PlayfulWolfCub
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Is this "trooper_bits" a member of this forum?
PlayfulWolfCub replied to lightside's topic in eBay Armor
He's a member of Dorset Troopers based in Bournemouth. http://dorsettroopers.weebly.com/ He's a friendly guy & they do good work but he didn't actually answer my question about the lineage when I asked. You can try if you like. He sells full suits outside of Ebay but I decided to save up for a RS kit. Cheers, Andy PS - Here's a pic of his full suit: -
Thanks Matt Sorry Sergiu, the project has moved forward a little bit but not very far. Work has been mad & other "life" stuff has kept cropping up. Don't worry, I'm not going to lose interest in the cylinders and I'll get them finished & ready for sale as soon as humanly possible Cheers, Andy
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Thanks Rob Stefan & Daniel, I've added you guys to the list, cheers I got a load of nuts, bolts & washers in the post today. They're enough to make 25 sets so that should keep me out of mischief for a while. They're so small, I feel like a giant! I considered whether it'd be more authentic to have a threaded rod run right the way through the outer cylinders but I don't think it would because the end caps of the originals are soldered on at each end. I feel this soldering would have been unnecessary if the threaded rod ran right the way through & had nuts on the end so I've gone with this way. Hopefully one day we'll find one & be able to take it apart
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Thanks Stefan Jens - I'll add you to my "no-obligation" interest list & drop you a line when they're ready. Did Marv give some away too or do you mean Rob (Matt Black)? Rob's were the 5.5mm ones. The paint finish would be better if I added the capacitors because they'd get the same finish as the rest of the unit. Cheers, Andy
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Thanks Sergiu
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Thanks Jens. As an artist it kills me to show work that is less than perfect but I thought I best prove I've got something on the verge of completion before everyone starts thinking I'm all talk & no trousers. (It's a rather peculiar English phrase! lol) I have some vintage capacitors but I could leave them off if you'd like to add your own. You'd have to let me know if you've got the 5mm or 5.5mm ones & you might need to file the holes a bit yourself as the capacitors fluctuate slightly along their length. (After playing around with both diameters of caps I decided that either size is acceptable since neither is the 100% authentic K rated military version & we won't know what precise diameter they really were until we find some of those. I'm still searching. Any friends of George Lucas who could measure off the MSE droid or landspeeder would be eternal heroes, forever commemorated in a special song I'd write for them! ) Or you could post them to me & I'd fit them for you, solder them & add the tiny extra pieces of cut-off electronics at the back. Cheers, Andy
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Hi Jens, I told Rob I'd get his finished within the week but work has gone crazy so it might be a bit longer. It'll be very soon though. My most recent prototype is getting close - I'm just not quite happy with various aspects of it yet. Here's a photo of where it's reached so far, in the display case I'll sell them in (I'll be putting a brushed steel shelf in the box so the cylinders' earth magnets hold them in place.) One difference you'll notice which is a decision, not an inaccuracy, is that the end cap nuts are slightly different depths to the ones in this MSE droid photo. If you check other source photos you'll see there were 2 different nut sizes used on the cylinders. I prefer this slimmer version but may offer both sizes. Also I haven't yet perfected the rear of the cylinders where all the extra electonic components are. Some of that was probably left on but I haven't come to a conclusion yet about how much. I'm still playing around with the hand-cut backplate shape - this one isn't quite right. The paint job isn't quite right either but I thought it was time I posted a photo to give an indication of where I'm heading with this build. Cheers, Andy Cheers, Andy
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Hi Andy, Yes, I agree, so I'm just going to get on with making mine as accurately as I can & see what people think. Talk to you soon. Cheers, Andy
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I know what you mean, Michael. I'm a hyper-perfectionist too so I totally empathise with your frustration with inaccurate parts. I'm not a German engineer/number cruncher though, I'm an English artist & musician You raise some interesting points there about manufacturing . Hopefully I'll have more spare time in the future to discuss them further. Maybe in the meantime, someone else can pick up on them? Cheers, Andy
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Absolutely, & I wouldn't dream of suggesting no-one else makes cylinders, even using these templates - I like seeing people use them, otherwise I wouldn't have posted them along with my discoveries along the way. My objection was to Michael saying he'd use them & deliberately undercut the price I sell my cylinders for. I thought he was joking but I wanted to clarify that I wouldn't be happy about anyone doing that. I've said what i needed to and anyone can check my posts in this thread so see how my templates developed from my observations that there were 3 "fuses" (as I then called them), that they passed through the backplate & that the backplate was cut diagonally. Now I just want to get them perfected so the people who've expressed an interest in me making the cylinders for them can enjoy putting them on their builds, which is the most important thing, I feel. Cheers, Andy
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts Vern. I appreciate that & I'll put you on the provisional, no-obligation interest list. I think you're right about no-one owning public domain designs & I've freely shared all the work I've done with the community. I do feel these templates are my own work though and that I have the right to ask people not to use them for profit. However, if someone does and their units look as good as mine at a better price then people will obviously have to decide who they want to buy from. Yeah, sometimes the eye can be just as accurate as calipers I was very pleased when my measurements tallied with darkside/sskunky/synap's - it meant we were all pretty accurate &, at the end of the day, we're all just trying to make the best we possibly can, aren't we? Cheers, Andy
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I'm happy for us to agree to disagree on some points. However I need to correct you on this one for the benefit of anyone interested in this thread or in buying cylinders. I don't believe anyone else can claim to have developed these templates, hence my belief that it would indeed be, as you put it, bad taste for anyone else to sell cylinders made from them. The shapes and measurements of these templates are all my own work from studying the publicly resource available material. There is nothing copied from any previous templates although some measurements do approximately match. People have offered various opinions in this thread but they have not alterered my very lengthy & detailed analysis. Andy19422 found the authentic capacitors after he & Marv did lots of historical research into the subject. I talked to Andy about him doing a run with my templates and I was happy for him to do this as he had shared a lot of his own research about the cylinders. He decided not to do a run and is looking forward to seeing mine. I'd like really like to know how the community feels about this. If anyone has an opinion as to whether I'm mistaken or correct in referring to these templates as my own work I'd appreciate you saying so in this thread - especially anyone who's made posts here. I'm intending to sell very accurate power cylinders and to earn some money for my efforts but I have no wish to tread on anyone's toes or to "use" anyone. As I've said before, anyone who wants to make their own can ask me for the templates. Cheers, Andy
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Consider yourself on the no-obligation list, Matt, subject to you liking the end result, the price & the delivery time. Cheers, Andy
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Yes, I totally agree. Plenty of recasters make easy money off other people's hard work recreating armour, lids, etc. but we don't approve or condone it. The "trooper helping trooper" spirit is why I've freely shared my explorations and findings in this thread. It's great that people have been able to inprove the accuracy of their builds from it. What would not be great would be someone selling cylinders (whether individual ones or mass-produced) from my templates after I've expressed my intention to do so. You'll notice no-one sells cylinders based on Russ's design even though his waiting list is very long. It would be against the FISD and prop community spirit. I'll happily give copies of my finalised templates to members who ask, for their own use, once I'm happy that I've got them as accurate as possible (short of George letting me measure his MSE droid!) As I said, I'm really looking forward to seeing how yours turn out with your proper tools. Cheers, Andy
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No headache, Michael - it just literally hadn't occured to me that someone else might use my templates to turn a profit so I'm being temporarily cautious. I totally agree with all your points (& having to extrapolate from photos to recreate a design that is accurate from every angle is exactly why it's taken so much work.) I've no doubt I'll post the finalised plans & a full photo tutorial in a little while, it's always been my intention to do so for people who have the skills & interest to have a go themselves. Anyone who likes what I make can ask me to make them a set - they just need to pay for my time & that's where the expense comes in. Of course, it's always possible that people will see my final cylinders & think they look rubbish! lol Cheers, Andy
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I should have my first hyper-accurate set ready for you next week Rob. Life's a bit hectic so there may be a small delay but you've waited long enough already so I'll do my best.
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I'd love my own machines, that must be so cool! Though there's something very meditative about quietly hand-making intricate designs. This is my "workshop" - you really wouldn't think that anything good could come out of it would you? lol You sound a lot like me in terms of your prop work and you've done me a huge favour by raising the idea that someone might try to cash in on my hard work. I've shared all my research & designs freely up to now and have a series of photos all ready to make a tutorial. However, since I'm about to make & sell my hyper-accurate cylinders commercially I've temporarily deleted my templates from public posts. The only people who currently have them are FISD members who I will trust not to use them for commercial gain. If any other members want them for personal use they can still PM me personally. Your photos show my old innacurate plans so it probably doesn't matter if they stay there - I enjoy seeing other people using my templates for their own blaster. i look forward to seeing how yours turn out Cheers, Andy
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I can Cool, I'd love to see some on that display of yours, Sergiu I think I better start a proper interest/sales thread soon...
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Ok, I've started a list with Rob, Frank & Matthias right at the top of it. Like I say, no obligation to buy - you haven't seen the finished product yet (let alone heard the price! lol ) I'm a bit of a packaging nut & I've just sourced some really nice presentation/display boxes for the cylinders at a good price if I buy in bulk Michael, I'm looking forward to seeing yours finished. I've improved on the plans you're using but those are still very close. Have you started making the baseplate yet? I'm sure you were joking but, although I've got quite a few of the "almost genuine" capacitors, they're really hard to get so I've sourced materials that I can make replicas with. By the time they're sprayed black they'll look the same although it won't keep the cost down because it's actually cheaper to buy the caps (if you can find them) than to make them Cheers, Andy
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I'm going to do a run to my finalised & perfected design plans in the next couple of weeks. It's long overdue, life keeps getting in the way They'll be more expensive than any others available due to the extra detail & the fact that I'm a perfectionist & will be hand-making them to be indistinguishable from the screen-used ones (you've seen my ridiculously detailed plans! lol I'll be updating them with the perfected ones when I've checked a couple of things) I'll be starting a new sales thread for it but if anyone is interested you can jump in early here to get on the waiting list. (no obligation, it's just interest) Cheers, Andy
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I'm watching your thread because I'm saving up for my own RS suit so thanks a million for posting so many pics, Wayne I think they look better now but I just studied this screenshot & you can see the calf shapes that different suits had. You don't really see the tops of the sections but I'll be trimming the bottom edges of mine like one of these. Cheers, Andy
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E-11 Blaster Resin prop kit form ebay.. comments?
PlayfulWolfCub replied to Dday's topic in eBay Armor
I'd say that's a very good purchase, Derrek. You might want to make your own rail though - one that is longer, slightly thinner & screws into the rear sight. The one you've bought there is designed to be screwed into the receiver, Tunisian-style, which doesn't match the rest of the parts. Cheers, Andy -
RS's Facebook site has loads of pics of them building their own suit. In this pic you'll see they've lined up the knee line & left all the overhang at the foot: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.493012869332.271268.265114729332&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=10150743462374333&set=a.493012869332.271268.265114729332&type=3&theater Cheers, Andy
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I don't believe you welded that!!! Come on, fess up - you just cut a new rail didn't you?!? Stunning job! You have to teach me to weld like that!!! For anyone wanting screen accuracy without gluing their Hengstler I'd say this is the way to go, if they can get you to weld it for them!
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I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished welded rail+bracket combo. It's a great solution & I've not seen anyone do that before - let us know how many attempts it takes before you're happy with it!