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Blackadder's Lucius Pattern Reaver Conversion Kit

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Ankle Biter at five o'clock:

 
Well it seems the Mars armour is ho-hum as well. I guess it's just the Reaver concept that's unimpressive.  
 
http://i.imgur.com/wB1yLB9l.jpg
 
I'll try to remedy that with lots of detail once I finish the basic components.
 
This next image demonstrates there is a crying need for Huge Tyranid Titans. That Hierophant seems hopelessly out classed; even by a Reaver.
 
http://i.imgur.com/4zcWmk8l.jpg
 
The rear view shows the Mars shoulder carapaces are on a par with my Lucius style contiguous shoulder armour.
 
http://i.imgur.com/nlrIMRSl.jpg
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Thanks,

 

Rome Wasn't Built In a Day:

 
The work pictured above was only to show the work done thus far to give an idea of relative proportion mainly of the carapace to the hip and legs. I in fact have/had left off a few pieces of half finished armour that are at this moment unattachable. 
 
One thing I flagrantly omitted from the Mars Reaver posed above was the APOC Rocket Pod that omission rectified now......
 
http://i.imgur.com/pzAMWYbl.jpg
 
Since all these conversion pieces have to be developed simultaneously it's necessary once in a while to step back and see how every time works together thus far. 
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  • 3 weeks later...
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No Small Feet:

 
Started on the feet today, a project I've been dreading because of the repetition. I have to make sixteen of these uninspiring structures but once done these complicated phalanges will be the last labor intense components left to do. The rest should be a few armour panels for chest knees and waist and all the glorious detail which I can hardly wait to start..... It's like dessert.
 
http://i.imgur.com/6TQ95Bul.jpg
 
Because the greaves are so large compared to the Mars greaves I've decided to make the Lucius toes larger as well. When finished they will just clip onto the existing Mars toes. 
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I Really Feel Badly: (Truly)

 

I'm constantly implored to accept commissions to duplicate my work but the nature of the effort being every part handmade and unique I cannot acquiesce. Primarily because no one would be able to afford paying for the amount of time necessary to manufacture one of these projects. Were I to bring these down to a level were they would be reasonably priced I would be working for far less than minimum wage.

 

So the best I can do is demonstrate my procedures and hope that those sufficiently motivated can reproduce the items for themselves.

 

Here we have stage two of the Reaver toes, no big deal, just three pieces of plasticard glued to a base.

 


http://i.imgur.com/vGbvCsAl.jpg

 

After all I managed to recreate My Warlord Luteus Vexant from half a dozen images I found on the internet. 

 

http://th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2013/259/5/0/blackadder_s_warlord_titan__luteus_vexant_by_blackadderz-d6mksb8.jpg

 

If I can do it, anyone can.............

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Sixteen Toes:

 

Why do I do this? The tedium of repetitious work exhausts me. It seems the more insignificant an item the more there are of them to build, Ha!

 

anyway I have a good production system going and should be finished with the basic shape on all sixteen toes today.

 


http://i.imgur.com/QcQtSjel.jpg

 

As you can see the Lucius sleeve fits tightly over the Mars toes and there is a pronounced rivet in just the right place to provide a locking pin for my locking device so when clipped on there is no danger of the toe cover falling off.

 

Serendipity you are my goddess.

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The Pedicurist:

 
Sounds Like a movie title about an Itinerant foot fetishist but no just an update on the Reaver feet. 
 
http://i.imgur.com/fUjvNn7l.jpg
 
I went low impact on the treads (no one looks at those anyway.)
 
http://i.imgur.com/7VmXOOWl.jpg
 
The big concern has been ameliorated the toes are not too bulky for the greaves or legs.
 
http://i.imgur.com/q4Q004Il.jpg
 
Hmmm, the back of the legs look better than the front...............
 
Assembling the lower leg brought forth the fact that I needs make the shin guards as well. D-mn!
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The Well Was Visited Too Many Times:

 
Well it seems that articulation is not on the table for this model. 
 
There's just not enough room to include moving parts under the shielding without seriously distorting the shape of the legs.
 
http://i.imgur.com/PKkDKWYl.jpg
 
That said, the static pose should be convertible; Mars/Lucius, Lucius Mars.
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  • 1 month later...
Blackadder Veteran

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The Reaver Project Resumes:

 
After a month or so of procrastination I have finally taken up the gauntlet of the Reavers once again. Although certain issues are yet to be resolved I feel refreshed enough to resume the anklet guards that left me so vexed in June.
 
http://i.imgur.com/ygVBzZNl.jpg
 
Approaching the problem from a different angle yesterday evening produced satisfactory results in that I have the basic sleeve armour roughed out.
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Desperation is the Step-mother of Invention:

 
I devoted a lot of time today on reconciling the ankle mechanism culminating in using round headed 'Stove' Bolts to take the place of the ball/socket mounts of the ankle actuators.
 
Drilling into the recesses (Four points) of each foot pad and installing rare earth magnets I have a viable base for while perhaps not articulation at the very least, readily assembly/dis-assembly for conversion from Mars to Lucius and back again.  
 
http://i.imgur.com/ogBlqFLl.jpg
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SW1 Venerable Brother

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That's a really good idea, I wonder if it would work for the shoulder joints with bigger bolts?

Think it's the strength of the magnet that's the main issue. Can't see a bolt shifting if it's inserted correctly. Having a diameter matching the ball bit of the socket would be very cool but a tad difficult to source for the shoulder. Though if it is possible I think we know the man who can. ;)

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Blackadder Veteran

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The magnets I used  were flat discs 2,0 MM thick and 8,0 MM in diameter They are strong enough that I can lift the foot base with the bolt attracted magnetically. Large bolts would require larger magnets  (Well DUh! Blackadder) there are cupped magnets available and I am looking into those.............

 

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=58750&cat=1,42363,42348

 

Installing a magnet in a cup increases and focus' the lines of attraction and increases the usable power of the magnet

 

There a also spherical magnets that I wish were available when I built Lucie.

 

http://www.supermagnetman.net/index.php?cPath=43

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The Madness Continues:

 
Even though I've resigned myself that articulation for this model is not on the table I am proceeding as if it were just on the outside chance I may have been hasty in my assessment.
 
http://i.imgur.com/hwWeS07l.jpg
 
Right now I am in the midst of producing the upper trunnion assembles of all 16 foot adjusting cylinders which will rotate and swivel depending on the attitude of the foot plate. Naturally this is the Lucius version and allowances for the Mars pieces must be considered when the re conversion is desired.
 
http://i.imgur.com/5TpF0ekl.jpg
 
I haven't worked out the details of that as yet.
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  • 5 weeks later...
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Illegitimi non carborundum:

 
After a month of doldrums I have finally figured out how to proceed with these greaves. Strangely my first impulse held true and I have reverted back to my original plan for a semi operable foot mount.
 
http://i.imgur.com/DphGOV4l.jpg
 
I also now have a plan for the ankle actuator armour which also vexed me the past month.
 
http://i.imgur.com/mq3qV9Zl.jpg
 
With luck I should see an end of this project by the time the year is out. Yay!
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  • 2 weeks later...
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Back In The Groove:

 
After a month's hiatus I think I have recovered my direction on these models. The stopping point was the actuator shields and how to make them follow the compression of the foot leveling cylinders and still not be too cumbersome appearing. I believe I have the solution.
 
One might well ask why so many pieces for what should be a simple three paneled construction. Well economy for one thing; the industrial quality sheet styrene I employ comes in only three thicknesses 0.020, 0.030 and 0.040 thousands inch, 0,50 0,75 and 1,00 MM respectively and sheet styrene of 2,0 and 3,0 MM is prohibitively expensive in hobby stores. 
 
http://i.imgur.com/y4suuM1l.jpg
 
The second consideration is strength, the laminations add considerable durability to the glue seams and allow the sides to flex as the sleeve follows the cylinder through its evolutions. 
 
Third once assembled it will be easier to sand and shape the constructions to their final finish each one being individually destined for a particular slot even though they appear almost identical on all four greaves.
 
There is a rational to my madness............
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Not Pretty But It Has the Flavor:

 
I went to an outrageous effort to install these foot actuator shields instead of taking the easy route and just make greaves similar to the Warhound but I wanted something more than just a bigger version of the Wolf Scout. I think these Lucius greaves convey the flavor of the Mars Reaver whereas the greaves would have been too bulky had I encompassed the hydraulics under the greave surface.
 
http://i.imgur.com/2u1Gcf5l.jpg
 
All the hydraulic shields will have to be custom fit to the individual leveling cylinders but that's a minor consideration now that they are basically manufactured.
 
http://i.imgur.com/hhJMK2ql.jpg
 
I just have to remember to label which goes where.
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Le Coup de Grâce:
 
It's time to put this thing out of it's misery or triumph. After putting all this effort into manufacturing the various greave components I have to put the finishing adjustments on 16 actuators (4 for each foot times two Reavers). Already I have speculated that the Reaver in reality would waddle on the battlefield due to the set of the legs. It's gait would be a rocking pendulum motion sure to disquiet the intestinal tract of the hardiest Princep but we are not to reason why but to duplicate the visage of the Reaver and ignore the dynamics of the mechanics.
 
In the first image below we see the foot/shank/greave assembly in its full flexed step position where I am about to install the cylinder sleeves to the outer side toe and front center toe.
 
http://i.imgur.com/hLRSUa2l.jpg
 
If all goes well I shall proceed to the extended position (image below) and see how far I can make the step work. I have my doubts that it will be more than one and a half foot lengths. 
 
http://i.imgur.com/KY2DQX4l.jpg
 
Are we having fun yet????
 
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  • 4 weeks later...
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Gone Astray:

 
This project keeps going astray; Bah,Bah,Bah!
 
But I think I'm back on track now. The shape of the head has vexed me until this morning where I believe I have come up with the definitive Reaver head.
 
http://i.imgur.com/td0yoZ7l.jpg
 
Fortunately I don't have to do much modifications to the existing work
 
http://i.imgur.com/rV9y0K1l.jpg
 
 but once done I believe it will fit better under the hood and also be a midway morph between the Lucius Warhound and the Lucius Warlord and I shall call it; 
 
the Black Vegetable.....
 
 
No, no, no; The WarReaver 
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Three MM Too Wide:

 
The front center panel below the windscreen is three MM too wide.
 
Due to the beveling of the cheek panels which I didn't allow for the thickness of the sheet i.e. one millimeter..............
 
http://i.imgur.com/6KM801rl.jpg
 
Easily corrected. 
 
Note how I had to cut into the roof line on either side of the hood and change the roof from canting in towards the rear to flaring out towards the rear. 
 
http://i.imgur.com/tDxegUGl.jpg
 
This will allow for more freedom of movement side to side under the carapace hood which is a better design.
 
Note in the side elevation below that the cheek shield panel extend lower to protect the conduits and give the front an angled approximation of the Warlord curved face shield skirt but retaining the angularity of the Warhound. An interesting compromise that bridges the design two other titans' visages.
 
http://i.imgur.com/0dHZnO9l.jpg
 
Finally it's coming together in my mind's eye............
 
I am on fire with enthusiasm again. :D
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Dog Pile On the Rabbit:

 
One of my readers likened the previous left image to Buggs Bunny, a thought that occurred to me as well. The right cockpit he likened to Mortal Combat's Scorpion which on googling I don't see at all but somehow it struck a mnemonic chord with him.
 
Anyway to complete the Buggs Bunny simile the next stage show the beginnings of outriggers or fenders that carry the Warlord helmet theme but that is only a temporary allusion.   
 
http://i.imgur.com/EGHThvZl.jpg 
 
and 
 
http://i.imgur.com/nMjwtqHl.jpg
 
Further along shows the method to my madness:
 
http://i.imgur.com/DSeLM4n.jpg 
 
The ears once dried bend down to form the fenders (for want of a better term) tucking beneath the rear of the cowl.
 
In the final image a 3/4 front view shows the underside of the side trim.
 
http://i.imgur.com/orYcdNIl.jpg
 
The other noteworthy item is the faceted cowl front that was built up of layers of styrene. once dried that will have the edges sanded to round off slightly but still have flat surfaces so as not to copy the Warlord cowl to closely.
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A New Strategy:

 
So the new strategy is to borrow a page from Michelangelo's workbook; when asked how he approached sculpting he was purported to have said that the figure was already inside the block and all he did was chip away what wasn't needed.

http://i.imgur.com/WqBeqzHl.jpg
 
Now I am not comparing myself to Michelangelo because he worked in marble and I in ''ahem'' styrene but the principle is the same; just pile on enough styrene and then remove that which doesn't look like a Lucius Reaver.

http://i.imgur.com/mJ2onFvl.jpg
 
It was also said that he didn't want to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling as he thought himself a poor artist in that medium and critics of his work complained that his figures were all too masculine the women looking like men with breasts.
 
http://i.imgur.com/bNGEbCEl.jpg
 
His response to that was, "He did not know art but he knew what he liked."
 
http://i.imgur.com/byBc3iEl.jpg
 
So as you can tell other than the images I really didn't have much to add to this post. :D
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