bill
Lieutenant
Posts: 322
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Post by bill on Jan 12, 2023 10:35:30 GMT -5
I've stalled yet again. I don't know if I will ever get anywhere with this wasp. After examining what I have verses what I want it to do the whole wing set up may be scrapped. I want the wings to go from laying aside the body to outward to the flapping motion. The subset wings will be stationary and not utilized more over for weaponry or show. But the larger ones I wish to move from the at rest position to the flying flapping position and I just can't seem to wrap my head around a way to make that happen with the motor or only utilize the motor during flapping mode ideally more over. I've yet to build any of the newer zoids wild zoids and the seem to do exactly what I'm striving for in essence 2 modes of motion on many of them. This is what has caused me to stall once again. I did make some progress. But after thinking about motion of what I have compared to motion I actually want it has me at an impass I'm not sure I will get beyond. Yes I know there are many schools of thought when making a custom. But being the old guy I am I guess I prefer what has always attracted me to the zoids in the 1st place. The clever mechanical motion and the thought going into how to make this motor, of various kinds, make this whole zoid emulate the motions they do of the creature it is. That to me is what it is all about. Yes I have the blocks and other staic models but they side step the cleverness. Could you imagine if the chameleor actually did the stutter stepping and turret eye movements of a chameleon maybe even tail curling in and out as well instead of just finger activaed tongue. But I digress. So yeah stalled.
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Post by Maethius on Jan 17, 2023 13:06:25 GMT -5
That's a lot of work... don't get discouraged! My own WIP is more than a year overdue! I just have to keep scraping for time and clawing forward one drop of paint at a time. Mechanics are more challenging than paint, but there's a reason it took this long to get to the paint part!
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Post by Fulano on Mar 7, 2023 16:26:03 GMT -5
I didn't find the time to finish what I wanted to submit to Stand River, so here's what I've been working on: Endless Fury (or Endlos Fuhrer) I've attached the Fury's egg-beaters to the Sturm Tyrann, and I'm going to give it a nice new gun and paint job. I'm thinking lore-wise, towards the end of the war between the Neo Zenebas Empire and Helic Republic, Neo-Z leadership requests a new, high-speed chassis to combat the Helic Republic's LZ Phoenix, LZ Falcon, and Gairyuki platforms and eliminate any threats to the Siesmosaurus divisions. The Energy Liger was the eventual response to that request, but other factions within the Empire developed their own platforms as well. The flailing Eisen Dragoon unit saw an opportunity; having successfully led the coup of the Guylos Empire before being cast aside by Wolf Muroa during the reformation of the Neo Zenebas Empire, and subsequently suffering internal humiliation from the dominance of the Seismosaurus model (and accompanying unmanned box units) and external defeat in multiple cities across the continent from the newly-revealed Gairyuki units, Eisen Dragoon designers thought to appeal to Zenebas history by retooling the Berserk Fury and Sturm Tyrann models. The supercharged result combined the versatility of the Berserk Fury's buster claws with the Sturm Tyrann's speed, maneuverability, and armor, and provided the empire with a potential unit to protect the crucial Seismosaurus units. Unfortunately, the Neo Zenebas leadership perceived this appeal to "tradition" as a betrayal by the remnants of the Eisen Dragoon, associating their attachment to the units that spearheaded the coup of the Guylos Empire to loyalty to, at best, Guylos itself, or at worst, the Republic and its new employment of the Fury base for the Gairyuki. The Eisen Dragoon remnants entered their champion Endless Fury into a contest against the Zenebas' new Energy Liger platform and watched, with horror, as the Fury was ill-equipped to battle the new liger type. The Eisen remnants were thought to have been eliminated after that contest, though in reality they escaped the empire with the remaining Eisen Dragoon platoon Zoids and disappeared into the fog of war. Among those that fled were first cousins and a half-sister of Wolf Muroa himself, the founders of the Eisen Dragoon unit when it was formed by the Guylos Empire. In the far future, this Zoid will reappear under the control of a pilot claiming to be the long lost descendent of the Muroa clan, and will proceed to ascend to great heights in tournaments across Zi. Sono Bat, the Listener This is a full-scratch build of a Bat Zoid.
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bill
Lieutenant
Posts: 322
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Post by bill on Mar 8, 2023 9:19:30 GMT -5
Are those magnets on the back of that bat's head that pair up with another set on the darker piece? Neat! Can't wait to see it finished!
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Post by Snowflake on Mar 8, 2023 17:42:01 GMT -5
Oho, that looks great!
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Post by Fulano on Mar 9, 2023 0:45:49 GMT -5
Are those magnets on the back of that bat's head that pair up with another set on the darker piece? Neat! Can't wait to see it finished! They are! They help the head to snap into a comfortable place, and they kind of reinforce the neck in a way. The ball joint that supports the head is not exactly the strongest.
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bill
Lieutenant
Posts: 322
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Post by bill on Mar 9, 2023 9:32:30 GMT -5
Clever useage! Now you have the wheels turning in my mind on the gunny wing fix. I never thought of magnets! That would work and never worry about breakage. Just snap the magnets back into place. Hmmm I wonder if that may even work on the gojulas tail fix with larger ones. I have at least 3 tails to play with in the junkyard. You may have started a trend!
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Post by Maethius on Mar 9, 2023 14:08:27 GMT -5
Fantastic use of parts! You have a skill for making function and silhouette; a great combination for striking customs!
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Post by Fulano on Mar 10, 2023 10:43:20 GMT -5
Clever useage! Now you have the wheels turning in my mind on the gunny wing fix. I never thought of magnets! That would work and never worry about breakage. Just snap the magnets back into place. Hmmm I wonder if that may even work on the gojulas tail fix with larger ones. I have at least 3 tails to play with in the junkyard. You may have started a trend! These are what I use, in case you want to try the same: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NZTN426/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1They're very strong, and you can glue them in with super glue. I have a 3mm pin vise that can drill the exact sized hole for fitting them in perfectly flush with the rest of the model.
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Post by Fulano on Mar 10, 2023 10:48:04 GMT -5
Fantastic use of parts! You have a skill for making function and silhouette; a great combination for striking customs! Thanks, I appreciate that. And as it's oft-repeated in this thread, it'd be impossible to not attribute some of that to your website and the making-of sections of each of your customs. I also wonder if the is true for you - for me, the bat custom started entirely from what is now the nose piece - it's a frame arms head that I thought looked a lot like a bat's or pig's nose, and a year of staring at it later, I had a picture of what I wanted to do with it. It's a shame I can't meet deadlines for customs to save my life - this bat was supposed to be for a gallery on the Zoids reddit discord (Stealth Zoid themed) and then I wanted to finish it for Stand River. Maybe next year! (Even the Gairyuki is now rolling its eyes)
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Post by Maethius on Mar 10, 2023 15:11:25 GMT -5
That has happened to me, actually. Sometimes I see a part or combo of parts that is really inspiring. I often drop the part into a plastic box with a label on it ("Koi" or "Condor") and will drop other pieces in there that seem to go together. Eventually I will charge ahead with a custom once I have either enough parts to get the majority of the work done.
I think it is well worth taking the time and waiting for inspiration on customs. Harder with commissions, though!
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bill
Lieutenant
Posts: 322
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Post by bill on Mar 30, 2023 17:20:39 GMT -5
These are the starting pics of the penplax starbird modification. They are a body comparison and leg comparison. Thus begins the modification of this aquarium toy into a working zoid. I need to find something to soften and remove the glue. I was thinking of nail polish remover.
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Post by Maethius on Apr 11, 2023 14:33:48 GMT -5
Interesting. To remove the glue you might also be able to use Simple Green (I soaked parts in it to remove chrome, too!)
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Post by Maethius on Jul 31, 2023 14:22:52 GMT -5
I just wanted to post a note, as it were.
I think pretty much everyone is well aware that I want from cranking out a fairly extensive set of customs in rapid succession for years to essentially running headlong into a wall. Pre-pandemic I realized that I had bitten off a bit more than I could chew on my latest custom, and there was a series of unfortunate events (half caused by my own shortsightedness) that each had a devastating effect on my creative abilities and my willpower. Every attempt to correct an issue was met with a new failure that made it even harder to move ahead. I actually spent months at a time feeling heartsick every time I looked at the door of my shop. My latest piece became known as "The Custom from Hell."
Well, I don't have much to show on it right now, but I wanted the community to know that I have been slowly and steadily crawling out of my morass. For the past week (after THREE MONTHS of avoiding my shop) I began applying decals to the finally finished base coat. It has been arduous, as I haven't done this much of that kind of work in a long time and because I have an irritating penchant for "real world accuracy" ... in other words, every stinking decal needs to make sense where it is placed. You know, in case anyone takes a magnifying glass and actually reads what it says?
Anyway, I wanted you all to know that I am moving forward, and once this custom is done I am going to finally build a passion project just for me.
Stick with it, whatever your struggles, and place one foot forward if that's all you can do. Celebrate that you moved that foot!
Eventually, you will step into a new and better chapter in your life.
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Post by Snowflake on Jul 31, 2023 17:06:32 GMT -5
Struggles hit you when you least expect. Glad to hear you're finding a way out.
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