Interest 'The Fifth Element' ZORG Industries ZF1 - Kit interest (Metal frame, metal & printed components, electronic movements and lighting effects)

[JakeySnakey630]

Question... are these videos finished?

Yes in terms of animation and general layout/direction but they’re not final articles. This is the reason they’re still unlisted videos as I wanted to hear the communities feedback as you will all be looking at then with fresh eyes.

Your point on what components are secured with is a good example. The rods and trigger mech within the grip are all effectively push/tolerance fits, without necessarily the need for glue. I haven’t specified to glue these components as something might be assembled wrong, and the part damaged when trying to rectify the mistake however, I may add an appearing glue symbol on parts that might need it in the future. Generally speaking, the fit on the PLA parts is good enough that you don’t usually need it.

In regards to screws and fixings, any location where a screw is tightened with a large amount of torque/force, it is winding into a steel nut. The threads will not strip.

However, some components are either too small to house a nut, or are aesthetic/non load bearing components and the screw is wound in ‘snuggly’ and effectively ‘self-taps’ on the relatively soft plastic. I will be supplying a printed ‘hole test cube’ that has a selection of M4 and M3 holes you can use with M4 and M3 screws as practice to help get a feel of tightening up screws directly into PLA plastic. I think you’ll be surprised at how well it holds up. Worth noting that this isn’t massively widespread across the kit, most screws wind into either steel nuts or aluminium frames.

Any parts liable to crack have been redesigned so they don’t (I’ve cracked a lot of ZF1 components making this!)

 

[eethan]

Hey there,
regarding the assembly of parts just pushed together, I have to say, since I disassembled quite a bit of my ZF-1 and reassembled a bit too, those are very impressive and work very well!
it's pretty cool how the 3D printed parts push together and fit perfectly, it seems the layers act almost as threading and they hold very well together. for the stainless steel rods inside the 3D printed pistons and bearings, same! they hold perfectly!
once again, I'm very impressed with the ingeneering behind the kit
I would also recommend to use as little glue as necessary when it has to be used. I disassembled the yellow button yesterday, and is was a bit more intense to do than the other press fitted parts.

lastly, I'm sure the videos will be needed for the assembly, and although they are a bit slow I think, they look great and very clear so far However, I have had no help so far to disassemble the assembled ZF-1, and it's been extremely straight forward! I went slow sometimes by fear of breaking something, but it was always easy and clever!
cheers

 

[Rex Talon]

I watched one of the videos and a thought occurred. What about what color things are supposed to be painted?
Perhaps the guide should show all the parts that should be a particular color and then on the side a popup lists the color name, maybe with RGB code. IDK, maybe that's too much. But it would be cool to be able to easily match the exact right color.
And I'm not saying you should do it. Maybe one of the people who have already done their kit could just list the colors of paint used? Just a people helping people maneuver?

 

[Jordicus]

Absolutely phenomenal kit sir! I very much hope you'll be still making these Deluxe kits early next year, because I'll definitely be in the market for one. I've been wanting a ZF1 ever since Stephen Lane from PropStore let me hold a screen-used (at least that's what he told me) one at a convention. He had this great tale of him carrying it across Europe and being severely questioned at any checkpoint along the way. Love it!

 

[Park]

Any parts liable to crack have been redesigned so they don’t (I’ve cracked a lot of ZF1 components making this!)

As someone looking forward to building a kit, I really appreciate that you're doing quality testing and making changes to make it easier on us. The videos should make the assembly much easier than a paper manual. My only thought after watching the first was the font, when rendered small on the part manifest screen, made it kind of hard to read the part names. That's the only thing though. The animations of the assembly give me confidence I won't get any big snags like I usually do when working on my car

 

[JakeySnakey630]

lastly, I'm sure the videos will be needed for the assembly, and although they are a bit slow I think, they look great and very clear so far However, I have had no help so far to disassemble the assembled ZF-1, and it's been extremely straight forward! I went slow sometimes by fear of breaking something, but it was always easy and clever!

Thanks for the kind words Matt. Yes the videos aren't exactly summer blockbuster, Jerry Bruckheimer productions are they! I am creating them with the phrase 'slow and steady' in my mind. The three I have released are prototypes so will be changed, as the most recent videos have a few new additions to help the builder after listening to feedback from the community.

I watched one of the videos and a thought occurred. What about what color things are supposed to be painted?

It's a good question! One of the last jobs I will be doing is to create a 'model aircraft' style camo drawing. Top, bottom, sides view with all the camo markings to help with placement of each camo shape. That will have each RAL colour so you can get some paint mixed up, or find a close matching paint already available. As for the components, well that'll be something we all have to work out together as I haven't actually painted a 'DX' kit myself yet so will be using my own experience and the experience of you guys to help create the painting guide for the next wave of ZF1 makers. I have ordered a lot of different types of aluminium paint, blue metallic paint and yellow and gold to try to find out what works and what doesn't.

Absolutely phenomenal kit sir! I very much hope you'll be still making these Deluxe kits early next year, because I'll definitely be in the market for one.

Thank you! Yes I will be making more. I will be working over the christmas period casting out 40+ parts (per kit) in resin for the DX kits, with the Standard Kits coming in at well over 200+ separate parts per kit. The assembly guide videos are also being finished in my evenings.

My only thought after watching the first was the font, when rendered small on the part manifest screen, made it kind of hard to read the part names.

I will look into changing the font to improve readability. I think on the animated sections of the video it seems to be okay, even on my small phone screen, but on the 'need parts' section, I think the text could be bigger. I will change this in the final versions.

Thanks for being patient with me on this one guys! The standard kits are close to being shipped, and I will be starting work on the DX component casting in the next couple of days. My 4 printers are running 24/7, with parts coming straight off the beds and being bagged up, labelled and boxed ready for shipping.

I have also received the first of the latest (and probably last) revision Main Control Board.

This solves a few issues, and adds a couple of new features, including low voltage indication (the prop will flash when battery voltage falls below 5.8V), colour coded plugs for easier assembly, a dedicated 'servo trim mode' button on the board for tuning of servo positions and easier to access servo trim potentiometers. These will be packed as standard on all kits and I will be providing a comprehensive user guide as part of the assembly instruction videos.

Thanks for looking.

Jake

 

[MattMunson]

IS IT TIME FOR THE SECOND RUN YET??????

 

[Generalurko]

As for the components, well that'll be something we all have to work out together as I haven't actually painted a 'DX' kit myself yet so will be using my own experience and the experience of you guys to help create the painting guide for the next wave of ZF1 makers. I have ordered a lot of different types of aluminium paint, blue metallic paint and yellow and gold to try to find out what works and what doesn't.

There's a guy on ScrewTube named "Barbatos Rex" that does a lot of testing on painting products. He mostly does airbrushing on Gundam kits, I think. He's tested metal paints, and transparent-color paints over the metal paints, all sorts of stuff and brands.
He can get a little long-winded at times (which you can just skip forward if it bothers you) and he's very thorough (he actually shows you the airbrushing, not just the results), but I've learned a lot from watching his vids.
Here's a direct link to his page. Click on the "Videos" to see 100's of vids he's made. Hopefully this will help some of you make these ZF1s even sweeter!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_66OBQNO8jXkHjlxnnxT-A

 

[JakeySnakey630]

Hi everyone,

I am very happy to say the initial 12 videos of the ZORG ZF1 kit assembly guide are ready for your viewing pleasure.

These videos cover the entire component build process, from start to finish. Each video is approximately 5 minutes long. Some are shorter, others are longer.

Please bare in mind this is only the start. There are at least 3 more guide videos coming, detailing the electronics and shell painting processes, amongst other things.

These have taken me approximately 3 weeks to create, including the initial animation of every single nut and screw, to the video editing and QC. It has been quite the learning curve!

I hope you find them informative!

Jake

 

[Generalurko]

Just looking at a few... Is there any way for the future vids that you could make the text a little bigger in the beginning sections ("Before you Begin" and "Following components needed")? Or increase the resolution so when it's full-screen the text isn't blurry?

I can make the text out, but it would be a "nice to have" if it was bigger on the future vids.

That's my only comment. These look awesome! I'm sure I'll have assembly questions as I build it, but these really let you see how things go together.

As usual, nice work!

Chris

 

[Rex Talon]

You're doing an amazing job, Jake. I've never seen such dedication.
Just a note, please let us know when shipping happens so we can watch out for porch pirates. I'm super nervous I'll have this stolen from my doorstep.

 

[Doug13031]

please put me on the list for the deluxe kit, thanks

 

[MechRep]

Definitely want in on the second run of these. I need one of those deluxe kits!

 

[JakeySnakey630]

Just looking at a few... Is there any way for the future vids that you could make the text a little bigger in the beginning sections ("Before you Begin" and "Following components needed")? Or increase the resolution so when it's full-screen the text isn't blurry?

Hi,

The video is rendered in HD resolution, 1080p to be exact (1920x1080) so the videos should not be blurry. If YouTube is playing them on the HD setting' you should be able to see it good enough to read without problem.

Based on your previous feedback, all text in every video was increased by 4 points to help with readability.

You're doing an amazing job, Jake. I've never seen such dedication.
Just a note, please let us know when shipping happens so we can watch out for porch pirates. I'm super nervous I'll have this stolen from my doorstep.

Yes I will absolutely let everyone know when their kits are ready for shipping, as I will need the final payment before this occurs.

The main production bottleneck are my 3D printers but everyone should rest assured their kits are well into production. Now the bulk of the assembly guides are finished, I will be creating moulds for each of DX components and casting them out in resin.

Thank you for everyone's enthusiasm and encouragement on this project.

Kindest regards,

Jake

 

[Generalurko]

The video is rendered in HD resolution, 1080p to be exact (1920x1080) so the videos should not be blurry. If YouTube is playing them on the HD setting' you should be able to see it good enough to read without problem.

Based on your previous feedback, all text in every video was increased by 4 points to help with readability.

Hmm... now I'm watching it full screen and it looks fine. Maybe ScrewTube's resolution setting wasn't defaulting to 1080p when I last looked at it?
Watching Pt 6 now and everything's clear. Sorry for the confusion.
Chris

 

[Generalurko]

Finished watching all of them. Amazing job! I especially like the "quick" assembly... if only things were that easy!

One thing I know I'll definitely need help on (small brain, remember?) is the electronics, connections, and wiring. Probably a little hard to show in the 3D vids. Will you provide some still photos of the actual build, showing how the things connect, where wires thread through/lay, that sort of thing? I think seeing the actual prop, maybe without the shell, will make that electronics part clearer for dummies like myself.

Again, just an incredible job, how you not only thought it all through, but then built it, made everything able to connect and work. This is really something to be proud of. Your IQ must be through the roof. You probably have trouble passing through doorways cause your brain is SO BIG!

Seriously, impressive. I'm going to have trouble assembling it, and here you are designing the whole thing. Amazing.

Many thanks to you and your brain!
Chris

 

[JakeySnakey630]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the kind words!

Consider the assembly guides uploaded to YouTube as V0.8 right now. They cover the component build but there are still some gaps.

I will add in sections of 'live action' footage, especially for sections where wiring is concerned. For example, how to run the cables correctly and where and how to plug them in. Regarding wiring, everything is either colour coordinated, so black plug goes into black socket, or with uniquely sized plugs, so it should be impossible to wire up incorrectly. The Main Control Board is also protected by a polarity diode so even if you did manage to plug in the power back-to-front, nothing bad would happen, it just wouldn't power up.

Today I have been shooting some 'live action' of the initial electronics set up and a guide for how to operate the Main Control Board, setting each servos start and stop point etc etc. I am editing it all together now and will post it up when it has uploaded to YouTube. This will be followed by the aluminium frame bending, lower fabric cover installation and painting guide videos at a later date.

 

[Generalurko]

The Main Control Board is also protected by a polarity diode

Oh yeah, polarity diodes... of course. That's how I would've done it. Sure.
(NO idea what Jake's talking about).

I should've figured you were 2 steps ahead. I hope you don't mind me mentioning my observations and questions. It seems like every time I do though, you've already got it addressed, or have plans to. If you'd rather me do it via DM just let me know. I just figure there might be more dummies like me out there with the same questions.

And on the vid's where you mention about the polarity of the magnets... that's perfect. That's something I would've completely forgotten about... until I tried to assemble things and had $#!t shooting off in the opposite direction! Then MAYBE I'd think about it.

Regards, oh great insane one!
Chris

 

[Jamesfett]

I can help. Polarity Diodes are the thingamabob that helps the thingamajigi. It's very important to have them in that order because if they are reversed bad thingamawagi happens.

 

[Generalurko]

I can help. Polarity Diodes are the thingamabob that helps the thingamajigi. It's very important to have them in that order because if they are reversed bad thingamawagi happens.

Yeah, well... everybody KNOWS that. I mean, only a dummy wouldn't. Umm, yeah.