Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke (Finished on page 7)
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madmanmoe64
Well-Known Member
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
Just a few things about casting with liquid plastic resins.
1. - I was worried about this, so what I tend to do is, before starting a casting session, give both A & B a good shake, then get on with mould prep and by the time I'm ready to weigh out the resin, they have both settled a bit and don't have so much air in them. I found that shaking both bottles immediately before weighing out and doing a pour lead to more bubbles in the cast.
Also I alway weigh my resin, especially for small amounts. I bought a cheap 'jewellery scale' which measures to 0.1g . Although I've found the resin to be fairly forgiving. weighing just gives more consistency between casts.
2. - How fast the resin cures depends on how big of a piece you're casting. If you're casting thin sections, then your de-mould time may be longer than average.
3. - Liquid plastics retain a certain amount of flex, especially in thinner pieces, I wouldn't worry too much, it should be more rigid once the ring is assembled with the fins etc. However if you are really worried about it, you can add powders to increase the strength of the cured resin (e.g. aluminium powder).
Just a few things about casting with liquid plastic resins.
1. - I was worried about this, so what I tend to do is, before starting a casting session, give both A & B a good shake, then get on with mould prep and by the time I'm ready to weigh out the resin, they have both settled a bit and don't have so much air in them. I found that shaking both bottles immediately before weighing out and doing a pour lead to more bubbles in the cast.
Also I alway weigh my resin, especially for small amounts. I bought a cheap 'jewellery scale' which measures to 0.1g . Although I've found the resin to be fairly forgiving. weighing just gives more consistency between casts.
2. - How fast the resin cures depends on how big of a piece you're casting. If you're casting thin sections, then your de-mould time may be longer than average.
3. - Liquid plastics retain a certain amount of flex, especially in thinner pieces, I wouldn't worry too much, it should be more rigid once the ring is assembled with the fins etc. However if you are really worried about it, you can add powders to increase the strength of the cured resin (e.g. aluminium powder).
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
I did some quick math at work. The finished cast will take a hair under 10cc of resin. The only way to measure out a small enough amount will be to use a scale like you linked to or buy a triple beam chemistry/drug dealer scale. So for now I'm going to go by volume. I glued the two bad casts I made last week together. There is some flex, but not bad and this is designed to be a static model. I'm fairly confident the Task 2 will me more than enough for the flat fins.
Here are the two ring halves glued together and a light coat of primer.
Not sure how I feel about using a thumbnail on here instead of a larger image.
Anyway, today I made a fin out of a piece of .06" sheet styrene. I used some scrap cardstock and the body to make a template. I scribed and snaped the straight cuts and then shaped the curved parts with some sand paper.
The horizontal line is from where I made a mistake in my measurements and cut off a big chunk. I realized my mistake and glued it back on with CA. I sanded it down and it is pretty smooth. I'll use some filler primer on it and sand it down until the line is gone so it won't show through on the casts.
At this point there is not much left to do. Aside from some minor things I have to:
1. Make a mold of the fin.
2. Make decals.
3. Make and mold a spacer I want for between the body and the nose cone.
4. Profit (start selling castings).
I'm getting excited that this is almost done and I can move on to something else. I'm leaning towards a scale version of one of the Star Trek TOS computers (a one off for my desk) or keep to Fallout 3 and make a Repconn souvenir rocket.
I did some quick math at work. The finished cast will take a hair under 10cc of resin. The only way to measure out a small enough amount will be to use a scale like you linked to or buy a triple beam chemistry/drug dealer scale. So for now I'm going to go by volume. I glued the two bad casts I made last week together. There is some flex, but not bad and this is designed to be a static model. I'm fairly confident the Task 2 will me more than enough for the flat fins.
Here are the two ring halves glued together and a light coat of primer.
Not sure how I feel about using a thumbnail on here instead of a larger image.
Anyway, today I made a fin out of a piece of .06" sheet styrene. I used some scrap cardstock and the body to make a template. I scribed and snaped the straight cuts and then shaped the curved parts with some sand paper.
The horizontal line is from where I made a mistake in my measurements and cut off a big chunk. I realized my mistake and glued it back on with CA. I sanded it down and it is pretty smooth. I'll use some filler primer on it and sand it down until the line is gone so it won't show through on the casts.
At this point there is not much left to do. Aside from some minor things I have to:
1. Make a mold of the fin.
2. Make decals.
3. Make and mold a spacer I want for between the body and the nose cone.
4. Profit (start selling castings).
I'm getting excited that this is almost done and I can move on to something else. I'm leaning towards a scale version of one of the Star Trek TOS computers (a one off for my desk) or keep to Fallout 3 and make a Repconn souvenir rocket.
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
Well, I was watching "Battle: Los Angeles" and doing some work on this when something caused the alarm on the UPS my TV and TiVo are connected to to go off, so I decided on a quicky update before I run missions in Defiance waiting for an Ark Fall.
I decided to use some of the .06" styrene to make a small ring to enlarge the gap between the body and the nose.
I was starting to lay it out when the UPS started whistling and my dog ran around barking like I couldn't hear it myself. So I'll finish that tomorrow night and figure out the best way to mold it.
Well, I was watching "Battle: Los Angeles" and doing some work on this when something caused the alarm on the UPS my TV and TiVo are connected to to go off, so I decided on a quicky update before I run missions in Defiance waiting for an Ark Fall.
I decided to use some of the .06" styrene to make a small ring to enlarge the gap between the body and the nose.
I was starting to lay it out when the UPS started whistling and my dog ran around barking like I couldn't hear it myself. So I'll finish that tomorrow night and figure out the best way to mold it.
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
Great build!
I'd say that the font used on the sticker was a Serif Font (like New Times Roman) instead of a Sans Serif font like used.
Great build!
I'd say that the font used on the sticker was a Serif Font (like New Times Roman) instead of a Sans Serif font like used.
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
I am half way through making the mold for the fin and what I am calling the nose cone adapter. That is the last mold I need to make for this thing.
Last night I decided to try casting one of the ring halves and leaving it in the mold to cure for 12 hours. When I put the Task 2 into the mold some of it ended up on the stool I had the mold sitting on. A couple hours later when I was doing something else I noticed that the spill had cured and was full of bubbles. I was hoping it was reacting to something on the wood or wood finish, but when I opened up the mold this morning I saw the same thing. I do not know what happened here because it was pretty consistent throughout the cast. This time I let the chemicals set after I stirred the bottles and again after I measured them out. I wonder if there was some sort of contamination. I did clean out the syringe earlier in the week and maybe there was still some water in it. I also used a different brand of stick for mixing them but I have used these before. If it is contamination I want to know so if I need to I can reproduce the effect in the future. :cool On the positive side, 12 hours seems to be good enough cure time.
So I have three things to try:
1. Be cleaner?
2. After I fill the syringe, put my finger of the opening and pull the plunger so it almost comes out and basically vacuum the resin.
3. Take my handheld MityVac and modify a mason jar to use as a mini-vacuum chamber to vacuum the resin.
I am half way through making the mold for the fin and what I am calling the nose cone adapter. That is the last mold I need to make for this thing.
Last night I decided to try casting one of the ring halves and leaving it in the mold to cure for 12 hours. When I put the Task 2 into the mold some of it ended up on the stool I had the mold sitting on. A couple hours later when I was doing something else I noticed that the spill had cured and was full of bubbles. I was hoping it was reacting to something on the wood or wood finish, but when I opened up the mold this morning I saw the same thing. I do not know what happened here because it was pretty consistent throughout the cast. This time I let the chemicals set after I stirred the bottles and again after I measured them out. I wonder if there was some sort of contamination. I did clean out the syringe earlier in the week and maybe there was still some water in it. I also used a different brand of stick for mixing them but I have used these before. If it is contamination I want to know so if I need to I can reproduce the effect in the future. :cool On the positive side, 12 hours seems to be good enough cure time.
So I have three things to try:
1. Be cleaner?
2. After I fill the syringe, put my finger of the opening and pull the plunger so it almost comes out and basically vacuum the resin.
3. Take my handheld MityVac and modify a mason jar to use as a mini-vacuum chamber to vacuum the resin.
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
No joy. I did another cast and put the excess in another mold. Full of tiny bubbles. So at this point I think it is either because I am mixing up such a small batch or still maybe contamination. I noticed I stuck my thumb the cups I measure the two parts in. I think in the morning I am going to get a mason jar and lid to see if I can make a mini vacuum chamber. If that does not work then I will try mixing a larger batch.
And the final mold is almost done. Just need to remove the clay, make the shell, and then clean it out.
Sent from my Etch-A-Sketch
No joy. I did another cast and put the excess in another mold. Full of tiny bubbles. So at this point I think it is either because I am mixing up such a small batch or still maybe contamination. I noticed I stuck my thumb the cups I measure the two parts in. I think in the morning I am going to get a mason jar and lid to see if I can make a mini vacuum chamber. If that does not work then I will try mixing a larger batch.
And the final mold is almost done. Just need to remove the clay, make the shell, and then clean it out.
Sent from my Etch-A-Sketch
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
Hmmm, that is interesting. I pulled the cast this morning and it wasn't too bad. It did not seem correct (hard to describe) but I think a light sanding and then a coat or two of the high build auto primer and it will be OK. I was expecting it to be full of tiny bubbles like the last one, but there was only on small/medium bubble and that will be easy to deal with.
At the grocery store they only sell the pickle/jelly jars in packs of 12. I don't need 12. So I used an old salsa jar I keep forgetting to put in the recycling bin. I just punched a small hole in the top and hooked up the pump. It held a vacuum, so Newman's Own not only makes organic food but they also make mini vacuum chambers.
The shell on the second half of the last mold is curing down in my garage so I should get a test cast out sometime tomorrow.
Hmmm, that is interesting. I pulled the cast this morning and it wasn't too bad. It did not seem correct (hard to describe) but I think a light sanding and then a coat or two of the high build auto primer and it will be OK. I was expecting it to be full of tiny bubbles like the last one, but there was only on small/medium bubble and that will be easy to deal with.
At the grocery store they only sell the pickle/jelly jars in packs of 12. I don't need 12. So I used an old salsa jar I keep forgetting to put in the recycling bin. I just punched a small hole in the top and hooked up the pump. It held a vacuum, so Newman's Own not only makes organic food but they also make mini vacuum chambers.
The shell on the second half of the last mold is curing down in my garage so I should get a test cast out sometime tomorrow.
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
I was going to write this a few hours ago, but imageshack was having account trouble.
I printed out a copy of the warning on paper at work because my dog goes insane for some reason whenever I print anything at home. I took a cast of the main body that I did a little work on so I could see how it looked and show one of the guys at work. I filled in the white space with a yellow highlighter and taped it on.
I like it!
The molds are done and the artwork pretty much is too. So I am going to finish casting enough parts to put one together. If that comes out OK then I will be switching into production mode to get an initial ten kits together. I only had enough rubber to make a mold of a single fin. If I really push myself I can make two a day during the week and three over the weekend. So I am guessing I will be able to make around two kits a week which works out to around five weeks for the first kits. I am going to make them before I sell them so I do not have to worry about getting orders in and then get reamed if I am slow getting them out. Plus it will be nice to show a finished product in the sale thread.
At the same time I am going to be teaching myself how to use an airbrush by painting this. So my next post will be after I get it assembled and primed. I am guessing this weekend or early next week.
I was going to write this a few hours ago, but imageshack was having account trouble.
I printed out a copy of the warning on paper at work because my dog goes insane for some reason whenever I print anything at home. I took a cast of the main body that I did a little work on so I could see how it looked and show one of the guys at work. I filled in the white space with a yellow highlighter and taped it on.
I like it!
The molds are done and the artwork pretty much is too. So I am going to finish casting enough parts to put one together. If that comes out OK then I will be switching into production mode to get an initial ten kits together. I only had enough rubber to make a mold of a single fin. If I really push myself I can make two a day during the week and three over the weekend. So I am guessing I will be able to make around two kits a week which works out to around five weeks for the first kits. I am going to make them before I sell them so I do not have to worry about getting orders in and then get reamed if I am slow getting them out. Plus it will be nice to show a finished product in the sale thread.
At the same time I am going to be teaching myself how to use an airbrush by painting this. So my next post will be after I get it assembled and primed. I am guessing this weekend or early next week.
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
Hmm.
So I have the initial color done, Olive Drab.
Ignore the mess.
Not bad, right? The problem is the flash. Look back at the first picture. See the nose cone in the background? That is how dark it looks to me in person. WAY too dark. Hopefully it will cure a bit lighter. After it has dried some more I will bring it inside and take a look at it in better light. I'm using Testors Model Master enamels. Anyone reading this have any experience? And can I paint the next color after 24 hours or should I wait 48?
Hmm.
So I have the initial color done, Olive Drab.
Ignore the mess.
Not bad, right? The problem is the flash. Look back at the first picture. See the nose cone in the background? That is how dark it looks to me in person. WAY too dark. Hopefully it will cure a bit lighter. After it has dried some more I will bring it inside and take a look at it in better light. I'm using Testors Model Master enamels. Anyone reading this have any experience? And can I paint the next color after 24 hours or should I wait 48?
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
OK, out in better lighting I can see this really is too dark. This is a better picture but still doesn't quite capture how dark it is.
It is accurate to what might actually fall off the back of a supply truck, but it is not screen accurate and I'm aiming for screen accurate here. So tonight I'm doing a lot of sanding. I was planning to go to Hobby Town and pick up some different paint today when a friend at work said he will bring in some paint from The Army Painter. It looks like they have some colors that will match what I'm after except for the super dark red for the nose and fins. So if it looks good I'll buy some of that instead and get this thing painted. Even better: they are acrylic so I can paint it without giving myself drain bamage. :wacko
OK, out in better lighting I can see this really is too dark. This is a better picture but still doesn't quite capture how dark it is.
It is accurate to what might actually fall off the back of a supply truck, but it is not screen accurate and I'm aiming for screen accurate here. So tonight I'm doing a lot of sanding. I was planning to go to Hobby Town and pick up some different paint today when a friend at work said he will bring in some paint from The Army Painter. It looks like they have some colors that will match what I'm after except for the super dark red for the nose and fins. So if it looks good I'll buy some of that instead and get this thing painted. Even better: they are acrylic so I can paint it without giving myself drain bamage. :wacko
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
For future reference, be careful using paint stripper on Urethane resin. I used some citrus based stripper, Citristrip, and it did a great job. But it left the surface with a slightly odd texture. And I found that while cleaning it that I could scrape off a layer of the resin with my fingernail. :angry I have it drying to see if maybe the resin will re-cure, but I went ahead and cast up another body.
I tried some of the "Army Green" colored primer from The Army Painter and it looked really good. Still not perfect, but I think it is close enough. At least for me. It will be a week or so before I get a can so in the mean time I am going to prep the new casting and do some work on the next project or two. One is just doing some artwork and the other is mostly scribing and snapping sheet styrene.
Note two: Scribing and styrene are not in the dictionary on here and show up as spelling errors.
For future reference, be careful using paint stripper on Urethane resin. I used some citrus based stripper, Citristrip, and it did a great job. But it left the surface with a slightly odd texture. And I found that while cleaning it that I could scrape off a layer of the resin with my fingernail. :angry I have it drying to see if maybe the resin will re-cure, but I went ahead and cast up another body.
I tried some of the "Army Green" colored primer from The Army Painter and it looked really good. Still not perfect, but I think it is close enough. At least for me. It will be a week or so before I get a can so in the mean time I am going to prep the new casting and do some work on the next project or two. One is just doing some artwork and the other is mostly scribing and snapping sheet styrene.
Note two: Scribing and styrene are not in the dictionary on here and show up as spelling errors.
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
Woohoo! The paint fairy came by my cubicle and changed my plans for this weekend.
I checked the parts I used the paint stripper on and they seem to have re-hardened. But it still has a texture to it that I kind of like so I will have to remember how I did it in the future. It has that soft feel like some hand held electronics. Too bad about the gouges. I guess I could fill them with putty.
Woohoo! The paint fairy came by my cubicle and changed my plans for this weekend.
I checked the parts I used the paint stripper on and they seem to have re-hardened. But it still has a texture to it that I kind of like so I will have to remember how I did it in the future. It has that soft feel like some hand held electronics. Too bad about the gouges. I guess I could fill them with putty.
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
Two steps forward, one step back.
I painted the base color on everything and then the details on the fins. They looked ok for my first time using an airbrush. I glued them onto the ring and tested out the main body resting on them. It looked way too tall. I went back to the reference pictures and I got the fins wrong, the dimensions and how they mount to the ring. So I'm going to do some more masking and finish painting the nose and maybe some more of the main body while I also make some new fins. The last time I made one fin, made a mold, and cast copies. This time I'm going to make five of them out of .060 styrene: four to use for this model and the fifth to copy and then make a mold of. Weee!
Two steps forward, one step back.
I painted the base color on everything and then the details on the fins. They looked ok for my first time using an airbrush. I glued them onto the ring and tested out the main body resting on them. It looked way too tall. I went back to the reference pictures and I got the fins wrong, the dimensions and how they mount to the ring. So I'm going to do some more masking and finish painting the nose and maybe some more of the main body while I also make some new fins. The last time I made one fin, made a mold, and cast copies. This time I'm going to make five of them out of .060 styrene: four to use for this model and the fifth to copy and then make a mold of. Weee!
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
Teaser time! In case anyone was wondering, here is how the model looks with the wrong fins.
I painted the fins before I attached them. To get the dark red I painted a base coat of flat black and after it dried I put on some insignia red.
Before I painted them I thought, "should I mask this off?" Next time I won't ask. :facepalm Hey, it's my first time with an airbrush.
Teaser time! In case anyone was wondering, here is how the model looks with the wrong fins.
I painted the fins before I attached them. To get the dark red I painted a base coat of flat black and after it dried I put on some insignia red.
Before I painted them I thought, "should I mask this off?" Next time I won't ask. :facepalm Hey, it's my first time with an airbrush.
Re: Fallout 3: Mini-Nuke WIP
W00T!
I have not worked on this as much as I should have, but things have been pretty busy at work lately and I have something else I'm working on at the same time. I really wanted to wait until I was completely done, but I'm too happy with how this looks. I can only imagine how great this would look if I had more experience with painting. I might have to keep a kit to hold on to for later. Anyway, on to the show.
Here is how the bottom turned out all painted.
There is a texture to the bottom that you really can't see, but I'm happy with it. And the flash makes the red look brighter than in person. Also, see those rivets? When I was looking at my reference pictures to get new measurements for the fins I noticed they should actually be screws. :facepalm
Mask off the parts that are going to be yellow. I only have a black and white laser printer so I cannot print the warning decal in full color. I am going to just print the black border and text and let the yellow come through. Note how I am not putting on enough tape to mask everything. Live and learn.
I extended the yellow tape with some blue painters tape, but it still wasn't enough. To make matters worse, the base primer is more like a super high build primer making it near impossible to do touch up work with which will come back to bite me later on.
So, how about those fins? I used a ruler and some styrene to keep them lined up while I glued them in. But the ring distorted while I was doing that so they were still a little mis-aligned.
At this point things got busy at work. Then this weekend I finally bit the bullet and figured I had gotten the fins to match up to the body as well as I was going to so I sanded off some of the primer.
And glued them on with some medium CA. I did not get it perfectly aligned. By the time I got to the last fin there was about a 1mm gap. So I just pressed it into position and held it for a minute. Then I set it on a table and put some weight on it for a couple hours while I played Defiance. Here it is next to Zephram Cochrane. Masking tape is still on and I have not touched up the paint.
This is where things get a little ugly. I'll try to get a picture of it for the next update, but I had to put the paint on a bit thick since I was down to resin so there is a definite ridge from the masking tape. I tried sanding it down, but that did not help much and hurt a little. So as much as I liked that base color I'm not using it again.
So I need to paint a thin, dark green stripe at the bottom of the main body and a thicker one just above the fins. I'm going to paint the screws aluminum since I think that looks more like steel than "steel" paint does. Then gloss coat, warning decals, dull coat, and finally weathering.
It's not great, but I really like how it is turning out.
W00T!
I have not worked on this as much as I should have, but things have been pretty busy at work lately and I have something else I'm working on at the same time. I really wanted to wait until I was completely done, but I'm too happy with how this looks. I can only imagine how great this would look if I had more experience with painting. I might have to keep a kit to hold on to for later. Anyway, on to the show.
Here is how the bottom turned out all painted.
There is a texture to the bottom that you really can't see, but I'm happy with it. And the flash makes the red look brighter than in person. Also, see those rivets? When I was looking at my reference pictures to get new measurements for the fins I noticed they should actually be screws. :facepalm
Mask off the parts that are going to be yellow. I only have a black and white laser printer so I cannot print the warning decal in full color. I am going to just print the black border and text and let the yellow come through. Note how I am not putting on enough tape to mask everything. Live and learn.
I extended the yellow tape with some blue painters tape, but it still wasn't enough. To make matters worse, the base primer is more like a super high build primer making it near impossible to do touch up work with which will come back to bite me later on.
So, how about those fins? I used a ruler and some styrene to keep them lined up while I glued them in. But the ring distorted while I was doing that so they were still a little mis-aligned.
At this point things got busy at work. Then this weekend I finally bit the bullet and figured I had gotten the fins to match up to the body as well as I was going to so I sanded off some of the primer.
And glued them on with some medium CA. I did not get it perfectly aligned. By the time I got to the last fin there was about a 1mm gap. So I just pressed it into position and held it for a minute. Then I set it on a table and put some weight on it for a couple hours while I played Defiance. Here it is next to Zephram Cochrane. Masking tape is still on and I have not touched up the paint.
This is where things get a little ugly. I'll try to get a picture of it for the next update, but I had to put the paint on a bit thick since I was down to resin so there is a definite ridge from the masking tape. I tried sanding it down, but that did not help much and hurt a little. So as much as I liked that base color I'm not using it again.
So I need to paint a thin, dark green stripe at the bottom of the main body and a thicker one just above the fins. I'm going to paint the screws aluminum since I think that looks more like steel than "steel" paint does. Then gloss coat, warning decals, dull coat, and finally weathering.
It's not great, but I really like how it is turning out.
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