Snatcher - Metal Gear MkII Robot Build

I actually knew that you were supposed to do it in thin layers but it's tough to eyeball on the first try. I also think it's one of those things were you have to do it wrong a few times to get exactly how much resin is too much resin.

I've been cleaning up the good head casting. Putty, primer repeat. A lot of work before making the final mold for this piece. The main thing will be cutting the front half of the head so that I can instal the neck and eye mechanisms. In the final model I'm going the have the face plate attach with magnets so I can have access to the head electronics. I'm hoping to have one LED for each of the three eyes, and fourth for a little red triangle on the left side of the face. I also need to cut in a slot into the back of the head that is in the reference.

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It's so nice not to be working with that previous head where the skin was paper thin. Nice sturdy resin now!

I've also spent part of today making waist parts and toe pieces!

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Feels good to spend a couple good days on an old project!
 
I just re-read the thread again and remembered something. Do you know yet how you're going to make the panel lines?
I still haven't figured out a good way of doing it besides actually cutting the parts up and putting them back together, like I did for the helmet. It's too risky to do it with the dremel for me.
 
So far I've used the "scratch in" method with the tip of a pointed file which has worked okay so far.
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However a lot of the panel lines are actually going to be real seams since I want to be able to open the body, head and monitor box to work on stuff inside. My plan was to scribe in the panel lines and then cut the parts apart and then clean anything that's messy. I also want to build up overlapping lip where a panel opens. Hopefully this will make things like the main door on the body open and close nice and securely and you can't see into the body through the cracks.

The monitor box has a bunch of fake panel lines that will probably just be scribed. I thought about possibly laser cutting the faces of the box in styrene and just leaving a millimeter or so space in between styrene piece to simulate the panel lines on the box. l need to figure out how much access I want to that part too. I still want to eventually upgrade that part into a fully working computer so it will need to be able to be gutted again after Version 1 is completed with the photoframe.

It's great to be thinking about this project again!
 
The toes are starting to shape up.

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A little more sanding and primer and they should be looking pretty good.

The trickier part will be fitting these connector joints into the toe segments.

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Cool! I've been following his progress on that needler as well. That's kinda how I did some of the panel lines on the helmet, but I didn't like how they came up (mostly because I don't have Volpin's patience to do them over and over every time something gets messed up).
 
Yeah, I've been sweating how to make those perfectly curved panel lines on the curved main body for a while. I think I might make a tape edge to follow while I'm carving in the seam. At least then if my hand slips I have a 50% of the mistake not showing. I guess you can just fill it back and sand it flat again but that just scares me for some reason. I spent so much work getting these forms smooth and even, it's terrifying to start gouging away at them!
 
Foot pieces are almost done. I might recreate the joint pieces as laser cut parts if the hand made look bothers me too much down the line but I think I'll just go with this for the time being.

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Still sanding, filling pin holes on the head. Small stuff there.

I'm also designing the lenses for the eyes. Trying to decided if they should be cast resin lenses or vacuformed dome.

I'm designing the rings that hold the lenses and the inner "cone" that holds the led in the lens in illustrator. I'm definitely having these parts laser cut. Should be interesting to see how that goes.

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I need to sit down and plan out all the parts that I need laser cut so I can just make one big order and avoid the expense of multiples orders. Saved on material and shipping costs.

More soon.
 
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I definitely want a domed effect. The cast lens would distort the led in a cool way but a clear domed is super easy.

I could just carefully cut a circle from a domed thin plastic like the top area of a 2 liter soda bottle.

I think I also want to tint the lens plastic as well.
 
Cutting perfect circles is hard, but I hadn't thought of the soda bottle.

Anyway, I got a domed effect by saturating the disk with tinted resin
Don't know if you'd seen this one before:
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Cool technique! Perfect for that forehead disk/lens thingy.

If I were to cut a circle in thin plastic like a soda bottle I would clip an exacto into an old school compass and make several passes. Should come out pretty clean I think. I've done that with cutting masking tape for painting circle with success.

That or just do it really carefully with some fingernail scissors. The lenses need to be around 1inch diameter.
 
Hey! Glad to see this is back up and running! Can't wait for more progress pics, Nick; this is absolutely stunning work!
 
Cool technique! Perfect for that forehead disk/lens thingy.

If I were to cut a circle in thin plastic like a soda bottle I would clip an exacto into an old school compass and make several passes. Should come out pretty clean I think. I've done that with cutting masking tape for painting circle with success.

That or just do it really carefully with some fingernail scissors. The lenses need to be around 1inch diameter.



You could also try looking for "googly eyes" at your local hobby store, the kind used on stuffed toys and tourist trinkets. They often sell in bags with multiple eyes in multiple sizes. Perfect for domed lenses. Fill with tinted resin, paint the underside with stained glass paint or use the Future floor wax method to add color.
 
Thanks!

I actually just put in an order through Ponoko last night for a big batch of laser cut pieces to build the eyes and several parts on the back of the roboto's body and monitor.

I also think I've got a plan figured out for playing retro videos games such as Snatcher on the robot itself worked out for a reasonable price.

How to Build an All-In-One Retro Game Console for $35, the Easy Way

Ithink I'll still go with the digital frame for the first incarnation though. I'm to figure out how to power the Raspberry pi and the monitor with the same power plug. I'd also like it to be battery powered as a secondary option when not plugged in.

Lots to learn about.

Nick
 
Laser cut parts have arrived!

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Also I just finished soldering my first circuit board kit together. It was tough deciphering the resistor stripes but everything seems to work so guess I did it correctly.

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The thing blinks lights when a sound plays. Not sure if I should install the light into the head or into red led strip on the front of the body.

Maybe both?
 
Looks really good so far. I hated resistor stripes in electronics class, i had a cheat sheet though as the one pack of resistors i bought came with a card on how to decode them lol.
 
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