Blackadder's Attempt To Build a Lucius Patten Imperator

[Blackadder]

Joint Armour

 

I've thought about this a lot over the past few months and nothing I could come up with filled the bill of what I am looking for.

 

The joint armour must cover the knee and hip joint but still not be bulky and clumsy looking. It must be logical and functional but still be pleasing to the eye.

 

So to refresh your memory and not have you shuffling through dozens of pages of images I'll present the original leg sections as they are at present.

 

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

 

First of all I've decided to reverse the knee and hip joint so the quadricep actuators are in the front and hamstring actuators are in the rear of the knee.

 

The quads are the only actuators I really need so the hamstrings will be just for show. 

 

https://i.imgur.com/GBbCQ7M.jpg

 

Suddenly the leg actuators begin to make a lot more sense.

 

I started with a couple of rectangular cards and reinforced them with the egg crate fluorescent lens material

 

https://i.imgur.com/pk4ZHMs.jpg

 

and started to pare away material until a shape began to emerge 

 

https://i.imgur.com/XtNURj7

 

That's all for today but this is beginning to take shape.

 

 

[Blackadder]

A weeks worth of work

 

Where I attempted to replicate the leg armour in the hip area.

 

 

Since this is supposed to be an ornamented version of a Emperor Titan as opposed to my Lucius pattern Warlord I am proceeding with the decorative armour.

 

 

This will set the pattern fo all the armour on the guns and the body shielding

 

 

Once I clean up the pieces these will be ready for painting.

 

Sometime in this decade that is....

[Naryn]

Some of the most beautiful craftsmanship i've ever seen.

[Mostwanted]

Great to see that this is still being worked on. Looking forward to seeing more of this stunning work.

[Blackadder]

Relegated to the stone age.

 

I've been too long in the manufacture of this model and 3D printing technology has consigned me to the dust bin of "also ran."

 

I was quite proud of my recently manufactured spires until I saw this Emperor Titan.

 

 

How' I supposed to compete with that! Look at the detail! absolutely incredible!

 

3D printing has set the bar by a couple of orders of magnitude.

 

 

Witness my latest effort...

 

 

which pales in comparison.

 

 

 

[Mud Duck]

Also Ran????.........  BA, you are being WAY too hard on yourself! STOP IT! The time and thought that you've put into this beast as placed you above (and I am not knocking the printed one) that of the printed add-ons.

[Naryn]

Yours has a thicker, beefier sense of weight to it, and is in 40k scale, not Titanicus scale. I think yours is still an extraordinarily impressive feat, surpassing any 40k scale titan I've seen. I hope seeing 3d printed models doesn't put you off this project, it's one of my favorite 40k things i've ever seen.

[Firedrake Cordova]

I'm with @Mud Duck and @Naryn - I think you're being way too hard on yourself!

 

It's definitely a labour of love, and I'm sure it will look great when completed!  

[Brother Christopher]

10 hours ago, Blackadder said:

Relegated to the stone age.

 

I've been too long in the manufacture of this model and 3D printing technology has consigned me to the dust bin of "also ran."

 

I was quite proud of my recently manufactured spires until I saw this Emperor Titan.

 

Believe me, considering my track record, I understand this sentiment all too well. I think that objectively, this is true. Scratch building, sculpting and converting things - all hallmarks of the hobby - are less efficient than 3D printing or getting retail models. All these activities are extremely time-consuming and yield objectively inferior results. After all, even the most skilled craftsman is limited by the imperfections of the human body and can't match the quality of a 6K printer or die casting.

 

Having said that, you shouldn't care one bit about that. Acknowledge this the same way you acknowledge that water boils in 100°C. The fact that there are more efficient ways of producing models doesn't mean that handiwork is completely obsolete. While the end-product might not be as perfect as a printed/manufactured model, scratch build projects are more impressive to behold. The process of designing and building a model is like a magic ritual - a spectacle of creation that others can engage in. It has a kind of soul that, I think, machine-made models won't have. Sure, there are creative people behind them - modelling these things in 3D software - but that process, in my opinion, isn't as impressive and interesting to follow. It has probably a lot to do with the human factor and commitment of a fellow hobbyist, but I don't know. Scratch building is like a heroic epic - it's a journey filled with very human things: satisfaction, frustration, pride, doubt, but most importantly devotion.

 

There's also one other thing to consider: 3D printing probably isn't that simple, too. You need to have the right skills to design the model, you need an expensive 3D printer to get the details right, you need to properly set your printer up, painting 3D-printed models apparently is problematic due to the lines; there are also some other technical problems that might waste your time and force you to re-print some parts due to some kind of failure. What I want to say is that amateur 3D-printing is not there yet.

 

So, sure, you can get better results, but who cares. After all, due to the better rendition, a 4k-resolution image or a high-quality print is better than an oil painting, right? Yes, but not really. Focus on finishing this amazing model and keep us entertained. After all, you're probably the most skilled and ambitious scratch builder online.

 

10 hours ago, Blackadder said:

How' I supposed to compete with that! Look at the detail! absolutely incredible!

 

3D printing has set the bar by a couple of orders of magnitude.

 

So don't compete with that ;) continue with the project the way you initially (or recently) envisaged it to be. If you're aspiring to an even higher level of excellence, maybe consider adding some 3D-printed details to some sections of the model. That's definitely a reasonable way to 'bridge the gap,' if you feel that you have to do that. But, to be honest, I don't think that you need that.

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Brother Christopher

[ZeroWolf]

I can't say anything that others haven't already said better, but I'm going to try:

 

I can see where you're coming from, feeling a bit "What's the point?" When comparing works but there's absolutely no need. Both you and the person who 3rd modelled that Imperator have come at the same project with different toolsets (in different scales no less!) But at no point were you in competition with each other. I bet if the person who made that AT scale Imperator saw this thread, they'd be as flabbergasted as the rest of us at what you're doing and what you've created.

 

You should be proud of what you've accomplished 

[lhg033]

I agree with others comments. Your's is a different scale and league to the 3d printed version. Your version is also still a work in progress so levels of details/final decisions on this are not even a thing yet. I expect the 3d printed version is barely up to the knees of your version.

 

The 3d printed version is just another reference point for some ideas

(I really cant work out what is going on with it's knees and the scale of the weapons seems off in places)

 

 

[Blackadder]

Laser Blaster Armour and Shroud 

 

It's finally time to address the armour for the arm weapons. I've been putting this off long enough.

 

One of the things I have been noticing in many attempts to build one of these hulking monstrosities is the walls of the cannons (in this case Blasters) and the weapons armour is too thin.

 

 

As you look at the photos below, take note that the construction walls are very thick.

 This affords a modicum of realism to the item rather than sticking a toilet paper roll into a turret and passing it off as a gun barrel.

 

 

Note how the walls of this construction are very solid looking. I would not try it but I'm pretty confident it would support my 16 stone weight.

 

 

I'm going to do something different with this shroud assembly and design and shape it whilst on the cannon assembly just to make sure its a proper fit.

 

So we'll start with a sheet of 0,50 mm styrene and reinforce it later from within.

 

Every time I do this I end up regretting it because building something outside/in is very difficult. Ha!

I just want to make sure it's a tight fit.

 

I had the same problem with the Mega Blaster.

[Firedrake Cordova]

That's impressive work! The detailing on the coils and what I assume is a radiator for dispersing heat is very nice!  

[Grotsmasha]

I know I don't say it everytime, but I do think it every update. Your skill and dedication to this project impresses me every time.

[Blackadder]

Armour Continued:

 

The decorative armour seems to be more difficult than I anticipated. 

 

My version of the Sun Blaster is more robust that the FW cannon so it requires some aesthetic compromises which I hope will work out. 

 

I scribed out some lines to show where the plate reinforcement strips will go but I'm still wrestling with making the curves.

 

I'm also trying to make the louvers aft of the mount drum.

 

https://i.imgur.com/lIy5GWC.jpg

 

I had to increase the length of the shield by half an inch which caused some distressing of the surface. I'll call it "battle damage." 

 

After all, these machines are millennia old, they must have taken a hit once in a while.

 

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

 

Yeah, I'll go with that rationale.

 

 

[Naryn]

The shield is really starting to look beefy. I like the extra visual weight it gives to the gun!

[Pearson73]

I agree with the others, sure 3D printers can create amazingly detailed designs at a small scale, but that doesn't take anything away from your project. This build is absolutely mind-blowing, the attention to detail, time and energy are huge, and that is much more meaningful, in my mind. And your work still looks damn good, on top of those other factors.

 

The plasma weapon is coming on ace, the power coils look spot on.

[Blackadder]

Superstructure Detail:

 

Whew!

 

After a month or more I finally have something to show for all this effort...

 

 

https://i.imgur.com/Xh3Kgyv.jpg

 

First I found that a lot of the detail previously done was wrong or unsatisfactory.

 

The secondary armament in the corner bastions all had to be redone. I ran out of ossarium panels and had to redistribute them and substituted scroll panels...

 

https://i.imgur.com/mL5GhLf.jpg

 

The panels I thought I could use gun turrets were too wide and had to be altered

 

I had these doors I was going to use elsewhere. 

 

https://i.imgur.com/e6TFq2I.jpg

 

They work rather well on the main gun.

 

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

 

In spite of the seeming dishevelment of the project it may surprise you to know; I'm thinking I am very close to priming certain areas. 

 

 

[firestorm40k]

Great to see you're still working on this @Blackadder, it's a really phenomenal project! 

[Naryn]

The extra bits really show how well you've sold the scale!

[Brother Carpenter]

Looking very good.

Looking forward to seeing paint.

[ZeroWolf]

It still looks fantastic to me

[Mud Duck]

Detail idea. On the outside and top of the battlement have it "covered' with candles, parchment oaths of the moments, purity seals, etc. kinda of a middle finger shrine that the "lesser" crew puts out before battle. A "See our faith is so powerful, and your god/weapons/you or so weak that you couldn't extinguish a simple candle or rip a piece of paper" thing.

 

Still, she is a thing of beauty, and paint is just going to add. Keep on chugging BA!

[Blackadder]

The top level four corner bastions are essentially finished; the four corner bases are awaiting some decorative bitz.

 

Rather than subjecting my erstwhile viewers to the tedium of daily progress I opted to show a month's work in one swell foop...

 

The much neglected rear view of this model is my major project at the moment.

That and making College Titanica and Adeptus Mechanicus symbols out of green stuff for the major embellishments...

 

I cobbled together outsized Imperial Eagles for the rooftop ornamentation making 6 overall.

 

Today I'm going to tackle the four exhaust ports and the lower deck ducting.

 

So to the business at hand in the way of pictures:

 

 

Note the rooftop Eagles and...

 

 

the Laser Cannon emplacements which will adorn the Warmonger version of this beauty.

 

These will be interchangeable with conical spires on the Emperor Imperial version as seen below

 

 

I really want to prime paint this today...

 

Work work work...

[Firedrake Cordova]

It looks great. Scratch-building something of this size and complexity is really impressive!