Marathon LOTR/TH WIP Custom Builds..Reaper/Rider Wraith Redone & Finished.

It seems you're rapidly advancing to the final stages -- did you leave Sauron for dessert and does that mean you'll soon have a complete Mordor high command?

Rogerbee wrote:Looks good,

Yep, milliput certainly allowed for nap times!

CHEERS!

Yup! Glue and paint too!

Stryker2011 wrote:Looks good. Must be up to reassembly at this point. Looking forward to seeing final outcome. That helmet is looking wicked.

Well I've still got to paint everything and the actual design is still changing with my mood and new ideas or rather getting bored of old ones which is why I'm playing around with the helmet design. Might have the glowing and flaming eye on top of the helmet to replicate the tower look, make my life a lot easier to attach the very heavy helmet and be able to use a visor without hiding the eye. Done most of the feet mods but need to add milliput once the glue is dry then sculpt them together. I haven't even thought about weapons or his throne yet so a lot more to do mate! Improvised a new way to get colour to stick to bloody cheap model kit vinyl as it always peals off, roughened it up with heavy grit, then painted it with acetone and a mixture of acetone and ink, soaks up the colour that way so even if the primer gets scratched there should still be black underneath; it's an experiment so we'll just have to wait and see.

GubernatorFan wrote:It seems you're rapidly advancing to the final stages -- did you leave Sauron for dessert and does that mean you'll soon have a complete Mordor high command?

Pretty much! Taking up a lot of room too!!

That's 'effin' killer, Chop.

Looks damn good...and, I'm not really surprised.

That's going to be incredible with the light up eye. The work on the feet! Maybe you should change your Username to ChopShop81.

dadrab wrote:That's 'effin' killer, Chop.

Looks damn good...and, I'm not really surprised.

Thanks dadrab! Still plenty to do!

Stryker2011 wrote:That's going to be incredible with the light up eye. The work on the feet! Maybe you should change your Username to ChopShop81.

LOL, well I have used Shovelchop's chopshop in threads before...

Done lots of little things today, some milliput, some soldering for an extra red LED to go in the visor, a lot of hot gluing to get that whopper of a metal helmet secured to other bits like it's inner support helmet and visor, also used super glue then had to trim it all back using a scalpel. Trimmed down the flames for the eye to make them look better and fit into the crests of the helmet, dremelled out the hands, filed out the forearm armour to fit better and got more matte black primer in the mail which was great timing since I just ran out.

Very cool looking. So much work. I’m on pins and needles to see the end result.

Cheers Stryker! Going to be a while to get the throne and Witch King dios done too.

Used the ink and acetone mix on the feet, hands and body parts as a base, I advise wearing barrier cream as I can't get the black off my fingers at all, worse than having your prints taken! Then spray painted black primer as usual. I've been attacking the the helmet with a dremell to try and get a route carved out for the LED to light up the visor's eyes but keep running into thick metal of the helmet on the exit hole and I can't use my power drill as it would surely wreck the fragile visor so I'm going to have a rethink about where the wire can go and still be hidden until it reaches the the big eye on top of the helmet..

Encouraging progress. The feet now look pretty much black on the photos. Was it necessary to use this complicated and staining wash? Perhaps it is different in hand. As for the wire, I coudln't really tell from the photos, but is it possible to have it creep along the back of the helmet (and color it to blend in)? You could even find a way to make it look like deliberate detail.

GubernatorFan wrote:Encouraging progress. The feet now look pretty much black on the photos. Was it necessary to use this complicated and staining wash? Perhaps it is different in hand. As for the wire, I coudln't really tell from the photos, but is it possible to have it creep along the back of the helmet (and color it to blend in)? You could even find a way to make it look like deliberate detail.

The staining only takes a few minutes and I'm doing it so I won't get any blue showing through with inevitable scratching of those parts, feet rub and bang against things when posing and hands have to hold things that can cause wear. The wire has to go to the front of the helmet as that is where one of the LEDs needs to be for the visor's eyes, it then has to go back into the helmet and up through the top to connect to the flaming eye on the crest.

HAH! Went back to it after the Dremel had cooled down with a different bit and was through in minutes so must have been right on the verge of breaking through (no Doors please!!) to the other side before I almost gave up, once penetrated the metal widened easily (no porn puns..pics are okay ) afterwards; so much so that I'll be able to just run the wiring inside the helmet and pop the LED into the visor section now.

Really nice progress, Chop...

...BUT...



That boy's going to have to invest in some orthopedic shoes.

Glad to see you subdued the helmet, Shovelchop! And the puns are ok, I just came back from watching Blackpool 2.

Worked out how to get the black acetone infused ink stains off my hands, just cover them in acrylic silver paint then peal it off, takes the black ink off with it! Done two shades of silver on all the armour.

That’s looking pretty sharp.

It does look very sharp. And very promising. Also, very pleased you have conquered the staining on your hands. And bonus points for the ingenuity of your approach. Wow.

He's really coming together,

I'd be a bit wary of acetone though, it can eat certain plastics and vinyls.

CHEERS!

fascinating build! Can't wait to see him assembled now!

thanks a lot for all the WIP shots, it's very informative, and a pleasure to watch insane creativity at work

Stryker2011 wrote:That’s looking pretty sharp.

Thanks! Figured since he's a supreme sorcerer taking over the world he would have a shiny set of mithryl armour!

GubernatorFan wrote:It does look very sharp. And very promising. Also, very pleased you have conquered the staining on your hands. And bonus points for the ingenuity of your approach. Wow.

Well it wasn't intentional, just worked out that way!

Rogerbee wrote:He's really coming together,

I'd be a bit wary of acetone though, it can eat certain plastics and vinyls.

CHEERS!

Yeah I know, learnt that when I was nine trying to get a tax sticker off a cassette cover!
That's why I'm using it, to break down the polymer's surface and allow the ink to be absorbed into it.

blackpool wrote:fascinating build! Can't wait to see him assembled now!

thanks a lot for all the WIP shots, it's very informative, and a pleasure to watch insane creativity at work

Thank you for following the thread blackpool!

Gluing the helmet together, still got some more bits for it, redid some soldering as it got caught on something. Painted the hands and feet, why purple ink? Why not, I like purple black and silver! Plus it has a sort of evil corpse like hue to it without being zombie gore, I'll do the nails next, not sure what colour yet though. Added a shim to his stomach activation button so it can still be pressed through all the armour since it's rubbery/soft plastic, I don't need speaker holes since he's so bloody loud!

If you know what you're doing with it then fair enough. Those are some great monster feet, you did a great job on them.

CHEERS!

Since you mentioned why you used the acetone -- would that be a way to get beyond paint rub in jointed figures? Apply a little acetone and then the paint or marker?

Rogerbee wrote:If you know what you're doing with it then fair enough. Those are some great monster feet, you did a great job on them.

CHEERS!

Thanks Roger!

GubernatorFan wrote:Since you mentioned why you used the acetone -- would that be a way to get beyond paint rub in jointed figures? Apply a little acetone and then the paint or marker?

Well that's the idea behind it, still experimental so not sure how well it works yet!

Waiting for glue to dry...yay... final helmet details added and armour attachment straps..

Almost there...

Yup! Well figure wise I haven't even started the throne or his weapons, still want to do the dio for the witch king but need some cement..
Attached most of the armour now, the torso piece was more interesting to attach than I'd expected but works very well. The thighs still need to be done properly, the shoulder pauldrons and some detail bits here and there but not much. The helm has gone through a couple of configurations but settled on a finished look now without the 'mask' like piece over the visor, thought he needed it but wasn't sure, had some kip and was positive he needed it so glued it on then a few hours later decided I didn't like it at all and he looked like a budgerigar! So took it off , I'm adding the crests/ears to fill in the blank areas and keep in theme with the wraith I've built plus they'll look cool once painted.

Some really cool design elements on this. Shouldn’t the underlying torso be purple, also....?

Stryker2011 wrote:Some really cool design elements on this. Shouldn’t the underlying torso be purple, also....?

I see what you mean now I look at it from your angle there, hadn't occurred to me it could be construed as flesh! To me it's always been armour, a breast plate like the ancient Greeks had. Not sure what to do now!! Need sleep!

He is looking so good!

CHEERS!

shovelchop81 wrote:

Stryker2011 wrote:Some really cool design elements on this. Shouldn’t the underlying torso be purple, also....?

I see what you mean now I look at it from your angle there, hadn't occurred to me it could be construed as flesh! To me it's always been armour, a breast plate like the ancient Greeks had. Not sure what to do now!! Need sleep!

Well the breast plate is actually over his black clothing so should be considered armour, however (I hate that bloody word now, just been on the phone for hours with the HMRC 'customs border control' having to use it and hear it over and over again, then losing my defence argument and 300quids worth of very rare, (I could only find one in the world for sale) beautiful airsoft SVU sniper rifle that will now be destroyed and they just billed me 40quid on top of that for some transformers.. ) with the robes on top it could still be flesh coloured.. does anyone have a preference? Just curious as feedback is what these threads are for aside from sharing tricks and tips etc..