Blackadder's Attempt To Build a Lucius Patten Imperator

[Blackadder]

 

 

A Week's Worth Of Labor:

 

At this rate I'm wondering if my estimate of another year in the making is a trifle optimistic.

 

 

Having spent nearly 3 years on my Knight conversion the fact you could get this done in less than a decade (considering the level of detail you go to) leaves me very jealous and two years would seem like a solid goal.

 

Such brilliant work and the plasma gun if coming along brilliantly I'm sure it'll soon fall into place as the areas of detail finish and be finished before you know it ready to move onto the other arm.

 

 

 

Every time I look in this thread, I see something cool and amazing!

 

I knew this Plasma cannon would be a bear to build because of the coils needing to be precise otherwise they would take on a noticeable spiral aspect. I also had to invent a viable muzzle cowl which is what I am about now. Only this evening did I come up with what I think will make the cowl doable. We'll see. :)

[Blackadder]

Annihilator Muzzle:

 

I bit the bullet today and expanded the muzzle channels to what I believe is the proper width and depth. 

 

Here seen in the original which is too cramped and closed in. Note I also have made allowances  to extend the length of the muzzle.

 

https://i.imgur.com/JMqUhMZ.jpg

 

The muzzle ( temporarily ) installed now appears to have enough room for all the detail although I still have to jimmee the length a bit.

 

https://i.imgur.com/HqQ93BH.jpg

 

End on although crudely sanded at this point and a tad asymetrical

 

https://i.imgur.com/e3hwYvT.jpg

 

The top view reveals I glued the muzzle upside down and which in spite of all my efforts has a distinct mirror asymmetry. 

 

https://i.imgur.com/p5EHFmk.jpg

 

Coil Channel detail in place and ready for fine detailing.

 

https://i.imgur.com/Ss3xWjI.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TURBULENCE]

Watching that plasma come together has been amazing. No matter how long it takes I'll be following this project to the very end. It's inspiring and humbling all at the same time

[Blackadder]

Establishing the Profile:

 

I remove the muzzle to work on it and reattach it for the images. 

 

My first consideration is the muzzle length which should be about half the length of the coil section. I can extend it about 8 more millimeters if needs be hence the excess on the nose of the muzzle.

 

https://i.imgur.com/6hFW20K.jpg

 

One problem with the shape of this is the templates I have installed to make the exterior form will have to be broken out after the outer cowl is completed so I can build the inner surface of the four cowl pieces.

 

https://i.imgur.com/80BM2Ds.jpg

 

This end on shape gives some idea of the interior structure once the templates are broken out.

 

https://i.imgur.com/aLjohFZ.jpg

 

I can't wait until this monster is done and I can relax with the easier weapons. :D

[Blackadder]

A Horrible Bollixed Up Mess:

 

Or, who knows, this just might work out after all.

 

https://i.imgur.com/Pl4cvpI.jpg

 

I've put a lot of work into this thing and it's finally time to apply the finishing strakes. Each one has to be custom fit but we'll follow this together.

 

Right Now I am cautiously optimistic. ;-) 

[Blackadder]

That Wasn't So Hard:

 

I don't know why I dreaded this, it wasn't so hard. 

 

I figured out the secret of layering strakes ( Contoured planks on a frame ) and where I have previously gone awry with this sort of construction. What you need to do is install backing strips to the inner surface of the main planks so you have something to glue the filler planks.

 

Previously I attempted to add the filler planks without backing. I used 1,0 MM X 6.3 MM styrene for the planking which moulded easily but was still thick enough to take a finishing sanding.

 

https://i.imgur.com/GJbJxNz.jpg

 

The image above shows the upper nose segment rough sanded and the lower segment with the plans in the rough unsanded stage.

 

The image below may make the explanation clearer.

 

https://i.imgur.com/r0ZrGeM.jpg

 

Once I have the muzzle segments completely rough sanded I'll wet sand the whole cowling. 

 

I never use filler such as Greenstuff and Milliput because it looks like hell ( Especially the Green Stuff ) and you have difficulty gluing additional styrene to the foreign surface. Plus flaws in the contours are difficult to see until the surface is painted.

 

Anyway, "Onward and upward" as the saying goes I'm quite pleased with the result. 

 

[Gabocius]

As for a filler, did you ever try to make some kind of styrene "soup" by mixing small pieces of styrene with acetone or glue ?

 

Anyway, your work's looking crazy as always ! I can't believe how acurate pour construction is, the precision of it and the level of detail !

[Blackadder]

As for a filler, did you ever try to make some kind of styrene "soup" by mixing small pieces of styrene with acetone or glue ?

 

Anyway, your work's looking crazy as always ! I can't believe how acurate pour construction is, the precision of it and the level of detail !

 

Here's a trick I learned early on when I first began working with plasticard. using a thinset cement such as Tamiya I wet the joint and surrounding area of the white plastic. Then I sand the surface of the joint and the surrounding area, the plastic dust from the sanding fills the gaps and gives a smooth jointless surface without the unsightly "green stuff" marring the appearance of the surface. I'll be doing this later on with the muzzle contours of the Annihilator Blaster. HTH For a truly seamfree appearance try wet sanding the finished surface.

[Pearson73]

You're continuing to knock this out the park with the levels of detail and precision. Well done!

[Blackadder]

Rough Sanding Completed:

 

The business end of this construct is reaching fruition

 

https://i.imgur.com/yvyPN5f.jpg

 

Space Marine Provided for scale

 

https://i.imgur.com/9c3Mhe4.jpg

 

A couple of more layers and I'll be ready to remove the templates.

 

https://i.imgur.com/EZA696X.jpg

 

But I don't like these new light bulbs. Why is everything yellow?

[Blackadder]

Template Frames Removed: 

 

From the Muzzle

 

Which opens up the four highly detailed cowl segments.

 

https://i.imgur.com/zUwGAKO.jpg

 

This is where the FW artists prove their mettle. The meticulous detail that no one ever sees in the overall scope but sets their creations apart from run-of-the-mill efforts.

 

https://i.imgur.com/LpErLTP.jpg

 

I really cannot wait until FW releases a Warlord Chaos version so I can adequately demonstrate my appreciation by purchasing one.

 

BTW whatever turned the preceding images yellow has gone away???

 

[Dantay VI]

Could it have been the monitor affecting the light, or have you adjusted the white balance on your camera?

 

That big-ass cannon is looking phenomenal :tu:

[Subtle Discord]

Yes, if you're using an automatic white balance setting on a camera it can be fooled in some situations and compensate incorrectly. I suspect having the monitor taking up most of the background in the images combined with the new light gave the camera a hard time. If you can set it manually you can avoid that in future no matter how the image is composed.

[Blackadder]

Could it have been the monitor affecting the light, or have you adjusted the white balance on your camera?

 

That big-ass cannon is looking phenomenal

 

Yes, if you're using an automatic white balance setting on a camera it can be fooled in some situations and compensate incorrectly. I suspect having the monitor taking up most of the background in the images combined with the new light gave the camera a hard time. If you can set it manually you can avoid that in future no matter how the image is composed.

 

Thanks,

 

I reached the pinnacle of my picture taking ability with a Brownie Hawkeye box camera circa 1950's. Today I use an ipad mini for all my photos and am perfectly happy with the results so far. The "White Balance" problem never manifested itself until a few days ago to a noticeable degree and I can only assume it was because of the reflected light from the computer screen. If it manifests again I'll experiment.

[Blackadder]

A Budding Neophyte:

 

Back in the days when the Blackadder was a budding neophyte he attempted to make a Plasma Blaster for a StormBlade variant. The result was of indifferent quality but I could not figure out a way to make the muzzle cowl long thin exhaust ports.

 

So today I was faced with the same problem ( Fortunately these are much bigger ) plus I have a wealth of experience to draw on so we shall see how I do. 

 

https://i.imgur.com/ekQR0U4.jpg

 

I laid the groundwork for these ports and they take about five minutes each to replicate those in the screen above. 

 

At this point we needn't worry about the length and the slight bowing of the 0.040 inch strips. I need 12 of these of exact length.

[Blackadder]

Bogged Down On Minutia 

 

These bits are time consuming

 

https://i.imgur.com/pelIe6R.jpg

 

https://i.imgur.com/dwzqeHN.jpg

 

https://i.imgur.com/a09Up8I.jpg

[Blackadder]

Disappointing:

 

To say the least but it's good to show your failures occasionally lest you become too full of yourself. 

 

https://i.imgur.com/7pkSCnG.jpg

 

I think I am getting tired of replicating this weapon The above image of the er whatever this is and the image below which I thought would be so cool just didn't come out as I had hoped.

 

https://i.imgur.com/NLDhzIT.jpg

 

With the two components installed and the elevation spool temporarily in place 

 

https://i.imgur.com/lkltQQE.jpg

 

I can only mutter "Meh!" Not even good enough for Gov'ment work.

 

Faa!

 

[Jackalwolf]

Keep up the amazing work!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Keep up the amazing work!

Lol! Not exactly a response corroborating the tone of Blackadder's last post. But still, an apt one - as your work is stellar, Blackadder! The fact that you're so critical of yourself only adds to that fact. :tu:

[Ishagu]

Some amazing stuff here, really mindblowing.

[Blackadder]

What I Meant By Disappointing: (I wasn't fishing for compliments) :D

 

I suppose I should explain what I meant by disappointing but something did not look right about the panels on either side of the muzzle and the five exhaust ports between the vertical coils. I researched a lot last night and finally found an image that shows where I went wrong. It is irritating that I did not perceive this earlier; D**n!

 

Note to Jabba,

 

I had considered clear rod and tubing for the coils including fluorescent weed whip monofilament but could not find a suitable diameter and clear filament made it look too toylike. 

 

These are the best images I have managed to come up with and presumably they are very current as I don't recall seeing them before. The front view shows the heatsinks (Whatever) are slightly convex on either side of the muzzle and the muzzle itself is exquisitely detailed for my purposes Much better than any previous image.

 

https://i.imgur.com/IW4MQlm.jpg

 

The rear image shows the five exhaust ports and demonstrates where my error lies. I have mine vertical and the actual ports are inclined toward the rear.

 

https://i.imgur.com/o17orvM.jpg

 

I'm still hoping to find detailed unpainted top and bottom images of both the muzzle area and the rear area aft of the coils; areas sorely neglected in images thus far. I also need a view of the back of the weapon.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The gun arm is impressively detailed.

[Radiation]

Looks good, but I am all for deviation from the original with your modeling skills.

[depthcharge12]

You sir, are absolutely mad. Continue on.

[Blackadder]

In and Out of the Doldrums:

 

Yesterday I found myself dissatisfied with the progress of this construct. Today after finding what was the problem I'm optimistic about the progress.  

 

Plus I found an image that shows the length of the Primary weapons at about 13 inches. 

 

https://i.imgur.com/EL8Ukgw.jpg

 

The SunFury as it is in the images at present without the rear components is 14 inches so the scale is correct as well. 

 

https://i.imgur.com/3YopBin.jpg

Edited August 23, 2018 by Blackadder