Crusoe the Painter Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 I've been working with Sim Furniss in the UK on designing a line of alien figures. The problems we've been having is getting these guys printed ( solved! ) and then produced ( almost solved! ). The material is a transparent orange acrylic-like substance. The aliens printed out darn nice, though some of the features are a lil thin, like the hands, the feet, and the rifle bits. This is not a fault of the printing, but our modeling. :) I will bulk them up with a lil putty. Another problem is finding a method to make masters from these guys. You can use RTV's and resin, but it's tedious, and far more expensive than getting a master mold pressed! That is, until I stumbled across a vulcanizable rubber from Castaldo that cures at low temps and pressures. Problem is, it's used for jewelry molds! Then someone mentioned Niceme Green, which also vulcanizes at nearly the same pressure and temp! Both can take pewter casting as well. So I've got to talk to the caster, and see if he can use these materials. We also have some 'junk' prints made on a lower res, with nearly the same material properties as our highres prints. So the caster should be able to practice on these. "Great so where are the pics?" They are difficult to photograph! They're transparent orange, so you gotta play with the lighting to get something halfway decent. And before you start kvetching about the layers, blame the harsh lighting! These layers are about 0.5 thousandths of a inch thick, and the photo flash really exagerrates them. You can barely feel them if you run a fingernail over them. The perfactory printer even managed to capture the tiny nostrils located on the alien's forhead! Hopefully, primer should cover up the slight texture just fine. If it doesn't, a really gentle polish of the pewter masters should. I can't tell you how cool these guys look in person. Even I had my doubts as to the surface finish. But I am really really happy with them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Eversberg II Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Definatly interesting looking. Here's to no more problems coming up! M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hexxenhammer Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 I'd call this alien's look "non-ironic retro." I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Eversberg II Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 It's true. They do wear clothes. M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe the Painter Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 Yeah, it's supposed to be a lil retro. Sim came up with it, and we've started to run with it as a theme. We've got a levitating emissary, and some ideas for their evil floating brain overlords! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Eversberg II Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Like the sound of those brain overlords. M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newt Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Make one with a human coming out of its stomach. -Newt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakandara Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Not a figure that I'd be interested in, but the process used to create it is fascinating, in more ways than one. Good luck getting these turned into pewter masters. ~v Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant_Crunch Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 Cool, but I'm thinking this one's watched one too many John Woo movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe the Painter Posted April 5, 2007 Author Share Posted April 5, 2007 Quick update! Found a caster who has experience with working with 3d printing materials! :D So hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I'll have some metals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldarchy Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 interesting fig. Very classic alien look to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe the Painter Posted April 12, 2007 Author Share Posted April 12, 2007 Another update, I've shipped the figs to the caster on Monday who will make the masters, along with some pre-release figures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe the Painter Posted May 4, 2007 Author Share Posted May 4, 2007 Well, I just got a batch of masters plus some samples back from the caster. The scouting part has ARRIVED! :D I'll get some better pics tomorrow. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanite Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Those are really excellent. Do you have the retail distribution worked out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hexxenhammer Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Awesome. I love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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