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Post by dchan on Oct 20, 2019 11:21:48 GMT -5
You know, it wouldn't be hard for a customizer (heck, for TT or Koto) to release a set of detailed pilot figures. Artists like you could make them available as resin minis, or as a 3D download. Your details are GREAT! Well it would appear Hasbro is doing just that? I did feel a little silly since I was working on this the day the Hasbro releases (with figures) were shown... but making my own lets me choose the pose and the scale better, plus I don't have to wait Looking at it one way, with the metal on the bottom My brain says Snake bacon like something out of a horror movie. Seriously cool though, Drake too Amazing details loving it. Ah yeah, I does look like some weird gorgon monster when looked at a certain way. I should have cropped the photo better haha. Thanks for the kind words!
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Post by dchan on Nov 22, 2019 14:01:27 GMT -5
I've made a few more busts but didn't want to spam the forum each time. So here's the 4 Death Metal Heavenly Kings rounded up along with some WIP photos too.
I've decided that since I've gotten this far, I'm going to see this series through to team freedom plus Gallagher too. I don't really want to do the Supreme characters because I find them more on the unappealing or boring side. For some reason, my mind has trouble letting me do other (actual plamo) projects until I get done with these I guess. They're all kind of a different scale, but being what they are I'm not getting too hung up on that. It's funny, part of me wishes that customizing and painting the actual models could be as fast as doing these studies. Each one takes a few hours, some longer and some shorter but basically I can be sure I can start and finish comfortably in one day. Meanwhile there's a Saber Tiger on my workbench that's been there for weeks... thanks for looking!
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Post by dchan on Mar 31, 2020 19:17:16 GMT -5
I've wrapped up the Zoid I've been working on. Presenting... the Hybrid Tiger!
The idea was to bring together elements of multiple Saber Tiger releases into a unified whole. Aside from a few added parts, it's mostly just regular modeling changes (sanding, sharpening, etc) with a new color scheme. Like the previous Elephander though, this is a 20 year old kit that I got when I was a kid, neglected for decades, and then had to revive with a new motor and copper tape to get the engine up and running again. I also added those gray-green bits to the upper legs to keep the mechanism aligned while walking. Not ideal, but for me a worthwhile trade off to walk again.
This was the idea:
-The yellow and maroon of course are meant to represent the NAR Zaber Fang and original Saber Tiger colors respectively.
-The "backpack" and belts are inspired by the Great Saber/CP02 parts.
-I masked off parts of the leg armor and painted areas separately to try and give a two-tone look to the red, but it ended up being too close I think to work properly. That was meant to be a reference to the amount of moving separate pieces on the HMM kit. You can kind of see it if I tell you it's there (there are panels on each of the upper and lower sections of the front and hind legs that a a little darker/redder than the rest), but overall I think it just makes it look like the legs were painted inconsistently from the body.
-The last reference I thought of that didn't end up getting included was the shoulder pad-looking parts-- the fact they are a separate color is also a reference to the NAR/Raven colors, but for a while I considered making them metallic purple to reference the Zoids 2 chrome version. I ended up not doing that because I thought it might be too tacky, but maybe I should have gone for it anyway.
Looking back, I think it turned out okay... I find it a little garish to look at, but in an almost effective way? In any case, I'm glad to have painted such an iconic Zoid for the collection.
I did have one weird issue during the painting. For some reason, the top coat I used (Super Clear matte, from Mr Hobby) cause the paint on just one piece to react weirdly. If you look closely at the cockpit/top of head piece, there's some strange cracking or peeling that occurred. I don't know why this would only affect one area out of the dozens that were prepared the exact same way. The only even slightly different thing I can remember is that I had messed up the color on that piece a couple times, so there are a few more layers of paint put on before the top coat was applied than the rest of the pieces. I don't really mind since there is slight weathering on the build everywhere so it doesn't look too out of place, but I would like to know how to minimize the chance it happens again in case there's something I'm painting that I wouldn't want this to happen to. Please let me know if you have any ideas! Ending with a group shot of my painted builds so far. Thanks for looking!
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Post by Fulano on Mar 31, 2020 21:10:45 GMT -5
I think it looks great. I love the muted color schemes you choose - they feel almost like they could be placed on the shelf of a model millennial home. They're very modern looking!
One quick question - what's the deal with the white orca-esque decal on the Tiger's right cheek? Is it a custom decal? Personally, I love that little detail the most.
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Post by dchan on Mar 31, 2020 23:28:08 GMT -5
Haha, thanks. The decals are part of an "Orca and Manta" decal set I got from HLJ a while ago. They're actually on each of my painted builds. No particular reason for their placement, just thought it would be kind of a neat faction symbol.
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Post by Maethius on Apr 1, 2020 13:21:09 GMT -5
I really love the Saber! I also like how you define your thoughts in the design and paint. It really ads character to the custom. ^_^
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Post by Snowflake on Apr 1, 2020 16:52:13 GMT -5
Beautiful! and very clever. Help me out, why do you need those extra parts to make the leg parts stay stable? Has something degraded over the years? I think the paint all looks great. The only way you could have really represented the zoids2 version would be adding the ornate patterns from the stickers, but those wouldn't suit this one... so maybe a less-swirly version of the same details? but that would have to be done by hand using some kind of stencil, so that's not super feasible
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Post by dchan on Apr 1, 2020 22:05:07 GMT -5
Ah yeah, the scrollwork would have been a really cool detail. I'm not sure what would be the best way. If I had supreme confidence in freehand painting maybe, but otherwise I can't think of a good way to mask off such an ornate design. Maybe liquid frisket might be forgiving enough.
To your question, I needed those stopper pieces because the front legs kept getting stuck. I don't know if it's just old or if I had damaged it somehow. The stoppers plug into a peg that's held in place by those U-shaped bracket parts, and somehow the leg would have too much side to side motion and the peg would fall out of the bracket and get stuck. I found that the legs do need a little side to side motion to function properly, as the movement was jerky and causes too much friction when I positioned the stopper too close.
I actually had a lot of obstacles in repairing this guy. First, replacing the motor and the connection to the battery. Second, this leg thing kept happening. Finally, I realized that one of the small gears had a hairline crack. It ran fine when I tested the gearbox by itself, but would slip with the burden and friction of the legs being attached. So I ended up replacing that nylon gears as well, and now everything is ship shape. I know it would have been easier/cheaper just to buy another Saber Tiger or Zaber Fang, but it was fun to to see if I could make it work. I'll include a video too of its successful return to locomotion.
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Post by Snowflake on Apr 2, 2020 16:30:00 GMT -5
Those are the calluses of a true darther
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Post by Leon35 on Apr 16, 2020 22:49:58 GMT -5
You did an amazing job with the color scheme for this Saber Tiger. And your work with the motor repair is genuinely impressive. Did you end up using another Zoid for the replacement parts? How did you go about acquiring the materials?
I think its cool that you decided to repair, rather than replace!
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Post by dchan on Apr 18, 2020 10:59:17 GMT -5
Thanks Leon! I bought spare parts actually. Well I have a bunch of old Hasbro Zoids I'd like to eventually fix up in a similar way, so I figured it'd be a lot less wasteful to try and repair instead of replace. From what I've seen, most Zoids (including Wild) use type 130-size motors, which seem to be a standard part for a lot of motorized toys and kits. So I was able to get new ones from an RC store online. The gears I just looked up "nylon toys gears" on ebay and crossed my fingers that they would fit properly, which luckily also seem to be standard.
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Post by Leon35 on Apr 18, 2020 13:37:55 GMT -5
Thanks Leon! I bought spare parts actually. Well I have a bunch of old Hasbro Zoids I'd like to eventually fix up in a similar way, so I figured it'd be a lot less wasteful to try and repair instead of replace. From what I've seen, most Zoids (including Wild) use type 130-size motors, which seem to be a standard part for a lot of motorized toys and kits. So I was able to get new ones from an RC store online. The gears I just looked up "nylon toys gears" on ebay and crossed my fingers that they would fit properly, which luckily also seem to be standard.
I think that is incredible! Awesome work. Just out of curiosity, from all your spare part purchases, you wouldn't happen to have any leftover Saber Tiger canopy parts would you? Pm me if you do haha.
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Post by Snowflake on Apr 18, 2020 13:52:07 GMT -5
This makes me feel better about the longevity of my collection
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