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Post by Hanyoutai on May 24, 2016 6:20:24 GMT -5
So, I've been mulling over the idea of building a scratch Zoid for a long time now, starting with a sturdy armature. I know a lot of people construct shapes out of styrene sheets but I've got a lot of questions there.
What do you put under it? I see you'd need to at least do some touch up work using putty of some kind but how do these shapes simply not just collapse under mild pressure? Would building the inner 'flesh' out of foam make a difference? Or even be strong enough?
The reason I'd be turning to foam and styrene over plastic and putty is because articulation is real important to me and with a durable armature I'm worried the weight would be too much. (Think something house cat sized.) It'd also be more realistic to afford. I can of course add plastic and putty details but a solid figure of it might just be too much.
Another question is how to deal with the texture. Like, cutting pieces for a vent would be easy enough, but there'd be that texture on the side. Would this even out in the painting stage or would it need to be puttied over?
I realize this is probably one of the least sensible ways to go about it but I really don't see the charm in using parts from real zoids when they just don't match the design. I really want it to be spot on.
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Post by Snowflake on May 24, 2016 13:36:31 GMT -5
I think as long as the styrene sheets are glued together they're as strong as anything else. I may be confusing which material is which though. For texture I imagine people typically layer a bunch of layers together then sand them down into something smoother. Like if you wanted a diagonal bit.. well, okay, if you wanted a diagonal flat face you'd just cut a piece of the styrene sheet and use it for that, but just for EXAMPLE, you'd layer pieces down in a stairstep formation and then you'd have a ROUGH diagonal, which you could smooth out easily. or putty out, whichever. I wish I had some basic fabrication experience because I know I have some talent for sculpting
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Post by Maethius on May 26, 2016 14:14:45 GMT -5
It really depends on the structures you are building; most of my styrene work is for capping voids or adding details. One thing you can do is construct inner structures out of styrene or affix them to other parts, like Bionicles or Struxx, if you can find them. For detail structures you can find some kinds of styrene with that built in; I use different scales of slatboard (building siding) for vents on some of my builds. Also, there is always locating MMS detail kits (here is a listing on [/url=http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dtoys-and-games&field-keywords=Kotobukiya+MSG]Amazon[/url] ) ... they not only do weapons/armor, but things like panels, plates, round and square detail bits, handles, hatches, etc. Oh, and my personal favorite for adding little details: scrapping! I add bits torn from circuit boards, chop interesting bits from toys or model kits I obtain for pennies at thrift stores or garage sales. If you like, you can look into some of the newer build pages for my customs. I try to show a lot of my process in the later stuff that might be helpful: Gil KaiserinEradicatorWolvereaverStorm HeronIn fact, one custom of mine was made entirely from scrap/re-purposed parts: HellstormHope something in here helps!
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Post by Hanyoutai on May 26, 2016 21:40:06 GMT -5
Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely look around for some of the paneling styrene you mentioned, and after looking at some videos it seems it should be strong enough to support the structure. Which puts a lot of worries to rest, I thought it'd be more fragile. I've never worked with it before. In terms of adding random details, unfortunately it won't work for this build since I want it to be near exact specifications, so random details don't really have their place here. I'll probably try to find something to source the joints out of, and not sure how to tackle the caps yet. I'll certainly be keeping it in mind for future builds, though! I've got so many extra parts (especially from HMMs) that I'll never use, and have wanted to make something with for a while. A lot of your builds, along with Raysetiger's have definitely been an inspiration though, for where to look for parts and how amazing things can be repurposed. I have kept an eye out for stuff like this, even without building anything yet, haha.
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Post by Maethius on May 31, 2016 12:01:09 GMT -5
That's a nice looking design! Really hard to scratch curved armor, however. You would almost need an expert hand and a heat gun to create that, or start with a kit that is the closest you can and build on top of it.
One other thing about using styrene; I don't know about others, but if I ever used Testors' cement in the old days the parts would crack apart in time. I started using Pro Weld and have had much greater success. Careful, though, PW can turn your parts into soup if you are not careful!
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Post by Hanyoutai on May 31, 2016 13:18:51 GMT -5
Thanks for the tips! Yeah, I'm prepared for the challenge of curvey parts. Been watching a lot of videos for it, and I imagine that it's unfortunately going to require a lot of trial and error. Thankfully it's a pretty cheap material to work with, so there's room for me to learn (without going into bankruptcy.)
On a plus side, my sister is into a lot of scratch building stuff for dolls, so we've already got a heat gun in the house.
Is there anywhere in particular you pick up Pro Weld, or just buy it online?
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Post by Maethius on Jun 1, 2016 15:29:45 GMT -5
I used to get it at a local hobby store, but they closed after 33 years... so now I get it online. If you go with Micro-Mark, they have an identical product called... "Same Stuff"... in a rip-off appearing bottle. Seems to work just fine.
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