The Castafiore Emerald - The Supercolor-Tryphonar
Yorumlar
36 25 April, 15:50
Greg Baker YazarSo here's an interesting Tintin project I've been working on for a while now. The hardest part was getting the electronics to work. After beating an ESP32 microcontroller into submission I was finally able to get my tiny screen to display the video/audio clip I trimmed from the Tintin animated series. With that success, I moved on to 3D design of the awesome Professor Calculus invention, The Supercolor-Tryphonar (as seen in the Castafiore Emerald album). Next up... 3D printing and assembly.
In the meantime, here's the proof-of-concept video...
youtube.com/shorts/U..?si=u-ootNYEMdGWY8cm
4 25 April, 15:55
Greg Baker YazarThanks guys! First batch of files just came off the 3D printer. Will need to make a couple of adjustments to the screen size, but it's looking good so far. Also, I knew the steel bar supports were going to be too small to print properly (they warp while they dry), but I've got a bit of metal screen that I can cut into strips. Hopefully will look better and actually support the thing.
1 26 April, 19:25
Greg Baker YazarOk, so all the main pieces are off the 3D printer and I've cut the metal sheet into the straightest strips I could manage. It was quite difficult to bend it tightly along a single line. Much thicker than a regular PE part, but hopefully will look the part.
I had a lot of difficulty getting the electronics to work. I followed another maker's project (there are several versions of the ESP32 Mini TV projects on YouTube), but it was both a hardware problem because none of them seemed to wire up the screen's backlight, but until I did, I had not even a flicker. It was also a software problem because the library code was out of date, so I needed to go backwards to make it compatible, which led to other problems. Anyway, I vowed to use my Easter long weekend to either solve it for good, or give up forever (yeah, right!). After sourcing each of the issues one by one, I finally got it to work. Next is the assembly!
1 28 April, 04:05
Greg Baker YazarWelcome to the show everyone!
First round of painting is done. After drilling out slots for both the USB power hookup and the microSD card slot, I also used some of the leftover MDF planks from my Unicorn project to add a bit of thickness to the base.
29 April, 15:29
Greg Baker YazarIt's coming along. Getting the wires strung through the workbench was a bit of a challenge and I managed to crack it. Luckily it's on the back, so I can cover it up with a bit of "aesthetic paneling". I'm also hoping no one notices that I somehow managed to glue the front screen cover to the shroud slightly crooked. Using CA glue... with a fistful of wires... made it a bit challenging due to the "get it right the first time and no adjustments" aspects of that particular adhesive.
2 May, 15:35
Greg Baker YazarI just realized something terrible… it's out of scale. I scaled the TV and the workbench to the screen. I knew the screen itself was actually too big to be "Tintin album accurate", but I forgot to account for the difference when I designed the "add ons" and left them relative to the screen. Now Professor Calculus' workbench and various other equipment look like they're made for double sized giants!
I can't believe I didn't catch this sooner… and now I can't un-see it… damn!
1 3 May, 06:05
Greg Baker YazarBack to the drawing board… after another round of printing, I have some new -in scale- parts. I also took the opportunity to make a slight change to the shape of the screen. Round two!
3 5 May, 13:43
Greg Baker YazarI can't compete with you on skill... so I have to dazzle with cheap electronics tricks~ 🙂
I've also learned my lesson on Scalemates. My first instinct was to try to convince myself that the scale error wasn't a big deal... but then I knew Spanjaard, Alec K, Erik De Smet, Matthew A, or someone would talk me into fixing the problem... so I just tore it apart and started reprinting the items I screwed up. 🙂
2 5 May, 16:34
Greg Baker YazarAnd just like that, we're almost back to where we were. I was a little worried about feeding the wires through a much smaller workbench, but with a bit of careful threading I got it done. Much happier now.
2 6 May, 15:16
SpanjaardI never did that! or did I? 😄 😄 mostly you usually do it to yourself 😉 looking great Greg, as usual 🙂
6 May, 17:50
Greg Baker YazarI know... usually you just say "Oh, it looks good" but I know what your REALLY mean... 😉
I thought I'd just skip to the end bit this time and save us all some trouble. 😛
1 7 May, 02:08
Erik De SmetI missed captain Haddock in the video, but I can see in the last view that he managed to get there in his wheelchair. Brilliant project , Greg.
7 May, 09:08
Greg Baker YazarThanks Erik. That wheelchair is a pain to print. It's so delicate and full of support marks that need sanding, but somehow I've managed to have to build it 3 times for separate projects. So the captain had to just pull up a chair like everyone else in the meantime. 😉
2 7 May, 13:38
CuajeteIt's not a very good distance for viewing such a large screen. If I recall correctly, the recommended minimum distance would be about five times the diagonal of the screen... But you can't ask so much from science fiction and eyes that aren't real 😛
I like this project more and more, Greg! It's great 👌
7 May, 18:12
Greg Baker YazarLOL Cuajete. That's great advice that I think they should've followed. The viewing experience is a bit intense... and this is what the audience looks like afterwards.
[img1]
3 7 May, 18:17
Greg Baker YazarThanks S M and Aaron. After fighting with a bunch of bent metal I gave up and decided to use some polystyrene to build the under-screen support. It's not as accurate but sometimes you just need to go with what you've got.
I'm also not happy because I managed to make a small white "dot" on my screen when I accidentally touched it with my soldering iron. Sigh...
13 May, 16:05
Greg Baker YazarThere's almost as many wires on the outside of this thing as on the inside! 😉
14 May, 14:14
bughunterWonderful painted in your special comic style - a great project in all aspects 👍
1 14 May, 21:55
Ben MAmazing the amount of stuff that comes together in this project! Microcontrollers, 3d printing, Tintin...
1 15 May, 12:57
Greg Baker YazarThanks everyone! I appreciate all the support. Only a few more wires to attach and a couple of faces to paint. The next set of pics is likely to be the final glamour shots~ 🙂
2 15 May, 15:19
mschweryThanks to this post I came across your collection of Tintin models. Very cool and inspiring! One question I'm very interested in - did you draw and print all the figueres yourself like Haddock's wheelchair?
15 May, 20:28
Greg Baker YazarThanks mschwery. Yes, I designed Haddock's wheelchair myself. If you want to know more about my various projects, you can check out my blog - strobez.ca/wp/index...1-72-scale-projects/ for more background, etc. You'll need a password for the Tintin section. Surprisingly, it's "Tintin" 🙂
1 15 May, 20:59
Album info
Professor Calculus' amazing and psychedelic giant television screen from the Tintin album, The Castafiore Emerald.
