Fifth Element Multipass Tutorial - RPF I Need Your Help!

[MattMunson]

I am finally getting around to putting the finishing touches on my NEW tutorial for building up my multipass kit. There were some changes to the kit with the most recent release AND my old tutorial got lost in the interwebs. So I'm re-doing it.

I'm about a third of the way done, and would REALLY like some feedback on it so far. ANY and all suggestions are welcome, from formatting, font, color, image size, spealling, grammar, broken links, functionality... WHATEVER.

Perhaps some of my instructions are confusing, or my pictures suck.

Please let me know how I can best improve the tutorial.

Here's the link:

Fifth Element MultiPass Tutorial

Thanks!

 

[Darth Mawr]

Overall it looks good to me but a lot of the pics don't show up on your main page.

 

[Superkrates]

It's a very clean tutorial. Suggest adding the importance of 'dry fitting' all parts before glueing to avoid misalignment problems.

 

[darth_myeek]

Neat idea with the pic index.

 

[MattMunson]

Overall it looks good to me but a lot of the pics don't show up on your main page.

Do you mean for the parts that aren't done?

 

[MattMunson]

It's a very clean tutorial. Suggest adding the importance of 'dry fitting' all parts before glueing to avoid misalignment problems.

That's a good one. Excellent suggestion

 

[micdavis]

The larger pics you get when you click on an image could be bigger.

Some of us are old bastards and don't have the superior Munson genes.

 

[Darth Mawr]

Do you mean for the parts that aren't done?

:lol Ah, that explains it then.

 

[Nexus6]

:lol Ah, that explains it then.

DERP!!! :lol

j/k, as soon as I looked at the tutorial, I came rushing back in here to point out how half his pix were broken.

 

[MattMunson]

I'm uploading a few more steps of the tutorial right now. It's been a VERY productive day.

I also added Back/Next buttons to each page of the tutorial, to make navigation a little smoother.

Best of all, I will actually have my OWN multipass after I am finished with this. Ironic that after all these years, I STILL don't have a finished pass for my own collection. Kinda sad!

 

[Risu]

I'm the same way, I still don't have my own Who journal, either. Tutorial's looking good. I think it's about time I put mine together as well.

 

[Guri]

I like how the background of each image is on a grid, the consistency is a good thing. Though I kept wanting it to be brighter yellow... Not a big deal.

I also like the way you broke down the tutorial into major steps with an image on a menu page and I really liked the summary paragraphs at the top of each page. Both prepare visitors for what they're about to do; puts their minds in the right place.

You might want to add on the menu page something like:

MultiPass Tutorial Menu Page: Click on the images below to expand the tutorial into more detailed pages. Click on the images on the tutorial pages to see a larger image of each step.

Just in case you sell to some dummy who doesn't figure it out and thinks your menu is the tutorial.

 

[MattMunson]

Great tips Guri. Thanks for the input. I will incorporate your suggestions

In other news, I finished my build up today! All I need to do is finish putting the tutorial together, and I can finally put that one to bed. I think I might do one more build up, and follow my tutorial just to make sure I didnt' miss anything.

Thanks again for all the input!

 

[MattMunson]

As of right now, I beleive the tutorial is done. There are a few modifications I'm going to make to the overall flow of the website, but as for the details of the build, it's all done.

And I FINALLY have a completed pass of my own!!! yay!

 

[Charles Kline]

Thanks for the credit on that top notch detail Matt.

Its really cool to see the method I used on my pass made sense and is in the tutorial.

:thumbsup

 

[MattMunson]

It was a solid piece of detective work on your behalf dude. I appreciate the extra pair of eyes on the project

 

[Nexus6]

The 'NEXT' button on the 'Step 17' page just takes you back to the top of 17, instead of progressing to 18.

OT: Awesome tutorial. Will it still work for the MPs that you offered a few years ago?

 

[MattMunson]

Thanks nexus. I will fix that.

There are some differences between the two kits, but nothing so significant that a semi-experienced builder couldn't figure out.

Off the top of my head, here are the differences I can think of:
1. Center plate is thicker.
2. curves on the outer edges of the arms are different.
3. Cutting template for ribbed styrene included in new kit.
4. LED hole is laser cut into front plate in new kit.
5. Bullet strip is laser cut in new kit. Original kit you had to scratch build.
6. Extra rings included in new kit to make working pass easier to build
7. Graphics are processed photos, not inkjet prints.

Hrm, that's all I can think of. There were a number of tiny tweaks to the body parts, but nothing that would modify the build up. Just things like making the LED bezel a tighter fit. Stuff like that.

 

[MattMunson]

Even with all that said, there's one GLARING inaccuracy that I intentionally left out, just to keep the price down and the ease of production. The ring that goes around the yellow button actually has a contour to it. It's something I would need to run on a lathe, then mold and cast. It's VERY subtle, but it's there. I chose to implement that as a couple layers of flat styrene, rather than double or triple the labor involved in cranking out a kit. Heck, if I had to cast up parts for each kit, I probably wouldn't have even bothered

And then there's still the issue of some weird dimensional inconsistency with the lower arm. Some screen grabs show it looking one way, others another. If I could just get my hands on a real pass, if only for five seconds, I could figure it out.

 

[28injection]

Great tutorial for a great prop kit. Love the last bit, i did wonder when i completed mine......