Pic of the modified sensor suite, as promised:



I'm so very happy with how it has turned out. As usual it's hard to make out the form with all of the different colours but you should be able to get the idea

Not really much more to add to this post so I'll keep it short!

Told you:-)

cheers
W

I do like that better, which is something I did not think possible. One thought did occur to me however, and that is that this thing will need massive pinning to keep the legs attached. Consider having 1/4" (~1/2 cm) metal or wooden shaft nearby.

That's a very good point AA - I too have given that a lot of thought. My initial pinning attempts used on the mockup I did a while ago used just 3mm aluminium tube and superglue and both proved way inadequate (I never expected it to hold up much I just wanted quick assembly for some pictures).

At this stage I reckon you would be best to use something like 6-8mm diameter styrene tube (or any rigid material for that matter) and some 5 minute epoxy. Alternatively I'm thinking I could include some 5mm solid resin rods about 20mm long in the complete kit to use for pinning but I imagine most of the people building one would have a pretty good idea of what to do and have their own pinning techniques anyway. In any case I think the 5 minute epoxy will be the key.

2 x Thick paper clips and a 3 mm drill bit (inserted parallel to each other)- works on Warhounds, will work on this;-)

cheers
W

Woah, woah, you mean the legs don't self pin due to the power of awesome that the model exudes??

Man... I want a refund ;P

Paper clips work well and they do sell thicker brass rod at most hobby and train stores, I'd probably use the solid brass rod as it can take flexing a bit better over the life of the model than paper clips wlll, but most everyone should have paper clips laying around. Given the weight of the model it may put slight flex on the legs when it's being moved or picked up, over many many times time that may cause the paper clips to snap at the stress point. The brass bends a bit more smoothly and tends not to crack.

I'm wondering if some larger rare earth magnets wouldn't be totally awesome for the walker as with the larger discs they definitely have the pull to keep the legs in palce but could still be posistioned, they even have sphere and half sphere magnets that'd work simular to the ball joints on gundam models.

I was doing some work with Vex robots, and this came into view as useful, scroll down to the standoff beam pack [url=//www.vexrobotics.com/vex-structure-products.shtml]here[/url]. The beams are about 1/4" thick solit aluminum in the various lengths. Those won't really flex. It is a pretty expensive option however, at $16 USD per pack. They'll hold but I wonder if brass tubing or large magnets wouldn't be better.

You know you can get those standoffs for M3 size hardware (and maybe M4 also) down at an electronic components shop like Radio Shack or Mouser? For a lot cheaper than the Vex stuff too (maybe only because you're only buying 4, not heaps more).

I wouldn't even try to magnetise the legs. The problem is that you've got a lot of rotational force on the ball joint which a magnet wont easily stop.

I don't think the flex will be that much of a problem that you need to use such big metal pins. The main criteria is that the pin is rigid enough, long enough (probably an inch long) and the epoxy is applied correctly.

I thought that I would do a little inspirational work and made a quick mockup of what a partially painted version might look like. I plan on making more tomorrow, but I though you might like to see what your finished walker could potentially look like mangozac.
Edit: there is also a hammerhead silhouette for scaling purposes
Image removed due to owner request

Hey excellent work AA! You're getting quite proficient at Photochopping

Nice colour selection, although it's a pity that you didn't use the new leg design. The glow around the railgun parts is cool too!

Wow it's amazing how much inspiration it's giving me to see it "painted" like that! Updates tonight I promise!

Oh wow that is nice.

Just some quick shots showing the result of last night's puttying. I'm loving how the little discs on the side of the chassis turned out!

This morning I set it upon myself to sort out the cowling over the front sensor suite. As can be seen from older pics, I did have some pretty extensive puttying done but this morning decided that it just wasn't working. So off it all came!

The first step was to make the new cowling and because of the design of the recesses in the end I decided to do it in styrene. 3x1mm sheets were laminated together with the centre sheet inset slightly. Once that was set it was just a matter of chopping to length, getting the join angles right and then gluing little divisors in the recess. I'm very happy with the result, especially with how geometrically true it all is.

Over the course of the chassis construction the top edge that curves down to the cowling had actually ended up with a bit of a taper. To fix that, once the new cowling was in place I slapped on a heap of putty. Once set it will all be sanded smooth and perfect.

I had planned to take pics but by the time I had realised I had just mixed up putty and the clock was ticking!



You can also see the modified side disc arrangement - there is now only two of them and I think it works much better. I'm still contemplating the panel lines around the discs and have sketched in a small access panel just above them.

This definitely looks far more sleek than the last design. It's good to see another great update mangozac!

OK here's a big update - first stage of priming is done! Here's all of the parts I have made and the quantities used in the final kit (there is still a small amount of work to be done on the pelvis before I prime it fully):

(Warning 1/2 meg image)


It's amazing how many flaws the priming shows up! I'm going to have to go around with some putty and fix lots of little nicks and tool marks. Then a lot of spots are going to need sanding with around 1200 grit paper. I'm thinking I might get some Mr Surfacer 500 for the next priming attempt as it should theoretically fill the flaws better than the 1000 that I'm using.

No lie zac, it really looks great. That picture may not be as detailed as the actual models, (hence why it does not appear to have many mistakes) but it all looks like real, professional resin casts from Forge World. This project is really coming along my friend!

*Sagely voice* Mango-san, you bring great honor to your fellow Tau. You have learned much, and your training it nearly complete. Make us proud.

On a more serious note: my eyes are actually watering from how beautiful those parts are! Why hasn't Forgeworld or GW hired you yet?!

It looks great mango! I don't have anything else to say but, "Awesome!"

Now just get it cast and then painted........I'll wait.

Let me say that this is an incredibly inspirational project - not only in regard to the beautiful model that mangozac is constructing, but the thread itself. Feel free to chastise me if I'm merely echoing this sentiment (I could not weed through 25 pages to make sure ), but I feel this thread epitomizes what we all hope is the spirit of Advanced Tau Tactica. It is full of passion, excitement, and intelligent discussion. No slight to mangozac, but reading the thread you almost think this is a group project just from the amount of energy buzzing around this.

All in all, great job mangozac - the level of detail and professional quality really set this log apart from the rest. I'm sure you hope as well as I that you manage to finish this in under a year


EDIT: Oh man, haha I'm still in shock that it will be 2010 it seems - so let's try under two years then!


General

Thanks for the kind words guys.

@General: You are in fact echoing the sentiment, but I agree the most satisfying parts of this project are where it has taken me in the modelling community. I have learned so many things and made great friends with a number of people through it.

@Orpheus and AA: Trust me, the parts look beautiful at this distance but up close they're pretty rough. Looking at it last night it's all going to need another pass of refinement before casting. But its definitely still exciting to look at them all primed the one colour