E-11 Power Cylinders Research Thread (renamed from "3 Central Fuses...")

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

Oh of course - the other option is Blender - also open source and free. Actually go with that - bit more of a learning curve but a better result.

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

And here's a good thread on exactly how to import it:

 

http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/287/139

[PlayfulWolfCub]

Oo! Thanks Zero I've not tried Blender. I installed Google Sketchup but it didn't have a button saying "Insert 2D file here & press button for 3D conversion! lol I bet Blender doesn't either but I'll see if it looks any quicker Failing that I've got Daz 3D somewhere though I was hoping for something less time consuming.

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

No matter what it's going to be a little time consuming! You will have to each part separately as I said or you will end up with your 2D drawing just looking really thick but flat...

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

I have finally started making these.

 

after some wonderful work that troopers have done, I put together this pair

 

today for a blaster build I'm working on.

 

I'm working hard to make more of these!

 

 

of course it's not as cool as I'd make them next time!

 

changes to the top of the frame, perhaps even adding the center cap.

 

more detail for the front of the center caps

 

thanks to all who have shared data on this most intricate part!

Edited November 6, 2011 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[PlayfulWolfCub]

I put together this pair today for a blaster build I'm working on... of course it's not as cool as I'd make them next time!

 

Shiny! What did you use for the end caps?

 

& are you inviting comments on how screen-accurate we think they are?

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

I think they suck... but they're mine... so I can be negative! haha!

 

sure, it's just a model I made up today... hack away at the imperfections if you'd like!

 

I did a thread on the materials and dimensions of the model concepts that 'blastmaster'

 

shared with me in the past. the baseplate template, the brass rod from lowes, the nut and bolt combination

 

from hobby store and some patient dremel, tin snip and stone dremel grinder and I'm done.

 

I had the axel caps drilled out by a machinist since I didn't have the right tools for the job.

 

if you want dimensions and a parts list, I have kits available for sale in the sale area.

 

the fronts of the center 2 caps have rivet pins glued in place for the cap pins!

 

it took me about 2 hours to put this together!

 

E-6000 glue to the rescue again!

 

 

this photo shows a different set, with shorter center caps, and no wires into the baseplate.

Edited November 6, 2011 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[PlayfulWolfCub]

I think they suck... but they're mine... so I can be negative! haha!

sure, it's just a model I made up today... hack away at the imperfections if you'd like!

want

 

Dude, they certainly don't suck - tidied up & painted they'll look great. I'll be baking high-temperature paint onto mine. What are you thinking of using?

 

I had the axel caps drilled out by a machinist since I didn't have the right tools for the job.

 

Damn! I thought you'd found a pre-fab part I could use for them to save me time!

 

I'll keep posting my design progress so you'll see what I think is 100% screen accurate. That's probably better than commenting on your design. I'm really pleased to see the photos - I love seeing what other people have made & how

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

I used hillman axel caps for the ends of the larger capacitors. this is all thanks to blastmaster's input!

Edited November 6, 2011 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[PlayfulWolfCub]

I love seeing what other people have made & how

 

In that spirit, here's a photo of my prototype design - I'm afraid it not that easy to make out due to the containment field & strong security surrounding it at this stage! lol

 

[PlayfulWolfCub]

I used hillman axel caps

 

Cheers, Vern - I'll google them in a bit... I'm off for breakfast now

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

great thread andy!

 

you asked about paint..

 

ok... so the first thing I'd do with the paint job is to prime grey.

 

then I'd paint the assembly in flat black for an e-11

 

then I'd sand down to the real silver details on the end caps

 

to match.

 

if wires were to be attached at the rear, then you'd have to solder them to the

 

rear cap.

Edited November 6, 2011 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[Marv]

 

Cheers, Vern - I'll google them in a bit... I'm off for breakfast now

 

Andy another alternative are the caps that cover mirror screws. These are easily obtainable at B&Q and will sit on a piece of 10mm pipe.

[Marv]

With regards to the actual search I'm afraid it looks like the Marconi route is a dead end.

 

I received the following earlier today:

 

 

John,

I posted your message on the MOGS group and received the response pasted below.

 

I also received a direct mail from a former Technical Director of Marconi Radar who opined:

"This IF strip is not Marconi Radar nor from the Radiolocator series of the Marine Company. It does not look like a Marconi designed product at all."

 

I'm sorry we can't help you further with your research.

 

regards,

 

***

Here is the original email:

 

Hi

 

 

My first though on seeing those photos was that they might perhaps be of an IF strip or similar but that's almost as precise as my saying it looks like a box with valves in it!

 

I presume the comment.....

"It is thought that the pieces which are shown originated from a video pulse amplifier strip from a radar set operating at about 30MHz".....should really be interpreted as the pulse amplifier operating at around 30MHz, rather than the radar set itself? :-)

 

Despite the relatively modern B7G valve bases those photos look to be of something quite a lot older than the valve gear that was still coming through Elettra House when I was there in the early 70s.

The apparent age isn't helped by the condition but it's certainly not like anything I've ever seen before, either within MIMCo or elsewhere, and the construction style doesn't match any other Marconi valve gear I've worked on either.

 

From 1963 onwards Marconi Marine's head office was based at Elettra House in Westway, Chelmsford, where, as well as the offices, it had a Lab, Test Department, and Workshops, but it wasn't really a manufacturing company.

MIMCo's business was installing and maintaining the shipboard installations, as well as providing the Radio Officers who operated and maintained them whilst at sea, and most MIMCo kit was manufactured by the actual Marconi Co, MWT as was, with a variety of other suppliers, including Eddystone for radio gear, Raymart, think that was the name, from Poole for some later radar equipment, etc.

 

As well as the head office, MIMCo had depots in the major shipping centres around the UK and the comment about MIMCo being "based at Liverpool at this time" probably refers to the Fleetwood depot.

If similar kit was donated in the 70s then, again, that would suggest it was already quite old by then, and if it did come from Fleetwood it could have been removed from a vessel during a refit, which also raises the possibility that it might not have been originally supplied by MIMCo anyway.

 

Having said that, there are some interesting references to early Marconi post war marine radar developments, including an exterior photo of the Marconi Radiolocater, in "Forty Years of Marconi Radar from 1946 to 1986", a copy of which can be found here..... _www.radarpages.co.uk/download/p172.pdf_

(http://www.radarpage...wnload/p172.pdf) , but I have no idea whether or not that's relevant to this enquiry.

 

Regards

 

Disappointingly the referenced image doesn't show any internals of sets/equipment etc. On the basis of this last mail I really have no idea what direction to take now. I had hoped that this was going to be very positive.

Edited November 6, 2011 by Marv

[PlayfulWolfCub]

Disappointingly the referenced image doesn't show any internals of sets/equipment etc. On the basis of this last mail I really have no idea what direction to take now. I had hoped that this was going to be very positive.

 

Have you talked to Roy W. Simons on Roy_Simons@compuserve.com He's the guy on the right at the top of the page you just linked to. He joined them in 1943 on their research division. I'd say it's worth a shot as the guy who wrote back to you said he was there in the 70s, over 20 years after our unit would have been made!

 

I have quite a few leads working away in the background too so the search hasn't come to a dead end by a long way. For example, a really friendly & interested guy on UK ebay knows some retired men in their 80s who used to deal in surplus MOD equipment & will have seen everything from WW2 onwards. I think he likes a challenge & he's asked me for loads of photos to show the fellas. I reckon they'll get a kick out of trying to solve the mystery!

Edited November 6, 2011 by PlayfulWolfCub

[Marv]

Its certainly worth a shot

[lonepigeon]

I spotted the thread by happy accident while hunting speeder cap close-up images! It's like I had more success once I'd turned the targeting computer off! :luke3: lol

 

BTW - Not sure if it's been mentioned before, but the cylinders were used on the Y-wing targeting computer as well (not sure about the X-wing).

[PlayfulWolfCub]

 

BTW - Not sure if it's been mentioned before, but the cylinders were used on the Y-wing targeting computer as well (not sure about the X-wing).

 

I've never looked at the Y-Wing very closely - will dig out ref books & have a Google. Cheers, Chris

 

I've not posted for a couple of days since my initial flurry of activity but I've not lost enthusiasm for the quest - just got some family stuff to deal with. I've got some very exciting news about Bapty which I'll share in a few days once I've confirmed something! It's very cool!!!

[PlayfulWolfCub]

Hi guys,

 

I've not had much time for blaster research for a week or so but I've now sourced all the correctly-sized parts for my Cylinder Build :)

 

(Well, I say "all" but ultimately I'll be adding on the electrical components that they left on the back of the cylinders - that's prototype stage 2 though! lol)

 

The nuts & bolts are called 10BA (which I'd never heard of until I started asking around about this project). The end caps are 13/32" (10.318mm) diameter - they need their depth grinding down to 5/32" (3.969mm) but otherwise they're spot on). The brass tube is 3/8" (9.525mm). I think it'd originally have been aluminium but the brass is much cheaper & weighs about the same so is near enough while I'm still in prototype stage.

 

When assembled & viewed from the correct angles with the correct shadows they match up exactly with the MSE droid photos so I'm really pleased (especially that I dont have to hand-sculpt the rounded end of each end cap!!!)

 

I'm looking forward to making them & then posting a full thread about their design & development within the next couple of weeks hopefully.

 

Cheers, Andy

 

[PlayfulWolfCub]

BTW - Not sure if it's been mentioned before, but the cylinders were used on the Y-wing targeting computer as well (not sure about the X-wing).

 

You got a photo you could post or link to, Chris? I've had no luck finding one (I haven't gone through ANH frame by frame yet) though I've found an ANH Y-Wing with a Hengstler behind the pilot though (I'm just going on the photo's label - I haven't studied different cockpits so it might be another vehicle):

 

Edited November 29, 2011 by PlayfulWolfCub

[Marv]

Interestingly it looks like the gray metal (Hengstler)?

Looking forward to seeing what you've done with the cylinders, looking very nice so far. The caps are interesting what did you end up using there?

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

some of the bapty work was interesting,

one example is the london prop store version which I believe was put together by some batpy research.

they got a few details wrong on that blaster.

 

so do we still have the center capacitors available for purchase around here somewhere?

[Locitus[Admin]]

Just search metalmite on ebay and you'll find some. Don't think any of the "right" size are for sale right now though.

 

I know this isn't the right kind, but it sort of resembles the outer two capacitors.

Ebay-link

[PlayfulWolfCub]

Looking forward to seeing what you've done with the cylinders, looking very nice so far. The caps are interesting what did you end up using there?

 

I was all ready to fill a 13/32" brass tube with JBWeld & round off the ends by using my drill as a lathe but I chanced upon some 20A "Consumer fuses" in a little hardware store

 

They've got ceramic middles so are incredibly hard to cut - I ended up smashing them & chiselling out the ends with a screwdriver & hammer so they get a bit mis-shapen but they go back into shape once they're on the 3/8" tube because it's such a snug fit. I tried boiling them in water to see if they'd come off easier but they didn't. I've now got a diamond wheel for my dremel so I'll see if that makes the job less messy.

 

[PlayfulWolfCub]

some of the bapty work was interesting,

one example is the london prop store version which I believe was put together by some batpy research.

they got a few details wrong on that blaster.

 

so do we still have the center capacitors available for purchase around here somewhere?

 

Yes, there's no point using their repro E11s as reference for authenticity

 

These are the closest we've found to the central capacitors so far. Andy19422 found them & they're the ones I'm using They're not the "Metalmite" model & they're not "K" rated (which we think may be the military designation) but they are by the same company (TCC) and the dimensions are extremely close - possibly spot on

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220735560903?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649