78 replies to this topic

[Impyrium]

I would pay so much to have minis like that sitting on my desk... there's just something awesome about them I haven't felt since I stopped collecting BT and WH minis so many years ago. Maybe it's the physical existence, I'm not sure. But you guys' work is incredible.

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

You are correct, there is a satisfaction gleaned with having some of the BattleTech mini's fully built out and mounted on a diorama.

- The largest issue I had was finding some place to keep them where dust was not an issue.
- The ultra fine details that were painstakingly built, just can't be 'wiped' off to remove dust.

- It's amazing all the 'holiday' packaging and containers that suddenly attracts your eye for 'that would make a great stand or container' for Mech's. (forget what's inside I just want the container.)
~ Ps: Ferrero Rocher makes some excellent clear Mech containers, give the chocolate to the woman. It never hurts and you gain 'bonus points'. (just don't tell her you only bought it for the case.)

9erRed

[Mech42Ace]

9erRed, on 25 October 2014 - 08:52 AM, said:

Greetings all,

You are correct, there is a satisfaction gleaned with having some of the BattleTech mini's fully built out and mounted on a diorama.

- The largest issue I had was finding some place to keep them where dust was not an issue.
- The ultra fine details that were painstakingly built, just can't be 'wiped' off to remove dust.

- It's amazing all the 'holiday' packaging and containers that suddenly attracts your eye for 'that would make a great stand or container' for Mech's. (forget what's inside I just want the container.)
~ Ps: Ferrero Rocher makes some excellent clear Mech containers, give the chocolate to the woman. It never hurts and you gain 'bonus points'. (just don't tell her you only bought it for the case.)

9erRed

Excellent idea, and you wouldn't make the wife even madder than she already is for taking up so much space with your mechs!
Their most likely will be some sort of diarama sometime. Probly some epic mech battle on a Z scale train set with the mechs filling out their specific roles in battle
Also, here are better pictures of the stalker: I think that he scheme is best suited for a missile boat like the stalker, any slight tactical advantage should be used. The scheme is best suited for ridgeline sniping

Spoiler

Back: I added those vents because of defects in the printing process I was to lazy to fix.

Edited by Mech42Ace, 25 October 2014 - 09:25 PM.

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

We see quite a few MWO Mech's being produced with 3D options for printing and production.

- What some of the designers are doing is creating these models as a base to produce duplicates with only.
- Not actually using the originals as the finish product, but as a casting master item.
(do the detail cleanup on the original and just cast off it.)

Now that being said, do any of the creators make these models in other stances besides the standard standing design?
- Something like kneeling or being used for other postures than normal.
- The Jaeger kneeling and being used as AAA comes to mind, or a Catapult squatting for other than firing.
- Lots of pictures of quite a few Mech's have been shown but they are all just standing, nothing dynamic or different from the normal.

Any ideas on what these Mech's could be shown doing?
- Some of the art work displayed on the 'Deviant' art pages is impressive work with the MWO models as the start base.
- Have the creators of these printed models ever gone that direction? Or just standing for 'display' poses.

9erRed

[focuspark]

I'm throwing money at the screen, why aren't you selling me these?

* typo: damn phone autocorrect

Edited by focuspark, 27 October 2014 - 07:32 AM.

[Valcrow]

9erRed, on 26 October 2014 - 10:12 PM, said:

Any ideas on what these Mech's could be shown doing?
- Some of the art work displayed on the 'Deviant' art pages is impressive work with the MWO models as the start base.
- Have the creators of these printed models ever gone that direction? Or just standing for 'display' poses.

9erRed

You can pose them any way you like as a 3D print including kneeling positions. Especially as a shapeways print. There are no technical limitations there.

I made some posable ones, that's when you start hitting physical limits. The mechs weren't design for full articulation in mind since it's ok to just clip in virtual space. It doesn't make sense to account for the extreme poses that will never be used in physical space. So this means that if you did want to have a crouching position, you would need to compromise your model somewhere to make it physically possible. Or put in a lot more joints to make it work.

If it's a choice between accuracy, and the ability to bend the legs an extra 20 degrees, I think most people would choose the accuracy to the original art design. Which is probably why you don't see many posable crouching ones.

Sentinel did some nice poses way back when.

[Shell Game]

Plas-tech technology?

[LordKnightFandragon]

Where do the templates come from and how do you make those? And they are made of some hard plastic? So how does that work? Its some mold or something?

[Mech42Ace]

LordKnightFandragon, on 27 October 2014 - 12:31 AM, said:

Where do the templates come from and how do you make those? And they are made of some hard plastic? So how does that work? Its some mold or something?

If your interested there is a thread I linked to on the first or second page on this topic, it shows you how to extract models from the game and lets you have a model that you can have your "dirty dirty way with."

[990Dreams]

Do you have the G-Code models to print? Are any special 3-D models required for Slicing? Or can you just yank them straight out of the game?

Edited by DavidHurricane, 27 October 2014 - 06:55 AM.

[LiGhtningFF13]

A 3d Zeus model would look awesome on my cabinet

[Mech42Ace]

DavidHurricane, on 27 October 2014 - 06:54 AM, said:

Do you have the G-Code models to print? Are any special 3-D models required for Slicing? Or can you just yank them straight out of the game?

Some minor cleanup of the files and models into STL files. This should take about 8-16hours total, depending on experience. The thread I linked to tells more about this.

LiGhtningFF13, on 27 October 2014 - 06:59 AM, said:

A 3d Zeus model would look awesome on my cabinet

Sadly the new mechs arnt in game yet. ):

[Mech42Ace]

9erRed, on 26 October 2014 - 10:12 PM, said:

Greetings all,

We see quite a few MWO Mech's being produced with 3D options for printing and production.

- What some of the designers are doing is creating these models as a base to produce duplicates with only.
- Not actually using the originals as the finish product, but as a casting master item.
(do the detail cleanup on the original and just cast off it.)

Now that being said, do any of the creators make these models in other stances besides the standard standing design?
- Something like kneeling or being used for other postures than normal.
- The Jaeger kneeling and being used as AAA comes to mind, or a Catapult squatting for other than firing.
- Lots of pictures of quite a few Mech's have been shown but they are all just standing, nothing dynamic or different from the normal.

Any ideas on what these Mech's could be shown doing?
- Some of the art work displayed on the 'Deviant' art pages is impressive work with the MWO models as the start base.
- Have the creators of these printed models ever gone that direction? Or just standing for 'display' poses.

9erRed

Hey guys, there has been talk about resin casting, I may do this on some of the models that I still have unpainted ( catapult, jenner[for my personal use of course. ]) but unfortunately I am a noob at resin casting and havn't really done it before. Does anyone have tips/suggestions on how to do this successfully? It would be greatly appreciated.
Edit: and also could this process be done with painted mechs?
Thanks,
Ace

Edited by Mech42Ace, 27 October 2014 - 10:39 AM.

[9erRed]

Greetings,

You'll need to do some research into RTV products if that's the method your looking for.
- Release film materials to allow for non stick to the molds.
- Suggest 73-20 RTV silicon mixture with about a 5min mix and a 1hr cure time for the mold.
- Look into 'Easyflow 60 (2 part) for the cast finish material. (15 to 20min cure)
~ clear pour material that turns white when cured.
(this material, when fully set requires quite heavy tools to work with it, can be drilled. Very solid.)

You can also cast with 'plaster like material', a common miniature modellers method finish.
- there's a lot of online videos available showing various methods and results.

Be very careful with molding materials as some produce heat as they cure and this may destroy the detail on a 3D made original. Read all the directions and warnings and then look the material up online to find any 'non disclosed' effects of using it. There should be lots of videos of users creating models and what they have to say about there results.

Reference the 'painted' Mech's, Depends on the type of paint used and if it's effected the detail any. Also if the molding process will 'lift' the paint. Loss of detail being the biggest problem.
- There are some products that can be used to spray coat the finished Mech and allow for duplicate molding to be done.

9erRed

Edited by 9erRed, 28 October 2014 - 03:58 PM.

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

Reference the air bubbles for casting.

- for most if not all solutions, to have the entrapped air removed it needs to be vacuumed after or during the mixing process.
- This can be accomplished in a few different methods, some expensive, others not.
- Allow for 2 to 3 times the volume for this process, container size.
(expansion created as entrapped air is pulled to the surface and material expands, a quick pop to normal atmosphere will allow the air to balance in the container and flatten the material. (popping the bubbles) Continue to vac. till smooth. Most cases this will also warm the material as it is vacuumed, so check if temperature will change the working time/ cure time.)

The process to get the mould filled with out creating any air pockets requires you to add a small amount of the (now airless/no bubbles) material into the mold, and roll it around inside the case coating all surfaces. Once that is done pour in the remaining material slowly and smoothly. (watch the cure/working time as it can be rather quick)

Lots of online videos of this process and methods to create a temporary liquid Vac chamber.

Note for the new Mech miniature; Check out some sites for decals designed specifically for BattleTech mini's.
- here's one: IS Mech decals: http://www.fightingp...?reloaded=1#bot
Clan Decals: http://www.fightingp...?reloaded=1#bot
And especially,
warning/hazard and Misc decals (used everywhere): http://www.fightingp...cs.com/misc.htm
And a good start for detailing Mini's here: (many different topics) http://camospecs.com/Article.asp

Good luck, and have fun,
9erRed

Edited by 9erRed, 20 December 2014 - 03:43 PM.

[Mech42Ace]

9erRed, on 20 December 2014 - 01:52 AM, said:

~snip~
9erRed

Thanks man, that is very helpful! To bad I can't like the post twice

[Mech42Ace]

Bump!
I finally finished that catapult I mentioned as well as painting an awesome.

[IraqiWalker]

I just wish we could have the old sexy K2 big cannons.

[Siberian troll]

IraqiWalker, on 04 May 2015 - 10:36 PM, said:

I just wish we could have the old sexy K2 big cannons.

Just glue two forward parts of Awesome left arm barrel, instead K2's barrels. It should be enough.