Blackadder's Lucius Pattern Reaver

[Blackadder]

The Method to My Madness:

Now perhaps the method to my madness is becoming apparent. The idea to make the Mars/Lucius greaves interchangeable necessitated the removal of one to install the other. So utilizing the Mars greaves as a template I duplicated the shape and structure of the Mars greave inside the Lucius greave. After the glue dried overnight I was able to extricate the Mars greaves leaving the shell of the inner structure (right foreground L1.)

[url]http://i.imgur.com/Kqyv5Uw.jpg[/url]


Ascertaining that the Mars greave was indeed removable I reinstalled the greave and applied the exterior structure and glued in place.

switching my prototype from L1 to L2 right rear (to maintain the homogeneity of variance and not compound errors) I finished up the basic greave on L2 and used that form to duplicate mirror greaves R1 and R2 center rear and left rear of the photo.

Now it remains to duplicate the mirror of the right greaves on the remaining L1 original prototype so any deviations are ostensibly the same on all four structures.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/PDEFwdo.jpg[/url]

[Blackadder]

Partial Assembly:

Okay here we see the lower assembly; the whole d*mned mess rather precariously balanced together I hope to have the posing pins installed later today so how it will look with the hull installed for the first time will then be revealed to both you and me.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/NY2bv4V.jpg[/url]


In the typical Blackadder dyslexic fashion of putting the cart before the horse after the barn door is shut I relied on my gut sense rather than a concept art rendering and neglected to size proportion the hull to the proposed greaves. I am hoping the greaves are either spot on proportion-wise or a tad smaller than the ideal so I can bulk them up with an external suit of armour.

(The above statement is made because I invariably will be asked for drawings and templates to replicate this work (If successful) as I still am for both Lucie and Luteus to which I ruefully have to reply, "I'm sorry, there are no plans...........")

This way I can refer back to this post so I can't be accused of pumping smoke.....

There are no plans.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/DdSMZYH.jpg[/url]


The back view is most gratifying I particularly like the triangular protuberances with are unique to the Reaver and sets it apart from the two previous scratch-builts.

The triangles flank the rear actuator piston assembly and so serve a purpose besides covering the rather primitive construction work beneath.

[phil035]

looking good hope when you put both halves together both bts don't fall over

[Blackadder]

Reaver Standing on It's Own:

I have to admit that for the first time I'm impressed by the Reaver.

It was never a fav of mine but seeing it all in one piece it does have a certain appeal Lucius armour not withstanding.

As I had hoped the greaves are a tad undersized giving me leeway to add some interesting surface armour.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/bXr2Nmd.jpg[/url]


The side view shows the greaves have to be angled back a bit at the top but the overall effect is powerful even with the top hamper not being fleshed out.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/anhsoQR.jpg[/url]


I call this pose, "Eeewhew! I stepped in gum............"

[url]http://i.imgur.com/qhSGK2W.jpg[/url]


Just a little putty to keep the trailing foot on.


The Mary Poppins view...........

[url]http://i.imgur.com/ciSmacG.jpg[/url]

[Blackadder]

Bird's eye view............

[url]http://i.imgur.com/MupJs7x.jpg[/url]

[Blackadder]

Power Fist:

The power fist is not my favorite weapon so I'm doing it first because if I don't it might not get done.

The Lucius cover has to fit rather tightly on this gauntlet or it will look ungainly so the styrene has to follow the curvature pretty close.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/5whkgvf.jpg[/url]


The wrist will be held on with neodymium magnets so changing from Mars to Lucius and back should be literally a snap.

I hope to have this armour done tomorrow............. except of course for the detail.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/Subh5RI.jpg[/url]

[Blackadder]

My Mistakes or Theirs:

One question that I am continually asked is, "Wouldn't it be easier to just buy a Titan than go to all the trouble scratch-building one?"

Well here we have a prime example because of which my unqualified answer is, "NO!"

I spent the better part of yesterdays construction period shaping, scraping, re-cutting, filling, sanding, and fabricating parts of a supposed 'Kit'. I think I would have been far ahead of the game were I just to start with a thousand bucks worth of precision cut Evergreen Styrene. Warped parts, millimeter high mould lines, misaligned castings, broken and missing pieces; Fah! give me a pile of pristine styrene any day.

Don't get me wrong I think the Reaver Titan is a masterpiece of sculpting and engineering and considering the medium of casting they do a bang up job getting the parts to mate as well as they do but the translation from the design board to the manufacture output leaves much to be desired.

Case in point, the 'Turbo Laser Assembly:

Looking at the image below; four pieces reasonably trimmed and adjusted, how long would you suppose it would take to assemble the four components?

[url]http://i.imgur.com/NDfXOT8.jpg[/url]


Would you believe in excess of an hour?

In this blurry photo can be barely discerned the styrene fillers needed to take up the gaps of the piping and the rear component housing to the main body of the laser.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/uEriwYF.jpg[/url]


Below can be seen the nice little step that is supposed to intersect the arm joint...

[url]http://i.imgur.com/2wkDlwC.jpg[/url]


Well I had to cut that out with my Dremel rotary blade because all that was supplied was a generous nurdle of misshapen resin with a casting vent attached.

And I haven't even begun to address the mould lines as yet.

Easier than scratch building? I think, "Not!"

[Blackadder]

I do Love Snow Days:

Ah Sunday and a snow day to boot. Thank God for global warming.......

Anyway to forestall 'Cabin Fever' I've made some inroads into the weapons armour

and typically I'm building the Power Fist armour backwards i.e. "from the outside in"

[url]http://i.imgur.com/pg38BmC.jpg[/url]


Before anyone asks, No I don't know how I am going to get the resin fist out yet...

[url]http://i.imgur.com/saa2dyc.jpg[/url]


A couple of plastic piano hinge devices I am thinking right now.

[LittleMen]

Wow, this really looks great. I was just thinking about making some Lucius-style armor plating for a knight when They come out. Needless to say, you have undertaken a much bigger project!

[Blackadder]

Lucius Weapons Armour:

The Power Fist is the most difficult weapon to Lucius-ify............

I need to keep the Mars palm encased within the external Lucius armour so I can maintain the original finger mounts.

Since the Lucius armour wraps around the core there has to be a way to remove it if I want the model displayed in its Mars iteration.

The best way I can come up with is a removable lower panel so the Lucius armour can be removed.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/mHRZEea.jpg[/url]


I start by adding a thin hinge point of 3/32 tubing and 0.038 inch hinge pin of piano wire.