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 The_Blackadder wrote:

 Perfect Organism wrote:
How do you get the coils to wrap around the structure? Heat gun, or just slow pressure and a big curve to work on?

The 1/8th inch rods bend easily around the curve. but to increase the speed of production I bend the rods by hand around a one inch dowel first to impart a permanent curve before gluing. I am trying to cut down on waste by doing a quarter of the circumference at a time instead of bridging the gaps.

How will you hide the seam at the ends?

 Theophony wrote:

 The_Blackadder wrote:

How will you hide the seam at the ends?

All in good time. Right now I am waiting for material.

https://i.imgur.com/EVfuZjt.jpg


I'm not sure what you mean by seams?

I was talking about where one end of the rod you are bending meets the other end of the rod. Are you just so precise that they go together seamlessly (in which case I applaud your skills even more), or do you have another trick or plan for covering the spot.

 Theophony wrote:
I was talking about where one end of the rod you are bending meets the other end of the rod. Are you just so precise that they go together seamlessly (in which case I applaud your skills even more), or do you have another trick or plan for covering the spot.

The initial rod, the only strand in place now was installed as a single piece and is indeed precisely square to the lateral axis of the weapon. It is imperative to have this master coil square so the collars at either end of the coil will be perpendicular to the longitudinal axis otherwise they will look sloppy. Once I established this single precise strand each subsequent wrap will be made in four segments to save material with a single strand every inch or so to maintain the proper spacing. When I begin the wrapping process I'll show the interim steps to make this explanation visually clear.

The weapon has four channels running the length of the 'barrel' which is at odds with other plasma type weapons where the coils are continuous. These channels add a lot to the styling of the weapon and were added by the artist to mask the overall blandness of the coils if otherwise. I can see the need artistically but the design is compromised in the practical sense as the coils would build intensity and power with each wrap as would an actual linear accelerator.

Looking good BA
I need to get some of that plastic grid stuff you're using (if available over here).

I, too, was wondering about your choice of using 4x quarter-circumference sections for each coil wind.

Now I get it ... There will be no join, right?

You COULD put the 'channel' bit on top of the coil layer. Make it seem like they're contiguous underneath it?

Give a Hand:

Yesterday evening I got tired of waiting for material for the Plasma Blaster so I decided to work on the Claw.

https://i.imgur.com/AfXn5Uc.jpg


By this morning I got a fairly good start.

Hrm... I would suggest going with a different style of building here. Start with the fingers, and the joints, then figure out how you'd need to build the hand portion to fit them, I'd say.

I can't wait to see the final effect

Hands, Touching Hands, Reaching Out, Touching Me, Touching You!

You have to imagine these skeletal fingers cut down to proper diameters but for now we are going for size and flexibility.

https://i.imgur.com/lZteifU.jpg


I modeled my own hand for size

https://i.imgur.com/BnEPqx1.jpg


The first joint indicated by the axles will be where the finger joins the palm so three joints all together to the fingertips except for the thumb which will have two.

https://i.imgur.com/UqVfGp0.jpg


I may make the thumb eventually capable of crossing the palm but not for now.

And I thought you were going with twin plasmas ...

No, sayeth BlackAdder ... that would be "too easy"


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Huh... I broke my 200 on BA's Imperator build ... and am now a "Sniping Gŭiláng..." Whatever the fetch that is ...?

 War Drone wrote:
And I thought you were going with twin plasmas ...

No, sayeth BlackAdder

Ah but to be young and have a choice!

You can see with this subtle improvement that the grip will be more humanoid and organic (gratuitous remarks at this point are inevitable I suppose)

https://i.imgur.com/nBCMI0B.jpg

A Failed Attempt:

One of the duties of posting these updates is to show my failures as well as triumphs.

I've wasted a few days on trying to make the coils on this Plasma Blaster and I am not enthused with the result so before I try a different approach I'll show what did not work out.

https://i.imgur.com/kIFXXt3.jpg


I came up with a new idea that I believe will produce a better result and in the long run be much quicker to produce.

Once I have a good start on the procedure I'll post an update.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
This Is Definitely the Better Way To Go:

In the space of one hour I've exceeded the work of several days.

https://i.imgur.com/EadMMJl.jpg


Note: The rods are staggered only as a demonstration. When they are glued they will be flush with the edge.

Of course I shall have to bend these to the shape of the coils.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Bend Angle Radius:

The relationship between the strength of a material and the amount of curve that can be imparted to the the material before the fatigue point where it will crack instead of take the curve.

In aircraft it applies to aluminum alloys etc and the metal fatigues when too much stress crystallizes the area being bent to a point of material failure.

https://i.imgur.com/qGaviga.jpg


plastic is subject to similar restrictions. That is where we are now. How to impart a bend and not fatigue the styrene?

https://i.imgur.com/9rRdwgv.jpg


I am soaking the assembly in Tamiya Cement for the test tomorrow to see if I can get the parts to bend without fatiguing.

A judicious application of heat may be necessary.

Boiling water or a hair dryer should be all the heat you need, honestly. Actually, polystyrene takes well to hot-air bending- I once molded some around my hand for a school project, using a heat gun (and a kevlar glove so I didn't burn myself).

Win One For The Gripper

Or Fail to do so; it's the moment of truth when we'll see if my makeshift bender will work or not.

https://i.imgur.com/mpEkKz4.jpg


After a hiatus of three days I finally had the time and nerve to see if all my work was for naught.

https://i.imgur.com/GCK6X9J.jpg


I put a lot at stake with this wooden jig which in spite of its crude appearance is actually pretty precise.

All that needed to be done is boil up an quart of water and pour it over the clamped sheet of Styrene.

https://i.imgur.com/0jQKQbQ.jpg


In my moment of mental anguish all my better half could say is, "Couldn't you have Hoovered the Floor?"

I wish you the best of luck with your bending jig, and the current plasma weapon you are making. If the styrene tubes end up not working well for the coils, I want to share with you what I plan to use for titan scale plasma weapons, in case it could be helpful to you. The dollar tree has anodized aluminum floral wire that is quite soft, and flexible. It is a little under 2mm in diameter. Do you think that could be helpful in your build? (picture in spoiler)

 Syro_ wrote:
I wish you the best of luck with your bending jig, and the current plasma weapon you are making. If the styrene tubes end up not working well for the coils, I want to share with you what I plan to use for titan scale plasma weapons, in case it could be helpful to you. The dollar tree has anodized aluminum floral wire that is quite soft, and flexible. It is a little under 2mm in diameter. Do you think that could be helpful in your build? (picture in spoiler)

Spoiler:

My coils are 1/8 inch (3,2 MM) in diameter which lie within the parameters of the Sunfury coils (According to my calculations.) but I appreciate the interest and the information.

It Worked!

https://i.imgur.com/nPBdZAj.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/JRhAy7P.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/f4s5dUb.jpg

I don't know how you keep topping your previous work...that is awesomely amazing. So many amazing ideas and tips. Thanks The_Blackadder!

 The_Blackadder wrote:

It Worked!

Yes, it did ...

TBH, I didn't think it would ... I expected the coils to separate from the substrate when bent.

Should have know better

Bloody good work. You never fail to impress.

I'm glad to hear it worked! It turned out great IMO. Also, wow, even after following along for so long, and seeing the scale shots, it's still hard to wrap my head around the scale of an Emperor Titan done right.

Nice!

Now to just repeat the process yet another 7 times!

 Jin wrote:
Nice!

Now to just repeat the process yet another 7 times!

This is much too labor intensive. For the time being I'm only making one Plasma Blaster

I don’t blame you! It’s going to look spectacular though. And you will have the Big Hand to pop on the other side.

Finished!

Two weeks in the making but the coils are finally moulded. All the dire predictions were circumvented

https://i.imgur.com/6F25N1C.jpg


and judging by the on screen scale my estimate of 1/8 inch (3,2 MM ) coil rods was pretty accurate afterall.

https://i.imgur.com/k03OmcZ.jpg


The biggest problem is I overestimated the size of the gun. The onscreen gun is 18 inches (46 CM ) overall

https://i.imgur.com/QF2zA9j.jpg


Whereas my coils could work on a gun upward of 20 inches but I made the coil extra long to allow for selvage. BTW Nature does that on the DNA molecule and is the reason we age.

https://i.imgur.com/sA7NpvV.jpg


Suffice it to say I am pleased with the outcome.

“Blackadder: Making DakkaDakka bigger and better since 2008”

Now I want a bumper sticker saying it

Seriously impressive work. I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the picture of the original as I thought the coils wrapped all the way around in a 360degree circle . One of the many reasons that I cannot tackle a behemoth project like this .

 Theophony wrote:
“Blackadder: Making DakkaDakka bigger and better since 2008”

Now I want a bumper sticker saying it

Seriously impressive work. I guess I wasn’t paying attention to the picture of the original as I thought the coils wrapped all the way around in a 360 degree circle . One of the many reasons that I cannot tackle a behemoth project like this .

Yeah; I don't know how these coils operate either with huge gaps in the What! Magnetic Field, Inductance, Proton acceleration? but they do look cool as s*** and I can't wait to do the gap detail.

I'm still thinking that the side channels are overlays instead of inlays, and that's how it works.

Either that, or hidden in the middles are places where they loop back into themselves, creating a much more complex magnetic field to properly shape the plasma into a projectile.

No, they are recessed channels

 The_Blackadder wrote:


The biggest problem is I overestimated the size of the gun. The onscreen gun is 18 inches (46 CM ) overall

I would argue that if anything, you've underestimated it. The armaments on an Imperator are supposed to be substantially larger than those on a Warlord.

Also, as far as the coils go, on the warlord's gun, to me it always looked like it has 4 distinct set of rounded-off square-ish coils, kind of like the cross section below - the red part is the part of the coils you can see, with the blue part hidden underneath the "worky bits". Somewhere near the barrel of the gun, the plasma from all four coils are combined into the "projectile" of the gun.