DemosLaserCutDesigns  | 19 Mar 2007 8:59 p.m. PST |
I have started a Blog for my wargamming adventures and have shrunk my regular Homepage to just a Workbench page for the minis I work on. Anyways I dug out my Steve Jackson Giant Ants and completed them in one afternoon. Come check them out please. Thanx! |
| shelldrake | 19 Mar 2007 9:14 p.m. PST |
can we have a link so we can check them out please? |
| DemosLaserCutDesigns | 19 Mar 2007 9:17 p.m. PST |
|
| shelldrake | 19 Mar 2007 9:24 p.m. PST |
The ant looks great. You said it was a pain to put together… how long did it take and just how much of a pain was it? (i am thinking some would look good on in my games too). |
| JWorley | 19 Mar 2007 9:31 p.m. PST |
Nice stuff, Cyborg. The Brain Jar Aliens are really cool. Have you posted your stats for them over at the No Limits forum? Also, do you mind if I link to your blog from mine? Cheers,
Jeff |
| DemosLaserCutDesigns | 19 Mar 2007 9:32 p.m. PST |
You have to use a quick drying epoxy cause in my opinion the joints fit terrible and it turns into a balancing nightmare trying to get them to stay till dry. The ants dont lay on their backs without tipping to one side and knocking the legs loose. It's not how long it took just what it took cause in the end I think it took me 6 hours to finish 6 ants. Which is not long at all. Noramally I only keep a small tube of testors model glue and a bottle of super glue. Both didn't work for me and I needed to run to the store for 5 minute epoxy. Which I hope has a good shelf life cause I really don't see alot of projects for it in the near future. Atleast nothing my other glues can't cover. |
| DemosLaserCutDesigns | 19 Mar 2007 9:34 p.m. PST |
Link away I like cyber traffic… whats your link? |
| JWorley | 19 Mar 2007 9:35 p.m. PST |
|
| Graycat | 19 Mar 2007 11:02 p.m. PST |
I'd be more than happy to hear some suggestions on how to make them more 'modeler friendly'. I went to some effort to make them reasonably accurate, with compromise to make them usable game models. As for fit.. the Greens I submitted had good joints, made with an eye (with 25 years of experiance) for shrink and warp. I was not involved in the molding or casting. Yes, they are a pain to assemble (you expect fireants to fall into place and wag their tails and purr?). The only alternate I saw was to either make the legs completely seperate, or to do them in a block like an asterisc that would glue to the bottom of the body. Do you think either of those options would have produced a better model? Richard Kerr
Gray Cat Castings
(formerly head sculptor for S J Games) |
| SpaceCowboy | 19 Mar 2007 11:14 p.m. PST |
Hey guys. I was CT's victim… I mean opponent last Saturday. One of the games we played was on my 20 sets of Imex Hexagon scenery. There was a couple of other guys there showing intrest in no limits. I have started to redesign the terminator robots. See you in space cowboy.☺ |
| nvdoyle | 20 Mar 2007 5:31 a.m. PST |
you expect fireants to fall into place and wag their tails and purr? Nope, but I do expect it of sandkings.  a block like an asterisc that would glue to the bottom of the body. Hmm…interesting idea. I'd think that'd make assembly easier, of course. As for accuracy…well, all the legs attach to the abdomen, so that piece could just be the bottom third of the abdomen. Then again, I'm working from a mental image here, I don't have one of them at hand. |
| nvdoyle | 20 Mar 2007 8:52 a.m. PST |
I've got to say, though, upon looking at them again – even with fiddly legs, those are some good looking ants. |
| DemosLaserCutDesigns | 20 Mar 2007 12:23 p.m. PST |
The Ants are amazingly accurate. After priming them I put them out on the patio to dry. When a came back to check on them I found birds standing over them pecking them and peering at them. Graycat: I don't know how much of a peg you put on the legs but once the legs are put in the trenches on the abdomen it didn't meet up with anything inside. Maybe mine were a bad casting, accidents happen. So either a longer post or a square block peg for a squar hole so they dont wiggle. Giving the glue a chance to dry. Now with hindsight it's actually pretty easy putting the Ants together. It's just that first hour of frustration really torqued my nuts and it carried through the rest of the day. So, first of all I apologize. The models really are very nice. What would help a new modeler or a middle of the road modeler is having a plan ahead of time for attaching the legs. First get a clamp or vice for holding the ant with its underside exposed. I used "reversed clothespin clamps", you can see how to make them on my website. Also I feel the need to use 5 minute epoxy. It is stronger and has a little flexibility to it. Unlike superglue which dries brittle and had no give. With multiple clamps you can work on them assembly line. Only attach one pair of legs at a time and move on to the next once all are done them go back to the first. That way you don't bump a pair that is still drying. Once all legs are attached and dry use a small ball of Green Stuff in between each pair of legs. It will help give the legs more of a foundation and something to push against so they can be repositioned. I tried bending them before attaching but one or two legs were always out of place. With the reinforced legs you can position them all you want(being gentle). The putty also is hidden once painted. Besides it is under the figure where most people won't be standing looking up. |
