Scratch Build – In Progress Cygnar Storm Strider - Update#28.5 - 9.06.2011

^It's well deserved this is still on of the best builds I'v seen and to think this is only the start*shudders* mod on!

 

Congrats on the Sponsorship! this shall be epic when it's finished

 

Update #18: Paint and Tapping Frustrations
Count Down: Only 23 more days until PAX 2011.

Look what arrived! First off I’d like to thank my new sponsor. Privateer Press! For those of you unfamiliar with Privateer Press they make a several fun games and a line of paints. The idea for the model was derived from one of their Battle Engines from the game Warmachine.


http://privateerpress.com/

Not only did they agree to sponsor me but they sent their help in record time. A package arrived on my door step by the time I finished reading the email saying they’d sponsor me. It was filled with four cool looking boxes.



Each of those boxes were filled with model paints! And they sent two cool patches to use for a process display!






The colors I requested and they provided were:
Exile Blue, Cygnar Blue Base, Cygnar Blue Highlight, Arcane Blue, Menoth White Highlight, Morrow White, Thamar Black, Battlefield Brown



I should be able to use these colors to replicate the colors they used for the gallery entry for the Storm Strider:



All in all, this help from Privateer Press brings me to a new level of happiness and excitement! I can’t wait to try out all of the new stuff. Even better news, I’m in discussions with D. Anthony over at Green Fairy Studios. They would like to help out the project by painting and/or detailing the case! As time runs short, this is a much needed boost to my confidence and my ability to make the PAX deadline! Feel free to check out his work: http://greenfairystudios.wordpress.com/



Now, back to the case! I am all tapped out. Literally, I am out of taps. I ran into a bit of a snag and snapped not one but two of my taps. Fortunately, I was able to extract the snapped pieces without damaging any of the pieces. Do any of you experience metal workers out there have any advice for me? Am I just strong arming my taps? They are kind of thin/small, 4-40 taps. Is there a brand anyone prefers?

Here’s the base plate with half of the posts attached.



I’ll probably have another post on Friday/Saturday. Stay Tuned!!

 

Holy SH****!!!

 

^ yeah that

That's a lot of paint... I guess that's more significant than I thought it would be... When I first saw you had a sponsor for paint I was thinking "seems like a really small thing to sponsor" but I see I was wrong

This log is awesome, I especially liked reading through the posts about the casting process as you went along.

 

4-40 taps are kinda delicate. don't use the t-handle so much, or hold the opposite part in your fingers while you tap. It's also a good idea to back the tap out every ~1/8" and clean the cuttings off. -and use some oil.
This is all probably gibberish, or what you already know, so GO EASY ON IT.
The only other thing I can think of is if you are using the right size drill bit.

I've always wondered what a pint of model paint looked like in those tiny modeling bottles. Now I know.

 

Yeah, it's quite important using the right drill dimensions - I can't remember the exact numbers, but for a 4 mm. thread you could be needing something as special as a 3.3 mm. drill and, usually, drills that are kinda "off" the normal sizes (e.g. 4 mm, 3.5 mm, 3 mm.) tend to be hard to get at and probably also more expensive - but crucial in order to achieve the correct result.

 

The sad thing is, when I bought these taps they come with a matching drill bit... it is the drill bit I've been using. I'll experiment on a scrap with a larger bit.

 

It may be a lot of trouble to go through, but if you can find a lettered set of drill bits you can usually get a better match than if you use normal standard/metric sizes.

 

I second what Cheap said, especially the part about backing it out, cleaning it, and the lube. Turn it until it starts to get snug then back it off, repeat until the hole is tapped. Also, here is a link to drill sizes for taps:

http://www.efunda.com/designstandards/screws/tapdrill.cfm

 

those bottles are actually made in a model of a miniature factory. soooo tiny... but SOOOOO many! they can't just make em bigger? anyway, congr on the sponsorship. Amazing modding!!

 

Definitely can't wait to see the next pics.
I'm totally impressed by your work. Mod on!

sub'd

 

That is a lot of bottles lol Congratulations on the sponsor! Its not one that is often seen sponsoring parts in this hobby

But also, you dont often see a mod with this kinda stuff in it to often either! Keep up the good work, It looks brilliant!

 

Warsmith, GCOFIELDD - thanks for the tips

quizz_kid, BaronStoke, p0Pe - Thanks!

---------------------------------------------------

As a little update:

Do not be surprised if every single mod I do for the next 10 years has blue LEDs. I just got a screaming deal from a US LED manufacturer: 1000 Blue LEDs for $27 USD.

Even if 950 of them don't work, I'll still have enough for this project and will have paid less than buying them from the local Radio Shack.

 

Wire 'em ALL up in this rig!
*checks LEDcalc*
16,680m amps? To sleepy to see if that's right.

 

From time to time (no, a lot actually) I see people breaking taps, in of all materials, aluminium. I don't really understand how this is happening but I'll give you a run down on how I do it, as I've literally tapped hundreds (thousands?) of threads for the last three cases I've made, as well as other projects, and never had to worry about breaking a tap. By far the most common size screws used in modding are M3 and M4. Some references will give you different and not easily available drill sizes for these screws but I have always used 2.5 mm for M3 x 0.5 and 3.2 mm for M4 x 0.7. These drill bits are readily available in kits or as single pieces from just about any hardware outlet.

For a 'tap through' obviously drill depth doesn't matter. For a 'blind' thread, you will need to drill a little deeper than you expect to cut the thread. Also, when using such small drill bits, I always use a lubricant and drill slowly, backing up and cleaning the drill bit for deeper holes. I take a bottle of lubricant and an artists paint brush with me to the drill press.

Before starting to cut the thread, make certain the drill hole is free from all debris. Fix the part in the vice (if possible). No matter what angle you have drilled the hole at, fix the work piece so that the hole is as perpendicular as possible to the bench/ground whatever (straight up and down). This will help you keep the tap in line with the hole. Make sure the tap is clean and free from previous cutting debris. The same cutting fluid and brush come back with the part for cutting the thread. Always. Apply some fluid to the tap and begin cutting, keeping the tap in line with the hole always. At first you will need two hands to get the thread started, once the tap can stand by itself you can do the rest of the cut with one hand. Only 'moderate' pressure needs to be applied to the tap, this is difficult to quantify and you will just have work out for yourself how much pressure this actually is. As the cutting progresses, back off a little every quarter turn, this helps break the waste and makes for a cleaner cut. Pay careful attention to when the tap 'bottoms'. Don't go any further once resistance is felt. Back the tap out and remove the work piece from the vice and clean the hole of all debris. I usually bang the piece down on the work bench (mine is covered with rubber) until the debris appears on the bench. Then give it a blow out and check that the hole is clean. Clean the tap (I use the small brush for this) and run it through the hole again. You should be able to screw the tap all the way in without the handle.

All through the drilling and tapping it pays to take your time and not hurry any part of the process. Don't drill a deep hole all at once and go easy when tapping.

I can only guess that to break a tap in alu, one would have to really be trying hard to cut the thread out of parallel with the hole. So pay very close attention to the angle at which you are tapping. I guess another way may be trying to keep pushing once the tap has 'bottomed', but I think this will only strip the thread. Either way, take your time and pay attention to just a few things and you'll never break a tap in alu again.

 

Attila and all those that gave tap suggestions,

Last night I spent about 3 hours tapping and I completely figured out what the problems were. First off I wasn't drill exactly perpendicular to the metal. This is much harder that it looks when you don't have a drill press. This cause a little extra stress on the tap. Secondly, everyone that suggested drill-to-tap sizes were correct. I got a little suspicious that it was so difficult trying to tap those holes created with the matching manufacturer provided drill bits. So I grabbed a scrap piece of aluminum and did some experimenting. First I noticed going to 6-32 screw size was much easier to work with than the 4-40. Secondly, I notice that going to the next size drill bit from the 'matching' bit provided made the work incredibly easier...

So score so far:

Bit-Tech 1 vs Drill bit manufacturer 0


Thanks guys!

 

I REALLY LOVE this build!
PAX is getting close eh?

A word of advice thought, I (as a seller of industrial tools) think you should be careful with changing sizes on the drill, everytime you go up i size you loose a bit of the strength of the thread and in alu that can be extra crucial to the ridgidity? of the joint, because alu is a very soft material and easily looses the thread. I however can't tell if the manufacturer of the kit sent the correct drillbit to match the tap

In my store(meaning workplace im not the owner ) we have the drills 2-13mm in every 0.1 mm and then a lot more in 0.5mm. i think that's quite common in the "professional" stores and those drills are quite cheap, 3,2mm as example is 15sek (roughtly 1,5-2€) and a tip to get good 3,2mm drills is to look for rivet drills, they're usually 3,2mm (for 3,2mm rivets ofc) also often shorter (because usually u don't rivet thick materials) and thereby stronger and more stable than the long ISO-standard drills

and as Attila(THE alu king ) says, you cant go too slow... 1/4 turn and a little turn back, 1/4 turn and a little turn back, 1/4 turn and a little turn back, and so on casue the waste in that hole could do some evil harm to the thread. might seem hopeless when ur at it but, it's better then redoing then whole piece just cause the last of that 18 holes got screwed... (been there done that)

and as last word, english is not my native language, so sorry if there is some SwEnglish in there... ask if there's a sentence u don't understand

sorry for the wall, and again LOVE the case!

 

kelmannen: +1 rep for the rivet drill tip - does your shop ship to Denmark?

 

Update #19: Main Enclosure
Count Down: Only 18 more days until PAX 2011.

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK TICK TOCK

Yes, I hear the clock’s deafening roar. But no, I am not worried. My goal is to have it done by PAX (August 26th), although if that doesn't happen I will still be diligently working on it until completion.

In all honesty I am hopeful that I will have it completed on time but... it all comes down to what happens on August 9th. I am casting the master pieces of the legs on the 9th. IF they turn out good then I'll be able to do a second casting later that week and the pieces from the 9th as masters and replicate one leg into four. Those four legs will need to be cleaned up and put everything together. But all of the cleaning parts and the assembly can happen at "midnight on 8/25" and I'd still have a showable piece.

IF they don't turn out as usable pieces, then I have to carve more pieces out from foam and recast them which will take quite a bit more time. Absolute worst case scenario, this project will be completed in October at the latest.

Best case scenario, it's completed on time. Now, onto the update!


Allow me to introduce you to Nemo. Nemo has a very short time to live. He has until August 9th and then he will become one with the casemod. To all of those that participated in the voting to pick which model was going to be melted down and infused with the casting, thank you. To those of you that requested that I use the old Nemo rather than the 2010 model, I apologize. I was only able to obtain a 2010 model in this short notice. Wish Nemo well because his life will not be long.



I finally got all of the enclosure posts completed.



Then I began attaching the walls.



After each wall was attached, I made sure they fit properly and filed down any parts that over lapped the edging.



Here is a front view before I filed down the front edge.



Here is a close up of that front edge and the curve.



This was one of the broken taps I had mentioned… I was able to extract the tap by simply unscrewing the tap from the post.



I was able to put all of the mother board mounting posts into the base plate.



I finally attached the back plate to the posts.



The enclosure has finally taken shape. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to see your mechanizations take shape when they’ve only been figments of your mind and snippets of conversation. It is a validation. Oh, just to the right is Nemo. He’s over-seeing the construction and screw inventory/count.



I tossed the template into the enclosure to get an idea of placement and to make sure the motherboard mounts will work. It wasn’t until that day did I even notice the template piece I have been using was for a Maximus III rather than the Maximus IV. After a little bit of panic and double checking with the actual board, the template works for aligning the motherboard mounting holes.



Next I file off the extra bits for the back plate. I’ll do the same for the top after I place the top plates.



Then I place the top plates. I cut these plates using the base plate as a template… which was a mistake.



Since I’m making this whole case ad-hoc, there are little difference between posts and how things align. The parts aren’t exactly symmetrical but they are functional and aesthetically decent. That being said, I cut the top pieces too early and now they don’t fit with the top part of the posts. The right side would be off on one of the inside walls. The left side is a little too short.





So, I decided to just cut two new pieces. I’ll start on the top plate details after I cast the center piece and attach the two inside walls.




Since I can’t work on the top plate until after the casting, I started working on the windows. There will be a fan on each side to help with air flow in the case.





Here is a quick look at the mesh I’ll be using in the windows.



Well… I hate to leave you with that gnarly, un-filed window cut but that is it for now. Another update will be posted later this week. We’ll see if I can get the windows completed and the next set of casting pictures up in the next update. Thanks for reading!