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

Mail me your sweatshirt will you? Its almost as awesome as this mod

kick ass progress man, and this weekend I'll be sending you better PM about the casting processes we use and some tips to go with it.

Keeeppp Goooiinnnnggg!

 

word! this is sooo sick! my modding level atm is that ive restyled an old dell standard keyboard to black/white instead of black and removed all logos...
*crawls in to the corner and hides behind my shiny keyboard*

 

Thank you! It's too bad you're not in the Seattle area, the guy I'm working with to over-see my casting is hosting casting classes for adults. I'm not too sure if some of my pieces are going to be lesson plans but I'm pretty sure my mistakes will be examples. If anyone in the Seattle area is curious about the classes. PM me and I'll get you in contact with Rusty and the college he's teaching through.

Are you kidding me? Your work with fiber glass is just as daring! Tell ya what, you teach me about fiber glass via your project-log and I'll post as much about lost-foam casting in mine.

They're available online. It's an Abney Park Steampunk/Airship Pirate Hoodie. They've got some awesomely modded musical instruments too! Check them out.

My best advice is to just jump right in. Take a crappy old computer that probably can't play modern games and do your best to trick it out. If it makes you feel any better my first attempt was pretty sloppy. Even though I finished it a while ago I posted it to show the improvements in my skill and ambition and the lessons I've learn from reading other casemods here on bit-tech.

There are no bad projects, just small beginnings.



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


On a side note, I appreciate modding in all shapes and forms. This weekend, Hazard Factory is hosting their PowerTool Drag Races in Georgetown in Seattle, WA. I know there's a sister event that happens in Amsterdam but I'm not too sure where exactly or when (you might have to google them). So, if you're in Seattle this weekend, come check us out!!

 

Can you show us some pictures of the smelting pot? Is it fuelled by gas, electricity, coal (would be cool)?

Anyhow, very impressive

 

I will be casting again in a week or two. I will be sure to take more pictures of the set-up.

The foundry (or smelting pot as you called it) is heated by flames made with propane gas. Here in the United States it is very cheap and accessible. Evey Home Depot, Lowes, U-Haul and most home supply shops sell propane tanks and will refill (or trade) empty container. So you can do a session of castings for $20-40USD depending on how many times you have to melt metal. I've seen some plans for electrical versions that plug into 120W outlets but the time it takes to get to melting points in dramatically increased (from 30-40 minutes to 1.5-2 hours).

 

Update #5 - June 13th

Update #5: Lightning Coil Creation
Count Down: Only 74 more days until PAX 2011.


Today’s update is with the lightning coils. The lightning coils are the 3 coiled rods that sit on top of the Storm Strider. I spent the better part of this last weekend slowly carving and filing away at foam to get a decent shape. There are a couple of things that I’m taking into consideration when I’m sculpting these coils out:

- They don’t need to be too detailed. Most of the details can be added once the coil is cast in aluminum. The aluminum is easier to work while doing minuscule details while the foam is more workable while removing large portions.

- The coil will be hollowed out to be lit up by LED. Because it’s a casemod and what’s the fun of having a case without the lightshow?

- A small bridge might have to be added after the sculpting to allow the molten aluminum to reach all of the points in the mold.

The tools I used to create these foam coils:
- Compass
- Sharpees
- Exacto Blade
- Drywall sanding blocks (2 different grains, fine and very fine)
- Various files
- Dremel
- Foam Magic Wand (a variation of the hot wire, pictured in a previous update)
- Plenty of Painter’s Tape


As stated in the previous updates, each Lightning Coil will casted in 2 halves to allow access to the center for lighting. To simplify this process, I took 2 pieces with a center line drawn on both halves and pressed them together over some toothpicks. The toothpicks will give the model a little support when I’m working with them. Then I drew the maximum radius on both the top and both.



Then I traced the outline of the lightning coil on both sides and set latitudes for each peak on the pattern.





Then I began carving down from the highest point trying to keep the circles symmetrical.


Here a view of each of the coils in various stages of the reductions.



Then I began working on the bases.



Next, I carved out the back side of the coils.



After the general shapes began to look right, I started planning out the coils. As you can see from the left coil, I had to try several times to make sure the coils lined up and stay in proportion. I kept track of the spacing on each of the patterns.





Eventually I had to brave the point of no return and began carving out the coil portion.



Here’s the middle coil with some more detail carving into the base and the coils starting to take shape.



This coil is almost done!





All that is left is to core the foam and add the casting sprues and bridges. I’m sparing your bandwidth and not reposting the same process for the other two lightning coils.


This process has taken a bit of time as you have to be careful when sanding and filing foam. If you tear the foam with a file, the foam pieces will cause you to tear more sections of foam. You also have to watch out with the pressure of your hands while hold the foam as that pressure can misshape the model. But the end product is worth it assuming the casting goes well.

Next on my to-do list:
- Investing the lightning globe
- Complete wall designs
- Complete cover plate designs
- Work more on the legs (foam reduction)
- Work more on the shin pads (foam reduction)

Next update in 3 days (June 16th), Thanks for reading and please any advice or comments are greatly appreciated!

 

For this being your first worklog, I'm impressed with how aggressive you are in this scratch build. Quite a challenging goal! (much more than just adding windows, repainting and the like.) And you are making good progress! keep it up!

 

Yep, I live on the Columbia river on the Washington side, I'm hoping to have my build done too, but not sure if it will be done for PDX.
I grew up in Seattle and lived up on capital hill while I went to Cornish Art College.
My family still lives up there and I'm always visiting.
I must say I just love your project and you have all my support!
Keep rocking along.

 

We should do a collaboration build in the future , I was think a World of WarCraft scratch build.

 

Hmmm sounds interesting. You want to take it to PM? I have a couple of things lined up for September but it's all in flux until the ink hits the paper.

 

Cool, whenever to time fits for us.. I figured since we both like to build sci-fi scratch builds that it would be a perfect fit.

 

Update #6: Must Maintain Velocity!!!

Update #6: Must Maintain Velocity!
Count Down: Only 71 more days until PAX 2011.

I apologize for the meager update today. I’ve been doing a bit for the case that doesn’t merit photography like shopping, researching and tinkering with the design. I must admit I’m a little delayed with the base plate design because I’m not too sure what motherboard I’m going to be using. I can still do a bunch of things before I decide/buy but that list is growing shorter every day.

I did, however, find a great deal on aluminum in my local area. Pacific Industrial, in Seattle, sells aluminum remnants (pieces of odd sizes after other customers get a sheet/plate cut)! This should be enough to do the main enclosure.



I cut the first piece using only a rotozip… yeah… I’m going to try to do that as little as possible. It works but the final piece is going to require a stupid amount of filing to make the edges look right.



I also decided to just go with a simple open top cover to make the motherboard and RAM more viewable. And with all the detail that I’m putting into the other parts scaling back on the detail on the covers might actually help the overall composition.



I plan on bending the left and right walls to cover the sides, front curves and front inside walls. Fortunately I was able to cut all of these pieces with a table saw and a nice new metal-cutting blade made by Diablo. It sliced through the aluminum like it was warm butter. Here’s all of the main enclosure’s plate parts:

You’ll have to excuse me, this image ended up being all messed up. I’m going to post this update and then reload the image when I get home.

Another part I’ve gotten ready to invest is the front panel between the two plates. As you can see the glue is still wet and dripping for the photograph.



The lightning coil foam parts have been cored and finished. I’m leaving a bit of center foam for stability to be removed once the pieces are cast but you should be able to get the general idea.



Onto the shin guards! Here are the patterns I’m using for the foam carving:





These pieces will be much thicker than the other parts I’ve been making so I had to start by gluing two 2” thick pieces of blue foam together. Then I cut them into appropriate sized boxes.



Next, I traced the patterns onto the blocks and put registry marks on them so that I could identify proportion and part relation as I was cutting away the foam.



And now I begin the arduous process of getting rid of the extra foam so that I can begin the main part of sculpting.




That is all for now. It might be a little bit before my next update. I want to get a nice chunk of work done so that my update will have more progress and substance to it. In the next 2-3 weeks, there should be another casting update for those of you waiting for foundry pictures. Right now I only have 9 pieces ready to cast with another 8 to 13 more to get ready. I suspect the case will really come together once I can start integrating the cast pieces with the main enclosure.

Also, I’m going to Privateer Press’s wargaming convention: Lock & Load! I’ll be able to see the actual Cygnar Storm Strider model in person… Yes, that’s correct, I’ve never actually seen the storm strider, only seen .jpgs of the model and its concept art. If Matt Wilson is still reading this, hope I get to meet you in person! But I’ll probably won’t get much done on the case these two days.

Once again, thanks for reading!

 

Most crazy and awesome mod ever!!! This mod is really unique in every aspect!!!
This is what I call modding! Not only fancy cold cathodes and expensive hardware! Mod on bro!

 

The further you get into this the more I realize this case is going to be way bigger than I had imagined. Looking awesome man!

 

Thank you!

Lol, yeah.... It is going to stand almost 3 feet tall (about 33 inches) and be lit up like a rave. I'm still debating if I should have the cold cathodes in the lightning coils be sound reactive.

 

This coming along great, keep rockin along!

 

mini update #6.5

The List:

Intel i7 2600k processor - on its way.

ASUS Maximus IV GENE-Z micro-ATX motherboard. - I'm holding my breath for this one. Hopefully they'll become available by the end of month. This will probably be the most expensive purchase.

Memory - waiting for the right sale on newegg.com but there's no rush to get the memory until the mobo gets here.


My xoxide.com shopping list (order will be placed on/after pay-day, 6-24):
(x3) 4in Dual Blue Cold Cathode Kit
mod/smart 20 Station LED Power Board - Black
Logisys 12" LED Strip - White
Thermaltake SpinQ VT CPU Cooler

Will also stop by the local Frye's (outpost.com if you don't have one in your area) to pick up wiring and 20 or so white LEDs.


Anyone have any difficulties replacing a LED in one of the Thermaltake SpinQ CPU fans? It's a great looking CPU cooler but I'm not thrilled with the red LED.



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

side note:

Many thanks to Matt Wilson, the Chief Creative Officer for Privateer Press, for retweeting this project log to ALL of his followers.

 

Update #7 - Shins!

Update #7: The shin bone’s connected to the upper recessed servo.
Count Down: Only 66 more days until PAX 2011.

It seems like there’s some much to post and so very little to show for it. I spent most of my weekend at [URL="http://pplockandload.com/” Privateer Press’s wargaming convention: Lock & Load[/URL]. I had an incredible amount of fun and was able to quite a bit of networking down. I play a bunch of games with wargamers from around the continent (Mexico/US/Canada) and there were even a couple of people that traveled over from Europe. Everyone got to see the preview of the [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ULPKq3saAk” new Warmachine video game[/URL] that White Moon Dreams showed at E3 (although this youtube was from one of their other conventions). I got to meet Matt Wilson in person and talk about this casemod. He said some very encouraging things. IF I do a good job on this case they will feature in the [URL=" http://privateerpress.com/no-quarter/issues” No Quarter magazine[/URL]. I was speechless… well, maybe not speechless, but definitely babbling with excitement and enthusiasm. It takes a lot to get me to shut up. So I followed up that conversation with maybe putting me in touch with the people at White Moon Dreams to see if they’d be interested in the casemod. His response,”I already did.” That made me speechless. If anything can be said about the people at Privateer Press, it’s that all of them are awesomely creative people that are willing to support other’s creative endeavors. I got some great advice from one of their sculptors Sean Bullough. Both Matt DiPietro and Ron Kruzie had some great insights on painting the case. And David “DC” Carl suggested some great contacts for additional help and support.

There was another positive note to the weekend. I was approached to do a commissioned casemod/scratch build. *happy bounce* I would love to do this all the time. I’ll start posting the other casemod/scratch build as the details unfold. But I did inform them, that this project will have a certain amount of priority and that my full efforts would go into their case after PAX.

Progress pictures!!!!

Here is the picture of the plates I cut that I promised on the last update:



Now, let’s talk about the shin guards. Like I stated before, the shin guards are going to be separately casted pieces from the legs. I’m doing it this way to allow the shin guard to have lighting and to provide hidden wiring access to the shins. Last update I showed these three pictures of the shin creation:








Here is the continuation of the foam carving process for the shins:









I’m not completely done with the shaping of this shin but you get the general idea. These next couple of pictures shows the shin guard on the leg for fitting and placement:

Forward View:


Side View:


Next I put the beginnings of the wiring hole in the leg and the placement of the ports on the shin guard:






Summary:

- Lock & Load was a weekend filled with fun and excitement. It was a great break from work and casemodding. But now it’s back to the grind!
- There is hope that I could be featured in a magazine that has an international readership.
- There is hope that I will be in contact with a videogame company that might be interested in this casemod.
- I’ve picked up a commission for a casemod!
- One shin guard is almost done.
- Schedule timed in 2 weeks to do another round of casting. I’ll have actual parts and not foam models!

That is it for today! The next update will be in 3-4 days. There might not be much in visual progress as I will have to do some of the same things posted in the previous updates. Everything I do with a leg or shin guard has to be replicated 3 more times.

Once again, thanks for reading!

 

For a first time modder, I'd say "Bravo Sir, you have a set of balls the size of.. dunno.. Africa?"

This is one heck of a mod, no matter who you are!

I shall be following you every step!

 

wow man, this things lookin very impressive hoping to go to PAX prime this year, actually, maybe see you there!