Battlestar Galactica Mod

[Boddaker]

Thanks guys! An entire ship would take way too much time. Time that could be better spent modding! :p

Yes, the majority of this log so far has been "mere" model making. But I have a lot of things planned for the rest of the case that I cannot wait to get to.

btw, is there a good (and safe) way to remove anodizing from aluminum panels? I plan on gluing more ribs to the side panels and then painting them, and the glue doesn't stick well to the coated surface. I have heard that oven cleaner works, but I haven't tried it.

[p0Pe]

why not just nail them to the panel?.. make very small wholes and then a few nails:p

[Drew]

Thats just silly.

Nails indeed.

You want a welder!

Weld 'em on. Grind off the offending coating with an angle grinder and you're good to go. TiG FTW!

[p0Pe]

Thats just silly.

Nails indeed.

You want a welder!

Weld 'em on. Grind off the offending coating with an angle grinder and you're good to go. TiG FTW!

slight problem if hes gonna use plastik for the sidepanels as well

[Drew]

Easy.

Plastic weld.

Or as its properly called, hot glue

:edit:

Actually, that might work

[p0Pe]

Easy.

Plastic weld.

Or as its properly called, hot glue

:edit:

Actually, that might work

u think?.. on a metal side panel?... if so, it should be no problem

[Boddaker]

lol you guys are too funny!

Glue doesn't stick well to the existing coating, which is why I need to remove it.

I have considered throwing a clean sheet of alu over the panel since I'm changing the opening anyways, but then there's the issue of attaching that.

If I had unlimited resources, I could CNC me a new panel complete with ribs from one piece of aluminum stock! Now that would be cool.

[Jim Beam]

polyurethane sticks to metal and plastic try a product called Vulkem or Sikaflex. Some Home Depot's carry Sikaflex in the building department by the concrete and stuff. You can't miss it, it's yellow with red writing.

Note: polyurethane sticks to everything. it doesn't come off your cloths and may take up to 2 days to dry. I have glues Aluminum to the ground with this stuff and we had to use a forklift to get it off. Needless to say it tokk chunks of concrete with it.

[Mach]

I haven't tried it but my gearhead friends say sodium hydroxide - lye, drano, or oven cleaner - will work. Here's a tutorial, hope it helps:

http://www.fordification.com/trim-polishing.htm

EDIT: I wouldn't call this safe BTW. If you try it, goggles, long sleeves, and gloves are all required.

[Boddaker]

Working on the ends now, and into the interior of the landing bay. I am attempting to continue
the ribs around the edge of the opening and down the inner panel, as seen here in this reference pic.

I start by cutting the triangular panels to shape and gluing them in.

Then I can perform additional gratuitous styrene stick heat manipulation.

Since I need to perform the same manipulation on a number of unsuspecting styrene sticks,
I decided to make a quick jig. I traced the first stick's profile onto a piece of wood.

Routed it out,

Checked for fit,

Then routed some more so a straight stick could be set in place.

Voila! Instant SSHM Jig, where the bend is the same each time.

Now it's just a matter of measuring and marking for the position of each bend.

This is why I left the cross beams in place before. I wasn't sure where to cut them.

Now that I have these pieces in place, I can lop them off.

Rounded off and sanded down.

After a small application of bondo at the seams, I did some sanding and a quick shot of primer to see where I'm at.

Looks like there's a bit more work to be done here before the joints are no longer visible. Then its on to the other end!