"New Building Prototype" Topic

So I got to play with the laser cutter for a bit today. Here is the result. It still needs some tweaking but its coming along. I'll have to get it painted up.

The plan is to start releasing these and some other accessories in the flat pack series.

Jonathan Bowen
CorSec Engineering
corseceng.com

Love it Jonathan!

Wait, etched-plastic walls and a HDF skeleton?

I like this idea!

Very interesting. It looks good, and is bringing something new to the table,

I like this a lot!

Looks good from here…

I told my self I wasn't getting into the mdf building racket but that was before this idea came to me. It fixes everything that I don't like about mdf. It is easy to paint. The styrene takes dry brush and washes very well. You can have curves and round shapes. I'm still learning, well inventing the technique. Theoretically I can make a lot of different shapes that straight mdf can't. I started working on a tapered wall but that proved to be a pain. I might have it figured out here soon.

The current plan is to come up with a specific feature and build a building around it. That way I can keep practicing and releasing new designs as I go. This one was a basic curved wall. I should be able to perfect it tomorrow and release it soon.

nice

It looks very good, I have to say.

I think the long horizontal windows on bends might well be going to give you trouble. if they had thing clear window material stuck behind them it would a) glaze them and b) stop them moving independently, top to bottom. But then clear material cut and stuck behind the (rather stylish) windows you've cut out are a nice idea anyway.

Something genuinely new and very clever: well done!

John T

Sweet. When do get the prototype for painting?

I'd buy that building.

That is outstanding! I'd get one :)

if they had thing clear window material stuck behind them it would a) glaze them and b) stop them moving independently, top to bottom. But then clear material cut and stuck behind the (rather stylish) windows you've cut out are a nice idea anyway.

That's exactly what I've been thinking about doing on the existing CorSec flat-pack windows. Get a chunk of clear acetate (or even clear plastic blister packaging), paint it (either a dark metallic silver or a glossy black) on one side, pre-paint the CorSec window frame, and glue it to the clear side of the acetate.

Then the windows will look like glass, even if they're just stuck onto an electrical box or something similar. On these buildings, you could have functional windows if they are left transparent. They might look even better with some kind of translucent smoke-gray plastic instead of clear.

-Chris K.

How hard would it be to put small tabs on the outside edges of the HDF framework?

Then you could cut small slots into the styrene walls for these tabs to fit into, making the fitting and gluing process easier.

The gluing process is rather simple tight now. The styrene comes in long strips. You just line it up and glue the top and bottom of it in the corner and work your way around gluing as you go. Accelerator helps a lot. Building took like 10 mins to put together.

Well the design is done. I'm struggling with the cost so I want to toss it out there. It is rather large in 15mm. 270mm by 120mm by 33mm. So not a little building. It has etched detail all around the roof and it has a bunch of windows and doors.

It is coming in around $20 USD or so. Takes a while to cut and uses up most of a sheet of mdf. It will also be a pain to ship.

So the question is, is it too expensive?

Here are some pics of the final build. I'm gonna get it painted because the detail is hard to see.

No way dude: $20 USD is not too much for a 10"x5" building in 15mm.

I'd love to see it painted up!

Ben.

I think that's a reasonable price… would you be able to do ones at about half the size, so that I can have a "pre-fab" colony all of the same style? That could be the town hall, and I would need barraks and such too

Next one will be a round building. I like this pattern so I'm gonna do a few more in that style. I like calling it a colony.

I might even work the new barrier fence upgrade into it. I stopped work on that because of the styrene experiments.

Now I just need to figure out what the bar will look like… every colony needs a general store and a bar.

Looks good. It's refreshing to see buildings with curves.

It also reminds me of Vault City:

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hmm anyone got any sources for images of scifi uped japanese structures or castles? That might be interesting.

I'm on the fence about this new round one. It's 60mm in diameter. Is that to small? I was going for small family dwelling and I think I ended up with a single guy studio apartment :)

Anyway pics!

This one is an attempt to cover the seam with a ladder… Needs work.

I also forgot to shrink the top insert again. It needs to be undersized a bit so it can nest inside after the styrene is applied.

I like it, but I think I would prefer a different shape, a rounded rectangle, or something to keep it form being a sphere…

I'm think that I'll scale down the big one and remove the lobby and make a bunk house. These could be officer housing or an elders house.

I'll probably work in a rounded cornered family sized house and then a few specialty buildings.

So far I have a a few items completed or nearly complete.

I made a power generator that can be stand alone or used with a building. I also have a second buildings that is a good mid size or small dwelling. Still working some kinks out of the designs.

I'm probably going to do an HVAC unit and a motor pool next. In theory, I hope to have a good sized colony or small base designed this weekend. Including some add on bits and maybe a barrier fence upgrade. I'll finish the prototypes and send them off to be painted.

If there is enough interest I might soft release the set and post them with unpainted pics while I wait for the painter to finish. I want to release with a full table worth of stuff. Plan is to have them for sale individually and maybe a few sizes of colony to group buy at a discount.

Sounds like you have some really cool stuff! I look forward to seeing the pictures!

Yah I wish I could post renders of them but the design process is a little weird. I can't skin the styrene over the frames in sketchup. So it's a skeleton with a flat sheet for the details. I'm also having problems photographing the styrene and bringing out the details. I washed them but it still doesn't show up really good.

I'm with Mr H – round ones, for me – are too easy to achieve with other round stuff (tubes, cans, etc). Even if they still need dressing, it'd be much easier tostick your styrene strip around a pringles tube…

Rounded corner but smaller rectangles is a better bet, I think.

John T

Well I've got HVAC and Power units for the roofs. I might do a comm unit later. I'm back on buildings now. I was testing some theories and wanted to do them on smaller items before I cut any more larger buildings.

I took the round building and stuck a larger rectangle part on the end. Neat shape and a bit larger. I wanted to get a few more miles out of the horizontal windows :) I'm gonna clean that one up a bit and then start on a larger squarish building with sloped sides. It will be a motor pool or garage. I need a few more utility buildings and a couple of habitat styles yet,

That elongated and curved building is great. Our typical wargaming building is essentially a squared box, so it stands out nicely.

I'm less a fan of the cylindrical one, as those are easy enough to make from containers.

The first one, however, is tough to replicate by hand and (imo) worth $20. USD Hopefully shipping won't push it up much higher, but I'd like to get some like that.

Very cool work!

In theory, I can ship them without to much trouble. I'll probably sandwich them together with the top plat and bottom plate supporting the smaller and thinner pieces. It doesn't fit in a small flat rate box but it does fit in the padded envelope. Its not heavy so international isn't a big deal either. I have some equivalent packaging that I use now for the X-wing range rulers. They don't fit in the smaller ones I use now.

I also found a new method for doing the frames. It might cut the cost a tiny bit but it uses a lot less material.

I have big garage or motor pool almost done. It's an experiment in sloped but square sides. I still want to do the sloped and curved sides. Domes are tricky as well.