iMack

Here's a few images from friday. The chemiwoods been cut and is off the machine. Working on some sanding and filling jobs around the edges of the hull. I used a very thin and tall spindle to get the best details on the boat on the CNC. The downside is the height of the spindle means there is some vibration sometimes at tough corners and leaves the edges not quite as crisp as you want. So straight out the CNC machine the model is by no means perfect. Getting her to fit together perfectly won't take long. Hopefully should be done this week. 
 
Otherwise I've invested in getting a 3D printer. Not the plastic printers but a resin based one. Much higher quality detail and I'm truly impressed by the machine. It's Formlabs second generation printer Form2. With this technology you must print at an angle. The way it works is - the laser shoots up into a vat of liquid resin, it cures a thin layer and then does a 'peel' mechanism separating the print from the vat. The build plate then moves up very slightly and proceeds onto the next layer. Models that are solid and very large tend to fail because the amount of tension is too much for the peel process. This print is the front of the cabin and I've hollowed it out (2mm wall thickness) so it uses much less material and becomes very light.
 

 

 

 
 
 

@dgbot: They are fantastic machines but your right at their cost they are too expensive. You can find small CNC machines for a few hundred dollars but the size it too restrictive. I've heard many people convert 3D printers into CNC's as it uses the same principles but a drill bit rather than extruder. 
 
@EJ_L: The prices will continue to drop for 3D printing until it becomes affordable. The printers are perfect for model railways. I am in fact running some testers for a friend of n-guage model carriage prints to see how they come out. HO scale is still a bit large for the printers currently as the price and time is still relatively high. I would fully recommend investing in a 3d printer, as you say - with the cad know how you have no boundaries on your creativity. 
 
The final boat parts have been on the CNC for the past week cutting away. A much slower process because of the density of the material, but the finish barely needs sanding. You can see from the images below that the spindle stepdown for the first 'roughing' pass is much more shallow. Cutting to fast - or too much at once the machine screams like a cat! I had some trouble with the part moving, so I had to drill a screw through the side of the hull to keep her steady. The only negative thing with this machine is the amount of wasted material cut away; which is why 3d printing or additive manufacturing is so interesting to manufacturing companies. The image below is how she will be cut in three separate parts. I've sliced the model near the waterline - as a clear acrylic sheet will represent the water on the final mode and fit right on the hull. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@yvesvidal: Thanks. Well they are both very different approaches. I attempted a scratch build POB model of the Pandora and it required such skill. I am in awe of the work people produce on here. Inspiring.
 
@michael: It's a fascinating way of producing models and it's the way it's done in industry for luxury yacht models. Some modelmaking companies will usually do architectural and marine models together. Very often if they are wanting multiple models they'll create a silicon/fibreglass mould so they can churn lots off. They would fibreglass the hull or brush in a polyurethane resin and use expanding foam to make it solid. 
 
@md1400cs: Thanks. I agree whole heartedly with you. It's already beginning with the arrival of that carbon3d printer. I have invested in a form2 to use for this project as some of the small details will be printed. I was in fact thinking of 'renting' out this printer. Means it's not idle when not in use and is considerably cheaper than 3d print websites. I printed a series of canons on another thread you may be interested. 

Cheers guys. I can't take credit for what Keyshot does. Magic program! Here's some more CNC-ing. 
 
As the CNC we have is 3-axes I have to flip the model around. If it was a 5 axis CNC machine I could do this without moving the model. Each cut requires a 'roughing' pass which looks like the image below. After that you run another file which is the 'finishing'. For flipping the model to cut the deck I had to make sure that it would line up exactly in the center which is why I had the image printed and stuck onto the piece of MDF. I'm using yellow-foam for the testers here. It's great stuff and cuts just like butter. My final will be done in chemiwood which is much more durable. This foam tends to dent very easily. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst this CNC is busy maching the parts it leaves me free (for the most part) to work on more detail on the CAD model. Here's what she looks like at the moment. Modelled in Rhino3D and rendered in Keyshot. I'm hoping to use these as part of my portfolio along with an animation of her sailing somewhere in the caribbean. I'll get that done closer to the time. I have a few more images of the CNC process which I'll get up soon once they come off the machine. 
 
If anyone is interested I generally keep my blog/journal page up to date on uni projects and there are some high-res images thrown up there too. 
www.imacke.com
 
Cheers
 

 

 

 

In the process of creating a 1:40 scale model of the oyster 885 for my university project. I've been working from some rather basic plans but I feel I've achieved to get the shape close enough. I was busy the past few weeks modelling it up on CAD and have it running on the CNC machine at the moment. Blue foam tester below. 
 

 

 

 

 

Today I can say I have finally finished this model. I'm very proud of the finish and it has been an absolute pleasure to build and work on. Would love to make another larger motor yacht next time using similar processes and machinery. There may be a couple more small details I'd like to add before I send it off. I will be transporting this model to London for my final end of year show, so it has to survive a 4 hour road trip in the back of a van. I've built a custom crate for it and will start getting some foam cut so that it slots into place. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Cheers, 

Today I can say I have finally finished this model. I'm very proud of the finish and it has been an absolute pleasure to build and work on. Would love to make another larger motor yacht next time using similar processes and machinery. There may be a couple more small details I'd like to add before I send it off. I will be transporting this model to London for my final end of year show, so it has to survive a 4 hour road trip in the back of a van. I've built a custom crate for it and will start getting some foam cut so that it slots into place. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Cheers, 

Wow! She really turned out looking great! Excellent job on the sails. Of course with all the fine work and effort you have been putting into her over the months I expected nothing less. Great job! I don't know what your grading criteria is but that is first class work to this community.
 
So now that I am guessing school will be ending, are you planning on taking on a new project?

Beauty

Thanks EJ. I'm very happy with how she is turning out. Lets hope I get a good grade for it.  
 
Fabric has arrived. I've printed on a faux silk and have ironed it onto some interfacing to give it a bit more strength and rigidity. It is slightly transparent with light from behind but the interfacing prevents most of that now. Having never sewed before I tried the machine out and inverted the sails. I'd already added seam space in the design to allow for this. I've masking taped them on just to have a look and I'm very happy with it. Now it's time to get them attached. 
 

 
 

Thanks again, I appreciate your comments EJ. I have a couple of details to add later this week and then I should be finished. I will be having a well deserved summer break and then find a job within the Modelmaking Industry in London. 
 
As for my next project, it'll take a while for me to settle into place. I'd like to try a traditional POF and hone my skills a bit more. Perhaps a cutter or similar sized ship to have some practise. 

Last evening and this morning has been spraying work. I spent a good while mixing the colours to get them right on and have gone with several thin coats of cellulose. A lot of the afternoon was just taking the extra time masking off the pin strips across the hull. I've done countless attempts - and minor kink or bend is really amplified. I'm happy with them now and here is the result so far. 
 
The next painting step is to spray a clear lacquer to get a very high gloss finish. This is probably the most important and difficult part of the spraying. Any dust particles will be quite obvious. Excuse the messy desk. The deck and windows are just slotted in - nothing glued yet. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
/Iain 

Cheers guys. 
 
@micahel: The chemiwood is much denser and slightly less accurate than the foam. The reason is the spindle when cutting tends to vibrate and leave a bad edge - whilst the foam is much softer. The machine is generally accurate to 0.1 of a mm. 
 
It's been easter break so I had some time off. This week I've been back at it working double time to catch up. I have designed and printed the keel along with the dual rudders. Deck has been re-laser cut and finally fits perfectly. I have had the boom 3d printed (first on a FDM plastic printer - the kind that splurges out plastic from a nozzle - and then the final with an SLA printer. It cures liquid resin with a laser) and soon ready to assemble. 
 
Preparing for a quick primer spray. 3D printed keel with a 8mm hole ready for a tapped hardened steel rode go through and into the hull for extra support. I will have the model sitting on it's keel on the base
 

 
 
3D printed boom tester piece just attached with a piece of elastic. Carbon fibre mast has been added and placed. The mast is hollow but I've filled it with a resin to help give it that extra strength. Also means when the boom is attached I can insert steel rods attaching it to the mast. Black vinyl has been laser cut and just placed on the windows. Won't glue them in until the paint job has been done. 
 

 
View from the under side. Twin rudders placed and holes drilled. Reinforced again with metal rods. Start of the rudder is in the works in this image as well. 

 
A side perspective of the yacht. Those hatches are looking spot on finally! I'm enjoying the elegant design of this yacht. I'll be going for the same colour scheme as I've done in the computer renders. You can just seem the in the image below. 

 
How she is looking at the moment. 

 
 
Cheers,
Iain 

I've been working on getting the decking correct using thin lime wood veneer. Having the CAD model means I can laser cut the decking out and it should fit perfectly. However it doesn't always. There are so many lock points with the hatches some of them are out by just under 1mm and it can be quite noticeable. The idea was to have the hatches flush with the deck - like they are in the real thing. I used paper prints to start off to try and scale it closer - and then tried the wood. I'll have to buy some more lime in and give it another go. 
 
In terms of using the Laser cutter we have 3 Trotec machines in the studio. These have just been added and no-one is sure of what settings to use so there was a fair bit of testing to get a perfect engrave and cut. Another problem I have run into early on was because some of the lines had not been joined in the CAD file it meant the laser would hover over a certain point for a millisecond longer leaving a brown dot. Check the images below. 
 
Half a dozen paper samples printed to scale. 

 
Paper samples on the model. Quite a bit of tweaking was needed here and there. 

 
First laser cut tester piece that came out with the dots. These lines on the CAD model have since been joined and solved the problem. 

 
Coming out of the machine

 
Here she is to date with the wooden decking just slotted in. This will be glued in at a later date once I've sprayed the model. 

 

 

 

 
 
 
You can see here the hatches not quite matching up. They are only very slightly out by maybe a mill. 

 
 
/Iain

Thanks again, I appreciate your comments EJ. I have a couple of details to add later this week and then I should be finished. I will be having a well deserved summer break and then find a job within the Modelmaking Industry in London. 
 
As for my next project, it'll take a while for me to settle into place. I'd like to try a traditional POF and hone my skills a bit more. Perhaps a cutter or similar sized ship to have some practise. 

Thanks EJ. I'm very happy with how she is turning out. Lets hope I get a good grade for it.  
 
Fabric has arrived. I've printed on a faux silk and have ironed it onto some interfacing to give it a bit more strength and rigidity. It is slightly transparent with light from behind but the interfacing prevents most of that now. Having never sewed before I tried the machine out and inverted the sails. I'd already added seam space in the design to allow for this. I've masking taped them on just to have a look and I'm very happy with it. Now it's time to get them attached. 
 

 
 

Thanks again, I appreciate your comments EJ. I have a couple of details to add later this week and then I should be finished. I will be having a well deserved summer break and then find a job within the Modelmaking Industry in London. 
 
As for my next project, it'll take a while for me to settle into place. I'd like to try a traditional POF and hone my skills a bit more. Perhaps a cutter or similar sized ship to have some practise. 

Thanks EJ. I'm very happy with how she is turning out. Lets hope I get a good grade for it.  
 
Fabric has arrived. I've printed on a faux silk and have ironed it onto some interfacing to give it a bit more strength and rigidity. It is slightly transparent with light from behind but the interfacing prevents most of that now. Having never sewed before I tried the machine out and inverted the sails. I'd already added seam space in the design to allow for this. I've masking taped them on just to have a look and I'm very happy with it. Now it's time to get them attached. 
 

 
 

Thanks EJ. I'm very happy with how she is turning out. Lets hope I get a good grade for it.  
 
Fabric has arrived. I've printed on a faux silk and have ironed it onto some interfacing to give it a bit more strength and rigidity. It is slightly transparent with light from behind but the interfacing prevents most of that now. Having never sewed before I tried the machine out and inverted the sails. I'd already added seam space in the design to allow for this. I've masking taped them on just to have a look and I'm very happy with it. Now it's time to get them attached. 
 

 
 

Been able to get back to work on the boat his week - inbetween making crates so that I can transport the model. I've added some railings that need to be soldered on and my sail fabric is on order. I'll pop up a couple more updates when it arrives. 
 

 

 
Cheers
/Iain 

Been able to get back to work on the boat his week - inbetween making crates so that I can transport the model. I've added some railings that need to be soldered on and my sail fabric is on order. I'll pop up a couple more updates when it arrives. 
 

 

 
Cheers
/Iain 

Been able to get back to work on the boat his week - inbetween making crates so that I can transport the model. I've added some railings that need to be soldered on and my sail fabric is on order. I'll pop up a couple more updates when it arrives. 
 

 

 
Cheers
/Iain 

Been able to get back to work on the boat his week - inbetween making crates so that I can transport the model. I've added some railings that need to be soldered on and my sail fabric is on order. I'll pop up a couple more updates when it arrives. 
 

 

 
Cheers
/Iain 

So i mentioned I'd get some better quality images up of the work so far. The molde photographs really well and once all the details, sails and rigging are on it'll come out a treat.