Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke (Finished on page 7)

[NormanF]

My main concern with trying to fix the master that blew up was securing the chunk that flew off well enough to stay attached at any speed in the lathe. Then there were the cracks on the top that I was afraid would also break in the lathe. And I did all of the rough and some of the fine shaping with 60 grit paper.

Today I went to the SmoothOn distributor to get some chemicals. While I was there I talked to one of the people about the "cellulite" in the casting. Turns out I did not make the rubber thick enough. Which sucks, what with me breaking the master and all.

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[NormanF]

It worked out so-so. It would have worked well if I had put more rubber on and not destroyed the master getting it out. Live and learn.

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[NormanF]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

Here are the pictures as threatened.

Inside of the bottom mold. On this one the rubber is a little thicker than the top. After talking with the guy at the SmoothOn distributor, I think that is why the bottom of the cast has fewer low spots than the top.

Inside the top mold. It looks good anyway.

Unfortunately, I did not create the part line in the right location. So vacuum and a light mechanical lock meant I did some damage in trying to get the master out. I totally spaced out and tapped on the piece of balsa sticking out the top of the mold with a mallet. I might have saved it if I had not lost one of my compressor attachments when I moved.

First pull. That seam is horrible! If you follow the curve along the top you might see the mold was pushed in slightly just above the seam. I have a theory about that at the bottom of the post.

Here you can faintly see some of the low spots on the top.

More low spots.

Here I tried to get a shot of the one low spot on the lower half. It is in the shadow.

So the problems are a bad seam and some low spots on the top half of the mold. I think the problem with the seam might be because I clamped the shell too tight which compressed the rubber distorting it and pushed it slightly into the mold cavity.

For the low spots I am going to see if I can't use something to keep the rubber attached to the jacket. While talking about the seam the rep said that you can actually superglue silicone rubber together temporarily. So tomorrow (maybe) I am going to take some scrap silicone and cover it with PlastiPaste like I did for the jacket. After it cures I'll try supergluing it to the jacket, let it set, and see if I can remove it. If I can, then I will try it with the mold and pull another cast to see if it comes out any better.

Basically, I made the rubber too thin. While talking with the rep he asked how thick the rubber part of the mold was and asked if it was "this" thick while holding his fingers about half an inch apart. Nope, not even close. I got it a little under a quarter of an inch thick on the thickest part I could measure. Probably half that over most of the mold. I watched the YouTube video from SmoothOn about using Rebound 25 again and at the end of applying the rubber they say it should be about 3/8 inch thick. Oops! Live and learn I guess. Just hope this is the last expensive lesson.

 

[NormanF]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

Welp, the bottom half of the mold is marginally useful. I could probably use something to fix the one key that is not working correctly. But the top have is pretty much useless. The rubber on that half is entirely too thin.

What does this mean? It means I get to make the master AGAIN. :facepalm
So I will do that. I just don't know if I will start that tomorrow or if I will put it on hold and do something simpler. Probably not since I pretty much know how to do everything now. I'm also tempted just just do the master out of a bunch of balsa glued together instead of the foam. Even the firmer stuff I use cannot be measured. You can sand it by just staring at it too hard.

 

[Josh Jay]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

This is looking awesome, especially for a first project.

Did you do any sanding while your model was on your lathe?

I have the Gauss Rifle in the works if you want to stop by and take a look.

Brothers of Steel UNITE

 

[NormanF]

I did 99% of the sanding on the lathe.

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[NormanF]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

I'm an idiot! I thought about trying to get the mold to fit in the jacket better but then decided it would not work. Today one of the guys I work with (Dude!) mentioned fixing the dimples and other problems with the one cast I pulled and then make a mold of that. :facepalm So I'm using some glazing putty to do that right now. Does that count as recasting? I wish he had said that yesterday so I would not have spent time last night gluing blocks of foam to a piece of balsa. I already have backup plans for that if I don't need it. :ninja

 

[Scrap Droids]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

Being a big fan of the "Fallout" game series, I love any and all related props. I'm watching this tread with great interest. I'd love to have a mini-nuke!!

 

[theobeau]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

Also a big fan of the Fallout series and as such, looking forward to the pics of the finished product.

Looks very good so far!

Cheers

 

[NormanF]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

I'm mostly done with patching the casting I made so I thought I would share some pictures of it.

I need to do some more patching on the top, re-scribe some lines, and clean up some of the screws. I also want to attack the top with a demel and a sanding attachment to make that inset area a little smoother and deeper. Then I'll prime it and have a go at making a mold of it. The quality will not be 100%, but I think it will be around 90%. I keep telling myself it is my first prop so I should just be happy it is even that good.

I felt like this would be a good time to try some experiments for my next prop so I broke out a penlight. Here it is when just the penlight shoved into the hole.

I like that I can see some darker areas where the resin is thicker. The little white spots are bubbles just below the surface, which I thought was interesting, but not good for what I am planning. I am hoping that goes away when I switch to SmoothCast 65D.

This is the one that I thought was very cool! I put a green bottle cap over the end of the light before I used it.

However, my camera makes it look better than it actually was. It was not as bright as it looks. Here is how bright it looked to my eyes.

So I am going to go, again, to the local distributor to get some more rebound and plasti-paste and I am going to get some green pigment to try some more experiments. I also need to get some extra bright green LED's to see if that will work better.

 

[NormanF]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

The good news is I am starting to put primer on this bad boy. The bad news is that the some of the screws are flush instead of slightly recessed. So I have two options:
1. Leave it as it is and whoever buys these (I'm still hoping to sell copies) can hide the problems with paint.
2. Use a reamer to try to remove most of the screw and put a new screw in. But I am not confident that would work, even though the resin in that area is thicker to support the depth of where the screwdriver blade goes.

I'm getting a little burned out with trying fix after fix on this so I'm seriously leaning towards option #1. I'm pretty sure if I go with option #2 and make things worse that I will put this on hold and make something else and then come back to this.

 

[Teese]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

My vote is for leaving it as-is. Adds some character to it.

 

[rosskow]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

You will drive yourself mad trying to fix every little thing, specially if it's your first build, im doing the same myself though but im trying not to get destructed by every minor problem. Your build looks great, don't stress, after all it's meant to be enjoyable.

 

[duke nukem]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

Honestly, I never even knew there were screws on a mini-nuke, let alone recessed screws. Just go with what you have now, it looks awesome and I don't wanna see it ruined or scrapped!

 

[NormanF]

I started putting primer on it yesterday. I paniced when I got home and it looked like all the dimples and low spots were still there, but I think (hope) that was because I am using thin coats of primer and the glazing putty was just showing through.

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[NormanF]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

Hurray! Yesterday morning I thought, "I'll put some more paint on this and then go to work." Long story short, I slipped up and had too much paint on one area. While I was at work I looked at a video on how to properly sand curves and when I got home and started sanding off the paint runs I decided to make one more try at fixing one of the dimples. Much much better. I know where to look and I have a hard time finding the fix. Since a lot of the dimples are still very visible I am going to have another try at fixing them now that I have a better idea of how to sand everything.

 

[NormanF]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

Ok, the thing is pretty smooth now. Not perfect, but as long as you don't pick it up and hold it in the correct light it looks good. There is one small raised area that I thought I had ground down, but I was wrong. I'm tired of trying to give myself a heat stroke so it is staying in. Just keep that part to the back of the display case.

And if you never noticed the screws I am sure you never noticed what is hiding underneath where the fins attach.

Right now I am doing a test to see how Rebound 25 likes the primer I am using. If they play well together then I'm all set to make the new mold. If not then I need to buy some paint that I already know works, but I really hope it does not come to that.

I considered sanding this thing perfectly smooth, but I'm not making a clear bubble that will show everything and I think the faint texture from the primer will be ok.

 

[Scrap Droids]

Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP

Looking pretty sharp so far. What do you intend to do about the base, and fins?

 

[NormanF]

Looking pretty sharp so far. What do you intend to do about the base, and fins?

The experiment I did earlier with the Apoxie and cardboard tube worked well so I am using a larger tube to make the base. I put Apoxie on a tube oatmeal came in (good thing I like oatmeal) and I have it partially shaped. I just need to finish shaping it and then remove the cardboard.

I made one fin out of Sculpey. I will do more work on that when I have molds of the main body and base I am sure of. I need to trim the fin where it attaches to the body then I can make a mold of it. I am making it so there will be some extra material on the fin so whoever buys it can trim it to fit.

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[NormanF]

W00t! Pictures at 11:00. Well, 9:00 PM.

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