Presenting the Retirement Gift

Very nervous me as I explain to the whole department my little idea...

I present the project to the crowd and hear people gasping in amazement.

And then I go on to explain why I built this scale model as nobody is aware of my motive.

I call my colleague and friend Claude Vaillancourt to come up in front, he is suspecting something...

I never heard such a loud applause with me upfront when I announce that to the audience that it is a retirement gift on behalf of everyone, took me by surprise to be honest!

Me and Claude standing with the scale model and a real MedStation 4000.

Me and the MedStation's, very proud of what I was able to accomplish.

Photo Gallery

1st Drawer is a Mini Drawer.

2nd Drawer is a Full Height Cubie Drawer.

3rd Drawer is a Full Height Matrix Drawer with a Return Bin.

4th Drawer is a Full Height Matrix Drawer.

5th Drawer is a Bin Drawer.

6th Drawer is a Carousel Drawer.

Post Screen, displays for 3 Seconds.

 

MedStation 4000 Title Screen.

MedStation 4000 Login Screen.

MedStation 4000 Main Menu Screen.

MedStation ES Title Screen.

MedStation ES Login Screen.

MedStation ES Main Menu Screen.

Credits

Back of MedStation where the USB port, miro SD card, and screen image push-button are located.

Attaching the eDrawer to the Chassis

While attempting to glue the eDrawer to the Chassis I realized there was a small gap and things would not properly align. To my dismay, the wires from the Arduino Nano was the cause of the issue. I took out my Dremel drill and carefully made a notch on the right side. I had previously made a notch on the left side to allow the screen to fit properly and with all the drilling done everything fit properly! With some elastic bands I superglued everything together and let it dry for the night.

Installing the Electonrics

Today I completed installing all the electronics using hot glue to keep everything in place and installed two grey panels to cover up holes in the back where the micro SD card and mini USB port are located. Not much space remains with all that wiring!

Soldering Complete

After spending 2.5 hours last weekend to solder all the parts and triple check the wiring I finally completed the first electronics assembly. All that was left was to update the Arduino Nano software and update the SD card images. I was a bit afraid to destroy my PC but after taking a few precautions all went well!

Test Fitting the Electronics

Today I test fit all the electronics to make sure everything will work. I initially wanted to place a red led for the BioID and realized that the Arduino Nano was in the way! After about 10-15 minutes of trying to find a solution (and a bit of panicking) I realized that the Arduino Nano alreay has a red LED on the board and by pure luck, it was just beside the BioID lens position... A quick test confirmed that the light would emit through the hole! What a great solution, no soldering required for this small detail!

Retaining the Drawers

For quite a while I had been struggling to come up with a way to ensure the drawers would not fall out if the model was manipulated. My initial idea was to add a lip in the front of the drawer chassis which the drawer top back end would catch. While this did prove to work initially I noticed the drawers would droop down considerably. Not satisfied with the technique being used I decided to switch to using hooks and fishing lines. The tricky part of this method was to make sure each drawer would not extend more than the others... On several occasions, I had to redo the drawer lines but in the end it proved to work really well. As an added bonus I was able to make the carousel open only halfway like the real one.

Moving from Arduino Uno to Arduino Nano

While I have been testing the circuitry on a large Arduino Uno (68.6mm x 53.3mm) I need to move this project to a smaller Arduino Nano (43.2mm X 18.5mm) for it to fit inside. I also needed to stop using the built-in micro-sd card reader located on the LCD and use a dedicated micro-sd card reader so that I can position it in the back of the model for easy access. If I continued to use the LCD card reader than the micro-sd card would be sealed off and inaccessible. While it was not necessary to make it accessible I liked the idea of being able to make changes to the image files if I feel the need to do so.

Screen Bezel

After several revisions of the screen bezel I finally was able to get the perfect fit and tonight I wanted to see how the finished product would look like. I am so amazed at how this project is coming out! 

Cubie Drawers

I had been struggling for a while to come up with a way to make the cubie drawers. The real cubies have a small space around each one which separates each of them in the drawer. I tried 3D printing an outline to glue on top of the transparent plastic but I was not satisfied with the results since I could not print thin enough. I then thought of an old modeling trick which was to use a black marker to create fake grooves and this came out very well and simple to create.

eDrawer Test

With the mini drawers on the top glued in place, I tested my first version of the eDrawer to see how it will look. The eDrawer is the most complicated part which I know will require several versions before I am satisfied but seeing this first prototype sitting on the chassis impressed me!

Chassis

I glued the bottom faceplate, middle separation plate and painted all the gaps left when I glued the drawer chassis to the main chassis.

Matrix Drawer

Completed the standard matrix drawers, really like how the drawer rails pop out with the painted aluminum sliders.

Matrix Drawer with Return Bin

Finally completed the matrix drawer with a return bin. I decided to make the matrix drawer customized and not a standard layout. Also painted the lock mechanism on the return bin, small details to make the model more interesting...

Drawer Test

With the drawer chassis glued to the chassis of the MedStation, I inserted some painted drawers and added the spacer to the top. I am impressed so far with how this little project is turning out!

Drawer Chassis

After some testing, I decided to glue together the bottom four drawers to make sure they align properly and to make the model stronger. If I had known I think I could have printed this all one piece but than again the end result would have been the same...

Birthday

Today is my 40th birthday and what better way to end the day with a session of scale modeling!

Painting & Masking

All the parts require two coats of paint plus masking of the parts and clean up afterward. Lots of work and lots of fun...

Production Line

Been very busy printing and painting all the drawers, drawer chassis and chassis of the MedStation itself. My workbench is really starting to look like a production line...

Return Bin

Today I designed and printed the return bin that will go inside the matrix drawer. I created separate parts to make painting easier. These are the type of small details that I enjoy working on...

Quick and Fun

Today I completed the assembly of the two painted parts and this small project is complete. I applied three coats of Tamiya Metallic Blue (X-13) and Tamiya Flat White (XF-2) for the round and Model Master Jet Exhaust (4676) for the shell. For the shell primer, I applied Tamiya Flat Aluminum (XF-16) and for the markings located under the shell I used a black Staedtler pigment liner (0.05 mm).  I debated on whether I should add some ballast inside to make sure it does not topple but it appears to be heavy enough to not require any. Overall for my first project involving my 3D printer I am very satisfied with the results!

Print Complete

When I got up this morning I was anxious to check out the print job and it turned out very well. Due to the print height limitation I have of 15 cm, I was forced to slice in two parts the shell section (where the shell goes narrow at the top) and super glued it together. The fit between the bullet and shell casing required some light sanding but fit nicely together. I am shocked by the idea that the A-10 fires at a rate of 65 of these per second! What an insane rate of fire for such a large caliber! Next up is to go to the hobby shop and find some paint that will match the real thing.