Update: Flea et al

The Flea pre-order has had no real movement for a while, so that is closed.  Unless you have made arrangements with me, all Flea sales will be at the normal retail price.

The Daishi commission is done.  If you are interested in commissioning a mech, now is your chance.  I only like to do one at a time these days...with family and work that is about all I can make time for.

I got a Raven and Commando from Simon over in England.   The detail is extraordinary!  If 3d printing were not so damn expensive, I might look into having detail pieces printed then cast.  My only complaint is scale.  He used the PGI MWO scales...and using their scale the Commando is...tiny.  Detailed and well cast, but just small. 

Any-who...since I am between commissions, I hope to make some serious progress on the Madcat Mk II.  The torso is roughed out, the leg master has been made and molded/cast.  I should have it to a point where I am comfortable posting some pics.

Until then...

Update

I did something and have aggravated a nerve that runs from the neck through the shoulder and down my arm.  It hurts like hell and has limited my functionality. When I try to lift my arm or turn my head, I get a shooting pain from neck to shoulder to elbow to finger. Kinda sucks...

The Flea pre-order is still open.  I am hoping to get a few more before closing it out.  The master has gone to the caster.

All the Vulture kits are out the door.  The international orders went out today.  There is a page link to the right that takes you to a quick build of the Vulture and addresses a few issues I discovered when I built mine. As always, there are subtle shifts that occur between molding and casting. It may have taken 4 months, but I think it is worth the wait. I hope you do too.

If anyone out there has pics of their builds of my kits, I would appreciate seeing them and posting them on the blog.  As always, thanks for all your support.

Flea Pre-Order: Redux

Trying it again.  The Flea Pre-order is up and running for 1 week and one week only. If you're ready, come and get it. Pre-order pricing: 

Cost: $55 plus shipping

Domestic Shipping:  $10

International Shipping:  $20

I will no longer combine shipping, hold kits, etc.  It is getting confusing for little old me and I know I am eventually going to oversell because a hold kit wasn't marked as such.  So, when your kit comes in from the caster it is going straight out to you. In the short run, this is going to cost me a wee bit but it will simplify things in the future.

Contact Link

Quick Update

Hi All!  Just got this e-mail from JPG regarding the Vulture MK II:

I'm getting ready to pack up your stuff! 

Huzzah!  Huzzah!  Huzzah!

For the Deimos customers...there were a few issues with the main guns and MMD was not happy with they way they turned out.  They have been remolded and recast and are on their way to the States.

Finally, I think I am going to re-open the Flea pre-order.  I may have found a way to fund this with only 10 pre-orders.

The Women We Love

In all my years of producing Battletech kits, I have only had 2 female customers and one was buying for her husband. For some reason, the ladies in our lives often have a hard time understanding our love for big, stompy "robots" (they have no idea what a mech is) and blowing stuff up.

Well, here is the answer....

Just an Update

Hi Everyone....finally caught the virus that my son then my wife had.  I sat down to work on models yesterday and pretty much stared at the kits for a few hours and drooled on myself.  Bleh!

Site note:  I am going to try to create more pages (links to right) to make it easier to find things on the site.

Like Scott, I need to take more pics to document my builds.  The Calliope is coming along nicely although I think it may be too big to effectively cast/sell.  I am also working on the Madcat MK. II which is progressing nicely. That rounded nose is a pain, but it's worth the work.  As always, I like to make little mods along the way.

I am also modding a Victor to make it look more burly and aggressive. I have modded the top of the torso so that rather than being flat it is arched to the same contour as the shoulders so the head looks a bit recessed (i.e. the MWO Victor).  I am also reworking the legs to give it a more dynamic pose...and I think I will make the Gauss rifle bigger.

I am still dealing with fall out from the last caster.  When they send the kits, they come in a bag with all the pieces for one kit.  I just assumed they were all correct.  However, many who bought the Cougar ended up with either two left legs or two right legs.  That line is closed, and as customers find these issues, I am having to "rebuild" legs for them.  What a pain in my ass....but that's what I get for not checking.

What else....oh, I took on a commission build.  A customer wants a factory fresh Smoke Jaguar Daishi.  The Smoke Jag paint job should be a challenge.  I did get work done on that yesterday...sanding down pour stubs, cleaning, first layer of putty. That reminds me....time for a "what the hell" type of poll.

Oh, and the next kit will be the Flea.  No doubt there.  As soon as the Vulture is done, I will get a pre-order started.

Now, I need to go blow my nose....

Vulture Update

As you know, the Vulture that was acquired was a prototype for a line of toys ReSaurus Toys wanted to do for MW4. The owner really wanted to preserve the paint job on this prototype, so when he sent it to me I only patched a couple really large and noticeable voids and built some missing pieces (arms and mounts).  The dark paint job hid a world of evils.  The Vultures have been delayed because the original is having to be rebuilt. Here are some pics to let you see why the rebuild, hence the delay, is necessary. I know we originally planned a 30 day turn around that has stretched to around 90, but trust me when I say it will be worth it. As a side note, we noticed these issues AFTER the first molds had been made and the first casts were pulled.  It was then the caster went back and primed the kit and we discovered "...what a piece of junk!" this prototype was. I am surprised JPG did not pack this kit up with a note saying, "F*ck you!" and send it back to me.

 You can see in this pic the air bubble voids that were revealed when the original dark paint job was primed. This is one of the toes on the mech.

 Here is the corrected toe.

 This is one of the chin mounted guns. You can see the mold line from when this was originally cast.  That had to go unless you wanted a double mold line.

Here is the corrected piece.