Limited Run Blade Runner 2049 blaster replacement metal Cylinder ** Production OVER **

Wow, thought I was bad being down the hole for one cylinder (which was delayed firstly by him splitting with his girlfriend, 3 years back….)
As the run grew, so did the deposits and full payments.
Over time, he has doubtless spent this on other materials, etc and I’m guessing it has snowballed from there, and into the pandemic.
I don’t know the guy but would say it has got to the stage where he has just bolted rather than do all the orders.
Now and again he would pop up with other members here, stating he would complete, but it looks like this ain’t happening, chief.

Thanks for taking time to share your experience with Ted. I think that's likely an accurate assessment and that he has indeed bolted. It's really unfortunate as he clearly has the skills to contribute to this community if he could just get his life in order and behave ethically and responsibly. Unfortunately for some, it seems that is a bridge too far.
 
What's most frustrating is how common this sort of behavior is among independent craftsmen in the prop community - and other crafts communities in general.

I know just what you mean LasagnaSmoothie, which is why I refused to take any money up-front on a short run of Blade Runner props I’m currently offering on the rpf. I had to spend out a few hundred pounds on all the raw materials plus putting in tens of hours in a hot shed doing the casting but since I’m more than a month behind my published schedule it would absolutely mortify me to have people questioning my integrity on the forum because they didn’t understand the delay (a broken wrist and covid in my case but ready to ship real soon now).
 
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I had this with another seller and the MO is always the same, up front promises of delivery, assurances that everything is going well, sudden catastrophe or family problem, delays, more assurances everything will be OK, more delays and then silence or another catastrophe, rinse, spin, repeat.......... I am not saying these things don't happen for real sometimes but it is a shame some builders take on more than they can handle and then run. I am only in this for a cylinder and have been waiting for about 18 months so in the end it is not a significant problem for me personally but I understand it is for others with more invested, so I hope Teddz comes back with a solution for everyone.
 
Hold the phone, I just had a slew of messages from Ted and I see he’s been on the forum.
He says he’s had to emake his cylinders because, on checking, the first batch were off dimensionally and holes weren’t aligning. He tells me he is well into making a new set and sent me these pictures to show what he’s got so far;

1EA42365-7F4E-4768-B5EB-7A22091FCF8C.jpeg

4DEF281B-8B90-4F48-890F-DFEBC1E1FAC3.jpeg

Maybe he’s going to turn this around after all.
 
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@lagunasmoothie - do keep us posted as to the outcome of the PayPal case!

Ted has reached out to me and I've decided to cancel my case against him. If he hadn't provided photo evidence of his work I'd probably be more reluctant to do so, however, it's clear he's been chugging away on the project. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I know just what you mean LasagnaSmoothie, which is why I refused to take any money up-front on a short run of Blade Runner props I’m currently offering on the rpf. I had to spend out a few hundred pounds on all the raw materials plus putting in tens of hours in a hot shed doing the casting but since I’m more than a month behind my published schedule it would absolutely mortify me to have people questioning my integrity on the forum because they didn’t understand the delay (a broken wrist and covid in my case but ready to ship real soon now).
Sorry to hear about the broken wrist and covid case - that's quite the double whammy. Since Ted has broken his silence and provided photo evidence of his work, I've decided to cancel my paypal dispute against him. I wish he would be better about communicating, but since I have some of the same tendencies it's hard to criticize it in others... Regardless, I really admire your integrity when it comes to your work; I wish everyone was so inclined. Out of curiosity, what sort of Blade Runner props are your producing?

This sort of thing has caught me out twice on the rpf :mad:
Sorry that hear that. It's certainly frustrating. Regarding, Ted, since he's broken his silence and provided evidence of his work, I've decided to cancel my case against him. Fingers crossed, things will go smoothly from here on out.

I had this with another seller and the MO is always the same, up front promises of delivery, assurances that everything is going well, sudden catastrophe or family problem, delays, more assurances everything will be OK, more delays and then silence or another catastrophe, rinse, spin, repeat.......... I am not saying these things don't happen for real sometimes but it is a shame some builders take on more than they can handle and then run. I am only in this for a cylinder and have been waiting for about 18 months so in the end it is not a significant problem for me personally but I understand it is for others with more invested, so I hope Teddz comes back with a solution for everyone.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. Your description certainly sums up the those sorts situations - it seems to be an all too common modus operandi. Fortunately, Ted has broken his silence and provided evidence of his work. Accordingly, I've gone ahead and cancelled my paypal dispute. Now I just have to hope to have a similar breakthrough with Matsuo...

Hold the phone, I just had a slew of messages from Ted and I see he’s been on the forum.
He says he’s had to emake his cylinders because, on checking, the first batch were off dimensionally and holes weren’t aligning. He tells me he is well into making a new set and sent me these pictures to show what he’s got so far;

View attachment 1589975
View attachment 1589977
Maybe he’s going to turn this around after all.
Thank you very much for taking the time to post those photos. Ted has reached out to me and I've decided to cancel my paypal dispute against him. He provided the photos you posted as well a photo my specific cylinders - they look lovely. I do wish better was better at communicating, but it sounds like he's hit a rough patch of road so I'm certainly sympathetic. Regardless, his work looks absolutely top-notch and I'm excited to for the final products. Thanks again.
 
Out of curiosity, what sort of Blade Runner props are your producing?

 
Really
Really beautiful work - you're clearly a talented artist. That's an incredibly cool figure and something I hadn't even noticed in the film. I love how Blade Runner is so adored that even these small details receive attention from fans such as yourself.
 
In my most recent exchange with him, Ted had promised me that orders would be shipping in May. That obviously didn't happen. It's disappointing he's only sharing photos of these new barrels privately rather than publicly on this thread.
I agree, while Ted is clearly a very talented craftsman, his conduct here has been completely unacceptable. There's simply no justifying accepting thousands of euros in payment and then ghosting his many contributors. While I may have sunk more into this project than others, you're just an entitled to updates as I am. In my last communication with him, he promised that a test cylinder would be shipping the first week of this month, however, since then he has once again gone completely dark and failed to respond to further messages.

I understand that he may be dealing with various personal and emotional issues, however, such issues still do not absolve him of providing basic updates on his progress. I'm not unsympathetic, as I myself have dealt with depression through most of my adult life and I certainly understand how utterly crippling it can often be, however, I've never used it as an excuse to skirt basic tenets of conduct and human decency. Accordingly, I've decided to give him an ultimatum that he either provide at least one update every two weeks or I'll reinstate my paypal case. I hope that it doesn't come to that, however, if he's unable or unwilling to provide a simple progress report I don't see that I have any other option. It gives me no pleasure taking such a hard stance with him, but there simply comes a point where a line must be drawn in the sand for better or worse. It's my sincere hope that Ted finally takes communication seriously as he's certainly a skillful metal worker and potentially a very valuable asset to the Blade Runner community.
 
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Here's an update for everyone that everyone has been waiting for...
The first bunch of steel cylinders are done and are almost 100% dead on.
pkdtestcyl-12.jpg
*the cylinder in the lower right corner is 0.5mm shorter than the rest as per the updated version.

There are however a couple of minor differences from the original cylinder sent to me from User1402.
1. The catches on the side is the most obvious one. The original tomen has a bit of a lip causing the catch to be smaller than it should be. There was no way for me to duplicate this without going with an EDM machine (which I don't have) and the mill will only do so much. So the catch is a little taller than the original. However, looking at the original bulldog cylinder, they're identical.
pkdtestcyl-11.jpg
2. The A stamp is slightly larger. Instead of 2mm tall, it's around 2.4mm.
pkdtestcyl-14.jpg
3. No washer blocking things. No way I was going to even attempt that.
pkdtestcyl-13.jpg
4. No picture of it, but the flutes were done with a ball nose end mill whereas the original Bulldog cylinder (as well as most other cylinders) are cut with a cutting wheel on a horizontal milling machine. I don't have access to this so a ball nose end mill and CNC were my only choice. This creates a bit of a shine that looks like a sharp line down the center of the flute. I'm going to test a scrap piece with some red scotch bright on a rotary tool to see if I can give it the same kinda look as the original bulldog and get rid of the "line". If you look up a pic of a bulldog cylinder and zoom in on the flutes you'll see what I mean. The lines on the original are along the length of the flute whereas mine aren't.

Everything else seems to be the same. I checked, double checked then checked again before checking once more to make sure the measurements I was getting off the steel versions were as I was reading them off the original and the blueprints that tomenosuke had published. I'm fairly certain that I have it all dialed in correctly now.

I will be sending things out Tuesday or Wednesday (Monday is a holiday and everything is closed) to User1042 to verify all works as it should then I'll be able to start completing the rest and getting them out as they're completed.

I want to apologize again to everyone for taking such a boatload of time on these things and for going ghost time and again. I'm doing what I can to work on that aspect of my communication.

This whole month the shop is closed, so all I'm doing now is working on these. No waiting on the machine to clear up and no taking off the setup at night to ready the machine for the next day's work. Each time I had to set up, it would take me at least half an hour or more if it didn't want to cooperate. Now I can set up once, leave it and keep going until I'm done.

And for some viewing pleasure... some of the in-process machining of the final steps...
Side catch - flat end mill
pkdtestcyl-10.jpg

T-slot
pkdtestcyl-7.jpg

Ball nose end mill - had to go with a long end mill due to clearance issues... and I get to 0.4mm from the face of the jaws when the end mill reaches the end of the flute.
pkdtestcyl-5.jpg

So from here on out, these things will be making their way to a blaster near you. Thanks again to everyone who's been patiently waiting for these and for your understanding with what I've gone through since starting this.

All the best,
Ted
 
I didn't have a blued cylinder at the time I posted the previous pics and I needed new cold-blue fluid. Got what I needed on Firday and went to work on a cylinder. Here's the side-by-side of my cylinder with the original tomen. These things, though a serious pain to make, are starting to grow on me.

My cylinder is the lower left.
pkdtestcyl-16.jpg

I think it's obvious which is which... but they're pretty close in color.
pkdtestcyl-17.jpg
 
I didn't have a blued cylinder at the time I posted the previous pics and I needed new cold-blue fluid. Got what I needed on Firday and went to work on a cylinder. Here's the side-by-side of my cylinder with the original tomen. These things, though a serious pain to make, are starting to grow on me.

My cylinder is the lower left.
View attachment 1610246

I think it's obvious which is which... but they're pretty close in color.
View attachment 1610247
Thanks for posting. Your cylinder looks fantastic blued. Very close to Tomenosuke's offering, but the more aggressive nature of the metal still comes through. It's great to see a cylinder without that stupid washer as well. The washer actually annoyed me more than the resin. Thanks again!
 
I had no Tomenosuke at the time but I have one right now so I will wait for this update to eventually place an order if possible ;)
 
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Well, the new cylinders went up against a steel cylinder (with a light dusting of corrosion now) from Don Parker's 2016 run on Propsummit. I placed them both in turn in my 2017-issue '2049' kit and my 2021-issued 'OG' kit.

I don't know if it's my assembly technique or some thing in the cylinder but I actually have the same issue with all three cylinders in both guns which is this; When the cylinder is installed in the gun without going to the trouble of adding the side covers the cylinders tend to flop forward slightly which takes the rear end of the cylinder away from the tiny wedge/hook which engages the spider/star shaped part at the back centre of the cylinder and moves it upward to rotate the cylinder.
This part;

2022-09-17 10.20.47.jpg


I found that the cylinder engaged and rotated well on all variants when I had the barrel pointed upwards but when the barrel is lowered or the gun is leaned over onto it's left side (with the barrel pointing away from you) the engagement failed more often than not and the cylinder didn't rotate. When I added the side covers and tightened everything down including, including the trigger guard, the cylinders tend to stick and the trigger simply clicks without engaging.

It's important to note this happens on all three cylinders including the old steel one from Don in the states so It's probably that my building technique is causing some problems here. If I leave everything loose I get one result and if I make everything secure it binds up whichever cylinder I use.

2022-09-17 11.08.14.jpg


The star shaped part of the ejector is also a very snug fit on Ted's cylinders. I don't know if that makes any difference or not and I don't know how to test whether it does or not.

2022-09-17 11.06.15.jpg


After spending most of the day playing with this I'm just about ready to throw an expensive kit out the window and give up with them. I've decided the answer is if you don't like the Tomen's tendency to play up when using heavy steel replacement cylinders then don't play with it and don't pull the trigger. That's what I'm going to do. I have now placed my guns back in the display cabinet and I'm going to open a bottle of wine and pretend they don't exist for a few days.

2022-09-17 14.10.26.jpg


 
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