Alan Cross
Sr Member
I'm kidding, of course. I really appreciate you posting the basic attack plan of: "start black then go to grey, then brown, etc." That actually helps a LOT.
Studio Scale Probe Droid
- Thread starter vaderdarth
- Start date
The black isn't essential but may help depending on what grey you use :confused
The wrong grey will pull it all down, i had one i wanted to use, went against it, and it ended up being THE ONE and i had to do sooo much tweaking, its key to the paint, get the grey right FIRST.
lee
vaderdarth
Master Member
I figure we need to start with a specific gray, a specific brown and do airbrush over sprays until we get that magical combination that looks right to us, the ones displaying it. Any guesses as to where we might start with Tamiya colors?
Dave
Dave
Retep1701a
New Member
I'm hoping FM will put one out, the same scale as R2 (MPC). I know some bucks there as the MF. Those are the best droids to have (sorry C3, you're only good for those telephone conversations to the banks and insurance companies)
jedimaster
Sr Member
Guy..... You forgot the SPIT man..... Very important ingredient. But it has to be SPIT from a live Guy Cowan.
From what I've read on Lee's build he mentions german grey. The thing has always had a grey/green appearance to me. I'm surprised no one else sees that so far. Maybe that's just how I see the sum of the layered effect.
I'd go greenish grey as a base maybe. I believe that's where the black under orange/brown would lead you anyhow. Black+yellow always gives a sickly dark green color. Brown and orange are related to yellow and might tint towards green when applied over black. So maybe just cut to the chase and make the base grey/green or like a black/green like the germans used in a few cases.
Either that's a bunch of blah blah blah or not! Just thinking out loud. As Guy and Lee point out, it's usually a bunch of experimentation and layering to get it, so it's not really formulaic. Therefore it's an art...and subjective. Kind of a mystery.
I'd go greenish grey as a base maybe. I believe that's where the black under orange/brown would lead you anyhow. Black+yellow always gives a sickly dark green color. Brown and orange are related to yellow and might tint towards green when applied over black. So maybe just cut to the chase and make the base grey/green or like a black/green like the germans used in a few cases.
Either that's a bunch of blah blah blah or not! Just thinking out loud. As Guy and Lee point out, it's usually a bunch of experimentation and layering to get it, so it's not really formulaic. Therefore it's an art...and subjective. Kind of a mystery.
vaderdarth
Master Member
I see it too Scott. It's possible that the brown is what turns the gray greenish. But I think I'd start with a gray in the greenish range too.
This def the way to go, my first PD I spent an age mixing greens into make it a subtle dark grey/green but with no browns used. I actually got a similar look with me second but had no green involved. Its the browns as Dave said that turn the colour green in certain light
vaderdarth
Master Member
Thanks Guy.
Back at it today after a couple of days off. Taking the main body mold for a spin. The original kit had the top plate, mid main body and that bottom thingy all cast as one big part. The biggest problem with a mold like that would be the trench, and while the one i got was ok, I saw a number of pics with a bunch of tear out in the trench, with splitting up the parts that won't be an issue. It's also makes the molds a bit more of a reasonable size. I am going to guess that the original mold maker made a rubber mold with a fiberglass/hyrdrocal mother mold because of the size of the 3 together. The issue with a mold like that is that a small misalignment between the mothermold and the rubber results in a badly deformed part. I am pretty sure i saw a pic or two with this problem.
This makes more work for me to split it into 3, but will hopefully result in better parts, and longer mold life.
mike
This makes more work for me to split it into 3, but will hopefully result in better parts, and longer mold life.
mike
vaderdarth
Master Member
Wow that looks nice. Excellent idea on the splitting into three. Best way to ensure clean castings and better alignment, no doubt!
Excellent idea on the splitting into three. Best way to ensure clean castings and better alignment, no doubt!
vaderdarth
Master Member
Absolutely. Electronics gurus will have a hey day with this kit. You can cram motors and servos and lights and batteries to your hearts content.
The Brown has to be very diluted and go on thin and build up, basically if it look s brown in daylight theres too much brown :thumbsup
vaderdarth
Master Member
Thanks for that tip Guy.
So this represents about 85% of the castings needed, all the molds except for a replacement mold for the control panel and a gang mold for all of the disks are done. There a bunch of add on grebblies that need to be cast, the 3 or 4 molds that they are in are post curing today. This thing has a ton of parts, I felt like the molding would never end. The head and main body, and bottom thingy are rotocast, but the upper body panel is a solid casting. Right now I fill the main body with foam but not the head, the heads shape, along with the amount of resin i use in the head casting, seem to give it a nice bit of rigidity. The body comes out pretty rigid, but because of the large flat disk on the underside I felt like it may need a bit of back up. Having the head hollow should make lights easier, the resin i use is intended for rotocasting and is formulated to coat the inside pretty evenly so there should not be a lot of "heavy" deposits of resin to get thru.
mike
mike
