Interest DaveP's V2 and V3 run - 2024

[PadawanLoLo]

Mate! Your desk just isn’t the same without you!!!

But for now it’ll have to do

Hoping you are better soon, being in the sick pits is terrible, and please for the love of Pete TAKE MORE DAYS OFF! You’ve far earned and deserve it. We appreciate what you do, how personable and caring and passionate you are….and your dedication is second to NONE!

Thanks for who you are and don’t push too hard once you’re back up and better!

 

[Woody]

Hope you and your family get well soon. No need to appolgise and don't beat yourself up over it. Health comes first

 

[jorgealberni]

Hello everyone.

First of all, please allow me to apologise for the delay in getting the final update for Batch Four posted. It was my intention to complete the batch, and then take some beauty shots like I did with the previous batches, before finally posting an update.

I was already running slightly behind schedule, but I genuinely thought that I’d be able to complete the batch at the beginning of last week, and get the update pasted around Wednesday.

Well, things haven’t gone entirely to plan this week unfortunately!

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Literally everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong. Nothing relating to the run, but lots of things that have interrupted things and slowed everything down, culminating with me being bed ridden all of yesterday with some sort of seasonal Flu. It takes a lot for me to actually take a day off, but I literally couldn’t move (or think!). This all began on Monday, when I was asked to pick up my daughter early from school, as she wasn’t well. So we had a couple of days with her at home sick. I did try my best to work, but obviously wasn’t able to give it my full attention.

Well, unfortunately, during that time, this awful thing has passed on to me and I have to say, it is certainly NOT a common cold. Whatever it is has knocked me for six!

It takes a lot for me to actually take a day off. Especially when I’m running behind schedule. I would hate for you to think that any delay was due to lack of effort on my part. I’ve been known to work all through the night and in to the following day to make a deadline. So for me to actually spend a whole day in bed and asleep is unheard of. I would not wish this on my worst enemy!

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There is *some* improvement today, although certainly still poorly. I am at least able to drag myself out of bed and write this. My daughter is fully recovered, which gives me hope that I’ll be back to 100% again soon too. My wife is starting to show signs of having picked it up too unfortunately though. Hopefully she won't get it as badly as I have!

This is not to mention the car issues that have befallen me this week! I will spare you the details, but it's safe to say that it has not been a good week.

I realise this isn’t the update you were hoping for! Batch Four is still extremely close to completion! So much so that I've already made up all of the packaging ready to get them wrapped up and sent out once finished. Any progress that I was hoping to make on final assembly this week just went out of the window though unfortunately.

All I can really do, is offer you my very sincere apologies and ask for your patience once more.

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I really am putting everything in to getting these out to you all as soon as possible. This past week just didn’t help in that endeavour though unfortunately.

I am going to wrap this up now, as it has taken far longer to write than it should have (my brain is not currently firing on all cylinders!). I will focus on getting back to full health and finally getting these last few remaining jobs done as soon as humanly possible!

Apologies once again. Wishing you all a happy and healthy weekend.

All the best, and M.T.F.B.W.Y,

Dave

Dave - I hope you and your family feel better soon!!! Cheers!

 

[Mech10]

Hope you and your family feel better soon!

Due to unforeseen circumstances if anyone wants a V2 spot, pm me and we will discuss, do not post here.

 

[SteuerEule]

Dave - Health always comes first! Take your time and get well soon. I‘m nocked out too since yesterday.

 

[DaveP]

Thank you all so much for your kind words and understanding! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

I'm still not quite at 100% (a bit wobbly still!), but I'm back to work today. As close to "full steam ahead" as possible!

I'm going to do everything I can to get back on track, and to get this latest batch finished and on it's way as soon as possible.

Hope you and your family feel better soon!

Due to unforeseen circumstances if anyone wants a V2 spot, pm me and we will discuss, do not post here.

Hi Patrick. I'm sorry to hear this. I'm not sure if anyone has reached out privately, but let me know if I can help in any way, as I have a list of people who might be interested in taking it. If you do manage to pass on your slot, just give me a shout and I can update the details for you.

Dave - Health always comes first! Take your time and get well soon. I‘m nocked out too since yesterday.

Thanks, Oliver! Much appreciated! Wishing you a speedy recovery too!

Signing off now, and making my way to the workshop!

PUNCH IT!

 

[wilkster]

No worries Dave.

 

[DaveP]

Hello everyone.

You might have already seen these images, as I did post them on my social media earlier in the week.

I wanted to hold off from posting an actual update to the thread though, until Batch Four was officially completed.

Well, it's been an incredibly busy week of packaging and shipping, but I'm pleased to say that Batch Four has finally left the building! A Little later than expected (just for a change!) There are just a couple with outstanding payments, but these are fully packaged up and awaiting shipping labels. So I now consider Batch Four to be 100% complete!

Everyone was sent a tracking number at the beginning of the week, as booking them all in with UPS was my first task. Now that they are finally on their way, you should all begin to receive updates from UPS. I will keep an eye on shipments. I am occasionally asked to provide additional "toxic substances declarations". Please ignore any emails you might receive in relation to this. This is something that I will deal with at my end straight away if necessary.

Thank you all once again for your incredible patience and support! To say that this latest batch took longer than expected would be an understatement, and I apologize once again. Life really has thrown everything at me so far this year (this last month in particular!), and I can't quite believe how fast the year is going!

I have endeavoured to get these out to you all as fast as possible though, and will NEVER compromise on quality.

I'm now on a mission to get the remaining outstanding commissions completed and on their way to you all as soon as possible.

I will be combining batches five and six to a certain extent. My first major task will be to get the last remaining clamp parts formed and sent out for plating.

First of all though (Monday) I will be having a spring clean of the workshop and doing a full stock check. I'll also be preparing foam inserts and allocating/labelling them. I'll then be picking out the necessary parts for ALL remaining commissions.

everything can then be safely stored away at the end of each day, with each commission having its dedicated protective insert. They will live in these right up until their departure.

I'll have all of this done by the end of Monday, after which I will be ready to jump straight in to the forming of clamp parts for both batches five and six. This will be the main focus of next week.

The sooner I get the clamp parts off to the platers, the sooner I can turn my attention to the Aluminium parts.

I will also be cutting stencils throughout the course of next week for V2’s and will be weeding them in and between other tasks so that these are ready for application when needed.

Depending on time, and since I’ll be working at the press, I would like to get D-Rings formed next week too, but obviously don’t want to promise too much and miss the target.

Hopefully it goes without saying that I will get as much done as possible, and will continue to keep you all informed here, and on social media.

For now though, here are some images from this last batch of finished commissions. I hope you like how they’ve turned out.

Signing off now for the weekend.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or concerns.

All the best and MTFBWY!

Dave

 

[PadawanLoLo]

Hello everyone.

You might have already seen these images, as I did post them on my social media earlier in the week.

I wanted to hold off from posting an actual update to the thread though, until Batch Four was officially completed.

Well, it's been an incredibly busy week of packaging and shipping, but I'm pleased to say that Batch Four has finally left the building! A Little later than expected (just for a change!) There are just a couple with outstanding payments, but these are fully packaged up and awaiting shipping labels. So I now consider Batch Four to be 100% complete!

View attachment 1918431

Everyone was sent a tracking number at the beginning of the week, as booking them all in with UPS was my first task. Now that they are finally on their way, you should all begin to receive updates from UPS. I will keep an eye on shipments. I am occasionally asked to provide additional "toxic substances declarations". Please ignore any emails you might receive in relation to this. This is something that I will deal with at my end straight away if necessary.

Thank you all once again for your incredible patience and support! To say that this latest batch took longer than expected would be an understatement, and I apologize once again. Life really has thrown everything at me so far this year (this last month in particular!), and I can't quite believe how fast the year is going!

I have endeavoured to get these out to you all as fast as possible though, and will NEVER compromise on quality.

I'm now on a mission to get the remaining outstanding commissions completed and on their way to you all as soon as possible.

I will be combining batches five and six to a certain extent. My first major task will be to get the last remaining clamp parts formed and sent out for plating.

First of all though (Monday) I will be having a spring clean of the workshop and doing a full stock check. I'll also be preparing foam inserts and allocating/labelling them. I'll then be picking out the necessary parts for ALL remaining commissions.

everything can then be safely stored away at the end of each day, with each commission having its dedicated protective insert. They will live in these right up until their departure.

I'll have all of this done by the end of Monday, after which I will be ready to jump straight in to the forming of clamp parts for both batches five and six. This will be the main focus of next week.

The sooner I get the clamp parts off to the platers, the sooner I can turn my attention to the Aluminium parts.

I will also be cutting stencils throughout the course of next week for V2’s and will be weeding them in and between other tasks so that these are ready for application when needed.

Depending on time, and since I’ll be working at the press, I would like to get D-Rings formed next week too, but obviously don’t want to promise too much and miss the target.

Hopefully it goes without saying that I will get as much done as possible, and will continue to keep you all informed here, and on social media.

For now though, here are some images from this last batch of finished commissions. I hope you like how they’ve turned out.

Signing off now for the weekend.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or concerns.

All the best and MTFBWY!

Dave

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Dave you may have said this before, but how do we tell which batch we are in for our orders? I’m wondering if I missed your email, thinking I was in batch 4.

 

[DaveP]

Dave you may have said this before, but how do we tell which batch we are in for our orders? I’m wondering if I missed your email, thinking I was in batch 4.

Hi there. I just a PM over

 

[Stretch78]

Wow, those are absolute stunners. So much fun to look at and admire.

If I may ask - those V2's in the center...a few subtle differences it seems? The weathering on the main grip, and the overall height as well? I was wondering if these are two different sub-types of the V2 model.

 

[DaveP]

Wow, those are absolute stunners. So much fun to look at and admire.

If I may ask - those V2's in the center...a few subtle differences it seems? The weathering on the main grip, and the overall height as well? I was wondering if these are two different sub-types of the V2 model.

Hi there.

Thank you so much! So, aside from the clamp orientation, they're physically the same. They may appear to be different lengths due to the irregular emitter being oriented differently too (and not being positioned perfectly for the shot )

As for the paint/weathering, the one on the right is the current day /post-production V2. The one on the left is my take on a mid-production / early throne room version. We know for sure what it looked like at the beginning of production (the deleted sandstorm scene). There are also some good references from behind the scenes of the prop during filming, where it appears to have lost a fair bit of paint, but not quite to the extent that it has today. So, that one is my interpretation of how the prop could have looked at some stage midway through production, based loosely on some of the available references, but also by extrapolating backwards from how the prop looks today and adding in more paint/less weathering.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks again for your kind words.

 

[DaveP]

Hello Everyone.

Time for another update!

This last week has been all about clamps!

In particular, the sheet metal parts, which are formed in-house from flat sheets.

This is incredibly time consuming and labour intensive, but also very rewarding.

It’s great to start off with a pile of flat shapes and gradually see my workbench filling up will finished clamp parts.

As I mentioned previously, I am now working on getting all of the remaining clamps for Batches 5 and 6 finished and on their way to the platers.

I’m nearly there! Just another day I would say, to make sure that everything is perfect.

There are quite a few processes involved with these. It’s not just a case of running them through a press.

The clamp sheets are 1mm too long at each end for a start! So each plate has to be trimmed down by hand. V3 clamps have to be drilled, and de-burred. Tabs need to be bent inwards and then removed too.

Once folded, the clamp bars are tidied up by hand to give them the smooth curves and tidy corners that are seen on genuine Graflex bars.

It’s a LOT of work. And a LOT of clamps! I’m happy to say though, that it was a very productive week, and we’re nearly there!

Also this week, I did assemble the protective foam inserts for all remaining batches, and have labelled these accordingly. Parts have been allocated for these and they are now safely boxed up and put to one side ready for next week.

I sent out emails to confirm weathering preferences for Batch 5 and also sent out final invoices (Batch 5 only). These were sent out in order to get them on to the system. There is no obligation to pay for weathering/shipping until the work is 100% complete.

Thank you to those who have chosen to pay early though. I do appreciate it, and it does help to keep the lights on!

I’m not planning on sending out invoices for Batch 6 just yet, but I will be confirming weathering preferences next week, just so that I can lock everything down.

I have taken the remaining V3s down from the store for now. There were just a couple left, but I have decided to list these again in May, when I list the additional (final) batch of V2s. I would like to just concentrate on getting existing orders fulfilled for now. So, for the time being everything in the store is “Out of Stock”, just while I focus on getting myself caught up.

I hope this is ok.

So, just while I’m here, plans for the rest of 2025 look something like this:

Complete Existing V2 / V3 Orders – This Month!

List additional batch of V2 (and remaining V3) – Early May

Announcement / Preview of New Installable Yuma / ISYHCANL / Hero run (with Crystal Chamber) – July 1st

Launch of New Installable Yuma/ISYHCANL/Hero run (with Crystal Chamber) August 1st

The rest of the year will likely be taken up by this next run.

Just a rough outline of future plans for those who are interested.

For now, I’m going to sign off and will be back with another update soon. By then, the clamps should have left for plating and I’ll be well in to working on the main Aluminium Parts!

Thank you all again for your participation in this run. It’s truly an honour to work on these for you.

Wishing you all a great weekend and as always, MTFBWY!

Dave

 

[PadawanLoLo]

Thanks Dave. I love the updates! Happy things are moving along as always! These clamps are really awesome to see.

 

[DaveP]

Hello everyone!

Apologies for not getting an update posted over the weekend. It's been a bit of a busy one this week, with various family plans, meaning that I didn't get a chance to sit down and pen my usual weekend progress report.

Lots of progress last week though! The clamps are now at the platers and I have moved on to detailing the aluminium parts ready for darkening / stencilling / painting.

I decided to focus on the pommels first as these are the most labour intensive! All going well, and I expect to be moving on to the body sections soon! (Y)

None of the above marks are random. They are all painstakingly added to match the available references. This obviously takes a fair amount of time and concentration.

Just to give you a brief run down of the various individual jobs that are included in the detailing of the aluminium parts:

• V2 pommel damage
• V2 pommel endmill mark
• V2 Pommel cube scratches
• V2 bore expansion
• V2 grub placements (drill and tap)
• V2 booster ding
• General polish/tool mark clean up

• V3 Pommel damage
• V3 Endmill mark
• V3 neck profile adjustments
• V3 seam line
• V3 grub placements (drill and tap)
• General polish/tool mark clean up

More blacking solution has been ordered, ready for chemical darkening of the V3 parts along with the "current day" / "post production" V2 parts. (next week).

I will be setting aside a dedicated day (possibly two!) to get all of the chemical work done in one go.

First though, it's now my top priority to get all of the detailing finished this week for Batch 5. This is a short week due to the Easter holidays next weekend. So will hopefully be wrapping things up on detailing by end-of -play Thursday.

If there is any time left over at the end of this week, I'll continue with detailing and try to get as much of Batch 6 done as possible too.

Until then, I'll be getting my head down and concentrating on reaching that goal!

I'll continue to document the process throughout and will drop another update this coming weekend.

Thank again for your support everyone!

Wishing you all a productive week!

All the best and MTFBWY!

Dave

 

[DaveP]

**UPDATE**

Hello there!

I’m posting my weekly update a little bit early this week.

This week has been a short week due to the Easter holidays, and family plans this weekend.

It has been a very productive week though!

I’ve focussed almost entirely on detailing of the aluminium parts, ready for darkening next week.

This involves quite a bit of work, but I’m happy to say that Batch 5 is pretty much complete (just a little bit of final polishing). I did also make a start on Batch 6 Pommels.

ALL Dremeling of V3 pommel damage is now done! Batch 6 requires some additional polishing, but the most laborious part is done at least, and Batch 5 are ready for darkening.

Batch 5 Body sections are very nearly finished too. All grub placements have been added, along with booster dings to V2’s.

V3 profile adjustments are done, and I am part way through adding the seam lines to the grip sections. This is the final job, and nearly done (Batch 5 is mostly V2s).

I have also made a start on preparing stencils for application (I started cutting these some time ago). I’m weeding these out in and between jobs, and in the evenings so that they are ready to go when needed.

Stencils can be applied to Sandstorm and Throne Room V2’s early next week, as they don’t require any chemical treatment.

So, we are not too far behind where I had planned to be, and there has certainly been a fair amount of progress this week.

I’m looking forward to getting finished up early next week and moving on to PAINTING & WEATHERING!

The end of the month is drawing near of course, and I realise that we’re not quite finished yet…

Hopefully you can see that progress IS being made and that the end is in sight!

Not long to wait now, everyone!

I saw a quote earlier this week that got me thinking about my approach.

I always seem to make over-ambitious deadlines for myself, and set myself (and you) up for disappointment.

This is not the intention of course. But would I do things differently?

I *could* under-promise, and always meet or exceed expectations. I wonder though, would this result in me actually making LESS progress?

I think I actually get MORE done by over-promising, and falling slightly short of the target.

I hope that this is not too frustrating for everyone anyway. I do realise it’s probably not the most advisable approach to working, but I do think that it pushes me to further and achieves more in the long run.

Here’s the quote that gave me a little chuckle anyway:

“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.” – Winston Churchill

This is not to say that plans are not important by the way! I do make every effort to meet the deadlines I set. In the end though, I’ve found that things rarely go according to plan. It’s always better to have one though!

Anyway, I’m out of time now, and will have to sign off for now.

I hope that you all have a great Easter weekend and I look forward to picking things up next week.

All the best and MTFBWY!

Dave

 

[thd9791]

The attention to detail on each of these pieces of damage is stunning

 

[DaveP]

The attention to detail on each of these pieces of damage is stunning

Thanks, Tom!

 

[DaveP]

Hello there!

Apologies for the radio silence!

I just wanted to drop by with a brief update on both the run, and on the upcoming extra batch of V2’s.

I am SMACK BANG in the middle of painting, which as you can probably guess, is one of the most important jobs when it comes to these commissions.

I’m not quite at the milestone/update stage, so have been holding off until I can show you the entire batch (painted). This will not be long!

I’m aiming to have this stage finished by the end of the week and on to final assembly and ultimately SHIPPING (next week).

Clamps have arrived back from the platers and are beautiful. I will get some pictures taken once I get some of them assembled.

My main focus right now is getting everything painted by the end of the week and to take some pictures for the next big update!

Please bear with me. Your patience is very much appreciated! I am up early this morning to get this sent out before the day begins, so as to not interfere with the day’s tasks.

I’m looking forward to showing you the results of this latest batch. As always, I’m aiming for perfection!

…….

As for the additional batch of V2s, there has been a slight delay in getting these in to production...

Firstly, I’ve been so very busy that getting the minor adjustments made to the models took longer than expected. I’ve been doing this on the evenings (the ones where I’ve had some energy left over!).

No changes to the actual dimensions of the models. Just a couple of additions to speed up my process.

For the original run the body section was designed for use as V2 or V3, with me making the necessary modifications and adding fixing points myself. This was A MISTAKE! The savings made by doing this were minimal, but things like this have had a huge effect on the amount of time it takes me to complete a finished commission.

I have endeavoured to rectify this for this additional batch by adding fixing points to the model and making the body section specific to the V2.

All of the models and drawings have been submitted for quotation, and I have received an initial quote from my supplier. The cost of production has gone up however, and I am in the process of negotiating a final price.

I am trying to keep the cost (and price) as close to what it was previously as I can. There are a couple of reasons why this might not be possible…

Firstly, its now a whole year later and the cost of literally everything has increased. Considering this, I was actually pleasantly surprised by how close to the original quote some of the parts were.

Secondly, there are fewer units being ordered this time around, which does have an effect on the production costs. The more we can order, the cheaper they will be. I am considering ordering some additional stock for later in the year (or possibly next year) for this reason. I really am exploring all options to try to keep the price as reasonable as possible.

There is a third reason for the increase in price. I spend a LOT of time sanding and polishing tool marks from certain areas of the parts. This is a conscious decision on my part, as I have opted for a rougher surface finish in favour of a lower production cost. Again, this has an impact on the time it takes me to finish a commission.

This time around, I have selected a smoother surface finish, which should speed up my process and reduce the amount of time that people have to wait for their finished commissions.

There will always be some cleaning up of parts to do, but if I can reduce the amount of time I spend doing this, I'll be able to focus more on painting and finishing.

All this being said, the increase in cost at this moment in time (based on the initial quote) is not excessive and I expect it to come down further over the next couple of days (before placing the order).

I obviously won’t be taking any pre-orders until the parts are officially “IN PRODUCTION”, so will just require a few more days if that’s ok.

So… I hope to have final quotes in and to place the order for the parts by the end of this week.

With this in mind I have opted for May the 4th as the day to list these on the store (12:00 GMT).

It will be a limited number only and will be worked on as a single batch once the parts have arrived. All existing commissions will be finished and sent out by then.

Thank you all for your interest in jumping on this additional batch.

I look forward to getting them in to production and working on them for you all.

……

Now I shall return to the job at hand!

I look forward to sharing another picture heavy update in the coming days, once I’m finished with the painting of Batch 5 and final assembly is underway.

Please remember that Batch 6 is also well underway, and not too far behind Batch 5 (almost ready for painting).

Signing off for now, but please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.


All the best and MTFBWY!

Dave

 

[teecrooz]

Everything looking and sounding good Dave!