Just quickly edited the springs. What do ya think?
2 Likes
Good point. I was wondering how people would take it apart if the cylinders weren’t removable.
Some of my model engines do separate like how I modeled it (“Here’s how it looks” above); wonder if that’ll be too impactful for any bolts for the cylinders to last long?
The springs are looking great, I ｗould love to see the engine up to full springs with all the casing, springs, and valves working!
1 Like
Memoir 01
2024-01-08T21:30:00Z
Today, I experienced a vision. I was driving north from Chiba on Route 16 at night. I was on a break from my job so I decided I would be open today and just went on a 2-hour drive, turning around halfway. I started at 1:30 AM. It was cold and the many facilities alongside the road were turning their lights off for the day.→
I always loved roads with 2 or more lanes. How large the scale is is impeccable. The straights go on for miles and the turns are so smooth. With such a scale, I can begin to see something in the sky. Something round and long, like a baby’s maracas. If I ever saw a god, that’ll be it, lol. Slowly turning in the dark sky. It’s as if the straight road extends up into the sky. I’ve never driven there, but Japanese Natl Routes by default look similar. The semi-countryside, the many big companies, and franchises off to both sides… Without all the tourist attractions, they’re practically all the same. And they all connect, that’s something.
→The many places I’ve been to a long time ago come back into my vision, placing themselves onto similar things I see in this moment. Many different lights, occasionally turning the whole scene into daytime just for me. And through those memories comes a different kind. Oh yeah, I’d been listening to music! I was listening to Ocean Machine by Devin Townsend. Notably from 3.“Night” to 9.“Regulator.” Everything lined up there. I was fading into my dreamworlds. Connected through a portal, once again.
Different kinds of architecture pass by, all of them all too familiar. The road going downwards and up again, it’s such an epic sight to see. So straight. Like a long ribbon with someone on the other end twisting it. You want to see where it’s heading, but can’t quite. My vision twists into the altered world I’ve been creating ever since I was a child. My huge chunk of “those kinds of” memories melt into itself once again, as I override its colors slightly. I’ve once again, even if for a very short time, become a nomad. I was meant for this. All this getting used to, all this misunderstanding, for what I excel at. For what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Associating things and sorting them out on a large scale. Adding them to my gooey clay up in my brain. Digging up and refining their shape to my liking. I want to be a child again. I’ve brought what’s left of him… But I’m no longer the person I used to be. For once in a long time, I’ve felt time passing by; in a fresh and good way, making me feel like I’m living in the real world again, allowing me to feel reality just as I did a pure human.
And with the music, the coldness became soothing, all the trucks running alongside let me be a little inefficient, while I got my rainbow cupcake to eat…
A lot of my dreams have roads… This was one of those times they all interconnected. Such a trip to be on, and only I have the ticket… During my time in my dreams, I always wanted a best friend to come with me you know.
Tbh the first quarter of the road was the best, but that was enough to carry me through the day.
Okay, more on the music. Ocean Machine has been my favorite for going to places in Japan. There are many Japanese references, the best of them imo being the “Arigatougozaimasita” as he says “Goodbye” in the song “Voices in the Fan” towards the end, as he makes a decision. Such an eccentric depiction, I thought. A Japanese person is being formal even in the dark times, even at the very end of it all. A perfectionist of a country this is. Of course, this is only my take.
I first listened to this album when going over to Kansai on a bullet train, and that sold it for me. Btw, I think he’s on the Tokaido Shinkansen in this album, based on the announcement also heard in “Voices in the Fan,” “We will arrive at Tokyo Terminal in a few minutes.” I was also on the same line of Shinkansen since it’s probably one of the most popular.
Most times it just hurts too much to listen to since I associate it pretty deeply with my experience in hospitals and with dreams of healthcare facilities in general, so I reserve it for these darkest hours. It really is something for me.
Btw, yay! Devin Townsend’s albums access granted on Spotify for me!
Such an experience today. Like that action-cam footage from somewhere adjacent. You don’t expect it to be that great, or in line, really, but it just ends up in the right place. Where you want it.
And finally, as I faded into my daily schedule again, I started to lose sight. My desired life was fading away, memories now going far away with what remained turning into stone, crumbling down.
As I continue on this path of no self-justification to even be here, the duration of my dreamings gets shorter and shorter all the time. I can only hope for light again.
Goodbye, sweet dreams. Goodnight, my worlds. I know, it’s time.
As the end credits rolled, I couldn’t help but realize where I was headed again.
2024-01-09T00:25:00Z
3 Likes
I connected the cylinders with the block.
Thank you @thorn for your suggestions. It’s helping a lot!
Gonna split at the ridge at the middle of the crankcase.
5 Likes
YES, definitely an improvement!
You could:
- Split on that loop that you have there. If you do that, be sure to add a ridge/flange that would bolt the 2 halves together
or - Leave as-is, and add a oil pan below
For 1 vs 2, it’s sort of personal preference, either would be ok.
on the springs, just saw you Q:
Just quickly edited the springs. What do ya think?
Width looks better now. I’d still double the count. ALSO, i noticed you narrowed the width on the start/end curves of the spring - nice attention to detail there.
1 Like
Oh definitely!
Thanks! Always want a flat ground for precision machinery.
Will do more coils.
Thanks again!
1 Like
Also, on this (sorry for the multiple replies, my mind is all over the place):
I was wondering how people would take it apart if the cylinders weren’t removable.
They’re inserted/removed from the top of the bore. You remove the oil pan/housing, unbolt the caps of the connecting rods, then push the cylinder up through the hole. Installation is in reverse.
1 Like
Ah, I see now. That makes so much sense.
Thanks!
Dream Car 01 Engine .6
2024-01-10T22:37:00Z
First, I worked on @thorn’s suggestion to move the engine block seam down to the crankcase:
Then today I overhauled the valve area:
The current movable distance of the valve is restricted by the rocker’s pushing core not being able to rotate, and failing to track the valve’s movement. The confirmed push distance is only 10mm (Which is half the movable distance of valves without considering the springs). Is this enough? (I couldn’t find much irl refs). Might need to overhaul the rocker.
Man am I tired of small mistakes that I need to revert back over 100 editing steps…
Took 3 times the time to get to this stage, I’m tired.
Thanks for the suggestions, helps a ton.
6 Likes
8 to 10mm seems fine for a v8. of course, different v8’s, different pushes… a small block chevy, for instance, goes 9.5 to 14mm, depending on the cam lobe ratio.
1 Like
Thanks!
Looking at animations and stuff, looks like 10mm is more than enough. It’s a four-valve after all, and the valve holes aren’t too deep.
Very interesting subject, and numbers!
2 Likes
Dream Car Engine .7
2024-01-11T19:26:00Z
For reference: Valve pushable distance
Worked on the rollers for the camshaft:
The dual-roller setup is for off-setting the camshaft to get 2 different push distances. Or, if I find a defect in that fragile offset design, or if I get too lazy, well, at least it looks cool!
I found out that Blender gets increasingly inaccurate if you’ve worked on the same file for a long when putting the 3D cursor on a median point while selecting 2 or more verts/edges/faces. So I put a vert where I want the 3D cursor to go, and then it’s a lot better. These are the times I started to want a CAD program instead of Blender. Another thing for me is that you never have the option to “invert” the way Subd works. It works by shrinking the mesh, but why not the other way around? Like a solidify modifier. Or to have the option to set the spawn radius of a circle for instance, from edge to edge, instead of the vert-to-vert option we have.
Subd amplifies the effect of the circle not actually being the radius I put in at spawn. It’s screwing my modeling process: base the size of say the inside of a bearing from the rod that’s Subded that it’s going to slide on. But how big is that? CAD it is.
Is there a formula to know just how much the Subd affects the mesh?
Anyway, I’m actually pretty happy where this is going. Finding alternate ways to work with inaccuracy has made me more sensitive to my own mistakes I make, and also keen to those defects seen from object view (it’s harder to see).
2024-01-11T23:04:00Z
5 Likes
Less reality, less purpose
2024-01-21T03:17:00Z
I have been off Blender, just can’t make myself do it. Been thinking about a single thing and it became my full-time task. Mundane ness of thinking about just one thing for days has restricted greatly my mental capacity for other things; I cannot but narrow down my view of the world, leading to problems that octopuses have when they don’t get any toys to play with - eating their arms off out of boredom. I can no longer comprehend what it’s like to live a full life. I can’t tell if I’m happy or not, nor if I’m in an unhealthy state. I’m unhinged again from reality; as I think more about the past, that’s where I start to live more and more often until it becomes the world around me. How am I supposed to even consider my current situation without an optimal view of the future? I’m pretty positive about the current situation, which I also cannot comprehend. I know I’m in a dangerous place, my friend nearly “took too many pills” in this state, and it’s not the first time I’ve had something like this. And because of the countless contradictions I’m making within myself due to a lack of self-care, I’m caring less and less on a physical level. Purpose in life gets obscure and worthless.
I failed to convince my doc to strengthen my meds. I lack the feelings of being down deep when I’m in a non-familiar place, and the difference in my mental state makes my mind forget about all the details about being down that matter most. I haven’t followed through with my medical procedures; again because of how much I change during the day, it’s hard to keep a decent enough reason to keep doing things that are necessary to me. I’m suddenly happy from a realization that I look totally fine in a crowd of people, and I suddenly don’t need any medical care at all. And the next moment, I suddenly realize how many aspects people have in their lives and that makes me envy and also lose hope at an incredible pace. My perspective can be quite narrow, overtaken by the sheer amount of thinking something close; it’s still quite a journey to what I actually need to think about. I think I have a fisheye effect. I can see my focus in detail, but my “greed” to see everything at the same time makes even the remote thoughts seem close to my focus and connected directly.
I say I don’t care, I’m convinced I don’t care, and I’m really not caring. What is making me go through this mundane substance? It’s like the moon pulling in waves onto the shore. As water tries to find its place at equilibrium, some cruel force drags it in once again. It’s a cycle. And I’m not enjoying it. What is my moon? Well, I can say that it’s a lot of things, mostly people who I cannot seem to understand (therefore fear). I think too much and I don’t know how to rest. My options get narrower each time a realization kicks in. Am I really just one person?
2024-01-21T03:56:00Z
3 Likes
Drawing 01
2024-01-21T19:14:00Z
I actually did something else yesterday.
I drew a creature head. Niice.
Blue pen, A4 copy paper.
My destructive nature kicked in when I started to draw lines without much thought. Thoughts are the last thing I need right now. But, it turned out fine, I generated a concept!
Been watching David Attenborough’s narrations on sea creatures to heal myself, and had an urge. #7 was the first one. I just started to draw from left to right, and naturally just made some space for the eyes as I went along. Couldn’t be more satisfied for a few minutes of drawing.
Just wished I was here to appreciate my creativity.
2024-01-21T19:23:00Z
4 Likes
Dream Car Engine .8
2024-01-23T13:01:00Z
Camshaft & Camshaft Bearing Clamps
I’m back at it again, good sleep and music has spared me some time. I healed greatly by admitting that I lost the battle with myself. Like a mirror, my inner self gets more aggressive the more I get anxious to try to fix things “in time.”
I enjoy doing blender you know. It at least feels like I’m going forward, whatever that is.
7 Likes
Looking good, have no idea what those pieces are because I am not a car guy, but it is looking like it is fitting in nicely with the engine.
1 Like
Thanks!
It just holds the rod in place.
I think it’s supposed to be molded with the engine block, but whatever. I like it in little pieces lel
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Little pieces are good. Makes modeling and good topology much easier.
1 Like
2024-01-24T22:36:00Z
I got Covid. The testing kit I bought at a home center a year ago told me that with two lines. It’s like a cold, but with the heat. 39.5 degrees centigrade when I woke up feeling hot. My eyes felt like they were trying to get out of their hot sockets.
Dispite the heat, I still felt cold inside my bed. I guess the definition of hot raises to 40 and anywhere below the “fighting heat” is considered cold by the body in this state. Joint pain, heat, and it hurts everywhere else, but surprisingly not many coughs or headaches or runny noses as I had during the common cold.
I had visions during the cold that tormented me in my childhood, but those aren’t present anymore. I’ve grown I guess, but without feeling half of the symptoms, I can’t say for sure.
I had been relatively weak since childhood, with the common cold hitting me almost every year. My rhinitis didn’t help, and my walking around with dexterity didn’t come from painless trial and error. I had to maneuver around the creaking planks with much care to cause less pain. Dreams I had during these times has always been something else.
4 Likes