Pep to Molded Plastics War Machine,Gatling Gun,Stronger Mount and Other WM Weaponry!

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Exactly half way there! Had to post this before I went to bed tonight! I figure most folks have at least one shot wearin the pep files, so I had too as well!:behave
It looks a touch beefy, but once I get the back on and the neck holes in the right position, as well as tucking everything up tight, it will be just about right!
It is the position I am holding it in as well as there is no back to pull it together so it is flared out some and I am not standing with it square to my body

Goal is to finish the back over the weekend and start on that internal gun support assembly.

 

[propnoob74]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Nice bro! one thing thou before you add the back make sure to cover where the neck goes, I didn't put mine and I'm regretting it cause it s warping a little; nice clean folds that's going to make it even easier to work with...for the brace inside your torso have you seen the braces used on the school bands? they hold the drums and snares:

like this one:

View attachment 103184


CB Percussion Marching Trio 3-Drum Carrier Harness for CB Drums - 3400TC 736021790063 | eBay

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

LOL! Busted, ....well almost:lol
The idea I have is very similar to a drum holder but allows for a pivoting PVC pipe to run up the length and it will go up the back rather than supporting a drum on the front. Funny thing is I never had seen snare drum holders(not a huge marching band fan):rolleyes so I actually had an epiphony when I thought of this! :$ I had actually been looking for a flag or banner support initially.
I had showed a friend at the Army surplus store my drawing when I was looking for an ALICE frame as an alternative to making my frame and he said he use to play drums and I should loki into a snare drum holder as my drawing looked somewhat like a drum holder.
I had thought of using an ALICE army, backpack holder as an off the shelf solution/repurposeing, as they are small and light and would solve some of the support issues I have heard about. Figured you could run staps from the frame to all the unsupported pieces like the shoulders, arms, the cod, even the thigh pieces!:cry

Alas they were'nt a good solution, they are too long and stand too far out on the back. Plus they are 50$ new and older ones on eBay run 11-20 plus shipping. So 30$ then they would need to be cut down ect.They do look wicked in flat black new.. someone with aluminum welding gear would have a field day with an ALICE frame!

I saw the snare drum holder on line and went to a music store to see one and tried it on...Imagine my face when a store clerk came Marching over and told me "Sir, you wear that on the front!"facepalm I said, "Not if the person behind me is the one who actually knows how to play the drums!":lol
The down sides to the snare drum holders are ;
1) If you price these things they are very high for what they are even on eBay and Craigs as well as wholesale 100$ minimum
2)They might not comfortably stay on the back as there are no straps(though that is easy to fix) and there are loops and places for clips
3)They are too long, even when made as small as the adjustments would go. We would need to have it stop at the ribs for at the bottom of the back piece. Plus they stand away from the body too much, we need something almost flush to the back so it will fit under the armor and not interfere with movement.
Ill clean up my drawing and maybe super impose it over a snare support next post!
I also hope that maybe some straps will still allow for some support of other armor parts as well.
Great thinking Propnoob! Great minds clearly think alike! We even like the same War Machine!!!:cool

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

As promised here is a rough outline of the gatling gun mount issue as I see it and a possible solution.
The problem is that even a light foam gun mounted on the shoulder of a foam suit causes compression and bending issues, due to weight and leverage as the gun is long and mounted on an arm which makes it longer. Thus you get even more leverage forced onto an externally mounted gatling gun with a small mount point. This is as you can imagine is not to good for the suit and could mean alot of fuss when you are trying to wear your armor to a party or a Con :angry
I have seen quite a few really good solutions, but most involve building up more foam/glue and tape in an effort to make a strong base to mount the armature and gun onto.
Even on a fiberglass/plastic suit the weight of the gun on the suit could crack the glass, especially if you want a heavier working gun as I intend to build!:cool
So I want to build an understructure of aluminum and PVC that will be worn under the armor with only a single mount point protruding through the armor at the point in the upper back plate that the gatling gun armature is mounted too. Like the movie armor

As a possible bonus, an internal harness could even be fiberglassed into the back piece so that it is all one unit that rides on the shoulders and allows for solid mounting points for straps and clips to hold up cod pieces, thighs/upper arms ect.
I drew up a rough picture on a napkin (Hospital stationary lol) and started to look up things off the shelf I could modify. Not much luck there...The last post had the ALICE army back pack frame that I thought was closest to a solution and I ruled it out due to size and thickness due to the stapping and supports. Even adjusted as tight as it would go it still stuck out too far and hung too low on the back to be of use without heavy mods. :eek
I had the drawn up pic with me and the Army surplus store guy said it looked like a snare drum rack. Here is one with some notes.

A snare drum mount is worn in front with the drum at low hip level hence the design.
I opted out on this idea as enough of the suit is costing me money and lots of it! I would rather have that money to buy parts I need from the junkyard like a helmet or Bigturcs new bolt set for all the joints...(check it out in the junkyard!) Plus I would need to modify the snare holder, so why should I spend 129$ plus on something not quite right. :confused
This next pix is my roughed out ideas that I had...
I wanted a fixed back structure that allowed the gun mount to pivot freely to the left and right yet was rigid enough to hold even my soon to be modied Nerf Punisher Gatling gun which weighs a ton.

Sorry this isnt in CAD! :lol Please pardon the poor draftmanship..:cry
I bought 2 inch by 1/4 in aluminum bar stock for 10 $ at SkyCraft surplus, some metal screw and nuts from Home Depot for 3$ and the PVC came from my scrap box so zero$
The idea is to make the shoulder bends and join them with a bridge piece that will run across the shoulder blades. I will pad the shoulder bends with foam of which there is no shortage around my house right now
The main holder will be a U bend in which I plan to drill 1-1 3/4 holes to run the PVC though. The length of these ears will need to be determined by body thickness and armor position.
The cool easy and cheap part of this build is that the PVC couplers will not only keep the pipe in place but allow it to pivot freely right and left!
The lengths of all parts are yet to be determined as I have to finish the back piece first. I believe that the PVC pipe lengths will be easy to modify to put the pipe out of the back piece in the right spot and the length of the pipe can be adjusted (cut) to fit any mounting choice. PVC can also be painted to match the armor.
I will have to explore fixing the armature to the PVC pipe, this shouldn't be an issue, but I was thinking a block of wood inside the end of the armature with an angled hole drilled in it to accept the PVC pipe and a set screw so it can be removed for storing the suit for transport. Could also just glass the whole armature and fill the ends with 320 or 321 then drill a hole and go back to the same principles as with the wood.. I am still waiting on building the gun and arm before I solidify that set o plans...
I made a mini model just to get a better visual take on it.

The popsickle sticks represent the aluminum and the green straw the pvc. (Check out my Youtube video on "The art of Popsickle bending!" ) Just kidding! :wacko
The black tape represents the PVC couplers . The ear lengths on this were arbitrary and picked so taking a picture was easier. I believe that the PVC pipe support ears will only be a few inches long rather than the scale 2--3 feet long LOL!
You can see the "couplers" would cradle the aluminum ears but still allow the PVC pipe to pivot freely. If you really wanted to kill it you could put a track inside made out of C bend aluminum and make it so the gun can pivot and be moved right shoulder to left and back. *sigh* so many ideas so little time.
I will take pictures as the build progresses! I am super excited about this and hope the idea has merit for other builders...
TTFN

 

[propnoob74]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Niceeeee!!!!!! I think I have an idea where you are going with this...oh by the way when you start doing the rondo here are a couple of things you should take in consideration..

-Do little batches at a time, and work in small areas.
-if you are working outside, stay away from the windows the smell will go in the house and wow if that thing is strong.
-get a really good mask and a ton of cups and gloves.
-i you are dividing the torso in two parts (chest/back), cut it before you do the rondo...
I think I messed mine up, I will see if tomorrow I fix it or make another one...

 

[Powerhouse70]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

This is now my favorite war machine build. I love that fact that youre combining such clean pep work with foam.

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Thanks Powerhouse for the kudos! :$ I really appreciate the support! I think this will ultimately be a fun outcome! Love your Spiderman threads! No pun...well actually yeah a pun! :rolleyes
Poor Propnoob hasn't seen my post to his thread where I asked a million six questions!! :sick
I cant wait to see more! Check out his build!
http://www.therpf.com/f24/my-hd-war-machine-suit-pic-heavy-151527-new/

 

[propnoob74]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

hahahahhaa on my way to read them and then post my mega failure, back to the drawing board, my chest and back got completely ruin and cracked!!!!

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Oh no!! :cry
I am so sorry! I have been there with an epic fail! :facepalm
But my pieces were small! I would hate to have a problem on such a huge rebuild, :sick but on the plus side they get better every time!
I am beginning to see why most folks go right back to the tried and true methods of building!

 

[jamesrickards]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

looking good


warmachinebuild.tumblr.com

 

[propnoob74]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Well like the say, "perfection takes time and patience" or something like that...

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Hey everyone! I had to take a break today as it is raining and too humid to do resin! :cry I cant risk taking my hard won pepakura out into the humidity to do the resin as sagging is already and issue without Floridas'100% humidity,
So I built a Tesseract or Cosmic Cube from Thor and the Avengers!

Here is the one I made!

here is a link to my thread build!
http://www.therpf.com/f9/tesseract-cheap-easy-cosmic-cube-must-any-154280/#post2363559
Kirk out!
M

 

[Don Juan]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

nice build coming along nice

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

So when people ask you why it takes so long to build your armor, (and they will) you can blame the pepakura or the fact that we constantly have to stop and build or repurpose something to facilitate a part of the project you thought would be a cake walk! Riiigghht as if anything about our beloved hobby is a piece of cake???? or is it?
Here is a cake solution to a problem I had. I simply do not have enough hands or ways to support floppy, large pepakura builds.
Here is what I was doing to build my chest and back piece for my War Machine build>

and this fine collection of water bottles saved from going to land fill LOL!

I had one of those moments where I dropped the piece for the fifth time and put a slight crease where one isn't susposed to be!!!:angry

So I went to home depot and bought (6) 1 inch "T"s, (1) X coupler, (5) end plugs and a 12 foot piece of 1 inch PVC pipe. 20 minutes with my cutter and measuring tape yielded> nnooo it is not a parrot stand LOL!:lol

and this is what I can do with this....

and this as well!!!

I did not PVC glue any parts so that I can now adjust/ cut new pieces for different parts and pretty much use it to do my resin as well!
Just have to cover it with plastic or paper so I don't resin my seams!

Well ""back" to work!!! Get it....Back? ...Im building War Machines Back! Oh well at least I think Im funny!

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam/pep mix-War Machine + Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

So I am lovin my prop, prop LOL! It has really made this so much more fun tonight! I am still slow as hell, but at least I haven't dropped my work and put bends, crinkles and wrinkles I dont want or need!:cheers

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Small amount of progress to report, then off to a very early bed for me lol!
Front done but for bottom edge and 1/3 of back shell done! Getting more exciting! I am going to resin it with the first coat literally the minute I am done, I will do the back jets after so that they will be ultra crisp and sharp... here's the latest...Lovin this holder, it really is that 3rd hand and is helping protect my time investment!

I really need to get this beast under resin asap! Floridas 100% humidity is killing me! :cry
You can see the minor but evident warps forming. Some of this is also "bruising" of the paper. Handing it even gently causes small indents when trying to "fix" a piece into position.:sick
It is a shame there is no way to seal the cardstock before you use it while it is still super flat and crisp. A way to seal it and still have it absorb resin later. Yeah and self building armor and working repulsors for the drive home in traffic would be deluxe too! LOL!:lol

 

[propnoob74]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

I need to make me one of this!!! I have half of my torso just laying on top of a couch cushion...

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Yes you do LoL! It is well worth the 20 minutes to build! I am not stressing that the cats laying on it, or that it is deforming from laying wonky or worse, it slid off in the night and lays warped and messed up on the floor. Had that once!

 

[electraflier]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

So progress, setbacks and a neat trick from the RC world concerning vents and recessed areas.:cool
Here is my latest back progress, almost done! Side panels tomorrow, maybe even resin!!! :lol

and this profile shot,

Setback, *sigh* cardstock and water donot mix.:sick

Spilled an open bottle of water on my uncut pep files. :confused I will have to reprint alot of the bigger pieces due to warping and wrinkling...damn. If I want to keep it sharp, gotta use sharp paper.... blast.:angry
Funny there isnt much left LOL, but that is really much worse cuz now I have to hunt down each individual piece,, move it to a blank page and print 20 or so pieces...:unsure :behave

COOL TIP; for recessed areas, vents and scoops. Mostly for the pep folks, probably would work well for foamies though. You would just stack foam strips instead.
Instead of folding these tiny little non-sense pieces that never turn out the same or uniform, they are a nightmare too.:cry

to go behind a hole or vent or whatever, try this,
Take small square balsa stock, color it black with a sharpie and surround the hole, vent, grille, whatever; so it looks like this>

Cap them with a black colored piece of paper cardstock so they all look like this;

when it dries, you can flip it over and your nice new vent holes look sharp and pretty like this.$

Nother cool thing is that if you cast this in silicon to make a mould, the silicon has nowhere to go and should un-plug from the hole when you de-mould it, as it has nowhere to leak too and it is sharp and regular so you wont have much pre casting cleaning up to do on these areas!
Some folks are probably saying, "well, it'll just get filled with bondo, why bother?" You can fill it with wadded up tissues to keep the bondo out, a piece of masking tape on top of that will do; then sand, remove tape ect. My personal goal and intention is to glass the inside, skin it outside with 320 or 321, or 65D Im not sure yet. Hope to put as little of the Hated bondo on my piece as I can!
Just like building an airplane. Build a good core and use as little filler on the outside as I can!
I hope someone can use that tip! I use it all the time!
TTFN
M

 

[propnoob74]

Re: Foam War Machine and Gatling Gun with Stronger Mount and other WM weaponry!

Maaaaan!!! i should had waited for this!!!! is a pain to add those and they always all crooked...well let me fix that tonight hahhahahaa