Mission Control Project: 5 years on, what to do with the leftovers?

[Pixelhugger]

There are special concrete dyes and stains. These are different from the colorants you can add when mixing concrete.

I'm really not sure what the difference between the stains and the dyes are. I believe my friend used dyes on my floor, since (if I remember correctly) stains wouldn't work as well with the polishing. I could be wrong tho. They are pretty expensive. We decided not to color the whole floor blue, but had we done so it probably would have cost a hundred bucks wholesale. The stuff is about $90 per gallon.

[Pixelhugger]

Finished all marquee bending!! Both faces are ready for trimming to final size.

[nostrebor]

Why aren't you at work

 

[Pixelhugger]

Hehe. Well I am now. In fact, I just passed my boss in the hall and he said... "Oh! You are here."

Phew.

[Pixelhugger]

Here's the heater setup. Everything is upside down from the way I bent with the torches. This allowed me to heat the inner radius to avoid plastic pukering from uneven heat where the plastic was compressing during the bend. Or something like that. 

[Pixelhugger]

New outer face bent to existing inner panel.

[Pixelhugger]

The 1/4" inner panel is so strong it turned out the jig was unnecessary for this stage.

Here's the diffusing action of the textured inner panel in... err... action.

[Pixelhugger]

Spooning like the torch bent pair never could.

[Pixelhugger]

Big huge thanks to nostrebor for the strip heater loan. The collaborative nature of these boards... and the expertise and generosity of its members never cease to amaze me.

[ChadTower]

Are those actually going to sit right on top of another, possibly with the printed marquee in between the two?

[Pixelhugger]

Exactly. They'll be held together in a channel on the top and bottom, sandwiching the artwork between them.

EDIT: clarification and spelling

[nostrebor]

Big huge thanks to nostrebor for the strip heater loan. The collaborative nature of these boards... and the expertise and generosity of its members never cease to amaze me.

You are quite welcome. I'm glad that I could help to keep the compromises to a minimum!

(BTW, I still think the flame pics were cooler )

[AmericanDemon]

Nos, I truly agree.  You can't beat fire....  well visually speaking that is.

[danny_galaga]

Along the way we'll be staining the area outside the gear a deep blue, and coloring the area between the gear and rocket a coordinating color.

How does one stain concrete?

with oxides.

hey is it just me, or does pixelhuggers avatar remind anyone of BMW?

[DrewKaree]

hey is it just me, or does pixelhuggers avatar remind anyone of BMW?

Yes, it IS just you, but don't worry.  When we point and laugh, it's not at your expense.  Honest.

[Pixelhugger]

Just secured a much coveted and nearly impossible to obtain spot in the local woodshop lab. Work has stalled out on the cabinet without access to some of the bigger tools I need. I've been hoping to get away to my dad's to use his, but haven't been able since work forced cancelation of plans to do so in may. The lab starts sept 17th. Sooooo......

Best case scenario I can use my dad's workshop to get the side panels glued up and cut before then, allowing me the entire "semester" to do the rest of the cab.

Worst case scenario the sides will have to wait until the lab starts.

[nostrebor]

If you would simply move to Springfield, MO I would provide some shop space, and tools...


It's just a thought

[AceTKK]

no updates?

[Pixelhugger]

Wow thats funny, after such a long absence I was about to post an update last night then thought nobody would really be interested in the minutia so I didn't... thinking I'd wait until the woodshop lab started.

[Bones]

Pixel, Pixel, Pixel...

Thread is two years old, 12 pages long, has 459 replies, 20,000 views and all we have is a metal rocket, some second hand joysticks and a bent piece of plastic.

Granted this design is a piece of art (a design I happen to love), and I can only imagine the plethora of construction challenges you have had to overcome before starting, but something just ain't right here..... 

Time to get cracking.

[Pixelhugger]

Hehe.. I knew I was tempting fate by updating without construction. 

[Bones]

Hehe.. I knew I was tempting fate by updating without construction.

Like a man walking around in the rain wearing nothing but underpants made from sugar.

[Generic Eric]

Pixel, Pixel, Pixel...

Thread is two years old, 12 pages long, has 459 replies, 20,000 views and all we have is a metal rocket, some second hand joysticks and a bent piece of plastic.

Granted this design is a piece of art (a design I happen to love), and I can only imagine the plethora of construction challenges you have had to overcome before starting, but something just ain't right here..... 

Time to get cracking.

You forgot the alien on the floor

[pathdoc2]

It does seem to be taking an extremely long time to get construction started.   

[Bones]

As I said, I love the design. If Pixel wants to send me the plans I will happily build it.

[dema]

If Pixel grants my approval, I can show my incomplete prototype.

[DrewKaree]

If Pixel grants my approval, I can show my incomplete prototype.

Dude, no one here wants to see that.  Now zip up yer friggen pants and stop pestering us.  And NO!  We will NOT "pull your finger"

[armax]

show the prototype.  Heck, let's have contest to see who can build Mission Control before pixelhugger.  I've already started the plans....

[Pixelhugger]

Well I asked Dema way back when I gave him the files for the sides not to share pics until I had posted my own.

He has honored that agreement and I'd like to thank him publicly for that.    The sides will be the first thing I do in the woodshop class so it won't be long *ducks* I know, I know.

[dema]

Pixel was nice enough to share the file with me a year ago and I wanted to make sure all his efforts and labor wasn't in vain, so I agreed to hold off on posting any pictures until he completed his or gave me the go-ahead to show mine. I tweaked the design a bit to accomodate a rotating control panel, but it still has a similar enough design on the sides to where the homage is apparent. Mine is definitely not going to compare with the quality of his. No metal logos, fancy wood, or bent plexi. A lotta high quality wood putty though.

I'm currently putting the finishing touches on the actual construction, and then I'm going to take my time in creating artwork and then wiring the puppy up. When Pixel gives his blessing I'll show it off...and no Drew I'm not talking about my package or my grundle.

[armax]

Well given the pictures, it wasn't very hard to replicate  on blueprints.  I've completed a set based on the pictures approximately to scale with the lucid design.  I'll probably start cutting somewhere in late september (gettting restless after completing a supercade cab in July.  I plan on using ideas on this thread (already lined up a metal working buddy for the sideart and working with a glass business on bending the plexi).  I'm sure you'll finish before me (I've completion set around december).  It's a great design which I'm sure will spawn many replicas.

[Pixelhugger]

WHOO HAH!! That makes 2 replicabs! I'm not entirely sure what you meant by "to scale" with Lucid's design... is it a hybrid of the two?

[nostrebor]

I'm sure you'll finish before me (I've completion set around december).

How sure?


Pixel,

Aren't we about 10-15 days from class starting?

(Someone need to make a countdown clock for this thread. )

[armax]

WHOO HAH!! That makes 2 replicabs! I'm not entirely sure what you meant by "to scale" with Lucid's design... is it a hybrid of the two?

no, I meant in terms of size.  not a hybrid.

[Pixelhugger]

Sweeeet!

[Pixelhugger]

Woodshop lab has started. This first lab (following last weeks boring but mandatory machine safety lab) was extremely short (1 hour versus the normal 2 1/2 to 3 hours). I spent most of the time discussing plastic cutting issues with the instructor and trimming the marquee to it's rough vertical size. I had hoped to get the top and bottom edges flush trimmed and finished but ran out of time.

Sides won't be cut until October, so I'll be using the lab sessions up to that point for the parts that don't rely on the finished sides... specifically the marquee and its "lid" and bottom panels, the nav panel, the mini marquee, and the control panel.

Next week I'll finish the marquee edges and hopefully drill the CP. I plan on using the same technique for cutting and bullnosing my trackball hole that I used on my first CP... this time I'm going to document it though.

[Pixelhugger]

Because the plastic was bent at such extreme angles, I had to start with a much larger sheet so as it toenailed upward I would still have enough left to trim it to it's final size. You can see the angle I had to trim along the pencil mark.

[Pixelhugger]

This shows the actual shape of the marquee, it's real height (after trimming off a ton of plexi on the top and bottom), and how it will angle forward to loom over the player. Trimming the excess off the top and bottom dramatically increases the pitch forward when sitting on the table.

The marquee is still much wider than the final size. I won't trim this dimension down until I finish the top and bottom panels and install it.

[ginno]

Have you put a marquee in between in the sheets and put a light source behind it yet?

I used 2nd hand perspex for my marquee and once i put my black artwork behind it and added a light source, it showed up all the stress marks in the perspex.

Im wondering if the curve you have added has had the same effect, I hope not.

Cheers.

[Pixelhugger]

Yeah, I was very concerned about "crazing" (as one plastics guy put it). Thankfully, there are no visible stress marks or cracking whatsoever... though if I remember correctly those kinds of hairline cracks can show up over time. I used the same technique to bend plastic for a couple of small aquariums with significantly more acute angles/smaller radii and after 3 years or so they are still crystal clear.  I imagine it depends largely on how hot and how evenly the plastic was heated before bending... and I'd guess that cold bent plastic would be even more susceptible to this. I'm not familiar with perspex.