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Hello, Dakka!

I bought myself a laser cutter recently, and after much frustration, trial and error, it's finally working the way I need it to. Here are some pictures of what I've managed to whip up so far.

Cheesy radio antenna. The first thing I cut out when I got the cutter up and running.


A small 25mm marker. The engrave feature on the cutter is fantastic.


More 25mm markers, this time in clear acrylic, my new go-to material.


A Hyperios emplacement-like missile pod. Just something cool I whipped up. The missile pod file has since been modified and my technique for cutting acrylic has improved, so the next one won't have as noticable a collection of burn marks.


Check out my blog: There Is Only War for more stuff.

If anyone wants any of this stuff, lemme know. I'm sure I can put together a kit.

More to come!
-Jordan

Very nice stuff! And burn marks aside, that missile launcher looks fantastic. What else are you working on?

Id say you took massive leaps forwards from your 1st attena to your missle silo. Def very keen to see what else you knock up.

Keep up your good start!!!!

Mr Sighs wrote:Very nice stuff! And burn marks aside, that missile launcher looks fantastic. What else are you working on?

Thank you! Just today, a friend of mine mentioned wanting to add hunter-killer missiles to his chimeras, but didn't care for the ones that come with the new vehicle kits. He described what he wanted and I whipped this up in about two hours.



It's almost impossible to tell, but the recessed port has a shutter door to protect the missile that's in there.


The back exhaust grating.


View of the front hatch.

jonkfi wrote:Id say you took massive leaps forwards from your 1st attena to your missle silo. Def very keen to see what else you knock up.

Keep up your good start!!!!

Thank you! Next up is probably an upgrade to the antenna to fit with the launcher base.

Nice hunter killer missile... Yet it's hard to make out all the details... Maybe prime and wash so we can see it clearly?

After much trial and error, here's a pic of a mostly complete radar/comms dish.



There is supposed to be a middle section, but I botched the measurement. I've since edited the cut file. In addition to the details currently on the model, I'll be adding a computer interface type thing that attaches to the back of the dish's base.

As always, more to come.

Banged this sucker out just this morning. It actually took less time to design than to cut.

All looks pretty darned good to me. Would love to get hold of a laser cutter but they all seem incredibly expensive - what have you got and how much did it cost (if you don't mind me asking)?

 Ruglud wrote:
All looks pretty darned good to me. Would love to get hold of a laser cutter but they all seem incredibly expensive - what have you got and how much did it cost (if you don't mind me asking)?

I spent about $800 for the laser cutter itself, which is an el cheapo Chinese model. Free shipping was nice and they have distributors in the UK. Most of the control components are horrid, so they had to be replaced. Seriously, don't buy this cutter unless you also buy new control internals. I dropped another $700 on upgrades from lightobject.com, which sells upgrades specifically aimed at the laser cutter I bought. I also picked up some spare focus lenses and mirrors along the way. My next set of upgrades will consist of a laser head with an air assist and an adjustable Z table for cutting out thicker materials, both of which will run around $150.

So in total, around $1,650 over around four months. It's worth keeping in mind that the next step up that's actually worth purchasing is an Epilog Zing laser that runs $8,000 (which I have no doubt whatsoever is worth every cent), an expense that I just couldn't justify right now.

My machine is an excellent starter and has an attractive price point for what it is, but is a lot of work on the front end to get it set up. After that, it's a joy to use!

Oh well, will have to wait for that elusive lottery win... For now I will simply have to watch your progress and dream

Primed the WIP radar dish:

Marker light marker, more to come shortly for this project.

I've been tempted to get a laser cutter myself. I will follow this thread intently.

Subscribed

adamsouza wrote:I've been tempted to get a laser cutter myself. I will follow this thread intently.

If you go my route, get ready for a major DIY project. Totally worth it if you can afford it all at once.

livanbard wrote:Subscribed

Thank you!

Again, if anyone has any suggestions, please post them! I'm out of ideas...

Here's the start of a set of Tau effect tokens:


More to come as always.

I've contacted Epilog Laser. Closer to $10,000 to get an initial setup, but they are willing to "lease to buy" you the equipment.

I was thinking about getting my hands on the software and get comfortable designing models first, split the cost of leasing the equipment with a friend, and churn out as many models as I can, in the shortest lease time I can get.

On a related note, what software are you using to design you stuff ?

I use a proprietary piece of software called "LaserCAD" provided with the control card for my machine for actual cutting, though most of my designing is done in eMachineShop, which is free and very easy to use. If cost is a barrier, you can take the route I did and stuff upgrades into a Chinese machine.

+++INFORMATION REDACTED UNDER ORDER OF INQUISITION+++

More to come.

If you don't mind me asking, where are you getting the MDF and acrylic to cut with the laser ?

This is awesome. I can't wait to see what else you do with it.

Forgot to through in the obligatory they look great, and applaud the use of Chuck Norris !!

adamsouza wrote:If you don't mind me asking, where are you getting the MDF and acrylic to cut with the laser ?

Funny you mention that, finding MDF in either 1/8" or 3mm was the hardest part of this endeavor. I can find it in 1/4" plus no problemo, but any thinner than that is nightmarish. I ended up ordering $25 worth and paying $28 just to have it shipped from the only website I could find in the US that actually had it!

I got it url=http://www.woodnshop.com/]here[/url].

The acrylic is just plexiglass you can get at any hardware store. Mine is 2.2mm. When I run out, I'll start buying different colors and thickness online. You can find places that sell acrylic easy with a google search.

A section of a trench line I'm working on. So far, so good, all I have to do is think up a look for the piece that will connect one piece to another and continue working on the various sections. What's shown here is a WIP concept made from scraps I had laying around. The final version will have a grated pattern engraved in the base and something etched into the vertical sections as well.



Close shot


Shot of an earlier WIP cut with the plating engrave:

Trench system straight section complete:


Some Death Korps engineers for scale:


A better shot of the hex grating on the inside of the trench:


As always, more to come.

Concept sketches for an MDF Macro Cannon bunker and cannon:


Cannon mount bracket:


Fortress of Redemption centerpiece concept sketch:


Working out the kinks for both a 3-way intersection and the macro cannon bunker.

More to come.

Feel free to post up the pictures of those tokens again Jordan, and thanks for waiting on them, the team loved em!

Shot of the bunker:


That large hole in the roof is the turret ring for the macro cannon mount concept a few posts up.

Some scale shots. Guys up top:


And in front of the blast door:


What good is such a large structure if guys can't get inside and move around? The top section is removable:


A work in progress shot. The piece can be broken into five sections for easier storage:


Close up of the doors. Both open, but on the right door, I tried some adjusted dimensions that didn't quite work out the way I'd hoped.


More to come as I develop the trench system, the actual macro cannon itself and the rest of the new Wall of Martyrs-compatible Apocalypse terrain into my very own terrain set.

That looks pretty damn sweet.

The working doors were a nice touch.

Wonderful work Jordan, that looks great

Whipped up some flame markers to indicate that a vehicle is wrecked. The marker is about 30mm cube when assembled.



And the marker on a vehicle:


I rather desperately need an air assist nozzle for my laser cutter if I'm going to be doing any work with acrylic. All in due time, though.

More to come.