Vulture Delay: Update

Just heard from the caster...another 2-3 weeks.  Frickity, frackity.....#@$%*!!!!!

Here is why the Vulture has been delayed.  The dark paint job on the originals hid a world of sins. The caster is working on fixing them so we have quality kits.

Before:

After:

50K views....awesome

Over 50,000 unique page views.  Awesome!  As a "thanks" here are some pics to enjoy!

Reworking the Thor

Some time ago I built the upper body of a Thor to go on the legs I got from Scott.  The legs he made were bang on to the MW4 design, but I never liked the way they attached to the hip.

So, I decided to play with them and see if I could make them more TRO-ish. After some work with plastic and Aves, here is what I came up with.  The rocket launchers are not attached yet...

I also put on a new shoulder rocket launcher.  This came in a box of greeblies from one of my customers.  Yeah, its a lot of holes, but I don't care if its too many...I think it looks groovy.

More Frustrations

Some time ago, Scott and I traded mechs...a Daishi for a Kodiak.  The casting he sent was a rough one, but hey...its a Kodiak.  I have been trying to fill all the airbubbles and decided a quick shot with primer would help find them.  That's when I discovered that the resin Scott had is probably a bad batch.  Every piece I primed is bleeding...oozing resin oils.  This is because the resin is bad or it was not mixed right.  Now, as he made the parts at different times I find it hard to believe that he poorly mixed every single batch.  More likely, the resin is funky...which happens.  It saddens me greatly as the Kodi is one of my favorite mechs...and now I am going to have go consign mine to the scrap pile.

NAIS: R&D Update

Data Intercept Successful.....
Comstar Relay H0025G-006[00]...
Partial Decryption complete...
Message Follows...

From: Dr. B. Banzai
New Avalon Institute of Science
Research Update
Mech Design and Implementation Division
Security Level: Delta Epsilon 669 Alpha, Highly Classified

Comstar Security Virus detected....
Begin Data and tracking delete\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
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Its Always Something....

The caster and I were really trying to preserve the finish of the Vulture...but it turns out the original builder used that dark paint job to cover a world of issues including air bubble, seam lines, and the like.  So, the paint job is going to have to be sacrificed...primed, seams and bubbles filled, new molds made then casting.  What does this mean to you?  About a 3 week delay.  Are any of my mechs going to have a clean production run?

I am on the horns of a dilemma.  Its time to paint some of these builds.  Usually, I don't paint/detail them as it would get messed up when they are cast as kits but I am getting tired of the primer gray army.  Another reason I had quit was that my airbrush was shot. Now, it was not the best...in fact, it was a Kopycake airbrush I tweaked. However, my wife got me a new airbrush and my father-in-law got me an air compressor so I have no more excuses.  Interesting story on the airbrush...the price tag said $149.99 but the cashier rang it up as $14.99.  The store manager was utterly confused when we returned to pay the difference.

So, any suggestions on how I should paint up some of these guys?  I was thinking Kell Hounds for the Fafnir.  There was an image made years ago depicting a Kell Hounds unit leaving the mech bay.  I had it on the PC that died and now I can't find it on-line. For the Anni, Warhawk, and Daishi I was thinking of Zeta Battalion from Wolf's Dragoons but I am not sure I want to go from all gray to all black. I can say I would like some uniformity...I don't want 12 mechs with 12 different units.

Oh, the Vulture pre-order is closed.  Further purchases will be at the $125 retail price.  On that note, I got an e-mail that accused me of price gouging on these mechs. I would like to refer everyone to the old Armorcast page showing the Vulture going for $98 and that was back in 2007.  Prices HAVE gone up on rubber, resin and supplies.  Heck, the plastic sheet I use has gone up 50 to 60 percent in that time. I was at my LHS yesterday and a sheet plastic I would use for the vents on a mech is now at $6.50 a sheet. So, if you don't like my prices then I would suggest you make your own and try to get it cast...then come back and tell me (with a straight face) that I am over charging.