michel.