2017 Christmas Auctions

Since I've been preoccupied with the Cygnus option parts, there's only going to be about eight auctions for Christmas Ornaments this year. I will be putting a couple up tonight at around 7:00pm CST.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/bgreen42/m.html

Closet Cleanup Auctions - Phase 3

I'm currently auctioning some Warhammer 40K and Gundam stuff in case anyone is interested...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/bgreen42/m.html

Cygnus Update

Here is test #3 of the improved crows nest and base...

Cygnus Update

For those that are waiting for Cygnus upgrade parts, apologies for my absence. What have I been up to?

1) Bathroom renos

2) Checking out alternative resins. I've been making non-destructive tweaks to the Form1 to see if I can modify it to use DLP resins such as Makerjuice G+. Stay tuned, I should be sharing my secret in near future.

3) Pushing ahead with detailing strips, crowsnests and antennae bases for the Cygnus. Also tweaking the antenna for the Palomino.

4) Most importantly, this...

Cygnus Landing Bay v1.0 Test Fit

After a bit of chopping, sanding and a really half-assed paintjob, here we are...

It turned out a couple of mm short and I don't like how thick the side walls are. Will be redesigning the wall parts today.

Aaaaaaaand another...

Landing bay and Palomino in 10 parts...

Palomino & Landing Bay

Here's a pic of the upgraded Palomino and landing bay that I am working on this weekend...

Cygnus Update

So here's what I'm calling the LEVEL 1 Cygnus extension kit:

It consists of 9 parts; a hull extension, two top panels, two side panels, two piping standoffs, a piping extension and two nose detail pieces. Cost is a little higher than expected at $63USD. It will enable the kit builder to implement the extension with parts that are consistent in detail with existing kit and required little cutting.

HOWEVER, you may wish to wait to see how the LEVEL 2 parts turn out before committing. At the moment, my plan is to include two detailed hull extensions (shown below), an upgraded landing bay and Palomino, additional lattice detailing for the spine and sides of the ship and upgraded antennas -- everything that I can think of at the start of my build. This set will likely be around $120USD

LEVEL 3 - No doubt I will discover bits and pieces along the way that I want to add. These parts will become part of the level 3 expansion kit. Also, if you wish to acquire any parts "a la carte", get in touch and I'll work out a price... bverde84 atsign hotmail dawt com

Cygnus Level 1 Update

This week I updated the body extension section (removed piping standoff) and printed two piping standoffs for the original section. These and the side panel extensions are shown here:

I also printed a pair of lattice pieces for the nose, but they were too thin and flimsy, will redo those today.

Regarding the necessary extension to the piping rails, I WAS just going to say "screw it, make your own", but there's no sprue in this kit that matches. So I'll also include a piece for that. Also working on that today.

How far do you want to go?

So far I've been designing extension parts for the CYGNUS that match the body as it currently exists. But I'm considering some further modifications.

Off the top, I'm thinking about redesigning the extension section to have more authentic, open girderwork on the outside and more detailing on the tanks and piping... something like this. Only problem is if I upgrade A and B, then I have to do an upgrade section for the back of the hull as well for section C. Easily duplicated in CAD, but will add to the cost.

I'm thinking about making some detail sections to stick to the front of the mandibles (E).

Also thinking about chopping the antennae bases off (D) and replacing the antennaes with more accurate parts.

Not shown here, I have side panel exztensions for A + B that are working pretty well. Will post those in a bit.

I think what I will do in the end, is I will produce a level one and level two upgrade kit. Level one will be consistent with the current hull and will cost $50. Level two upgrades will be more dramatic and will require a lot more cutting... also slightly more expensive.

Feed back? Tim? Ford?

Cygnus Extension Parts

So you're building the MPC Cygnus from Disney's The Black Hole, but you want to be cool like James Small and add the missing hull section like this (I've always liked this build).

It'd be a shame to have to cannibalize a second kit to do this. Also potentially a bit expensive. That's why I've been working on a set of 3D printed extension parts.

I'm printing the side panel extensions today. Before too long I should have these selling on e-bay, or you can contact me directly at bverde84 atsign hotmail dawt com if you are interested in a set of extension parts. Final pricing is yet to be determined, but I expect to be around $50-60USD 

1/100 Mechs - Paint Progress

Here's a WIP photo of partially painted 1/100 Clan mechs. Progress has been pretty slow...

Cygnus

Some work in progress - of interest to fans of Disney's The Black Hole...

Closet Cleanup Auctions - Phase 2

The plan is, if I get rid of about half of the kits I own, I might get the rest built by the time I croak! Or at least concentrate on doing a decent job of building the ones that matter to me. This week, I'm putting up a few IMAI Captain Scarlet kits that I've had in the closet for about ten years.

View my current auctions HERE.

Ready to print

I finished the Gargoyle 3D model today - at least enough to do a 1/100th scale print from. Hopefully will start a printout soon, but may have to do some printing for a client first...

Cleaning out the Closet

I'm having a closet cleanout and throwing some stuff up on ebay over the next few weeks. Some Gundams and whatnot are going up for sale this evening. Give it a look!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/bgreen42/m.html

Of interest to this group might be the rare Crusher Joe Ostall AKA Battletech Locust kit...

In the works...

I've got the design work about 90% done on the Gargoyle / Man o War. Once again, sticking closer to the original 3050 design...

On A Roll

So far I've got parts printed for my 1/100 Fenris, Ryoken and Deimos... put that with my Vulture that I printed a couple of summers ago and I've almost got a Clan Star!

Tentative Plans for 2015

So what do I have planned for 2015 we'll pretend you asked?

I've got 3 more 1:100th scale mechs that I want to print before moving on to other things. I've got STL files that I downloaded for the Deimos and the Atlas (MWO version) that I want to print for myself to help bulk out the 1:100th scale collection. Also want to get around to designing and printing a Gargoyle/Man-o-War.

THEN I want to seriously look at converting all of my 1:100th scale patterns to 1:60th scale to print out for others (1:100th will continue to be my preferred gaming scale but I've starting to collect a small pile of 1:60th scale stuff despite myself... I'm hoping that with the Form1 and cheaper 3rd party resins, that I can come in at similar prices to cast mechs.

To summarize, I currently have 3D models and STL files for the following (based for the most part on artwork found in the original release of TRO3050)

Urbanmech, Flea, Vulcan, Whitworth, Sentinel, Scorpion, Rakshasa, Hatamoto Chi, Ryoken, Fenris (Gargoyle coming soon)

I also have STL files for a few others, but because I just downloaded them and printed them, I won't be offering those. My intent would be to upscale the parts, add a little more detail and re-hollow them to make them more suitable to print at the larger scale. At a guess, I think I can hit $70 with the 45 tonners with assault mechs pushing closer to $200 -- but I'll have to see how much plastic I can hollow out of the larger scale mechs.

Anyone that is interested in pursuing this can contact me via the blog or at
bverde84 atsine hotmail dawt com

Let me know which mechs you would like me to upscale first. Worth noting, I probably won't be starting the 1/60th scale projects til June or so.

Work in Progress

Thought I'd post a few pics of 1/100th scale mechs that I have in progress:

This is my second printout of the 1:100 scale Fenris. The first one seemed a little big and so I gave it another go...

This is the latest printout. A 1:100 scale Ryoken under the curing light. For once the bayonet mount for the waist printed out perfectly. I'm going to try and make the weapons bays for this somewhat modular with pullout missle packs and changeable arms.

This is our version of the Sentinel. One of the student placements at Price did this model for me so if I sell any she gets a cut! Hi Danielle! The main feature of our 1/100th scale version is that he is SMALLER THAN A DAISHI!!!!!I never did like the lead mini for this reason.

All of the mechs shown here were printed with the Formlabs Form1 3D printer using Makerjuice gray resin.