Queen Bee Knight -- Thank you! Please read the new post

[infyrana]

Haven't had chance to read it all yet, but I would definitely scrap the high heels lol!  She'd catch them in every bit of grill and grating that the floors are made of, stick with your original drawings for basic boots...

 

Tank girl - meet - Titan girl!

[JeffTibbetts]

High heels? I didn't post that pic.

[infyrana]

I know, but just thought I'd chime in in case ^^

 

I need to read the rest of your thread.. so please don't mind me, do continue with your good work :D

[Olgerth Istaarn]

TBH I'd rather see more of the knight than of its pilot. I've been taking copious notes for my own build on the subject of magnetizing and repositioning (and it just might save me a few mistakes stemming from bad design decisions).

 

An interesting conversion beats the hell out of any riot grrrl on any day of the week.

[JeffTibbetts]

Haha! Well, if it makes you feel better I did that at work instead of, like, working. So it's not like I was taking away build time. ;)

[Morningshadow]

The one thing I love about 40k is flexibility it provides for creating your own fluff. The fact that there are very few "hard line" rules opens this game up for extensive interpretation on the gamers part. That being said the amount of detail and thought that you've put into both your Knight and it's pilot is awesome to see.

 

 I like the look you're going for your pilot and here's my two cents on the project. How about having half of her head shaved? There's no rule against having the plugs only on one side. Plus I always find that look really hot and it fits with your punk theme. The pilot of one of my knights has a more advance neural net and only has one plug in the back of his head, similar to the Matrix look.

 

 While I like the idea of cargo pants what about capris (sp?)? Maybe put a flak vest on her too. A lot of the descriptions describe the pilots wearing armor and while in most cases I'm sure it's more ceremonial than functiional there's always the chance that the pilot may have to get out of her knight unwillingly in the middle of a battlefield, lol. She seems like the type that's prepared for anything.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Hmm, stolen from deviantart without permission but something like this?

 

http://th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2014/076/0/e/mechanic_by_i_guyjin_i-d7am0fx.jpg

 

That looks an awful lot like Katee Sackhoff's Dahl character from the newest Riddick movie. Which would be cool for the idea.

 

http://i.imgur.com/W2zNRxl.jpg?1

[JeffTibbetts]

Got the waist glued, magnetized and puttied last night. Now I can really start putting it all together soon.

Here's the body with the cap in the bottom. I'll show you the top again in a sec, but note the three magnets here. These are only used for 2 things: first, they keep the rotation in the right direction. I could have used maybe one or just two for this. Second, they keep the body in place well enough that I can turn it upside down. I'll show you later. Note that I used one large magnet and two smaller. I did this to make it really easy to see how I should place it mostly. Also, I flipped the polarity on the smaller ones, so you can't put on backwards. I learned this trick from Skylanders: Swap Force characters. :D If you only use two magnets, put them so they only match up with the correct ones and reject the others. Not like I think I'll accidentally screw up and put the body on backwards, but you know. Drinking.

These magnets are glued in place, but since there was such a big gap around the big one (I didn't get it lined up just right at first) I actually filled this partially with some Milliput. No pics, but it just looks like a glob of white toothpaste so you're not missing much.

Here's the cap glued in place on the hips so you can see the angle of the repositioned stud and the placement of the three magnets. Having them all varied around the cap also helps with positioning. The two on top are "load bearing" and the one down and to the back is more for getting the angle right. If you look really closely you can see some of the white Milliput peeking around the larger magnet.

Here they are, seated together inside the body. As you can see, the stub still 'rides' one side. This is intentional, as the angle puts a bit of stress here, you want it to actually touch to give it support so the magnets aren't the only thing holding it up. It still has some wiggle, but the bulk of the actual weight is plastic to plastic contact.

I slopped on some more Milliput here on the inside to make sure that little magnet didn't go anywhere. It's a mess, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Some day this will have a cockpit covering it, and I won't have access to it anymore.

Proof that it's actually pretty strong. These magnets have full contact and the three of them keep it pretty tight. Not that I plan to do this often...

And then there's the moment you realize you've posed your Knight almost exactly like the Dark Vengeance Helbrute...

Anyway, it may not be the most exciting update, but it's an important one. Now I can start working on the base and feet. Once those are done, I can start painting! OMG. Now I need to find a tiny honeycomb airbrush stencil for real. I found some, but they're either too large or very expensive. Anyone know if a Cricut machine (used for scrapbooking, mostly) can cut really small designs?

[RolandTHTG]

(all the following linked pages are safe for work, but the comic and parts of the gallery definitely aren't)

 

Your talk of what the pilot looked like made me think of Vikki (and Vikki looking unimpressed) from Free Mars, which is drawn by aerion-the-faithful [ who has done his own version of a female pilot in a Titan Cockpit ]¹

The Free Mars author has also commissioned a couple of minis for the characters, if you want inspiration for the sculpting.

 

 

¹(check out the rest of his gallery, especially the 40k section!)

 

Edit: Holy linkstorm Batman

[T0MMY]

Just catching up on things; my two cents on the pilot, why not go for leggings as per your original sketch but lose the skirt. More practical, but still feminine - maybe even a full body glove??
 

Just a thought.
 

Loving your work, the depth of thought and accuracy of your build is inspiring. Long may it continue!

 

Cheers

[MasterBuilder]

Same pose as the Hellbrute you say?

 

Congratulations, I can see an ideal Golden Daemon entry for the duel category. 40k Mexican standoff anyone.

 

*Cues Ennio Morricone music and hides behind a barrel*

[Brother Sgt. Steine]

JT, this has been incredible build to watch unfold.  Your craftsmanship and dedication to your vision has been awe-inspiring.  I can't wait to see the cockpit/ pilot and paint work, respectively. 

 

Keep up the strong work my fellow Iowan Brother!

 

BSS  

[JeffTibbetts]

Thanks for the support, ladies and gents. I'm working on some pretty fun updates and will be back with some pics hopefully soon.

[helterskelter]

Please don't put anymore catchy songs in your titles, I've had "she's got legs" on heavy cycle :p eagerly awaiting updates

[JeffTibbetts]

Okay. I threatened to do this earlier. I was staring at it, taking a break. Looking over the flag thing, and thinking of the old ones again. I was kind of wanting to do the old armor links in the waist instead of the flag and then I decided to grab the chisel and go for it.

I cut it at a slight angle, right where the rivets were. Seemed like as good a place as any.

I then roughed out the plates in plasticard. I had to file these down individually to get the shapes right. The bottom is slightly rounded. I opted not to go for the hard triangle look, and this was as long as I wanted it. I also added small corner notches to match the bottom of the real waist plate.

I had a pretty good idea to get them all to stay in the right form, if I do say so myself. The thickest card I had wasn't as long as I wanted, so I cut another thin piece to go behind and glued them all to that. I added some curve to the plates to match the waist plate at this point as well.

Here you can see it all cut to shape and curved. I added a bit of movement to them as well. Those rivets are Elmer's Glue. I'm waiting to see how they look before I commit, but I haven't yet found a good rivet solution. I want to do tiny beads (like BroChap Kage) but I'm too lazy to get them off eBay and I can't find them in stores.

Here you can see the hinges on the back. I haven't yet added the small metal loops to it. Can't decide what the easiest way will be yet. These are simply lengths of plastic rod, filed down to about halfway and then curved slightly by hand. I'll be scoring the metal plates more as well to add some definition, but it will be hard to see this on the model.

Here you can see the movement I added, just so it would feel more real and add to the dynamism of the final pose.

And from the front again. The movement is subtle but it helps.

And here's the test fit. It's a bit smallish, but I think it looks right for the way I imagined it.

And a hint for what else I'm working on...

Any guesses?

[T0MMY]

...whatever it is, it's quick!

[JeffTibbetts]

Gaussian blur is SO late 90’s... Motion blur is where it's at, son. ;)

 

And it WAS fast.

[T0MMY]

Ooh ooh, I'm guessing roadkill tyranid??

[JeffTibbetts]

Oh, you didn't get the memo? Tyranids aren't really a threat anymore. :D

 

Try again.

[deathspectersgt7]

Necroid, The lady is really shaping up have enjoyed this so far.

[JeffTibbetts]

You're on the right track, Spectre. And thanks!

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Loin - plates look dope, she's gonna be awesome

[Ace Debonair]

By the Emperor, this is going to be glorious.

Can't wait to see some paint on this beast!

Still as true today as it was when I first said it.

I'm pretty sure you said something earlier about your Knight was going to be trampling the remains of a Necron Ghost Ark, or whatever their transport thing is called, if I recall correctly, so that's my guess for your super-fast project.

[That Guy Matt]

Hm, I'm gonna go with Doom/Night Scythe.

[Nomus Sardauk]

I think it might a Canoptek Wraith or Spyder.