I ordered an extra WFC cannon adapter for optimus because I wanted him to wield 2 cannons at once, but the piece doesn't fit well in the other arm. If someone wants it I'll take $8 shipped for it which is what I paid.

It's an awesome upgrade and it doesn't require any painting or finishing.

 

Have you tried adjusting the two screws in the forearm?

 

Didn't try that, but I made other plans for my second megatron cannon

 

Here's another finishing option for the paint-adverse. I did a few tests tonight, and it would appear that Rit dye works very well for coloring Shapeways plastics. I applied black and orange dyes to 'white stong & fleixble' and 'transparent detail', and all four samples worked very well. The dye when applied to the 'transparent detail' plastics look very sharp and saturated, while less so on the WSF. The WSF I dyed black looks much, uh, blacker than what you'd get ordering WSF in black directly from Shapeways.

The method I used was very simple and completely unscientific. I first soaked the pieces in water for a few minutes -- I had heard this helps them take dye later on. Then I mixed about half a cup of water with a pinch of dye and mixed it. Then I put the pieces in this cup, and microwaved it for 5 sessions of 15 seconds each, without any breaks between sessions. It may vary by microwave, but at the end of these sessions, my cup of water had begun to bubble. At this point, I took the cup out and let it sit for about an hour for the dye to soak in to the parts. After the parts looked like they had absorbed the dye, I soaked them in cold water, again something I heard helps lock the dye in, before running them under a tab to check for dye bleeding out. The results are below, and actually look very good in person.

So basically, it's 75 seconds of microwaving followed by a hot water bath and then a cold water bath.

I'm probably going to rebuy a bunch of parts to finish like this, since it's much less of a hassle to do than spraypainting, and I won't have to worry about the paint scratching off. *sigh*

 

I'm releasing a new batch of items. Ordering information is in the first post of this thread. Please read each description carefully.

Prime Axe: A two-part set that includes an axe and socket connector. It's designed to fit over Classics' Prime's fist. The socket is rotationally symmetrical with a small intent to avoid the cab kibble on Prime's arms. The axe is a separate piece, which allows it to pivot. The axe/socket connection should be tight, but the toleracing is a little different for strong&flexible and detail materials, so you may need to apply nail polish if it's too loose.

The photo below shows a clear detail axe with Tamiya clear orange spraypaint. Dying it orange with Rit dye will produce a similar result.



One small caveat: this set will scratch the paint on Henkei Prime's fist. The damage is small, and difficult to see since it's dark blue paint on black plastic. I am going to try to make a version of the socket that contains a 5mm peg, to avoid chafing. Classics Prime, Ultra Magnus and Nemesis Prime all have unpainted black fists, which should be unaffected. I cannot comment on any other versions of the mold.

Energon combiner adapter: I finally got this to work, after two modeling errors and delays. It allows you to connect an Energon team leader with limbs for Energon leader Optimus Prime. The socket side needs to be broken in a little bit, but once it is, it attaches very securely. The male side for the limbs also fits very snugly. One order from Shapeways gives you one adapter, just in case people don't want arms and legs.

Please note: because Energon leader Prime has the knees, using his leg limbs with Storm Bolt/Steamhammer/Barricade will remove knee functionality.







Megatron flail/morning star/whatever: A large (loltoobig) pointy ball-and-chain with a 5mm peg. My intent it to eventually order it in clear detail, and dye it magenta, so match the smoothness of the axe. I'm going to look into resizing it, but if you want it now, it's available. Fun fact: the entirety of the chain can fit inside the hollow ball.



G2 Prime backpack: This is a selfish project, and a little pricey, but since I've actually made some progress that I'm happy with, I'm opening it up for anyone who wants it. What you have here is a backpack that simply drops on to the Classics Prime mold. The hump stores the electronics from the "TFC Gear of War 2" Alternity gun attachment, uses two of its batteries for power, and two of its screws for its battery cover. It provides a subtle backlighting for Prime's lightpiping. In addition, it features two 5.2mm peg holes for G2 Prime's missile launchers.

Note: these are too large for conventional 5mm weapons, without modification. I am currently experimenting with clickly joints, so I'm going to see if install some sort of pivoting, ratcheting weapon mount points. The backpack is not cheap, so I'll see how far I get before prototyping becomes too cost-prohibitive.

 

Those look awesome! I really like the idea of the backpack.  

 

I'm adding one more item to the shop tonight:

Protector insignia plate: slots into the chest area, between the flames and engine block. It sits snugly, but not so snugly that there's a risk of paint scratching off of the engine block. I'm selling this in a set of three versions, as you can see below. The first is slightly embossed and contoured to recieve an Autobot faction sticker. For reference I've included specifically which type of Reprolabel will work, or equivalent. The second type has a small Autobot logo sculpted in, which you would then paint (better than me, hopefully). The final version is a simple plate which can be adorned with whatever you can think of.

-edit- I have also added another embossed plate, to receive an 8mm sticker (the second row on the reprolabels image below).

I had ordered a set of these in white detail, but it was accidentally left out of my last shipment. I think a clear Autobot logo on that would probably look the best.









I have also designed a sniper rifle for Perceptor a la Last Stand of the Wreckers. The design is just about complete, but I'm only going to release it when Generations/RtS/United Perceptor is released so that I can size it correctly. I think it's a little on the big side right now.

 

Oh, those look great! The logo plate for the Protector armour's a really nice touch. The one with the raised insignia could probably be painted kinda by stamping it; applying a thin layer of paint to something flat then pressing it against the logo.

Just as a thought, it might be an idea to do a multipack of the Energon connectors as well as the single. If somebody actually does want to order four of them in WSF, then it'd be nice for them not to have to pay the start-up fee four times over as well.

 

Thanks for reminding me about that. I think what I'll do is offer a 2-pack and a 4-pack, since not everyone is going to want 4, let alone pay for 4.

 

I see alot of g2 backpack talk... And it looks cool and all, but am I missing something? I've never seen a backpack available for g2 prime

 

The backpack was an electronic gimmick that came with G2 Optimus Prime. You could attach his missile launchers to it.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2296666845_d5dd86d770.jpg

 

Damn I have that toy, never knew that big ol thing did that lol. Great work

 

for some reason the protector plate link wont work for me

 

I actually forgot to turn on the order page last night! I'm also going to add an additional plate to accomodate a smaller insignia sticker. The link will be up and working within the hour.

-edit-

I've updated and reuploaded the model. Just waiting for Shapeways to verify it.

 

Digging the Protector chest piece.  

 

WOW! the new stuff is just amazing! I hope the Shapeways remuneration to artists is good, because I think this is rapidly going to become the new "3rd party" hot spot!

D/L

 

Shapeways remuneration is basically whatever you want it to be. You upload a design, set a markup (if you want), and they'll pay you the markup when somebody buys it. It's pretty cool like that. You can charge as little (well, you can charge nothing on top of Shapeways' own fees) or as much as you like.
They do provide a brilliant service.

 

Hi process, how do you choose how much paint goes to mix in the water? For example in 100 ml?

 

Depends how thick the paint is to start with, really.
Personally, I'd recommend diluting it to about the consistency of single cream; you want it to be liquid enough to flow nicely, but not so watery that hardly any pigment takes. It takes a little practice if you're new at painting, but you'll soon find the right proportions.

Best bet is probably to put a little paint onto a pallette of some kind (an old plate is good; I often use one of those plastic wallets for binders, with a sheet of printer paper in it), and mix in a little water at a time (just wetting the brush a bit, and mixing that in with the paint) till you think you've got the right consistency.

Hope that's helpful to you.  

 

Thanks, but not for paint, but for process' cup-of-water-into-the-microwave method I was talking about