YOW Shipyards

YOW Shipyards Pop Culture/Sci-Fi Ships, Props, and other fun stuff

I had to cut back all but two of my commission builds for various reasons. The two I still have on the bench have been i...
04/19/2024

I had to cut back all but two of my commission builds for various reasons. The two I still have on the bench have been in progress for a long time.

But.. good things for those that wait. Over winter I upgraded my setup to include a vinyl cutter, which I used to create paint masks for all the details that would normally be decals.

I also was able to cut window masks to ensure the windows are perfectly shaped masked for painting.

Painting these details provides a more realistic look and ensures there won’t be any yellowing of the decals over time.

I also taught myself CAD over winter which has allowed me to expand the amount of corrections I can do in this model, which includes more accurate deflector housing and dish, accurate nacelle ends (with lighting), shuttle bay with shuttlecraft, fantail beacon, and a boat load of parts specific to lighting.

From printer to paint! Jabba the Clause!
12/13/2023

From printer to paint!

Jabba the Clause!

Enteprise A impulse Crystal looking good!
11/17/2023

Enteprise A impulse Crystal looking good!

Final light test before it gets the clear coat and decals. The photo doesn’t do it justice but the four rectangular top ...
11/09/2023

Final light test before it gets the clear coat and decals.

The photo doesn’t do it justice but the four rectangular top saucer lights look amazing in person.

I’m very happy with the final top coat on the saucer. Decals happening soon!
11/08/2023

I’m very happy with the final top coat on the saucer. Decals happening soon!

The new printer setup is keeping the doors open during the Halloween rush.. These only take a few minutes to assemble o...
10/12/2023

The new printer setup is keeping the doors open during the Halloween rush..

These only take a few minutes to assemble once printed, but they take a lot of time on the printer. Or at least they did.

On my Ender 3 I could fit one visor body on the printer that took 2.5h to print. Then I could fit one grill on the plate that took 45min to print.

Now I’m printing 12 grills at a time and I can fit two complete visor bodies plus a half body on the new plate.

It’s going to take 6-8 months to get the new printer upgraded to where it needs to be quality and speed wise. The Ender 3 surprisingly still holds the crown there due to the investment I’ve made upgrading it. But I’m looking forward to making some very large ships next year once it’s running at peak.

For comparison the Ender 3 is a 225x225mm build plate and currently can do 0.08 layer lines reliably at 100mm/s.

The Tronxy is 320x320 build plate. Once the upgrade/conversion is complete, it will print 0.08 layer lines at 200mm/s reliably.

Another upgrade for the 537 Refit project. At some point this ship will be more 3D printed parts than actual kit. But th...
10/06/2023

Another upgrade for the 537 Refit project.

At some point this ship will be more 3D printed parts than actual kit. But that’s what happens when you have a terrible kit.

The 650 TOS-E and 537 Refit Kits are horrendous. And the downside is the work tends to go unnoticed. All of these upgrades turn the kits into what you see onscreen, which is what clients expect. They don’t see what came out of the box originally; a ship that vaguely resembles what you saw onscreen if you squint in low light.

Either way.. it’ll look fantastic when it’s done!

Sometimes when you’re in a particularly tedious and slow moving phase of a build you need to set it aside and work on so...
09/22/2023

Sometimes when you’re in a particularly tedious and slow moving phase of a build you need to set it aside and work on something that moves more quickly.

Today I pulled out Voyager and the Ent-E and started lining the internals with reflective tape to help bounce light around.

It’s a relatively quick and satisfying process.

I’m hoping to seal the primary hulls of both builds up pretty soon.

A few years ago a good friend, who is an electrical engineer, got me an Arduino starter kit for Christmas.. Because of t...
09/21/2023

A few years ago a good friend, who is an electrical engineer, got me an Arduino starter kit for Christmas..

Because of that little kit, I am now able to write my own code and program microcontrollers for all the lighting on the kits I build.. so I owe him a lot..

He has a RaspberryPi set up as a Nintendo emulator for his kids, so I printed up this Pi case and painted it up. I even included the classic yellowing of the cartridge door.

You don’t want to seal up a model and then find out shortly after one of your LEDs is faulty..So every build requires a ...
09/20/2023

You don’t want to seal up a model and then find out shortly after one of your LEDs is faulty..

So every build requires a lighting test. These will run for 24h straight.

09/19/2023

I was asked to keep a video log of the 537 Refit Build so I made this to test the GoPro setup

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321 Donald B. Munro Drive
Ottawa, ON
K0A1L0

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