71 replies to this topic

[Lyon]

I've been anxiously waiting for MWO:Mercs, and I even rebuilt my desktop gaming PC for it. That didn't seem to be enough, so I went out to my welding shop, dragged my master welder brother to the scrap pile, and we started building a BattleMech. It's a PC case mod...six feet tall, weighing 900 pounds, dual LRM launchers, TAG, and a searchlight.



It's not finished. I have more painting to do, we're fabricating the head (attachment point for a Linksys E1000 router), and I'm slowly building a laser/machinegun arm, just to see if it improves the look.

[Garth Erlam]

Fantastic!

[Felicitatem Parco]

A36 hot rolled?

[Lyon]

most curved pieces are 8.675" oilfield pipe, either sectioned vertically (see lower leg plate armor), or horizontally (see joints). Exception is the shoulder pauldron. That's 2 sections from 24"dia steel oilfield casing. The rest is all spare angle iron and scrap sheet metal. The front of the launchers is 1/4" plate (doors weigh 21 pounds each).

Next version (I'm keeping this one for myself) will have a beak, probably have an SRM-6, 2 medium lasers, and a Narc.

[Paul Inouye]

... oh.... my... god!!....

That is amazing!

[Lyon]

Thanks!

It's been fun painting it today, and halfway through that part we found we missed a spot welding the upper torso frame to the waist ring. I'm sorely divided on the unit crest for the leg plate. I'm a Marik fan from way back, but have always been friendly with a pack of raving Steiners. What would you paint on the leg for that?

[BlueDog]

Wow, that is one amazing case mod. Great work!

[David Bradley]

Be careful about overheating. You don't want to cook off all that LRM ammo and crit hit your PC.

[Lyon]

Good point, though 2 LRM-10s are never going to overheat you, you'll be heat stable with the standard 10 single heat sinks.

Soooo... Heat sinks. That's a watercooling radiator in the belly, steel 110VAC 120mm fan behind it. You can just see the radiator, although the area around it will be painted black later, making it stand out better. The cooling pump is to be mounted in the right torso.

The PC itself is ventilated through the left torso and rear, since the torsos are open at the bottoms (mostly).

[Alaskan Viking]

LOL that is nice.

[Adridos]

Now I wonder, how are you going to play? I mean connecting the PC itself with monitor, mouse, keyboard, you get the picture.

[Lyon]

Wireless keyboard and mouse (using front USB ports), extralong monitor cable, and speakers can either be mounted in the LRM boxes, or placed on longer cables and mounted wherever. I've got a set of Altec Lansing ACS-45s, those cables don't need to be extended anyway.

When I get around to building a humanoid version, it will have a USB hub in its battlefist.

[Cruiser]

Edited by Cruiser, 23 February 2012 - 01:05 PM.

[BerserX]

What welding process did you use?

I'm learning stick, MIG, and TIG. I'm currently running pipe welds.

Edited by BerserX, 23 February 2012 - 01:40 PM.

[Barantor]

Looks like a Naga?

[Felicitatem Parco]

David Bradley, on 23 February 2012 - 11:20 AM, said:

Be careful about overheating. You don't want to cook off all that LRM ammo and crit hit your PC.

Lyon, on 23 February 2012 - 12:32 PM, said:

Good point, though 2 LRM-10s are never going to overheat you, you'll be heat stable with the standard 10 single heat sinks.

Soooo... Heat sinks. That's a watercooling radiator in the belly, steel 110VAC 120mm fan behind it. You can just see the radiator, although the area around it will be painted black later, making it stand out better. The cooling pump is to be mounted in the right torso.

The PC itself is ventilated through the left torso and rear, since the torsos are open at the bottoms (mostly).

Oh, I thought you meant worrying about overheating while you were finishing up the welds... because, yeah, missile cook-off equals bad.

[Lorcan Lladd]

I've come to realize that my jaw has weight and I'm making an extrenuous effort to keep it from dropping...

[BerserX]

Lorcan Lladd, on 23 February 2012 - 02:05 PM, said:

I've come to realize that my jaw has weight and I'm making an extrenuous effort to keep it from dropping...

Tri Force...? (signature)

[Felicitatem Parco]

Lyon, on 23 February 2012 - 10:47 AM, said:

Next version (I'm keeping this one for myself) will have a beak, probably have an SRM-6, 2 medium lasers, and a Narc.

You, Sir, have a genuinely Ravenous ambition.

Edited by Prosperity Park, 23 February 2012 - 02:16 PM.

[Lyon]

BerserX: All three. Used MIG, 3/32" 309L stainless for TIG, for stick we used 1/8" and 3/32" 7018 and 6010. I'm NOT the welder here, so I'm getting the answers from my brother. I'm the guy on the CAD software, general metal grinder, and shop helper. I thought it up, he built it. There have been EPIC battles over the design, but we're happy with the direction this prototype has taken. Now I have a hull design I can modify to a fare-thee-well, and he can build it with standard low-carbon steel. We're thinking about aluminum in the much longer run, but for now, we just want to make very very large gaming PCs.

Barantor: Naga has forward knees, Arrow IVs, and a general humanoid shape. This is a lighter medium chickenwalker, but I see your point. Even my non-Mech-fanatic brother sees the disturbing resemblance to that Clan Wolf reject pile of endosteel. There will be seppuku tomorrow, after tea. This was to be a "non-Raven". We have failed.

Raven-ous, indeed...