Pinball Mod - Stern / Star Trek Pro Asteroid

[swinks]

I was going to keep this under wraps a little longer but I now figure I need some feedback and thoughts - print colour, paint effects, size etc. I will provide a link to the Stern - Star Trek mods so people can find this for the future and visa versa so people can find out about the development.


My idea is the new Premium and LE Star Trek both have 2 asteroids that appear to house lights in at least the lhs one. Unfortunately the pro misses out on this feature which just adds a visual effect. Therefore more for the challenge and a good reason for me to get back into 3D design and now 3D printing I have designed a mod for the lhs and will get a few parts for the rhs to start working on that.

I am not in a position to do the silver / chrome and black affect that Stern have done to their asteroids as just not artistic enough, but excuse the proto-type colour but these can be printed in a silver (light grey), dark grey or black and then I can experiment with some shots of spray paint to try and give the shadow effect. What do you guys think of colours / effects ?

The lhs asteroid is designed to sit on a hex post (still unsure of height 1-2 inch at a guess), with 1 single bolt holding the asteroid base to the post, then the asteroid drops on to the base and then a bally style bulb holder is installed but with the solder lugs folded for clearance with a bulb or a 9 led flasher is installed. Lastly one more screw fastens the globe holder, asteroid and asteroid base altogether keeping it a simple assembly and you will notice on the pro it has the plastics shaped to accommodate this mod = a removable mod  . You will notice 4 mounting holes in the mounting base - these are for the customer to choose an appropriate mounting position to suit their liking. Also in the centre is a larger hole for the globe lights to pass through. The other unknown is what power source to connect the flasher too but I will provide enough wire length to patch in to another source to get the flashing effect - this unfortunately at this stage will be left up to the people that buy the mod and share their work in fitting.

For the left side I will design a similar asteroid but it will slip over the existing globe on the post - but need to get a few parts to proceed with this..

2 photos of the LE and then the pro to show where this mod will go.

[swinks]

here is the design from a few different angles, also the triangular lines will not transfer to the finished item as these are more of a visual aid to show the contours.

I was lucky to locate a life size 3D model of a real asteroid that NASA had which was 1.5metres long so I kept the true shape and scaled down to approximately 60mm long x 50mm wide x 46mm high. I then did some 3D drawing to hollow it out to fit a base and clearance sections for the globe holder.

[swinks]

two more views of the asteroid hidden to show some detail and another showing sectioned through the centre of the globe bracket to show clearances.

And then there are 2 pictures of version 2 of the 3D printed alien green asteroid - yes the colour will change but need thoughts from you guys as will not do the chrome effect.
photo 1 is roughly what would face the ship and photo 2 shows the players view.

as for price, my goal is $40 for one or $75 for the set.

[Pintoxicated]

All looks great to me.

Well done mate.

[Homepin]

Excellent stuff!!

[goodolddays]

Looks great Jady 

[Pintoxicated]

Just as a matter of interest, how long does it take to 'print' something like this?

[ddstoys]

Looks good Jady.

    This 3d printing is amazing how solid are the things you print?   I might have some work for you if its solid enough to make Playfield posts ;)

[swinks]

thanks for comments guys, I have ordered dark grey filament and some parts from RTBB to start on the rhs and do v3 of the asteroid


I did this at standard quality which is 0.20mm layers and with 10% fill - meaning it does a hexagonal honeycomb print inside and the shell is 2 layers thick. The asteroid and base did take about 90 minutes as I wanted to ensure some strength. The beauty is you load the file on a sd card and start working on the next design. Yes not the fastest but it is surprisingly strong and it would cost more in materials and time if you had to mould these etc, I tried something the other day at 100% fill and it is very strong - almost needing a hammer to crack or do any damage so for a unique playfield post it would not be too bad time wise and cost wise and material wise a few cents.

In addition lots of colours to choose from with some cool glow in the dark filament and coloured semi-transparent filament.

[Pintoxicated]

The semi-transparent filament would be interesting to use.  I assume you could do some sort of lighting effect inside it which would be good for things like coffins, cars, planes/ships, the asteroid and the list would almost be endless. 

[swinks]

a few people on pinside decided it did not look like an authentic asteroid, so just thought to share the info here as I did there, not that you guys are questioning but you might be interested

I found the model drawn by NASA but to firmly prove to the non believers that the design is based off a real asteroid

check out these links for the non believers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(33342)_1998_WT24
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/1998wt24.html"

[Homepin]

Pinside is poorly moderated and the trolls KNOW they can do anything they like - it's a waste of space and that's why you NEVER see Stern posting there and even JJP very RARELY posts there.

They lost me as well FWIW

[swinks]

yeah I hear you,

I have dark grey filament coming this week and will give that a go and if someone launches their asteroid product before I do - so be it, I will just launch mine on Shapeways and then everyone can get one at a good price from them in metal, or what ever plastic they want.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

I like your modeling, doing great after only having the machine for a few weeks

Asteroids probably look like many different things
any model will look better once it is properly painted

[swinks]

I like your modeling, doing great after only having the machine for a few weeks

Asteroids probably look like many different things
any model will look better once it is properly painted

yeah alien green isn't helping but will try some matt grey / black paint over an alien green one tomorrow just to see.