New printer arrives in a week or two. Once I get it all set up this will be project #1. We'll see how it turns out.
Big enough to hold plane + base + sleeved maneuver deck + pegs.
A concept I'm working on...
New printer arrives in a week or two. Once I get it all set up this will be project #1. We'll see how it turns out.
Big enough to hold plane + base + sleeved maneuver deck + pegs.
No offense, and top marks for effort and it looks very nice but would it not make more sense to have a box for two planes like the duel pack? If you could make a place for rulers, maneuver decks, damage cards and markers then you would have a complete travel set to take with you on your trips.
I have a larger case I transport the planes in. These are to replace the original boxes, which no longer fit the sleeved maneuver decks. I'll probably do another separate box that holds the damage decks, tokens, and rulers.
An interesting project... what materials would you use for the case? Also, how close to the top plane would the lid of the case sit (how much wiggle room for the mini)?
Will print them out of PLA. It's not as strong as ABS but it's a whole lot stronger than what they ship in from the factory and easier to work with. Wiggle room will be 2-3mm in each dimension. Even with that it's likely to cause less damage to the planes.. I've had 5 broken by constantly taking them in and out of the packages, either by people pulling on parts they shouldn't (yes, I bend the tabs, but sometimes a plane gets stuck), or by people dropping them when trying to get them out. Can always line the plane area with felt, if necessary. With calipers I could probably shave that down to 0.5mm or less, specific to each aircraft. Just depends on how much redesign I want to do for each plane.
Sides of the lower are 1mm, base is 1.5mm and top of the lid is 2mm with 1mm sides. That's a good solid chunk of plastic encasing the plane. I'm new to 3D printing so it will probably take me some time to really zero in the exact design, but overall this is fairly simple. It will just come down to how close I want to shave the dimensions for the plane.
Last edited by kalnaren; 01-02-2019 at 19:36.
Cool. Though I agree that a two-plane box might prove more functional, I do like the idea of a hangar for the one you're bringing to play.
I'm interested in following your project as it develops... wonder what your per unit cost will end up being once you've completed all the R&D work?
They are good looking boxes.
I like the look of these!
Will the pilot/paint scheme be marked on the lid (so you don't have to open each one until you find the particular one you want to use)?
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Great idea.
I could do with something like that for Sails.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
That's a great point, Rob. There are a number of storage options out there for Wings, but not really all that much for Sails beyond the original packaging. I'd be interested in something that permitted safe storage and transport of a small number of ships... probably would increase the probability that Sails gets into the rotation.Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte
Another idea: Add a little cushy foam to the the plane-storage part of the box and it will protect against damage due to drops, impacts, etc. A block that fits the area between the wings and the tail will probably suffice, with a slice down the center to gently pinch the fuselage sides.
Those look slick. Just finished jamming mine into various shoeboxes for overall storage (in the original boxes) but I agree with you on the point where they can even break with the tabs folded in. Hope it works well for you!
If someone wants to send me some SoG ships I can design cases for those...
In all seriousness, I'm reading all the feedback you've all provided here and like some of the ideas. Lining the airplane bay with thin craft foam (like the 2mm stuff) would probably go a long way in protecting the planes.
I wasn't considering differing the cases for each pilot.. I don't really want to do a separate lid design for each as the design time would be excessive, but I'll consider alternatives (perhaps putting the base on top of the cards, with a "window" cut in the lid so you can see which plane it is).
I was planning on 1 case per plane, but a friend mentioned that the print time required would probably be excessive, so I may consider doing a more efficient design. This one waists a bit of space.
Got the printer and I've been spending the last week or so learning how the thing works and the peculiarities of FDM printing.
I've re-designed the boxes a couple of times but instead of doing solid boxes I'm considering just designing new inserts for the stock boxes. I store and carry my planes in these things:
So it makes more sense to print new inserts for the boxes, at least for me. Saves on print time too.. a full box + lid would be in excess of 8 hours... times the 75 planes in my collection.. and that's 600 hours of printing
Did some prototyping. About 1mm clearance on all sides -enough to put some craft felt in there and keep it from banging around.
Trying to figure out how to make the holders fit the same footprint as the stock boxes without wasting a ton of material or doing an unreasonable print time.
Last edited by kalnaren; 01-20-2019 at 08:43.
Very neat idea Cody.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Hm, 3-D printing storage boxes. Great idea, entirely rep-worthy.
Perahps you only need small "L"s at the wing roots/fuselage junctions, not the large "L"s you have. You need to hold the plane in place, not protect the entirety of the plane. Would that not save a lot of material over a few pieces?
Something likethe RED sections in this image?
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Can't do it that small as it has to be attached to the rim at the bases, since I don't have a solid base. I'm also not sure I'd want to make those pillars much thinner from a structural integrity standpoint. This thing is fairly strong right now. Though I could do some gaps in the middle, that might help. I'll play around with it. I could redesign them a bit to use less material, but the bigger issue for print time is vertical space + starting/stopping for gaps in the layers. A solid box with 4 walls would actually print really quick.Perahps you only need small "L"s at the wing roots/fuselage junctions, not the large "L"s you have. You need to hold the plane in place, not protect the entirety of the plane. Would that not save a lot of material over a few pieces?
Something likethe RED sections in this image?
This one isn't too bad right now, about 2 hours.
I'm working on something for that... need some measurements and to decide how many ships to make the case for.
Hmm... maybe do a four-ship case (two per side) for Proof of Concept, then iterate all the way up to a full 24-pack--the concept is that the case folds in half like a book and when closed multiple cases can be latched together, but when opened you can use it to display your ships without ever needing to unpack until you're playing 'em.
Wings of Glory WWI Checklist | WGF Nexus Ser. 1-4 and Ares Ser. 1-2 + 5-9 COMPLETE, RDS 4/4, Specials COMPLETE - missing T&T Starter Nieuport
Wings of Glory WWII Checklist | WGS Nexus Ser. 1-2 and Ares Ser. 3-6 COMPLETE, DS 4/4, SS 4/4, Specials COMPLETE; BoB Starter 4/4, all Sq. Packs 2+
I actually made trays for Sails, but the sold very poorly. I think my initial production run was like 25 or so, and it took me 2 or 3 years to sell those.
Looks very nice and safe to keep planes in. Now you have to have a box to keep all the boxes in.
You probably only need a six pack travel kit for when you play away from home. Apart from that maybe a four draw filing cabinet in a corner would suffice?
The concept I'm thinking of when unfolded would look kinda like a miniature china cabinet, but one section per ship and securely locking 'em in by the bases. It would very definitely not be cheap, more of a high-end "luxury item" that even IF it's possible would only be so because I'm doing the R&D purely for myself because I want them to store my own collection in--there'd still be a lot of hand labor to assemble even if I can get the pieces lasered.
Wings of Glory WWI Checklist | WGF Nexus Ser. 1-4 and Ares Ser. 1-2 + 5-9 COMPLETE, RDS 4/4, Specials COMPLETE - missing T&T Starter Nieuport
Wings of Glory WWII Checklist | WGS Nexus Ser. 1-2 and Ares Ser. 3-6 COMPLETE, DS 4/4, SS 4/4, Specials COMPLETE; BoB Starter 4/4, all Sq. Packs 2+
Lot of truth in that Gary. I have two big trundle workman's tool boxes with all my stores and they never get trundled anywhere.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
I would very much like to see your display case as it develops DB before I start my new storage cabinet which has been on the stocks for three years now.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Well, not exactly what I'd set out to create.... either way, 3D printers certainly have application for WoG.
I do like that card box Cody.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Yes, the card box is a winner!
Have you printed any more plane boxes besides the one the SE5a is in?
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
I haven't done anymore plane boxes. The design + print time makes them impractical, IMO. Unless I'm willing to do much larger tolerances.
Well I didn't get anywhere (again) with the plane boxes, but I do have a 3D printer solution for the maneuver decks!
Hard to tell in this light, but this is printed using wood PLA +silk copper for the lettering. Being wood, you can stain it darker so it actually looks like a wood propeller.
I recently (F I N A L L Y) managed to get my hands on SoG, so I can investigate this a bit.
Last edited by kalnaren; 02-21-2021 at 09:43.
I sketched out a single-ship-plus-deck cell in Sketchup with an eye toward building it out into cases, but couldn't figure out an optimal number of ships per case--my goal was big enough to hang multiples on a wall and display your entire collection like a curio cabinet, yet folding down small enough to stack together at a reasonable size for transport or shipping.
Wings of Glory WWI Checklist | WGF Nexus Ser. 1-4 and Ares Ser. 1-2 + 5-9 COMPLETE, RDS 4/4, Specials COMPLETE - missing T&T Starter Nieuport
Wings of Glory WWII Checklist | WGS Nexus Ser. 1-2 and Ares Ser. 3-6 COMPLETE, DS 4/4, SS 4/4, Specials COMPLETE; BoB Starter 4/4, all Sq. Packs 2+
Great work, Cody!
I like the printed boxes
In the end, I'm a big fan of the idea that the best solution is the one that works best *for you*. Keep experimenting, you'll get there.
Last edited by zenlizard; 02-25-2021 at 07:08.
Me as well. Are you able/willing to print for sale some Cody?
Very nice work is this for a 3d printer if so will you give out the files for other players?
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