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Hey guys,

So for a long time have I been wanting to merge more of my electronics skills with my modelling, I moved out last month and now that I have a whole garage for a workshop I can finally do so
I've always wanted to do something a little interesting with forcefields, as I play orks and the like I have plenty of KFF's and can sort of go to town.

ForceField being struck;
So the idea is to create the effect of some sort of KFF/force field being struck by a shell/bullet.
Scale wise, I want to 'attempt' - (Key word here), it on a MANz sized model, I will have 5 MANz who will all be carrying dispersion shields, So I thought what would really bring the model to life would be the shield absorbing some sort of shot.

to help you understand how I imagine it would work;
The shield has a field around it (invisible), when a shell strikes the shield the shield flares up creating a rippling/electrical/absorption effect, the shell explodes.

How I would achieve this;
I would use 3 distinct ideas that are already used in modelling, the first being the use of some sort of clear resin, water effect to create a near invisible barrier that I can place in front of the dispersion shield. The second being the use of foliage and trees to create an explosion which would be exploding away from the shield. The third being the use of a flickering tea light to create a nice pulsing glow effect at the centre. Some photos to help aide the thought process.

Potential shield effects;


The exploding shell with flickering centre;



Thoughts?

Love the idea! My first thought is that you don't necessarily have to use resins - you could use plastic domes. There's a variety of stuff you can harvest out there and save your sanity. Fillable Easter eggs or baubles from craft stores, the dome from a coffee house drink cup, etc. they're pretty easy to cut to shape.
I like the idea of one intersecting with the ground as it flickers into sight, so that you don't have to find a way to attach it to the model (as with the blue rod in the first picture).
It sounds a cool project idea indeed, I hope it goes well.

Out of those 3 samples, the clear resin on the Tau is by far the best and most striking

Buttery Commissar wrote:Love the idea! My first thought is that you don't necessarily have to use resins - you could use plastic domes. There's a variety of stuff you can harvest out there and save your sanity. Fillable Easter eggs or baubles from craft stores, the dome from a coffee house drink cup, etc. they're pretty easy to cut to shape.
I like the idea of one intersecting with the ground as it flickers into sight, so that you don't have to find a way to attach it to the model (as with the blue rod in the first picture).
It sounds a cool project idea indeed, I hope it goes well.

Ratius wrote:Out of those 3 samples, the clear resin on the Tau is by far the best and most striking

You two are completely right, but a little further explanation I think will help. The shields in the photos are both very large, I intend to something much much smaller. As its a dispersion shield I want the field to only be in effect over a portion of the shield. So imagine;

A kebab skewer that goes - Dispersion shield --> 1-2mm gap --> 'the shield effect' --> Exploding shell.

So in terms of mounting I would more than likely mount the shield effect onto the dispersion shield itself. then the explosion to that. As why I would like to use resins, I just bought some water effect stuff (I had intended to enter the dakka scenery comp, but moving house just completely made that impossible), so I still want to have a tinker. Plus I was hoping to give the shield a ripple/impact effect - as like whats in the WWP photo. In general it will be hard to see due to the explosion and such, but I think it will work



If you have any advice on using still water/ water effect products do chime in, my thoughts are something like; Lay out some clingfilm, pour on a little circle, let it dry, maybe then make another ring around that? Then afterwards I can just peel off the clingfilm to get my underside. I am considering using maybe some blue ink to tint it too, then hopefully the flickering LED will also disperse some light through the clear/tinted resin to great effect

My largest concern is actually; the size of the flickering LED, I am going to cut up one of those flickering LED tea lights, I have a feeling it will be a nice surface mount LED (which are tiny), so I can just cut away the excess fake flame, maybe add some exended wires in, run those through the shield and through the MANz arm into a battery somewhere. Also, thanks for the support If it works I hope to turn it into a tutorial for you guys, so i'll keep you posted

Ive been meaning to do something similar with a riptide - was going to use a large flying base (clear) with marks put in it with knife and dremel then place a LED in centre - found the clear plastic has a very good fire optic quality - meaning will be mostly clear apart from where ive marked it.

Should look good (well it does in my head haha)

 kezwick wrote:
Ive been meaning to do something similar with a riptide - was going to use a large flying base (clear) with marks put in it with knife and dremel then place a LED in centre - found the clear plastic has a very good fire optic quality - meaning will be mostly clear apart from where ive marked it.

Should look good (well it does in my head haha)

GO FOR IT!

By marks I assume you mean some sort of shield pattern like on the riptide above? I just ordered a whole load of clear large flyer bases (for my orkCron destroyer cult that im working on), If I get the chance i'll spray a tint pattern onto it and put an LED on the underside etc.. and post up the results My only issue would be how perfectly rounded the shield effect would be, plus there would be quite a thick border. But we can see.

Naa like battle damage flashes where the rounds have hit the shield in my head looks good will see what i can do this week. fingers crossed haha

 kezwick wrote:
Naa like battle damage flashes where the rounds have hit the shield in my head looks good will see what i can do this week. fingers crossed haha

maybe use some sort of clear glue? or still water effect to create a small ripple in the whole circle? like its absorbing each shot? Do you airbrush? because after I would suggest something like having some colour intensified around the impact point and fading out as you get further away. My Lychguard box arrived the other day along with my flicker candles. Hoping this weekend to get it started I'll post pics as I go!

What are you going to use for the actual shield piece? Make your own piece (clear resin casting or whatever) or do you have any suggestions for decent sources?

I've got an idea involving a shield like this (tho much simpler and less cool than your LED and explosion combo ), but not sure what a good source for the shield piece would be...

number9dream wrote:
What are you going to use for the actual shield piece? Make your own piece (clear resin casting or whatever) or do you have any suggestions for decent sources?

I've got an idea involving a shield like this (tho much simpler and less cool than your LED and explosion combo ), but not sure what a good source for the shield piece would be...

Hmm i've been thinking maybe a few things;

Still water effect - so thinking putting down a sheet of acetate, then pour on a puddle and let it get a little sticky and swirl it

maybe make a mould using some oyumaru (instant mould) then pour some clear resin/water effect stuff into there.

I dont have any sources for something to buy, do you have any ideas? or suggestions, i'd be interested in other methods that I might not have thought about. I should hopefully be getting a few tests in this week (just finishing up some other conversions).

Sadly I have nothing to contribute No experience with this type of modelling. If I find something I'll report back tho.

EDIT: I pm:ed the guy who made the riptide you put in your OP and this is the material he used:

syypher wrote:I used a clear plastic Christmas ornament. The ones you fill up with your own pictures and stuff. It splits in half. I got the 5" one and the one I posted use just 1 of the halves

Good luck!

But duno if that's super applicable for the effect you are going after.

For the shield itself, google "clear acrylic christmas balls". The great thing is that they split in half, so you get two shields out of each ball. They cost about a dollar apiece and are readily available in a variety of sizes. I got some at Michael's for next to nothing last Christmas, but they can also be found on amazon and other craft sites.

My plan is to cut the edge with a Dremel so that I can get a more organic shape, but I haven't really gotten past the early planning stages. This project has been on the back burner for awhile, so it'll be great to see how yours turn out.

 Nodri wrote:
For the shield itself, google "clear acrylic christmas balls". The great thing is that they split in half, so you get two shields out of each ball. They cost about a dollar apiece and are readily available in a variety of sizes. I got some at Michael's for next to nothing last Christmas, but they can also be found on amazon and other craft sites.

My plan is to cut the edge with a Dremel so that I can get a more organic shape, but I haven't really gotten past the early planning stages. This project has been on the back burner for awhile, so it'll be great to see how yours turn out.

I have used these exact ornaments for some of my projects and they work great! Only downside i might forsee is that they are a little bit thick and tend to scratch easily. They also cloud up a bit in the areas where you cut with a dremel.

 Novasetri wrote:
I have used these exact ornaments for some of my projects and they work great! Only downside i might forsee is that they are a little bit thick and tend to scratch easily. They also cloud up a bit in the areas where you cut with a dremel.

Dipping them in Future will protect them from scratches. It may help alleviate some of the fogging as well.

Personally, I would fog it or let it fog, then try and give it an 'absorption' look. I get that keeping it clear would be awesome, but unless its a cabinet piece, too difficult?

I like the idea of roughing up the edges, for a more interesting shape. Thanks for all the ideas guys, I hope this week to get started, all my materials are here