Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Deimos Proof of Concept

Good Morning Everyone.  Today I have a write up from the "Mad Mech Doctor." He is one of my overseas customers and has asked to remain anonymous.  He is currently working on BlaaR's Deimos mech and is doing this project as a "proof of concept."  The pictures he references are below and are in order. Please excuse any errors that have occurred as a result of translation. This is cool...

The model is resin, Masters are made from Ureol (PU wood), wood and
cardstock/platic. More or less I started this as a proof of concept.
Your blog inspired me.

I have a cutting plotter so I did some tests with Pepakura
to build some mechs. Works perfect. sharp edges, very accurate.

Then I read your post on Zealot and used your tip with sticky paper: Cut
the pepakura file in sticky paper, make some slides out of Ureol in the
right thickness and band saw / sand down the contour. Made in minutes,
very good results. As you can see on the pictures also angles can be
sanded down very accurate. Then glue the pre-masters together, make a
mold and cast it. Combine different pieces and set up the final master.
Detail photos show the imperfections, I have to work to improve quality.

The armor plates on the masters are also made from card-stock. You can
see the rough surface on the photos of the first assembly. As I said -
proof of concept. Now I will smooth out the surface before I put it together.

See the armor plates on pic 13. Made from card stock. Used without finish
the edges will fold "up". Better is to put Resin on the card-stock, press
it between PU floding bags and you will get a surface like Polystyrol.
See the square with round corners in the middle. Will do this next time.

The rivets are made from Card-stock (see the holes in the armor plates)
but later on I made a quick hack for a homemade punch and die set - now
the rivets are perfect. Will use it next time. Any other armor is pure
card-stock.

For the foot joint I have to use my mill. Bad planning in the beginning.
Next time I will build up such a thing from different slices, glued with
Elmers glue.

Now I am working on the upper part of the mech. The sides are too
complicate to do it with Ureol. Strange angles. I use now Card-stock in
two layers. The inner body is scaled down 2%, then I glue an extra
layer on it. Its like plywood. See the WIP photo. The blue one is the
outer layer - some parts are missing. But very stable. After finishing
the surface with primer I will cast it.

For mold making I use a silicone from CZ which is very good. I have a
homemade vacuum chamber for degassing and use the "normal" pressure pot
for casting. No problems with bubbles.

Spin casting will be used for the bigger side parts. See attached my
homemade version. Looks ugly but works fine. BTW: The trick ist to use
the right resin _and_ speed to get a uniform thickness of the walls.

Thanks for the interest in my work.

























Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Dougram Kit

Hi All.  A regular customer and contributor asked me to pass this along:

Do you if there's anyone in the club that might be interested in a 1/48 takara dougram ironfoot (thunderbolt)? I'm wanting to get 130 out of it. Complete kit, hasn't been started, and the decals are in good shape.

If interested, you can reach Nate at joseph.n.huff@gmail.com.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Overseas Shipping Costs

Recently, the United States Postal Service raised their rates...however, until today I did not know how bad it would be.  Overseas shipping has been the hardest hit with rates going up as much as a 100% or more.  For example, a package to France that would have cost $15 under the old rates just cost me $30.  So, all the Daishi kits that I shipped to Austria, Belgium, Australia and Germany just cost me a lot of money.  What would have been a shipping tab of around $50 just ran well over $100...and this does not take into account boxes, packing materials, time, etc.  I am going to have the same issue with the Victor as I charged the current rate when pre-orders were done....not this new rate.  So, I will have to incur a loss shipping the Victor as well.  I am not going to ask for the difference, as that would not really be fair to you.  Be aware, future shipping outside the continental US/Canada is going to be extremely expensive...probably about $35 per kit.  I apologize but there is little I can do about this.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

February 24 Update

Hi All!  Finally, a chance to do a quick update.  The final 3 Daishi's are packed and ready to go into the post tomorrow.  Thank you to everyone for your patience...I really appreciate it.  So far, the feedback from you all has been positive and everyone seems to be happy.  The Victor is at the casters now and I should have some pics from JPG Productions to show you soon. 

Not mech related, but I have had a lot of interest in the replacement part for the Star Trek USS Excelsior so that will be going to the caster this week as well.  I am loading Jimi with lots of work!

The top 2 mechs you all seem interested in are the Thor and Nova Cat.  That's a little disappointing.  I really want to cast up the Anni, but if there is not enough interest there, it can wait.  I really want to do a light mech....something that won't cost an arm and a leg.

More later!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Victor Pre-Order Closed

The Victor pre-order is officially closed as we have reached our mark of 15!  Thanks to all of those who support my efforts and those of others in the large scale B-Tech community.  The kit will go in the mail Monday...I have been doing a little more detail work on it this weekend.  Just little things that bug me...nothing major. The caster has guaranteed delivery in 60 days or less.

Next Project

Based on the Poll Results, you are interested in having the Thor produced next. I am debating between leaving it "as is" or retooling the upper legs/hips to make them more TRO-ish. I am gunning to keep this under $100. The upper body is by me...lower by Scott at the Messy Desk blog.


Since we are on a roll, I am going to post another poll to help me decide which mechs go into the production cue.

Also, in the future look for a BIG article from a builder in Europe...the Mad Mech Doctor.  Silly name but he wishes to remain anonymous.  He has been scratching a Deimos mech and has access to tools I can only dream of...and you can see it in the quality of his work.  It is incredible stuff. His "proof of concept" work will be posted soon.  There are some translations I need to clean up...and there are lots of pics.

Trek Project

I am looking at getting a piece cast to accurate the 1/1000 USS Excelsior kit.  The underside bay has long been a sticking point for builders, so I have built a replacement piece. I am thinking the piece will run about $20.  If interested, give me a shout...timfusco@hotmail.com. I may do a pre-order on this piece too.


Thursday, February 7, 2013

Last Call...Victor Pre-Order..and other stuff

This is the last call for Victor Pre-Orders.  The last day I will accept pre-orders at the special price of $125 plus shipping is February 15.  After that, the price will increase to the regular price of $145 plus shipping.

I am also proud to announce our new caster...JPG Productions.  Their work can be seen at Starship Modeler.  Below is a pic of one of their castings.  Welcome Aboard!


Got more Daishi replacement torsos.  I have been filling orders based on the date they were paid for.

And it has nothing to do with models...but damn, I am in love.  I may have to jack up the price of the next kit to cover the cost of this chest of beauty....



Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Victor ready for the caster

The Victor is ready to go out to the caster.  I have attached pics of the parts break down...I am really happy with this one.

The casters I am looking at don't want to do small runs, so what I am planning to do is pay out of pocket for an additional ten kits if we hit the pre-order mark (don't tell my wife please).  I will sell these later and to recoup the costs. However, they will sell for more than the pre-order price.






Monday, February 4, 2013

VIctor Pre-Order

The finish line is in sight!  Only two more slots to complete the pre-order process and the kit will go to the caster!

Order Now!

Kit Info Link

Pre-Order Detail Link.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Last Cougar

SOLD! Thanks to all who e-mailed.

When I did the final run of Cougars, I kept coming up 2 short.   I do inventory everything when it comes in from the caster so I know I got them. I went through shipping receipts and all my other documentation but could not find a trace of the last 2 Cougars.  This morning my wife brings me a box telling me she had it in her hobby room...she thought it was just a box of packing peanuts.  What's in the box?  Two Cougars!  Huzzah!  As a professional courtesy, I am sending a copy to a fellow kit maker which means I have one last Kit. $100 gets it shipped to you in the lower 48 states...add $10 if you want it shipped internationally.  If no one here is interested, it will go on....(cold shiver)....eBay. I know it will sell for a lot on eBay, I just hate their fees.   Contact me if interested.

http://battlemechclub.blogspot.com/2012/06/cougar-instructions.html

http://battlemechclub.blogspot.com/2012/06/cougar-reviews.html