Kristof65s Tycho AFV

[kristof65]

OK, since the sculpting part of my Tycho AFV is done, I'm continuing the rest of the build here.   If you want to see the modeling and printing portion of the Tycho, go here:
http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/77726-tycho-afv-for-my-nova-corp-soldiers-wip/

I'm building this vehicle as a light tank for use with my NOVA Corp soldiers. First off, if you haven't read the sculpting thread, here's what the Tycho looks like. The 80010 NOVA Corp Sgt standing next to it has just been selected as the tank commander:


I haven't been designing models for 3d Printing for very long, but I have already gotten in the habit of creating my designs to use small pilot holes and small pieces of raw filament to align and pin pieces together:

I basically glue the filament in one side, and trim to fit into the other side. Then test fit, and glue. 

The two turret halves went together the same way.  Unfortunately for him, my NOVA Sgt had to sacrifice his legs to become a tank commander.


However, it's much easier for him to fit in his tank this way:

Next up was the first round of sanding.  As you can see, the print has lots of ridges.  The camera really magnifies them, though - they're actually 0.15 mm apart, and they feel a lot smoother than they look. After the first bit of sanding, I did some gap filling, and filled in a couple of holes I decided not to use because they got support material stuck in them. Next up will be a light sanding of the filler (Pro-Create) and then a coat of automotive spray primer, followed by more sanding. 


And here's what it looked like when I called it for the evening:

[Glitterwolf]

That' s an awesome vehicle!

 

 

[kristof65]

Thanks Glitterwolf.  

[kristof65]

Here's what it looks like after a round of priming and sanding.  The primer I used (Rustoleum Sandable Primer) is pretty much the same color as the PLA plastic it was printed in, so visually, it doesn't look all that different than my previous WiP pic. But it is a lot smoother than it was. 

I've decided that my next coat of primer will be black, so that there is a more pronounced difference when I sand. 

I realized as I was working on this last night that I haven't painted a vehicle for 28mm minis in over a decade.  And the last time that I did, I just threw colors on it.  So not only will this one be my first one in a while, but it will be the first one ever that I've tried to do any sort of weathering or highlighting/shading on.  I am painting it for table top, though, so don't expect anything too spectacular.  For example, right now, the pictures highlight a lot of things I'd have to address if I were painting for competition, but it actually looks pretty darn good from two feet away. 

[kristof65]

Primed black, getting ready for another round of sanding.

[kristof65]

3rd round of sanding done. As you can see, I've sanded almost all of the black off. Where it's left is highlighting two types of spots - 1. Where it's hard to reach and 2. Where the black is filling low spots.

 

My son asked what I was going to do with the Sarge's legs, and I joked that I was going to paint them up like the cowboy villain at the end of that cheesy 80's movie Timerider. He, of course, didn't get the reference because 80s movies are ancient history to most 14 year olds these days. Once I explained that the cowboy gets chopped up by the rotor of a helicopter, he said I had to do it. So I guess that's what I'm going to do with them. Here I have suitably chopped up the stumps.

[kristof65]

Final coat of primer for the Tycho, and a coat of Brown Liner for the Sarge and his old legs.

 

The Tycho will be getting a light coat of silver or aluminum (depends on which colors I can find at the local Ben Franklin), followed by a coat of blue.

 

The idea is to selectively pick away/sand/remove patches of the blue to reveal the silver underneath.

[kristof65]

And with the silver undercoat

[kristof65]

Got a little bit more done this week. I'm trying the trick of using salt to create a chipped paint effect. Here it is with the salt:

 

And here it is with the blue sprayed, and the salt brushed off:

 

This blue is actually brighter than I wanted. I was hoping for something that was a little darker, like the TARDIS, but the purchasing agent at NOVA Corp wrote the wrong color code in the procurement contract, and now they have to live with the brighter blue.  That's the story I'm sticking with, and rumors that I couldn't find an appropriate spray paint are just that, rumors.

 

I'll be muddying and further corroding it up.

 

And I began dry brushing the commander and some accompanying infantry:

[kristof65]

Been a week since I could work on this. Not much more done. Used MSP black and grey primer to cover the gloss on parts I'm going to paint other colors. Also used the grey primer on the chipped areas as a base for my attempt at corrosion.

 

[kristof65]

Got the Tycho to the point I'm happy with it. I used a mix of thinned grey and brown liner to dirty it up. Why did I use a mix of the two liners? Accident. I meant to grab my water to add it to the grey liner and realized that was my brown liner. 

 

I applied it in "puddles" and wiped it off with a paper towel.

 

I'll stare at the tank for awhile while I finish up its commander and some other Nova Corp figures. If something bugs me during that time, I'll add/fix it, otherwise this portion is close to done.

[kristof65]

Drybrushed and started picking out details on my NOVA Corp troopers.

 

I really want to rush ahead on the tank commander and get the Tycho done, but it makes more sense to paint a couple units at the same time.  Doing these to table top quality.

 

[Glitterwolf]

Great stuff!

[Darcstaar]

Awesome

[lowlylowlycook]

Getting a little "Renegade Legion" vibe from this. 

 

That's a good thing.