Starting Tim's MadCat II

Just like many of you my MadCat got here last week and when I get a new kit all thoughts dribble out and all I can think about is starting work on a beautiful new chunk of resin.


I havnt worked out a pose for the legs yet but one thing I wanted to do is make the torso and arms poseable. Now I can do this the traditional way and drill in holes and mount tube styrene to accept each other but I wanted to use magnets this time.

Ive done it before a couple of times and I felt this would be more fun to do.
First the groin and torso. Straightforward, find the center, drill a pilot hole, then a larger bore out so I can glue in a couple of strong earth magnets.

Coupled with the friction from the thin locator joint Tim added this holds it very well.
And as you can see Im leaving off the cockpit for now to ease painting later. Figure it will be tricky with the roof on.

Next the guns.

First, Im going to drill out and pin the stalks with 1/8 brass tube. Just cause I wanted to really strengthen the joint,  and I pound them deep in. I want a little room for the magnet to get in there.

I didnt worry about the tube not being in deep enough, brass is soft enough that my drill bit made short work of it ..... pun not intended.

Once it glued in I then made sure (and I should have mentioned earlier) that you test the mating magnet and mark the face so you dont screw up which side is facing out. Otherwise they repel each other and of course that not what I want.

I carefully bored out the guns joint and glued in another magnet.

Again, coupled with the existing joints friction, these magnets  are very strong and hold the guns in place nicely and allow them to rotate easily.

This is going to be such a cool mech on my shelf.
Next the LRM pods.

Hellspawn ready

So Im pretty happy with my take on the 45 ton Hellspawn. Its ready to go to the casters and Im now  taking pre-sale orders to get the ball rolling.
The cost will be $75 plus $20 for shipping to the US. Overseas I have to charge $35 for shipping. I need 10 pre-sale orders to get this going. If this sells  over 20 kits I'll be able to run the Atlas.

Please paypal me using    scott-murphy@shaw.ca         include a note about the Hellspawn.
Ill hold the payments there in case we dont get to the required number to start the run. If it falls short Ill refund the full amount.
Thanx for your support all.



Update:June 15th and we're at 7. This is much slower than I hoped but we're getting there.

Misery returns

Sorry, I kinda forgot to take some better pics. Here you go.

 

Misery is getting there.

I managed to fix my airbrush finally and put the last bit of paint on. Here are a couple of quick shots of the finished beast.
Id like to take some better shots in the daylight.

no painting for me

my airbrush is being a little bitch and the painting of a couple of stalkers has grounded to a halt.
Id like to show how the Misery looks but until i can finish it i want to wait for the reveal.

Scars

For the Misery, the body needs scars. Laser burns, AC strikes and general damage that comes from combat.

 So Ive started with drilling in a whole bunch of holes.

But this looks too uniform and perfect to me, the holes to neat and tidy. 
So Im going to try to mess the holes up with putty.

By dabbing it on with my finger instead of spreading I get an imperfect splotchy covering that doesnt fill the holes.

 
I'll add a  few more splotches of putty
and more primer and I should get the laser melted armor look Im after.

A link for you

So Ive got the permission from the guy who printed the Stalker and Cicada for me.
Have a look, drop a line and see what he can do for you.
http://wingnutscockpit.blogspot.ca/

Love the tank.