Metalchaos Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Hi everyone! In preparation for the Here be dragons challenge, I will hold a WIP topic on my actual project, Cinder the Red Dragon. Since it was very well and exhaustively explained in TaleSpinner's Cinder WIP back in 2006, I won't be going through all the steps of assembling and painting the dragon. I'll just share some of the things I will do differently, things I think could be helpful for anyone willing to assemble a boxed set Dragon. So, feel free to join in and share your thoughts or ask questions.For now, I've been cleaning the parts from flash and mold lines using a craft knife and a drumel mini grinder. I'm also done drilling the holes and preparing the pins to secure the parts together. I will use a 1/32" (1mm) paperclip to pin the tail and the arms. The right leg and the wings will be secured in place with 3/32" (2.4mm) pins cut from a coat hanger. Finally, I will use wood screw with long pitch thread to fix the Dragon on an aluminum base.Like TailSpinner explained, the ankles are the weak part holding all the weight of the model. The legs need to be firmly assembled on the base. I also noted the center of gravity is located to much on the front of the model, and it gets even worst with the weight of the wings, so it tend to make the model lean forward. To limit the induced torsion in the ankles, I will make the Dragon stand more verticaly, the way he's standing naturally in balance without any pins or glue on the second picture. Another thing I did, is I folded the pins coming out from the arms so they will act as anchor in the bigger holes in the Dragon's body. I used super glue for the small pins and I will use two parts epoxy glue to complete the work. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Awesome! Looking forward to following this one along. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted February 28, 2013 Moderator Share Posted February 28, 2013 Looking great. I WISH I had thought to position her more upright; brilliant idea. Mine still has a slight wobble in the ankles, but is otherwaise still holding tight. I'm thinking of bringing her to ReaperCon. I look forward to seeing how you tackle her. Andy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malefactus Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 A FINE START! Back when minis had a high lead content, I developed a real hatred of Dragons; they fell into the wrist breaker category. Following your thread I just might overcome my bias. Keep up the GOOD WORK! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted February 28, 2013 Moderator Share Posted February 28, 2013 (edited) A FINE START! Back when minis had a high lead content, I developed a real hatred of Dragons; they fell into the wrist breaker category. Following your thread I just might overcome my bias. Keep up the GOOD WORK! Cinder is still a wrist breaker. After painting her breast scales, I actually had to ice my wrist, due to the strain of holding her upside-down. @ MetalChaos: One tip, if I had to do her over again, I would leave the wings off and paint her and them sepaerately, then glue them together in the end and putty and paint the joint area last. I think it would save a lot of stress on all the joints, hers and yours, if you don't have those massive wings on her while moving it around during painting. Edited February 28, 2013 by TaleSpinner 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buglips*the*goblin Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 The Tak weighs a goodly bit, too - but don't tell her I said that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyberwolfe1 Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 The Tak weighs a goodly bit, too - but don't tell her I said that. She already knows. She has a special space reserved for you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalchaos Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 @ MetalChaos: One tip, if I had to do her over again, I would leave the wings off and paint her and them sepaerately, then glue them together in the end and putty and paint the joint area last. I think it would save a lot of stress on all the joints, hers and yours, if you don't have those massive wings on her while moving it around during painting. Thanks for the tip Andy. I thought about it but I'll probably fix the wings on the body before painting. The main reason is I don't want to have to rework on putty after everything is painted. I'm concerned about having to rework between the wings since there is not much room there. I will lay the model on the spongy foam which was included in Cinder's box. From the experience I have working on Marthrangul the soft foam prevent the painted areas to get scratched while you work on it. I will not have to hold the Dragon in my hands all the time while painting. This way the model will be steady on my work bench and I think I'll be able to work the details with more precision. Thanks anyway, your comments are always appreciated and I've already learned a lot from your WIP. Tonight, I glued the left arm and while looking at the parts I thought of adding more horns to the head. I bought 03334 Creature Components for another project and the horns, I think they are 14456 Mastema's horns, could drastically enhance the stature of its head. I'll try to work on something to show you during the weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buglips*the*goblin Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I went and read Talespinner's linked WIP, expecting to be shamed at how long it's taking me to do Takhisis. But . . . three years. So, I'm about on schedule. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stern Kestrelmann Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I'll be watching too... SK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalchaos Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Ok, as I said, here's some picture of the idea I had for Cinder's head conversion. That makes the head seem a little bigger. The first set reminds me of the Black Dragon horns. They give Cinder and evil look but maybe they're too big. I think the second set would be more adequate. What do you think? All these horns come from 03334 Creature Components. Does anyone knows from which model the second set of horns come from? Set #1 Set #2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartmanis Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I'm a newb, but I like the 2nd set look much better - just seems more suitable. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanguad Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I like the first set more - the second set makes me think Black, since they're forward facing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buglips*the*goblin Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I'll have to vote 2nd set, they seem to suit Cinder's face more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recruittons Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 2nd set from me as well, the first set seem too long to stick out of the side of the skull like that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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