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jabbakahut wrote:Insane, I would put money on not being able to pick this one out of a FW line up, the underside detail is incredible.

More underside detail.

Thanks for the kind words, but:

Purists will note that I departed from the original in the aux servo compartments albeit through necessity as my carapace ceiling is over 1.3cm thick. this is because originally I used 1/2 foam core poster board as it was to be a trial build for practice.

It came out so well I just decided to skin it in sheet styrene and let it go at that forgetting the extra thick ceiling; whoops. Came the time to add the detail and lo and behold there was not enough recess depth for the actual compartment components. Even I drew the line at completely rebuilding the carapace so hence my amended version.

Sue me for laziness but at this point I just want to see the d---ed thing done,

Blackadder

jabbakahut wrote:Insane, I would put money on not being able to pick this one out of a FW line up, the underside detail is incredible.

Jabba I just noticed the above response was from you. I want to express my appreciation for your excellent documentation which was instrumental in the degree of detail I have achieved; I couldn't have done it without your assistance.

Blackadder

No problem, my pleasure. I see what you mean by the thickness of the carapace now. Luckily it's near undetectable when viewed from the top (gaming view).

Thanks to all for the words of encouragement. I've been agonising over the following step and trying to figure out how to make a proper ring of plastic around the orbit of the ankle and hip ball socket receptacle and the following is how I finally managed to accomplish it.



Surprisingly simplicity itself but the most obvious somehow escapes us. I started by gluing with a good grade of thin liquid plastic glue. I use 'Tamiya - Extra Thin Cement :



I glued the selected piece to the periphery of the socket using the installed ball as an inner guide. fortunately I used wooden spheres so they are not affected by the glue. I imparted a slight curve to the ring strip initially and started a bit before the desired location so the beginning end could be cut off leaving a curved beginning.



Applying pressure with your thumb (or favorite finger) serves two purposes; one it is a clamp you can rely on to make the proper curve and two the heat of your hand speed the drying of the glue.



Following the curve of the ball make gluing every 30 degrees or so being careful to not let the glue flow back to the starting point as it may dissolve the original joint and you'll have to start over.



working your way around the ball to the starting point, cut off the short straight piece from the beginning and cut the end of the strip to butt with the beginning and voila; a perfect ring of plastic.



I needed a second ring to thicken the ring on the ankle and hip but the second layer is easier than the first and my only complaint is why didn't I think of this sooner.

The mentally challenged Blackadder

Pretty good. I'm curious how you manage to cut all the details you've made as cleanly as they look, are most of your cuts just several passes of an exato?

Looking great Blackadder!

It all looks incredibly professional.

Awsome attention to detail. Most scratch builds lack that extra detail to make them A+ models.

jabbakahut wrote:Pretty good. I'm curious how you manage to cut all the details you've made as cleanly as they look, are most of your cuts just several passes of an exato?

I rarely use an exacto for straight cuts; the blades are too hard to control for a long straight cut.

I use my experience cutting drywall (I'm a do it yourselfer) to follow a pencil line with a standard Stanley or General utility knife which has an edge as sharp as an exacto but the size and heft to give great control.

This is the knife I use almost exclusively:

http://content.costco.com/Images/Content/Product/725979b.jpg

You can really bear down on the blade and a cut to a depth of 1/8" is not too difficult with practice. I usually make two passes; the first to scribe a groove to follow. Once you've made a cut you can snap the sheet for a clean break. Occasionally I dress the cut with a Craftsman or Nicholson 'flat smooth' file.

I use a #11 blade to carve out rounded detail and cleanup work and the 1/2 inch chisel blade to shave pieces. I also used these blades to scrap scratches from plastic after they have lost their tips.

http://www.pcbsupplies.com/catalog/Xacto%20Knife%2011%20M%20Blade.jpg

Another tool I find indespensible is the deep bladed exacto razor saw although I never use the mitre box which I think is a waste of money.

http://www2.gpmd.com/image/x/xacr1435.jpg

EB

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You don't have permission to access /image/x/xacr1435.jpg on this server.

I use my mind box all the time, but then again I'm working on building buildings-a lot of 45 cuts on those.

The_Blackadder wrote:Thanks for the words of encouragement. I started this project attempting to build a Warhound facsimile for my son out of foam filled board but the more I got into it the more I wanted to have a realistic copy of the original. I have departed from the original design in a few areas especially the shield generator housings in the back which looked a bit small and blocky on the original. Mine are larger and I think more in keeping with the overall sleekness of the rest of the model; the carapace at least.

I have to say, I've been following your plog for a bit, but never commented because (cringe, don't kill me) I changed browsers and forgot what my login was for, oh, a couple of months.

This looks more and more splendid every time I come back and look, BAdder.

As to the above quote... can I be your son, too? I promise to bring ya home beer once in a while and cook your steaks just right!

I'm late with it I know, but for engines/fan intakes, one can always try http://www.evilmushroomgames.com/. My pal Tom's used them before for his Aquila lander and perhaps even his otherwise scratchbuilt Thunderbolt(s).

jabbakahut wrote:

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You don't have permission to access /image/x/xacr1435.jpg on this server.

I use my mind box all the time, but then again I'm working on building buildings-a lot of 45 cuts on those.

The slots in the mitre box are so much wider than the razor saw blade that the cut very likely will be on an angle other than 90 in depth plus you are limited to what, 4.5cm in length of cut. I'd rather trust my eye and hand to make those cuts besides by practicing freehand cutting you will quickly gain the skills to eliminate all but the most basic tools. I have a battery power Dremel, belt sander and a Craftsman hobby scroll saw and very rarely use them.

Sorry I haven't posted anything previous to this. All I've got to say is this is AWESOME!!! This is the best scratchbuilt warhound I've every seen. Good job. You've inspired me to build my own warhound.

One question though. What size (thickness) sheet styrene did you use to cover the torso's base of foam?

Muoio 117 wrote:Sorry I haven't posted anything previous to this. All I've got to say is this is AWESOME!!! This is the best scratchbuilt warhound I've every seen. Good job. You've inspired me to build my own warhound.

One question though. What size (thickness) sheet styrene did you use to cover the torso's base of foam?

Thanks for the accolades.

The thickness depends on whether I intend to sand or cut detail into the surface. I usually use 1.0 mm stock to cover the foam board. In areas where I'm afraid I'll exceed the scale I use 0.5mm or less.

I would be greatly interested in coaching you in your build effort offering what help I can if you need it. Please don't hesitate to ask anything. The big problem is getting accurate measurements of the various critical parts. Studing Jabba's Manual will help you immensely. I wish I had it during the initial building.

Right now I am working on the leg hydraulics and detail. I hope to have some images tomorrow.

EB

Keep it coming blackadder, this thread is a great inspiration. If I ever get around to scratch building a warhound (which I really want to but time is too busy) I want to build two simultaniously. Would you recommend it? It'd mean more cost and hours, but less in the long term.

s.j.mccartney wrote:Keep it coming blackadder, this thread is a great inspiration. If I ever get around to scratch building a warhound (which I really want to but time is too busy) I want to build two simultaniously. Would you recommend it? It'd mean more cost and hours, but less in the long term.

Funny you should mention that as I was just thinking of building two Warlord titans simultaneously after this project. One to sell on Ebay if I could actually bring myself to part with it. The problem is; repetition is my bane. The tedium of making 16 Warhound toes and 20 ankle hydraulic cylinders not to mention the toe hydraulics (Egad I forgot about those! Fah!) 64 teeny tiny bits of telescoping plastic!!! I've got to figure a way around that.

Many times when I was building the toes I just felt like forgetting the whole thing.

If I had the patience for repetition I would have taken up knitting,

The easily bored Blackadder

Whew, it's been a week or so since I posted some progress images. I managed to solve the problem of the ankle articulation so I could have telescoping hydraulic cylinders. I had to do extensive cutting of the lower leg segment and ankle joint to accommodate the piston and cylinder bases. The fine detail of the cylinder reinforcement rings have demonstrated to me that there is a limit to how much tinier I can go in the medium of styrene plastic. putting rivet detail on those rings is seemingly out of the question as the filing dust is not much smaller than the rivets themselves. even the cylinder data plates which I made of 0.25mm sheet styrene appear too thick and will have to be sanded thinner.

The cylinder base hinge points I just took a guess at and fortunately I guessed correctly. The cyl. range of motion is minimal e.g. on the order of 0.5mm to 1.0mm. The piston base has a larger range of motion; approximately 2.0mm to 3.0mm as the joint is flexed. All in all the pistons have a travel of about 0.5cm which is sufficient for most poses of the leg as any further extention begins to look rather silly. I consider these cylinders the hardest to make due to the enclosed nature of the housings so the hip cylinders will be a cinch relatively speaking.

EB

your lucky!
My cutting about the same class of that of a highly spasticated slow on drugs!

For the super thin bits like that, why not use a 3x5 card?

Thicker than writing paper, thinner than most plasticard.

faolan wrote:For the super thin bits like that, why not use a 3x5 card?

Thicker than writing paper, thinner than most plasticard.

The strips I use are actually thinner than file cards at 0.25mm plus compatible with super thin plastic glue.

Thanks for the input,

EB

The full range of motion upper and lower leg hydraulics installed albeit without the finally dressing, cleaning and fine detail (note the pins instead of proper axles for quick disassembly. Still a work in progress and the unforgiving eye of the camera disclosed some troubling flaws in the squareness of my cuts that were not readily apparent to my bleary eyes.

Great work Blackadder! The plasticard detailing is spot on. I own a Mars pattern Warhound from FW myself, and I must say looking at those pictures of the scratch built feet you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.

It's a real pleasure to see such a high quality scratch build project.

Gundam-Mecha wrote:Great work Blackadder! The plasticard detailing is spot on. I own a Mars pattern Warhound from FW myself, and I must say looking at those pictures of the scratch built feet you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.

It's a real pleasure to see such a high quality scratch build project.

Thanks for the compliment. The feet have been a source of concern to me since I obtained more detailed information. Working from the limited FW building guide and grainy images I managed to get the feet to an acceptible quality but the excellent offering of Mr Hutt (d--- him.) demonstrated they are not all they could be. When I have the model completed I may rework the oversize hinge cylinder axles which will shorten the overall length of the toes 3mm or so and allow the toe attach points to the ankle block to be reduced in overall height.

Busy as I have been on my own projects; I have not had time to fully explore this forum. I did take a look at your T34 diorama thread thanks to your attached link and I must say you are quite the modeler in your own right. When I get this thing finished I'd like some colaboration on a proper display venue.

EB

Much to my shame my Warhound is still unpainted, so if you ever need any high quality closeup photos of the components let me know and I'll be happy to post them for you or email them directly.

Theres no paint on 90% of my kit so the details etc will be as clear as day.

From what I've seen here though you've done a great job in terms of accuracy.

Thanks for the compliment, happy to help anytime. Picking a good scenic base or display method for a large kit like a Titan is always a challenge and very important I feel. You don't want to have something thats too busy that takes attention away from the kit, but like wise you don't want something too dull. It's a tough balance.

What, no tread on the toes!?

Still looks great!

jabbakahut wrote:What, no tread on the toes!?

Not yet, I'm trying to maintain the same level of detail on all the components. I'm working on the waist (hips) now as that is sorely without detail. especially the connection to the body swivel base.

Treads I've put in the same category as the rivets. Probably the last thing I do before painting.

Gundam-Mecha wrote:Much to my shame my Warhound is still unpainted, so if you ever need any high quality closeup photos of the components let me know and I'll be happy to post them for you or email them directly.

Theres no paint on 90% of my kit so the details etc will be as clear as day.

From what I've seen here though you've done a great job in terms of accuracy.

Thanks for the compliment, happy to help anytime. Picking a good scenic base or display method for a large kit like a Titan is always a challenge and very important I feel. You don't want to have something thats too busy that takes attention away from the kit, but like wise you don't want something too dull. It's a tough balance.

Right now I'm working up an alternative to the ankle and hip servos and I've come up with viable plan

I'm thinking the diameter of the ankle servo cylinders are approx the same diameter as the dual pistons on the lower leg and the pistons are correspondingly smaller. I need only make end pieces and attach them to the ankle ball ring with round headed pins and I'll have fully mobile ankle hydraulics. Likewise for the hip/waist servos although I haven't nailed down the diameter of those. I haven't any decent relative sizes of those hydraulics.

If you could post images of them here I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks for the offer,

Blackadder

Blackadder can you check your pm? xD

That titan foot looks familiar....

Hope this helps.

That's Fantastic thanks Jabba.

A wealth of information.

Dare I go and measure that which is completed???

No, that way leads to insanity.

Maybe later,

Blackadder


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I opened this page with a request but I'm almost ashamed to ask now that Jabba so graciously posted such a wealth of information but nothing ventured nothing gained.

I haven't any pictures of the underside of the waist (hips). I've detailed the front, back and sides but nowhere have I found a picture of the bottom of that piece. Does any one have an image they could spare me.

Please Sir, I want some more,

Oliver Blackadder

Not much to show for the past days work but an incredible amount of detail on these small items.

The waist/hips are nearing completion and today should bring it up to par.

I suppose the most interesting feature is the coil covered cable that runs down the back. Fortunately I have some extra thin copper wireand just wrapped it around some undersized styrene rod and voila, a reasonable facsimile of the conduit. a ring of 1/8 tubing drilled and cemented in place and a styrene block at the other end. some judicious bends and securing in place with extra thin cement and it's done. The ring below the gearlike waistband contained 16 parts not counting the ring itself and the waistband containd 32.

Dozens of odd bits and tubing, shaved 1/32 rod for rivets and cover fasteners.

All in all two days work and damned little to show for it.

EB

The builds looking ace and im thinking that the colours when painted will be awesome.