AlphaTech686
Active Member
These first photos are of the original plan to use a Tamiya gearbox. It was a debacle hence a learning experience. The gearbox stripped out in about 10 seconds. You can also see the original blade design had 3 blades and 2 more would pop up on the way out. It would still have the blade coming out the back.
Here is a photo of the original 5 blade assembly. I went through the whole process of molding to painting and in the end scrapped the blades for a different design.
Here you can see the motor and sprocket assembly I ended up using. The motor is from a power car window assembly. The sprocket and chain are nylon and I found them online from a company called Stock Drive Products.
If you look close at the drawer slide mechanism you will see I placed a second ballbearing slider attached to the first. The reason you have to do this is because if you only use the one that comes with it eventually your blades will work their way right off the end. With 2 of them the blades never work their way off and in fact they self adjust every time the hit at either end. On the forward end I placed a nut and bolt to act as a stop. They are not pictured here. You can also see that I used a piece of sheet metal to attach the motor to the slide.
Here is the block of high density plastic I used to hold the blades. You can see I screwed it to the slide piece from the bottom. The spring and arm assembly was how I achieved the small center blade popping up on the way out.
Here you can see the arm that I had to fabricate to attach the blade assembly to the chain.
This is the rear blade assembly. While I was staring at this thing one day I realised I could attach a blade to the bottom of the chain and send a blade out the back, It was a light bulb moment.
This might be hard to explain but this is how the top attaches to the bottom once my arm is in. First off the entire top is attached to the forearm piece by a hinge at the very back. You can see two little springs attached to two little hinges. There is a little hole in each hinge that when the top comes down the spring loaded hinges slide over two screws that then slide into the holes in the hinge as it closes. I can then use my thumb and forefinger to push the springed hinges open to lift the top to get out of it.
The pictures are a little out of order. Her is the forearm sculpt and the finished fiberglass piece.
Here is a couple of pictures of the first blade assembly complete and working. I tore it down when I decided the blades just weren't very deadly looking.
Here are the new blades. I decided to make them individually out of Lexan. I have to admit I stumbled across a picture of a hand made hunting knife at a half price book store that gave me the idea for the new blade design. I attached the faux drive rods onto the lexan blades with small steel pins and glue.
Here are the limit switches that are at each end of the blade slide. These switches allow me to use one toggle that can be flipped one way for open and one way for closed. They also act as catches to keep the blades either open or closed. If the blades start to slide closed for instance once they move off the limit stwitch the motor kicks them back in place and then shuts off again as the blades move back in place over the swtch. You can also see the front latching mechanism in the second photo.
Next was sculpting the blade housing. I decided to mold the blade assembly as a whole to create a block of plaster the correct size to sculpt on. I actually did this twice much to my chagrin. I did it for both blade assemblies. Once again an exersize in patients. The first 3 photos are of the first blade assembly.
Next was the sculpting. I really enjoy this part the most. I used do-dads from model ships for the mechanical details.
Then the molding. This part I hate. I used brush on silicone with a mother mold made a Shell Shock from Smooth-On. Actually I only did half the mother mold in shell shock. The other half was plaster bandages. I decide the shell shock took to long. I had to try it once though.
Demolding, cleaning out clay, and casting. I decided to cast the piece in Shell Shock. If I had it to do over I would have used fiberglass like I usually do. They are both messy but in the end the fiberglass would have been a bit lighter.
I ended up having to cut it into 2 pieces to get it on the blade assembly. I had to fabricate a couple of brackets to afix it to.
Next was the front end where the blades come out. I had to deal with these holes after the sculpting process as I could not know exactly where they would end up. I eventually cut the whole end out and made a separate piece out of alluminum.
Here is a photo of the inside. I reinforced the edges with alluminum to except screws. You can also see the track that the small center blade rides on.
Next came the painting. I've been using a base of Antique Bronze on all of my armor and on this. I then used a paper towel to blot on a dark brown and a light brown. Then I did a very thinned down wash of light avocado. Then came a thinned down wash of black. I kept blotting on more and more black towards the front by the blades as this area would be very stained from all the blood and guts that passed over it. The forearm piece was not completely aged on some of the photos.
Oh yea, this is powered by a 12 volt lead acid battery from Batteries Plus. I velcroed in the forearm piece.
And finally here is the link to the youtube video--
Here is a photo of the original 5 blade assembly. I went through the whole process of molding to painting and in the end scrapped the blades for a different design.
Here you can see the motor and sprocket assembly I ended up using. The motor is from a power car window assembly. The sprocket and chain are nylon and I found them online from a company called Stock Drive Products.
If you look close at the drawer slide mechanism you will see I placed a second ballbearing slider attached to the first. The reason you have to do this is because if you only use the one that comes with it eventually your blades will work their way right off the end. With 2 of them the blades never work their way off and in fact they self adjust every time the hit at either end. On the forward end I placed a nut and bolt to act as a stop. They are not pictured here. You can also see that I used a piece of sheet metal to attach the motor to the slide.
Here is the block of high density plastic I used to hold the blades. You can see I screwed it to the slide piece from the bottom. The spring and arm assembly was how I achieved the small center blade popping up on the way out.
Here you can see the arm that I had to fabricate to attach the blade assembly to the chain.
This is the rear blade assembly. While I was staring at this thing one day I realised I could attach a blade to the bottom of the chain and send a blade out the back, It was a light bulb moment.
This might be hard to explain but this is how the top attaches to the bottom once my arm is in. First off the entire top is attached to the forearm piece by a hinge at the very back. You can see two little springs attached to two little hinges. There is a little hole in each hinge that when the top comes down the spring loaded hinges slide over two screws that then slide into the holes in the hinge as it closes. I can then use my thumb and forefinger to push the springed hinges open to lift the top to get out of it.
The pictures are a little out of order. Her is the forearm sculpt and the finished fiberglass piece.
Here is a couple of pictures of the first blade assembly complete and working. I tore it down when I decided the blades just weren't very deadly looking.
Here are the new blades. I decided to make them individually out of Lexan. I have to admit I stumbled across a picture of a hand made hunting knife at a half price book store that gave me the idea for the new blade design. I attached the faux drive rods onto the lexan blades with small steel pins and glue.
Here are the limit switches that are at each end of the blade slide. These switches allow me to use one toggle that can be flipped one way for open and one way for closed. They also act as catches to keep the blades either open or closed. If the blades start to slide closed for instance once they move off the limit stwitch the motor kicks them back in place and then shuts off again as the blades move back in place over the swtch. You can also see the front latching mechanism in the second photo.
Next was sculpting the blade housing. I decided to mold the blade assembly as a whole to create a block of plaster the correct size to sculpt on. I actually did this twice much to my chagrin. I did it for both blade assemblies. Once again an exersize in patients. The first 3 photos are of the first blade assembly.
Next was the sculpting. I really enjoy this part the most. I used do-dads from model ships for the mechanical details.
Then the molding. This part I hate. I used brush on silicone with a mother mold made a Shell Shock from Smooth-On. Actually I only did half the mother mold in shell shock. The other half was plaster bandages. I decide the shell shock took to long. I had to try it once though.
Demolding, cleaning out clay, and casting. I decided to cast the piece in Shell Shock. If I had it to do over I would have used fiberglass like I usually do. They are both messy but in the end the fiberglass would have been a bit lighter.
I ended up having to cut it into 2 pieces to get it on the blade assembly. I had to fabricate a couple of brackets to afix it to.
Next was the front end where the blades come out. I had to deal with these holes after the sculpting process as I could not know exactly where they would end up. I eventually cut the whole end out and made a separate piece out of alluminum.
Here is a photo of the inside. I reinforced the edges with alluminum to except screws. You can also see the track that the small center blade rides on.
Next came the painting. I've been using a base of Antique Bronze on all of my armor and on this. I then used a paper towel to blot on a dark brown and a light brown. Then I did a very thinned down wash of light avocado. Then came a thinned down wash of black. I kept blotting on more and more black towards the front by the blades as this area would be very stained from all the blood and guts that passed over it. The forearm piece was not completely aged on some of the photos.
Oh yea, this is powered by a 12 volt lead acid battery from Batteries Plus. I velcroed in the forearm piece.
And finally here is the link to the youtube video--
