3-5-2010

Puttied in the hinge for the chest. Of course, I decided to do this BEFORE building up the portions for the shoulder hinges to mount, and since moving the hinge would disrupt the putty job, I have to wait for it to dry.

Therefore I started working on the hips. Before I started mounting things I thought to myself, the interior needs work. Sunstreaker just wouldn't be Sunstreaker without plenty to brag about, and two tiny door speakers just wont do it. Therefore I am extending the interior of the car back and setting up a place for some subs, maybe an amp and a nos tank....who knows!

Tip for tricky styrene gluing, buy a small pack of sticky-tack (for hanging posters) or a kneadable eraser. you can wedge it in, mould it, and generally give yourself that "extra hand" that's always helpful for gluing things at odd angles.

 

nice tip with the sticky-tack man, and great progress so far  

 

Full-tilt boogie, baby!

 

3-7-2010

Significant update!

The putty for the sub box did a good job of reinforcing the glue that was there and allowed me to shave things down a milimeter at a time until I got a good fit.

After a few test fits I marked the area for the hip joint. I glued a few thicker sheets of styrene together to make a good connection point. While that dried I used a needle file to shave open the hole in the bionicle joint so that a nut fit snugly inside. Drilled a hole through the center and set the bolt.

Drilled out the hole for the hip mount in the sub box. Mounted the hips in place. Shaved the bionicle capture joints down to fit within the steel U bar I have.

Proof positive that the carbide bits are the way to go: I bit that bit several times using the fastest speed on the dremel and took some serious chunks out of it. This is the same bit I've used so far for all of the metal on this project, and it still didn't shatter. Proof positive that it was worth the extra ten bucks. I've since tossed that disk and will be doing the final cuts with a new one just to be safe.

The engine will be split and serve as the detail for the upper thighs. Still working out just how I'm going to build the knee joints to work properly and have a good degree of motion in them. I'm uncertain if they will swivel at the knee yet or not. It should be the last complicated joint to build.

As soon as I finish the shoulder mounts and the knee joints it should be pretty much transform-able, and after that all of the fun work starts. I have soooo much more planned for this model, and the level of interior detail planned should blow you all away  

 

3-10-2010

Another productive day for the build! I had to learn to weld some joints so that the knees could rotate 360 and bend at both ends. The first one took forever, but the second one went much faster. The solder should hold well enough for me to seal up the joint with FixIt.

A few more holes and some cutting later and I have fully-functional knees!

Rubber washers secure the joints in place so that they hold their weight. Hopefully it's enough to hold the weight of the entire model.

With the legs set the overall height appears to be hitting right about the 12" mark, maybe a little more if the head sculpt goes ok.

The hips and feet are not actually attached yet. The foot transformation needs to be worked out a little and the hips will be secured when I mix up another batch of apoxy.

Pretty soon the armature will be finished and I can start mounting and sculpting!

 

This is coming together absolutely magnificent. Can't wait to see the Lambo parts on the frame. Nice to see your cutting bits only chip unlike how mine shatter and fly in my face  ) Gonna take your advice and buy the cutting discs you use.

 

Oh yeah...this is going to be soooo goood...Every update you put up just makes me more excited and inspired.

Yeah, I'm kind of worried bout the weight issue too. I see that you are using threaded bolts for the knees. Wouldn't they 'unscrew' themselves after a while?

Another topic; would you be putting in any lighting?

 

I'm excited (and a little frightened) of getting the lambo parts mounted myself!

So long as I am cautious with how much putt I use, weight shouldn't be TOO big of a deal, all three pivot points in the knees have rubber grommits wedged in there and hold quite a bit of pressure before they move. Keep your fingers crossed!

The nuts will be secured with putty. I was thinking about securing the bolts as well but I would rather have to tighten them once in a while than have it so permanent that I can't replace parts if needed. Since this is going to be such a detailed piece it wont transform often  

Lighting is a topic I've been looking at, doing both headlights and using EL (electroluminescent) wire to do underglow. The only problem I really have is that the elbow joints are going to be right up on the headlight cages and running wire there could end up being a problem. I'm going to wait until everything else is done before I tackle that.

I also contemplated using real speakers for the sub box and wiring it up so that it could act as an MP3 speaker set, but I think that will have to wait for a future model...  

 

holy crap dude, can't believe it. You're just like a great machine kit basher..

 

Awesome job so far keep it up! I'm also working on a mod using a metal chassis so it's good to see that it can be done. Any tips on the best way to cut the pieces up?

 

Thanks!   I hope that when this project is complete, I will get to continue in my favorite hobby and possibly start giving some good quality stuff back to the community!

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=EZ406

That, by far, has been one of the best money-saving pieces of equipment. That's the EZ lock set for the dremel. Allows you to hot-swap high-quality metal and plastic cutting bits quickly for getting the perfect fit. Other than that, a steady hand (keep the caffine intake low before cutting, or have a remedy nearby) and breathe, preferably with a face mask of some sort. Breathing shards of paint and metal is never a good thing.

Also, you may want a fine-tipped sharpie and a good soft-lead shading pencil. The softer lead will write on metal better, and the sharpie can mark parts that the pencil just cant go. I prefer to use the pencil though since it wipes off easily in case I have to re-measure or draw something on. As for cutting complex curves or in small spaces, a diamond drill bit and a tiny hacksaw (or jewler's saw) is a must, so that you can cut a small hole for the saw and then thread your blade through it.

Last but not least you'll need some patience. Take it slowly, because repairs are much more difficult and very costly in both resources, time, and solutions.

Any other questions, let me know! I'm always happy to help!

 

this is looking fantastic, will be watching this closely, brilliant!!!
colin

 

 


Quantum, I'm looking forward to reading about your experience with Aves Fixit. I have a lot of sculpt work to do as well and my first impressions haven't been too favorable, its a bit tough to use and get "just right"... thoughts?

 

Thanks Colin. It's great to have people take interest in my work, it keeps me going when I have a crowd watching. Otherwise I might procrastinate, but I'm the kind of person that hates to disappoint a crowd.

First off, great image! Second, I've been working with the Aves FixIt Sculpt for a little while now. I haven't tried any of their other products, but I can tell you a few things. For a good example of what it can do, see one of my prior projects: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/radicons-customs/284908-completed-pontiac-bonneville-decepticon-embelem.html That piece has currently survived rain, hail, about an inch of ice, three months of road salt and sludge, and then an automatic car wash without so much as a chip in the paint or clay. I have a lot of details in the WIP for that one as well, which can also be found in the link above.

Now for the helpful bits.

Mix small batches. Each of the two parts I use is about the diameter of a nickel, so that the combined batch is about the size of a quarter, and that's the largest I go. Most of the time I take it out of the tub in pea-sized chunks unless I am certain I'm going to cover a large area. Even so, the parts need to be as close to 50-50 as possible. If you're mixing a large amount, I suggest a good digital scale to help you get things exact. Since the Aves is cheap, spending the few extra dollars to get the most of your mixtures is paramount to your success.

As far as actually sculpting with it, it really depends on how you're using it and what you're doing. I've noticed that if the thickness of the putty is less than about an 1/8th of an inch, the strength is akin to starched cloth. However when you get past the 1/8th inch mark, it gets exponentially stronger and by about 1/4th of an inch thick you've got something almost as hard as steel.

Use plenty of water. I've done most of my sculpting with just my fingers, a needle tool, and a scrap piece of plasticard for a hard edge. When you use a few drops of water on the clay or dunk in your tool, the sculpting putty can get to the consistency of a really wet clay, or if you're familiar with the terms it's close to slurry or working with porcelain clay. Very smooth, very silky, but kind of hard to deal with. If you think you're over-working it there's a possibility you are. Let it dry for an hour and finish hard edges while it's starting to set up.

Don't force it to dry. Heating it up doesn't help. It cures chemically so you're not doing anything but disrupting this process.

Save the tiny details. Let it cure fully (I usually wait overnight, but about 6 hours is good for most applications). Once it has cured it acts like a hardwood. You are better off saving any kind of tiny details until after it's dry. You can carve wood easier than clay, and you have more control over the end result that way. Bulk out the main idea, and over-fill your areas so that you have room to sand and sculpt.

Dont forget to score the clay. Wet or dry, make sure you rough-up the edges of any place you're attaching new clay. I score slightly deeper when it's dry so that there are recesses for new clay to sink in to and provide a solid hold. Use water and mix a small amount of clay in to it until the water is white. Use the slurry to attach the two pieces of clay together. The FixIt will cure even completely submerged, so don't worry about your piece being wet.

Finally, FixIt sticks to EVERYTHING that isnt wet. My first mold become completely attached to the paper it was on! I've had the best luck on molds using household kitchen plastic wrap, but it can leave deep crevices.

Hope that helps a bit. Anything else you want to know, please ask.

 

that is simply amazing, I hope to be able to work on a 1:18 transformers as well someday (the cheapest 1.18 car costs here about 150 US and if I buy it believe me that I wont cut it)

 

I love the first pic with the sparks flying every where.

 

If I get to that size I won't be buying kits lol...It would be cheaper to be PURE scratch! 1/24 is hard enough as it is!

Thanks!