Author Topic: It has begun....Overlord WIP  (Read 13750 times)

Cache

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 3126
    • Lords of the Battlefield
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #30 on: 01 June 2018, 15:20:51 »
Nothing seems to want to stick to the egg but I managed to finally put two landing pod bays in and attach the thrusters.
I'm going to hazard a guess that the flexibility of the plastic isn't helping any, besides the glossy surface. Have you considered making a single insert with all of the bays attached? Going off of the pictures, I think you may be able to attach the insert to the bottom of that half. Then seal up the seams around the doors. The adhesive/sealant wouldn't be supporting the bays and might remain in place even if the sides flex.

Colt Ward

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 28957
  • Gott Mit Uns
    • Merc Periphery Guide- Bakunin
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #31 on: 01 June 2018, 15:47:08 »
good idea
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #32 on: 02 June 2018, 10:22:52 »
I sanded down the interior and exterior walls but the plastic seems to hate glue.  My E6000 is the only thing that seems to stick to the egg.  Superglue and model cement did nothing.  Sticky tack either didn't like the plastics or the weight of the boxes even when supported from below due to the angle of the walls.  I tried several inserts to brace the boxes but the angle of the walls actually means the tops are leaned out.  I need a flat bottomed cone inside.  Luckily I managed to get two boxes in braced on each other and tacked with E6000.  I'll do two on the opposite side and hope I can fit the spots in between later.  I think I need to glue down the hull plates before tackling the turrets too as those like the egg more but still don't stick well.  I'm leaving the gaps on the sides undone and just securing the corners and tops of the boxes.  From outside you can't see the gaps and once the bay doors are on it'll obscure it even more.

Hythos

  • The Embiggened Man
  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 503
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #33 on: 02 June 2018, 12:52:54 »
I'd second the notion of building a fixture to attach the boxes.
3/8 or heavier partical board or plywood; cut to the diameter of the bottom of the egg, and use some small strips of wood on the inside to glue/screw/secure the box-sides. Then, you can insert the wood into the shell, then probably glue and staple, as long as the egg plastic is soft enough to not split from stapling... Or just drill some minor pilot-roles before stapling.
Using a wood base will also give you a solid foundation for mounting landing gear and engines later.

When alighning the 'bays' to the hull, it may leave some gaps; just fill those with epoxy and shape it after it dries. Once it's painted, you won't be able to tell.
Agent 722
Salt Lake City / Utah
Have 'Mech, will travel.

Robroy

  • Lieutenant
  • *
  • Posts: 1064
  • Not named, but not gone. Maybe.
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #34 on: 02 June 2018, 18:41:38 »
When dealing with plastic like that I have found that gouging in a cross hatch pattern with a knife and JB Weld works well.

Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death, the Way (Tao) to survival or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed"-Sun Tzu

"Subjugating the enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence"-Sun Tzu

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #35 on: 09 June 2018, 20:53:43 »
Another week with no progress.  Yeah I can't find my legos to make a better jig and my makeshift jigs haven't worked well enough yet.  The real reason I got nothing done this week was I was finishing off my Stormtrooper armor.  Now that it's done I just have my painting queue and warcraft to compete with the egg.  And finding my legos.   ;D  Seriously, though, I expect real progress this week even without my legos. 

Colt Ward

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 28957
  • Gott Mit Uns
    • Merc Periphery Guide- Bakunin
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #36 on: 09 June 2018, 22:15:54 »
Like . . . armor for you?
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #37 on: 09 June 2018, 22:18:23 »
Yup.  I'm in the 501st Legion as an Imperial Officer but always wanted to be a Stormtrooper.


Colt Ward

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 28957
  • Gott Mit Uns
    • Merc Periphery Guide- Bakunin
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #38 on: 10 June 2018, 00:34:51 »
Nice
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #39 on: 10 June 2018, 11:31:16 »
Thanks.

RABIDFOX50

  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 463
  • 1507 Strike RCT
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #40 on: 17 June 2018, 22:20:56 »
Try Gorilla Glue construction adhesive. The stuff will bond to everything!
Battletech collector/player since 1987
Toss a coin to your Witcher, oh valley of plenty!
Listen! Do you smell that?

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #41 on: 22 June 2018, 10:57:42 »
Hey all,
Thanks for all the suggestions.  After weeks of frustration and interruptions (car in the shop, a/c out, repairmen, car in the shop again) I finally got some work time in.  Without a proper jig and nothing working, I turned to my old friend cardboard and put a strip under the boxes and glued them all in at once.  You can also see the first of the hull plates being glued down.  In the far left corner you can just make out the landing gear gluing together.  The Awesome is just hanging out monitoring the progress.  I hope to do more hull plates this next week (I have only so many magnets).  If I can hull plate the lower hull (or decide to skip it and stick to the upper hull), I'll attach the landing gear and then work on those doors.  Then the upper hull and turrets soon.  And those pesky cargo doors I've been ignoring.  Finally, progress.  I just hope they all turn out alright.


thecybersmily

  • Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 117
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #42 on: 22 June 2018, 21:49:15 »
Looking good so far. Working on my own using a container for pretzels/barrel.

mbear

  • Stood Far Back When The Gravitas Was Handed Out
  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4497
    • Tower of Jade
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #43 on: 25 June 2018, 12:28:02 »
I hope to do more hull plates this next week (I have only so many magnets).
I missed it earlier: What are the magnets for?
Be the Loremaster:

Battletech transport rules take a very feline approach to moving troops in a combat zone: If they fits, they ships.

You bought the box set and are ready to expand your BT experience. Now what? (Thanks Sartis!)

NeonKnight

  • Freelance Writer
  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 6324
  • Cause Them My Initials!
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #44 on: 25 June 2018, 12:29:28 »
I missed it earlier: What are the magnets for?

Looks like just holding panels in place while glue dries?
AGENT #575, Vancouver Canada

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #45 on: 25 June 2018, 22:06:53 »
Indeed, NeonKnight is absolutely right.  My clamps can only go so far up the hull so I have magnets to hold the plates down.  I've put on more plates since but had to remove almost as many that shifted badly overnight.  The hull plates will take at least another week to finish.  I had to reinforce the landing pods yet again as one split apart.

mbear

  • Stood Far Back When The Gravitas Was Handed Out
  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4497
    • Tower of Jade
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #46 on: 26 June 2018, 06:56:13 »
Indeed, NeonKnight is absolutely right.  My clamps can only go so far up the hull so I have magnets to hold the plates down.

That's ingenious. I'm going to have to remember that trick in the future.
Be the Loremaster:

Battletech transport rules take a very feline approach to moving troops in a combat zone: If they fits, they ships.

You bought the box set and are ready to expand your BT experience. Now what? (Thanks Sartis!)

Colt Ward

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 28957
  • Gott Mit Uns
    • Merc Periphery Guide- Bakunin
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #47 on: 26 June 2018, 13:00:45 »
So you are putting 'hull' plates on to get the art look w/o scoring the egg?
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #48 on: 26 June 2018, 19:09:54 »
So you are putting 'hull' plates on to get the art look w/o scoring the egg?

Yup.  With my eyesight, it's the safest option.  The aztec pattern lines still won't be perfect due to the curvature on the egg, but it'll be better than I could trying to score the plastic by hand.  And I can put tiles on top of tiles for a more layered look if I want.

Exilyth

  • Private
  • *
  • Posts: 25
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #49 on: 06 August 2018, 13:22:51 »
Nice work so far.

Looks like the plastic egg makes this a lot easier than the wooden/paper frame constructions usually seen around the web.
"Wife, in honor of our marriage, in addition to this morsel I give you a vast prize. My love, I give you the Capellan Confederation!" - Hanse Davion to Melissa Steiner-Davion at their wedding reception, sparking the Fourth Succession War, August 20, 3028

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #50 on: 08 August 2018, 07:09:23 »
Thanks.  I like the egg for getting inside to help work on it.  I can attack it one half at a time.  I'm definitely making mistakes and having to fix stuff all the time.  The next one will go better.  Progress has been very slow of late.  I took a nice vacation to see family.  The big limiter is still not enough magnets so I'm still only about half done on the tiles.  I'm hoping the next couple of weeks will see actual progress that I can post.

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #51 on: 07 September 2018, 09:37:05 »
At long last I have time for an update.  The car is back in the shop.  I just hope they can fix it as it's the same oil leak on our new car.  Work has been insanely busy but starting to quiet down.  But enough of reasons/excuses on why I don't post.  My progress so far these last couple of days saw more panels (these are taking far longer than anticipated but I've got to pick up the pace if I'm to finish by Christmas) and the placement of all the turrets.  There's a lot of cleanup needed on the latter to seal them to the hull.  I did take a pic that included the Awesome but I used the other pic instead.


mbear

  • Stood Far Back When The Gravitas Was Handed Out
  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4497
    • Tower of Jade
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #52 on: 10 September 2018, 07:34:35 »
At long last I have time for an update.  The car is back in the shop.  I just hope they can fix it as it's the same oil leak on our new car.  Work has been insanely busy but starting to quiet down.  But enough of reasons/excuses on why I don't post.  My progress so far these last couple of days saw more panels (these are taking far longer than anticipated but I've got to pick up the pace if I'm to finish by Christmas) and the placement of all the turrets.  There's a lot of cleanup needed on the latter to seal them to the hull.  I did take a pic that included the Awesome but I used the other pic instead.



Looking good!
Be the Loremaster:

Battletech transport rules take a very feline approach to moving troops in a combat zone: If they fits, they ships.

You bought the box set and are ready to expand your BT experience. Now what? (Thanks Sartis!)

Elmoth

  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 3414
  • Periphery fanboy
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #53 on: 10 September 2018, 08:19:44 »
Great looking!

Regarding glue, i concur on the sanding the surface area. 2 other things to consider is that plastic for these eggs sometimes have the same products as plastic miniatures so they do not stick to the mould, so washing them well before trying to glue them tends t be a good idea.

Finally games workshop has a plastic glue that basically fuses plastic parts together. It is a good plastic glue in my experience.

Looking forward to new progress!

faithless

  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Lieutenant
  • *
  • Posts: 1310
  • I am a meat popsicle.
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #54 on: 10 September 2018, 10:58:27 »
On mine I used green stuff for the panels. I have some ideas to try on my next one. I just have way too many half finished projects to start another one.
Demo Agent #715
Game HQ Oklahoma City, OK
Carolina Comics Lawton, OK
Oklahoma Battletech Group on Facebook

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #55 on: 14 September 2018, 08:56:08 »
Thanks for the replies and suggestions everyone.  I did sand the egg but I think the next one will get a more serious treatment.  I was just bummed that my model cement that usually works so well with the plasticard didn't stick at all.  The superglue even came up.  Sadly, I broke several magnets (they're cheap ones from Home Depot).  This is limiting me to adding 2 panels a day at most.  So just a few more panels done this week and touch ups to seal the turrets on.  And that Awesome showed back up for the photo session.  I swear that pilot only shows up for PR events.  I also need to trim out more panels.  I didn't think I'd be running out already.


Major Headcase

  • Lieutenant
  • *
  • Posts: 995
  • We're paid to win. Heroism costs extra...
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #56 on: 07 December 2018, 01:52:45 »
Two tips for this kind of plastic:
Step one: scrub surface with mineral spirits or paint thinner using a green kitchen scrubby pad. Then wash thoroughly in hot soapy water and rinse cold. (The mineral spirits will truly clean any surface agents and petroleum "leak" this kind of cheap plastic is prone to and chemically etch the surface, just don't use a huge amount and do it quickly or the spirits will soften the plastic)
Step two: spray two good coats of automotive primer. This stuff will bond with the plastic and create a lightly textured surface that you should be able to glue right to with an industrial super glue or easy mix epoxy.
I use this type of plastic from cheap containers and tubs I turn into sci fi buildings for 6mm and 15mm games, and this process has worked very well when, before I learned them, glue and even hobby primers would peel and flake off. The problem is this cheap plastic "sweats" petroleum residue which makes sticking anything to it difficult.

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #57 on: 09 December 2018, 21:54:58 »
Thanks for the suggestions, Major.  Real life has interrupted my work for weeks now.  This last Friday was the first time I got some time to play with the egg and that wasn't long enough to take pics.  I did get some new magnets so it'll go a little faster now, though I only get one day a week to mess around.  I think I'll be done with the panels by the end of December and then I'll look at priming if I can get a good day outside.  I'll be trying your thinner/mineral spirits scrub on the next dropship for sure.

HeavyGun

  • Catalyst Demo Team
  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 546
  • Dante's Infernals
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #58 on: 21 January 2019, 00:11:37 »
Reading thru your post I saw you were having problems gluing to the sides. I actually work in a finishing shop where we do molds and cast plastic parts and glue them together. That egg looks like it is probably a ABS, or Acrylic type of plastic. You might try Plastruct Plastic Weld their is a few different types and one that works for ABS, Butyrate, Styrene and Acrylic. But First what would help is sand blasting the part with about 40psi of pressure using a garnet medium if you have access to one that is. Not sure if that helps, one thing you might try is find the manufacturer of the egg and see if they have a website, might find clues to what kind of material it is made out of then you'll be able to find the correct glue. Another possible glue/epoxy we use is Scotch Weld 3M 2216 B/A Gray. It is used to glue plastic urethane aircraft parts together. Might be hard to find for general use though. Anyways just trying to give you some possible ways to accomplish your goaals in building your nice dropship.
CDT Agent #695, Spokane Valley, Wa.

Get in, Sit down, Shut up and Hold on...oh yeah you better pray cuz your gonna need it!

Guroburov

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: It has begun....Overlord WIP
« Reply #59 on: 30 September 2020, 12:03:46 »
I'd like to apologize to everyone for the long delay in returning.  I find it hard to believe it's been over 2 years since my last post.  And what a crazy 2 years it was too.  Between uncooperative weather and a major flood and slow renovation at home, I faced long delays.  Breaking my glasses and finding out I needed eye surgery right before Covid didn't help much either.  But I got my surgeries in finally and have good vision and weather.  I picked back up and have gotten so much done in a short time.

Before I get to the pictures I remembered to take, I wanted to reply to some comments.  HeavyGun, that some good adivce but I'm very limited on the tools.  I am definitely going to try your suggestions Major Headcase.  Hopefully my next project will turn out better since I'm learning so much about what not to do with this one.  I'm still not sure how I'm going to give this to my brother for Christmas.  It's far too delicate to trust to the mail.  I may have to finagle a way to drive the 900 miles and hand deliver it.  I'm sure he won't mind it's 2 years late.

Anyway, pictures.

https://imgur.com/a/BVhtC5N
Here's the main body with the cargo doors finally being glued in.  You can just make out the etching of the doors.

https://imgur.com/ykysrgU
This is the lower body with the doors attached to the legs and body.

https://imgur.com/UphHy8R
Last photo of the lower body with the legs set roughly in position.  Of course the Awesome pilot shows up late to the photo shoot.  I still need to trim out the interior to let the legs fit better.  I was going to work on the interior but no matter what I tried it just wasn't enough to let more than 14-18 mechs fit on the main floor and would have necessitated 3 decks to hold the requisite number of mechs due to the flight and cargo bays.

 

Register