Goes without saying, focus on your family mate. We always appreciate these updates, and fully admire your dedication as well but there are no comparisons to what moms bring to this world and the place they hold in our hearts!
Take care of you mate. We will all be here when the skies clear!
Beautiful work as always. <3
I'd just like to say another huge thank you to everyone for the incredible show of support I've received at this difficult time. This community is unlike any other, and I truly appreciate you all so much. Thank you!
Just a quick update today....
I'll try to keep it brief and concise, so that everyone knows where things are up to.
With regards to the V2s, I
DID manage to get Aluminium parts ready for chemical darkening on Friday. The darkening itself did not happen though unfortunately. The time that was left on Friday would not have been enough to get set up, darken everything, and then get cleared away in time.
It's important that I have a child free environment to do this particular job. This will now be going ahead on Monday. I have a full day to commandeer the bathroom, with children out of the house!
This is just a minor re-jigging of the schedule and I still plan on having painting done by the end of this coming week.
I'll be documenting the process and will drop another update towards the end of the week to demonstrate how this has gone and to share the results.
I've been receiving a
LOT of questions regarding the V1 Hero, which is due to make a return to my store on August 1st (along with the Yuma and I.S.Y.H.C.A.N.L).
The static versions of these are not a problem. In fact I have a small quantity of parts in stock right now for the Yuma and the I.S.Y.H.C.A.N.L.
The problem, as ever, is time...
Work on the current (final) batch of V2s is certainly close to completion. It will be wrapping up within days of August 1st. Realistically it does look like it will overshoot somewhat, but not by much (days, not weeks).
The truth is though, that I have not had time to get the installable version ready for production. With everything that has been going on, and with the additional batch of V2s taking priority, my time has just been stretched to the maximum.
The actual design for the installable hilt
IS complete, and I did think that my crystal chamber was too. However, when I eventually came to render everything and see how it would look, I inevitably wanted to make some changes to the design. It's
VERY important that I do not rush this out until I am 100% satisfied. Hopefully you all understand.
So, I do require a little more R&D time to rebalance some of the proportions and to finalize the design of the crystal chamber.
On reflection, this is not such a terrible thing...
For this next run, I was planning on making available all three versions of this hilt with both static and installable options. Would this be wise? Or would I be overcomplicating things?
I have had plenty of interest for both, but I am now thinking that I should separate the two. For one thing, I have everything finished and ready to go for the statics, but require a little more time for the installable version.
Based on this, I have decided to go ahead as planned for the
static versions only, and make these available for pre-order on August 1st (Midday UK time).
**This will be a limited number of each version for now.**
These will go in to production immediately (with some parts already being in stock).
The current batch of V2s will be completed well ahead of these parts being delivered, which means that I will be able to hit the ground running! V1 reveal boards are already in stock, so these can be started ahead of time too, along with Yuma blades.
So, what about the installable version / crystal chamber?
For the above mentioned batch of V1 Hero / Yuma / I.S.Y.H.C.A.N.L commissions, I am keeping the numbers very limited.
The idea is that I will then be able to release the installable version exclusively, and when the time comes, it will have my full attention.
I expect this to be around the beginning of September.
I hope this sounds ok to those who are interested in jumping on to this next run, and that you aren't too disappointed about waiting a little longer for the illusive crystal chamber reveal!
It has just been an incredibly busy and difficult time recently, and I cant help but feel that separating the static and installable versions in to two separate projects is the best course of action. It means that each version will receive the attention it deserves, but also allows for the additional development time needed to make the crystal chamber absolutely perfect prior to launch.
So, just to summarize what has ended up being a longer post than I intended:
- Work on final batch of V2s is nearing completion.
- Darkening and painting planned for this coming week.
- Limited number of Static Heroes / Yumas / I.S.Y.H.C.A.N.L will be made available for pre-order on August 1st at daveparkinart.com
- Work on V2s will be completed within the next couple of weeks (before the arrival of Hero / Yuma / I.S.Y.H.C.A.N.L parts).
- Installable Hero + CC will be revealed soon, and will be a standalone project to follow a limited run of static Hero / Yuma / I.S.Y.H.C.A.N.L.
- I now anticipate a September release for the installable / crystal chamber version of the Hero / Yuma / I.S.Y.H.C.A.N.L.
I hope this all makes sense and that the timeline is acceptable to everyone.
I will try to keep this thread focused on the V2/V3 commissions going forward... I have just received so many emails and messages lately, with August 1st fast approaching, that I wanted to get the information out to everyone.
I do plan on starting up a general "progress dairy" thread over on the main forum when I'm back working on the static Lukes.
For now, I'm going to sign off, and look forward to sharing another V2 update soon, after a week of stencilling and painting.
Hope you're all having a great weekend!
All the best and
M.T.F.B.W.Y-A,
Dave