I made more changes to the Wraith design, reloading it in LeoCAD and combining more bricks for more custom parts. Custom parts are the key point, I want to be able to build with things that aren’t “found in nature”. From here on out, I plan to demonstrate a lot of them.
The Maker I had my eye on has officially sold out which I believe in this case meant they are no longer available. Sadly this raises the limit on my upcoming Kickstarter as now I have no choice but to go for the bigger, badder model. The Replicator can print in two colors simultaneously, so water-soluble plastics could be printed out alongside the bricks as temporary supports, resulting in wicked-complex bricks that would otherwise try to fall over as I attempted to print.
Another great use of the water-soluble plastic would be a sort of Kinder Surprise deal; mystery objects printed off within a closed sphere (or any shape!) of the dissolving plastic.
Dragged an old model from storage, “The Agony”. I built it in, oh, 1997? 1999? I’ve never been able to really dust any old models effectively, the pegs get in the way. I dream of smoother shapes and vaguely aerodynamic wings, but of course with smoother shapes the models wouldn’t be able to stick together. Unless you custom printed smooth wings with pegs in only in exactly the places you need it for the model to work.
I also have always wanted a model just like this but in gold with red glass, “The Ecstasy”. Again, I can have that if I print it. We can all have it if we print it. Let’s find a way to print it!
It also occurred to me that there’s no reason to print off five hundred individual blocks for a mostly monochrome model like this. I can combine multiple blocks in my editors and effectively reduce a model this size (it’s more than a foot wide!) into maybe 6 big pieces depending on the size of the printer I end up with (upside). 6 big pieces that are completely useless trying to assemble any other model (downside). Or is it six big pieces that a clever modeler can use to make other models, a la classic Blacktron? I love the future!
Drifting derelict a light-hour outside of Neptune’s orbit, lost thousands of years ago in the Solar War and nearly invisible to the human eye, the Agony waits. The Agony, and her A.I. crew. Near Mars, a second ship comes out of warpspace. The Agony’s engines fire up without so much as a verbal command; the crew knows the mission. Nothing enters Sol, nothing leaves.
