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+++ Completion Quotas ∙ On Target +++ Magnetic Coupling Solution ∙ Successful +++ Coupling Assemblies ∙ Complete +++ General Assembly ∙ Ongoing..." +++
 
One little, two little, three little Onagers! Still unable to find the right mix of time and motivation to get more paint on plastic, I've stayed focused on prep and assembling of the final models that will make up my starting AdMech list. More ramblings n' stuff... soon'ish..

Grrr! Ok life, enough distractions! *sigh* With a plumbing problem mostly sorted out, for now, it’s time to get back on track; ah, the joys of home mortgage-ship – you don’t own it yet, but you gotta’ keep it all working. Fun fun! *mutters*

With home maintenance, a holiday weekend out of the city, work at the college, and other random distractions or delays, I’ve lost my focus a bit. However, I do have my GoFundMe campaign finally set up for those who might be in a position to make an investment in the future of the studio, and I’ve also started posting images over on Pinterest for anyone who is more interested in the visuals of Legion Rising and The Dark Works without all the rambling. Both will be getting regular updates as I get settled back into a proper routine again.

It’s time to get out of this funk I’m finding myself in and start pushing outside of my comfort zones again, both creatively and with regards to exposure. I’ve got to get 3D modelling again and get on with marketing the studio more seriously. The next batch of kits is 90% 3D modelled but they’re going to be larger and consume more materials to produce so I’ve been a bit hesitant; 3D modelling can also be a bit of a trap for me, since I enjoy it so much it’s easy to get enthralled by it and spend too much time on projects that are before their time. Expect to see several new kits sooner rather than later and hopefully, the pace will continue to maintain and increase.

On the flip side, I’m getting ready to start contacting some hubs of the hobby in an effort to introduce myself and The Dark Works to a larger audience, with the plan being to tie it in with my next round of kits and models. Any help to spread the word, offer suggestions, input, or feedback would be most welcome. It’s one thing to post W.I.P. articles in smaller corners of the internet but now I’ve got to kick myself in the pants to get out and take this to the next level. I’m eagerly dreading this on some level, but I’ll get over it… I think. Not much choice, really.

Being an oh so tempting distraction that I’m better off without, for now, I’m going to put my personal projects on the back burner for the next while. Coming into the final stretch with building, the glimmer of a distant light at the end of the tunnel is starting to become visible. I’ll get back to rationing more time to my personal projects in a while, but for now here’s a little more progress on the Onager Spearhead Detachment for the list.


Holy tons of fiddly bits Batman! Cables, and ladders, and guardrails, oh my! Looks like we’ll need to build our way out!

Finally getting close to completing them, and yep, the Onager is a great model, but there’s a reason why the Mechanicus line looks so great, and it’s all the flippin’ bits-and-pieces that need to be dealt with! The bulk of the build is done, but there are still so many damn bits to actually get it properly finished I’m kinda’ glad I’m giving it a break for a bit.

One small tweak to the build so far that I’m particularly pleased with is adding the additional Heavy Stubber under the hull in the provided groove. It’ll need a bit of scratch building to connect it in a more complete way, but it’s all mostly hidden from sight so it’ll be a simple enough job. I’m also going to replace the reactor on the back, the convex detail on the weapons, and the armour plates on the legs with custom 3D printed bits similar to the Dragoons, but that’s another article for another day.

With the Kastelan ‘Bots cleaned up and ready for assembly these are the last of the models required for the first 1,850 center to the collection. Once these are done the final stretch really is to get paint on the second half(ish) of the army. I’ve got some close combat units waiting their turn and already have an urge to get back to the Knight/s to add some additional flexibility to the list, but I’m really looking forward to getting this main block done.


I managed to damage the rear hull plate on one of the Onagers and figured I’d roll with it and add some more superficial damage to the model.

I have a rule that when I drop something, I don’t roll my chair as I try to find the bit I just dropped. Odds are slim, but soon-or-later you will roll over the component you just dropped as it lands in a blind spot behind the wheel of the chair. Sure enough, I was lax and managed to do just that, flattening half of the rivets and imprinting the cement floor texture into the part. The rivets I can replace, but it looks like this one is going to be an experiment; I had planned on adding some dings, dents, and scratches to the feet of all of the Onagers but since this happened I figured I’d rough this one up some more to see how it turns out.

I’m of two minds about it at this point. I’m worried that I’ve overdone it and I’m not going to like it once it’s painted. Or, that I’m going to like it too much when it’s finished and want to do more with the same treatment. In an attempt to get somewhat authentic looking minor dents and scratches I was very careful how I applied the damage. It’s a bit of a time-consuming process so I want to see if I can make it work before I subject other models to the process.


I knew I wanted custom decals for this project, but I wasn’t looking forward to doing all the layout, thanks to my hobby-OCD.

I can’t really completely finish the models until this step is done, so I had to get it over with soon-or-later. The small is 4x4mm for infantry, the medium is 6x6mm for light vehicles/’bots, and the large is 8x8mm for larger vehicles/’bots. I’m also working on a second sheet with the complete Atrum Laboris icon including the cog and text in various sizes and iterations for general use, but I’ve only just started work on that sheet. A somewhat tedious but necessary final step that will soon be done.

More updates coming from the studio soon, as I administer the rights of activation to Servitor Solus and get back to making the next round of new kits. Time to get over the anxiety and get things really going. I’ve got the skills, tools, and ideas, what the heck am I waiting for? Stay tuned…

Aaaaand backed

Aaaaand thank you for the support!

More updates from the studio coming soon.

The larger components are really cutting it close, but they fit!

The first test prints are done for these Tracks and Siege Ram and there are a few issues that I need to deal with. Adding the supports used during printing really is a bit of an art and I’m still perfecting the process; there are a few spots where the parts didn’t form quite right and naturally that’s no good. I’m also getting used to fit tolerances and just how small gaps can be in parts that are meant to fit together. The Siege Ram goes together nicely, but the Tracks are far too tight so they needed a bit of tweaking.

Beyond the minor issues, everything is looking great. As kits get larger I’ll need to get more creative with how I’ll split things up to fit the limits of Solus, but for now, that’s not going to be an issue. Once these kits are perfected, the first Armour kits are up next. I’ll get Servitor Solus back to work and then I’ll do another quick update with some images of the actual prints on the Rhino.

Did you learn Spruing in your Industrial Design? Because it's really an entire aspect of fluid dynamics by itself. From what I learned in Jewelrymaking (which, granted, is going to have different flow properties than resin injection), you usually want your sprues to attach to flat areas, for cleanliness of removal and clean up- not onto corners.

Of course, when using plaster investment for metals, the air can escape through the mold, which isn't a possibility with rubber, so I don't know how the dynamics would change. I've only done open-topped resin casting.

Another thing to consider would be a more conical shape for the buttons on the bottom- again, you probably don't need the funnel shape as a guide, or the extra material to make up for shrinkage, so I don't know.

No, I didn't learn about sprue construction or material flow but they did focus on design considerations for injection moulding, which makes sense. That's more general information that will serve most designers well, while the other is more specialized and likely to be focused on later if the career demands it.

That said, in my case, I do need to consider material flow and air escape. It's common sense for the most part, the resin will flow to the bottom of the void and attempt to level off, but how it flows in and where the air escapes need to be considered with regard to the shape of the object so it can be oriented to best facilitate that process.

The pictured screenshots are still just test prints so they don't include any of the gates, sprues, or vents that will be used during casting, except for the large Siege Ram component. All of the green in the images are the supports used during 3D printing and they're removed, just in case you're confusing them with the final gates and sprues.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

While there was a bit of deformation in a few spots on the Siege Ram it didn’t affect any of the final fit, which turned out perfectly.

Forever difficult to photograph, I think I’m starting to get it with this bright red resin. The more light you hit it with the better, giving the details a bit more contract. It’s still a rather washed out, but it helps some. In the near future, I’ll be switching using a lower cost grey resin for test prints and that should help considerably when it comes to photographing experiments and test prints.

I just need to change up how I do the supports on the Siege Ram but otherwise its good-to-go. Basically, some of the corners and a few edges were deformed because I didn’t make the supports dense enough. I’ve got the hang of it for the most part, but there’s obviously still a bit of trial-and-error for some things.


The Tracks had some issues with the fit of the links where the parts connect but they fit the model nicely and the Siege Ram cooperates too.

The links in the Tracks were way too tight (even managed to break one) and required lots of filing to get them to fit nicely. Since I modelled these before I had a chance to get any of my designs 3D printed, let along before I got Servitor Solus, it’s to be expected really. I’m mostly pleased with how well all of the parts fit on the Rhino chassis since that tells me that the 3D model that I used to build kits is accurate enough for the task. The upcoming Armour kits will be the next test for how accurate the base model is.

Since the Siege Ram doesn’t need to actually conform to the model like the tracks it’s much more straightforward to get the fit right and provide proper clearance. In this case, I’m glad to see how well Solus handled the thick slab that makes up the front ram. That bodes well for future slabs of armour and the like. They’ll gobble up a lot of resin to be printed but shouldn’t have any problems with accuracy.


The next test print of the tracks was able to catch up with this update so here’s a look at the final fit and finish of the two kits.

With a few tweaks to the design, the second run of the tracks was much better. Just look at that fit! Thank you, Solus! Now I just need to get the masters printed with the gates and sprue attached, ready for casting. Same goes for the Siege Ram which will be the first up to get sent off to Servitor Solus. As mentioned, once I get these masters printed properly expect to see some test prints for the first larger Armour kit for the Rhino/Predator, and perhaps a few weapon systems as a brief diversion after that, before turning my gaze towards the venerable Land Raider chassis. I’m going to try to push my modelling skills with the some of the Armour concepts, so stay tuned as I start to experiment with some warp-touched inspiration, once I’m sure of the fit with the starting concepts.

Hello, boys and girls
This is your old pal Stinky Wizzleteats
This is a song about a whale
No! This is a song about being happy!
That's right! It's the Happy Happy Joy Joy song!

Happy Happy Joy Joy
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I don't think you're happy enough
That's right! I'll teach you to be happy!
I'll teach your grandmother to suck eggs!
Now, boys and girls, let's try it again

Happy Happy Joy Joy
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If'n you ain't the granddaddy of all liars!
Think of the little critters of nature...
They don't know that they're ugly!
That's very funny!
A fly marrying a bumblebee!
I told you I'd shoot! But you didn't believe me!
Why didn't you believe me?

Happy Happy Joy Joy
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Happy Happy Happy Happy
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I think I’ll just leave this right here. The first attempts at some larger components are finally finished, and they’re looking goooood!


Top: The first print attempt met with some… difficulties. Bottom: With improved fortune, the second try was much more successful and looks great on the Rhino.

While a gift from the Omnissiah, Servitor Solus still comes with some quirks and eccentricities in its machine spirit. Rush the process and the odds increase that problems will arise, but even if everything is prepared properly sometimes something unexpected will still happen. In this case, Solus just… stopped… mid-print for no reason that I could figure out, but a reset and restart got to the desired results. It seems I’ll need to be more diligent in my rights of preparation, operation, and maintenance with Solus in order to keep its spirit cooperative.

While it looks very good in this photo, this was a test print and it really illustrated some changes to the design that are required. I’ll post another update with more images and a longer ramble once I get more adjustments done and iterate a little more. The fit and finish are gorgeous, now it just needs a little more refinement.

Looking fantastic!

Love the heft those plates + tracks give to the rhino kit, and I also kind of dig that they're in that orange (red?!) material for high vis

- Salvage

Ritualistically sacrifice an Auston Matthews jersey.

Should sort it right out.

Didn’t realise you was active on here only found it by chance, I have to say the stuff I purchased from you (a while ago now) was some really nice casts and quality.

Good to see you still at it, any chance you would consider doing anything chaos in the style to fit with Astra Militia ?

Thanks all for the input. To say I'm pleased would be an understatement. Tweaking the design and adding all of the casting gates and sprues took a bit longer than I expected but now they're in place for future alteration of this base design. I can't wait to see a Predator completely decked out in all the new digitally designed kits. Mould making will be starting very soon with the first casts arriving shortly after.

Yes, I plan to turn my efforts towards creating Chaos Astra/Guard models and kits in the future. It's very hard to say exactly when right now, but they are in the massive queue-of-ideas planned for the future, I can say that for sure.

Fantastic news, look forward to seeing what you come up with, love to see a Taurox in chaos form.

Oooh,,, gribbley..

Woohoo! Payday, with a big lump of back pay included. Time to stock up on resin and rubber in preparation for the next push. The prototypes and moulds are only going to get bigger, so I suspect I’ll be moving to the 5-gallon buckets of rubber in the near future. The producer of my Solus 3D printer has also starting to release the grey printing resin they’ve been working on that produced some amazing results in the tests that they’ve been showing. I can’t wait to get my hands on a few litres of that.

So, this wasn’t exactly what I had planned when I posted that last teaser screenshot. I was going to quickly follow up, but then, as I’m apt to do, I got pulled in to doing more modelling and trying something else. I knew I needed to wait a week to restock on rubber anyhow, so I’m not going to dwell on it. While a bit delayed I think I’m happy with what I’ve come up with while I dabbled; since they are larger components I wanted to take the opportunity to experiment a bit and showcase a some of the ideas and concepts I want to create going forward.



In honour of Chaos being muse that started all of this, the Mk.1 is treated with a basic Chaos/Renegade style.

I want this first armour kit to address a shortcoming in the first set of armour I made for the Predator; the first set was made specifically for the Predator and it didn’t really suit the Rhino if it was stripped down. With this set I wanted it to work well on both the Rhino and the Predator. Breaking the armour plates up in this spaced style achieves that end while also creating reasonably sized components that my 3D printer can handle.

The first test prints of this design showed that I could simplify how I planned to attach the armour to the hull (Yay! Less fiddly bits!), and really illustrated that the doors on top of the Rhino were a missed opportunity. If the Predator gets armour for the sponsons and turret, the reasonably simple flat bits to add the doors to the Rhino version of this kit was simple enough. Besides, this just provides more room to model details. I’m tempted to complete the process and just do the side doors as well, but I think it actually might be too much since I like the ratio of original model to the amount of armour kit at this point.



The Mk.2 offers clean lines and large open surfaces perfect for the murals, squad markings, unit numbers, and/or chapter symbols of an imperial collection.

Along with the Rhino Tracks and the Siege Ram shown earlier, these initial armour kits are complete and just need final details done before the casting masters will be printed. I still need to do the unglamorous task of labelling the sprues, a dull but naturally necessary part of the process. Ah, the joys of manufacturing. That said, these kits represent a good baseline of where I want to start, but now that I’ve got the base models there’s so much opportunity to explore…


The Mk.3A is the first of many explorations into warped, mutated, possessed, versions of the kits I’ll be producing. It takes a little more time than I expected, but I think the results are worth it.

In this case, I’ve been focusing on just similarly shaped spines as I get a better understanding of how I can deform surfaces, and even here I still need to do the other side. Expect to see future ideas with tentacles, teeth, eyes, appendages, and other gribbly bits plus I want to try my hand at some battle damage and corrosion/decay. Naturally, I also want to mix the elements for some variety and to let a builder get a few kits so they can mix-and-match some parts to keep things unique across several vehicles. Another idea that will go along with kits like this will be the inclusion of a strip of mutated/warped details in the same theme that can be attached to the base model in other areas to tie the look together.

This concept is still somewhat experimental, and I can see now that I’ll need to be careful not to create problems in the design that will make bubble trapping issues during casting; some of the spines might need to be shortened a bit and/or their curve toned down, just to be safe. I’m also tempted to break up all of the spines by adding a few tentacles, just to add some visual interest but I’m not totally sure. I like the consistent look, like some singular malevolent aggressive daemonic entity has entered the vehicle, but a little variety isn’t usually a bad thing either. Being a starting point and experimentation for future examples of mutation and possession, expect to see this concept return once I’ve got the starting kits in production. As I work out a process for creating each kind of detail it just becomes a matter of repeating the process to add similar details to future kits.


If Mk.1-3 are the Bad, Good, and Ugly, then I guess the Mk.4 could be considered the Elegant? For those who want something less utilitarian but not overtly Chaos.

While this pattern is really intended to be an alternative design that is suitable in an Imperial army, I can easily see this type of style being paired with Thousand Sons or Emperor’s Children and that’s the general idea. I’m working with lots of splines here and they’re a pain in the ass but they really do create wonderful flowing lines if you’re willing to take the time to tweak and adjust them. While I’m very pleased with the direction and results so far I’m still not sure if I’m completely happy with some spots so I’m sure there are still some changes that are going to happen to this concept but it’s a good start to show the feel that I’m aiming for.

In general, this will be how I want to start expanding the selection in the shop; creating a series of base kits and models, to begin with, and then adding unique and exotic variations to expand the line. How quickly and/or how many variations will depend on demand and the capacity of the studio, but something Chaos/Renegade, Imperial, mutated/possessed, and elegant/ornate, seems like a good place to start. With the convenience of digital creation as I expand on the concepts trying new ideas and 3D modelling techniques, I add to the options I have to go back and update a design with a new style. A lot of the key techniques will start with figuring out how I can best deform, distort, and otherwise mangle the base designs, but doing delicate precise line work comes with its own challenges as well I’m quickly discovering. It always comes down to adding the right amount of details to accentuate the look without cluttering it with too much.

Ok, enough rambling. Servitor Solus has a bunch of manufacturing to get on with, and I’ve got a bunch of cleanup and mould preparation to keep going. Updates with progress photos and first casts will be showing up soon. Thanks for lurking, reading and commenting if you’re so inclined.

Here's an idea for the mutated stuff- deliberate casting defects.

Now hear me out...

Air bubbles and pockets can be fantastic, sometimes, in specific areas. Broken off horns, bullet holes, general nicks and dents... If you can figure out how to create a model that will sometimes get casting defects in certain areas, and sometimes not, then you could add more chaotic variety without having to have extra sprues or molds.

I have no idea if this would be possible/viable, but it would certainly be interesting, I think.

So if a person had a need for some custom parts, do they PM you or do you have a store or what's the crack?

I need four 40x20x5mm (ish) plaques with Cyrillic lettering and a border, is that something you can do? It seems simple compared to the other stuff you're doing but I know nothing so I don't want to assume.

Hrm... I'm not sure that Subtle does commissions. He's setting up for full production-level work, though I suppose that one-offs would be easy enough to do with Solus.

Note: I am not affiliated with the Dark Works, and my wonderings should not be taken as company policy in any way.


However, you'd probably be able to get decent results from a local 3D printer or artist via makerspaces or shapeways.

Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I called a few local dog-tag engraving types who all said they couldn't (or wouldn't) do Cyrillic lettering, then gave up.

Anvildude wrote:Here's an idea for the mutated stuff- deliberate casting defects.

Now hear me out...

Air bubbles and pockets can be fantastic, sometimes, in specific areas. Broken off horns, bullet holes, general nicks and dents... If you can figure out how to create a model that will sometimes get casting defects in certain areas, and sometimes not, then you could add more chaotic variety without having to have extra sprues or molds.

I have no idea if this would be possible/viable, but it would certainly be interesting, I think.

I like the way you think; I really like randomness in the armies I build and really like to avoid repetition so this idea appeals to me. It's exactly the kind of issue I have with models and miniatures that have unique random details; if you get a second one then the dreaded repetition starts. The major hurdle to this is how to create a system/technique that will be reliably unreliable in a consistent yet random way. The process for removing air bubbles from the resin is a brute force approach and there's no way to isolate areas from the vacuum and pressure that's going to do it's damndest to eliminate the bubbles.

That said, this does have me thinking about how I can do these mutated elements in a way that lets the builder pick and choose where they want to place them instead of having them as static elements on the parts. It's a win-win if I can pull it off, since I can use the existing armour kits as a base and just 'bolt-on' the extra details which will simply add a mould or two the producing the kit, instead of a complete set of new moulds for unique armour plates. This is why I post and really appreciate the feedback because it really does get me thinking from different perspectives and even an idea that might be off the mark in some way can still be valuable.

Excommunicatus wrote:So if a person had a need for some custom parts, do they PM you or do you have a store or what's the crack?

I need four 40x20x5mm (ish) plaques with Cyrillic lettering and a border, is that something you can do? It seems simple compared to the other stuff you're doing but I know nothing so I don't want to assume.

While Anvildude is not affiliated with my studio, he's basically got the gist of it. Right now I need to focus on my own projects to get a large enough selection of kits on the shelves so the studio can become properly sustainable. Once I'm reaching that point I'll consider doing commissions, but I have so many ideas and concepts that I want to make real, I'll need to consider that more when I actually get to that point. Right now I'm completely swamped working parttime and doing the entire process for the studio, but once I can get more labour to help with the studio that will change things considerably.

No worries, that's fair enough. Nobody owes anyone else their time.

Liking the look of everything still

With the mutated armour, would it be possible to do the plates with the holes for the spikes, then have separate spikes, tentacles, boils, and assorted gribblies that could 'plug in' so to speak. One base kit could provide a multitude of variants that way.



Edit: Which I just realised you basically covered in your last post

The biggest issue I'm seeing with that is some of the higher-quality gribblies. Look, for instance, at the tooth things on the forwards side plate of the not-Rhino. See how they're actually pushing up and out the decorative edging? That would be incredibly difficult to set up as an 'optional' piece, but it's part of what makes the difference between "Just glue some spikes on it and call it Chaos" and "This tank is mutating!"

Totally get that. What I was envisaging was the plates looking exactly like that, but without the actual 'teeth'. So the plate is buckled there, protrudes as it does now, but the actual socket is empty. So you could plug in a toorh, or a tentacle, an arm, a mechanical appendage, a vine....whatever was available, or even that you had at home, or made yourself.

So the basic setup is the same, just the actual dribbles themselves that would vary.

Hrm... I see what you're saying. It'd still have a little of that 'manufactured randomness' to it, but much less on a larger scale.

Though that might actually make the casting easier and more reliable, overall- being able to have a separate sprue of 'gribbly options' means that the actual armour components would still be relatively flat and smooth. Relatively.

Make the holes properly detailed, and you could even leave them open.

+++ Warning ∙ Nefarious Sub-routines Detected! +++ System Halt… Fail! +++ Unsanctioned STC Modification ∙ Initialized +++

So you want to defy gravity?

I like MonkeyTrolls idea, that way the “plug in” could be theoretically infinitely different, not there at all, or even chaos god specific, Rotten, Magical, Angry, Fetish etc etc