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The making of a 1/72 Tacticar Pod Graug--the musical!


captain america

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It's herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..................

Holy crap thats a heck of a lot of parts.

I have to ask this; all the parts need this baking process, yes? I ask because there are two different colours of resin. I can safely assume that the clear bits are excluded from the horrors of my oven I believe.....

Oh yeah, how come acrylic rods? Why not brass? Not complaining mind you, just curious as a guy might make his own kits someday over the rainbow.....

Yes, a lot of parts, but only the polymer parts need baking, which are all conveniently packaged in their own separate bag, save for the lower hull. Mind you, you can also bake the clear parts for half that time if they're still a bit soft.

Why acrylic? Because it bonds better to the resin than brass would. Just me being anal and such :lol:

Don't forget to post some pics if you can; it's always nice to see pics from unbiased third parties.

P.S: did you get the metal screws in your kit?

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Hey Heavy Melder,

If you look at the instructions, it is only the items listed in red and labeled out as the polymer parts that need to be baked (please correct me if I am wrong, Capt.).

The rest I believe do not need the heat treatment. Let's hope that everyone who bought a copy doesn't print out the instructions in black and white ink. ^_^

Crap thats what I did, that and my colour blindness isn't helping....

Yes, a lot of parts, but only the polymer parts need baking, which are all conveniently packaged in their own separate bag, save for the lower hull. Mind you, you can also bake the clear parts for half that time if they're still a bit soft.

Why acrylic? Because it bonds better to the resin than brass would. Just me being anal and such :lol:

Don't forget to post some pics if you can; it's always nice to see pics from unbiased third parties.

P.S: did you get the metal screws in your kit?

ah okay...hadn't considered the bonding aspect. Interesting stuff. Yup two what look to be drywall screws.

Would love to post pics of something I scratched myself except 1) no camera and 2) haven't decided what to make yet! But when I do I'll let you know. :)

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Mini-update.

-Am holding three non-deposit Graugs for MW members Ultimateone, Evil bones, and Hodiod01.

-1 Graug still unclaimed... For now.

Molds are going into the dumpster tonight, cos I'm finally done and so are the molds!! ^_^ I will be shipping all currently-paid orders on Monday-Wednesday, and by Friday of next week, the destructions should be posted for download. The latter will be a welcome, theraputic change of pace for me.

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Mini-update.

-Am holding three non-deposit Graugs for MW members Ultimateone, Evil bones, and Hodiod01.

-1 Graug still unclaimed... For now.

Molds are going into the dumpster tonight, cos I'm finally done and so are the molds!! ^_^ I will be shipping all currently-paid orders on Monday-Wednesday, and by Friday of next week, the destructions should be posted for download. The latter will be a welcome, theraputic change of pace for me.

John thanks for all you do. I know I cant wait until your next project, but I am sure it will be awhile.

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That must have been an ordeal... Seems like a massive undertaking preparing all those kits.

I don't know if I'd necessarily call it an ordeal; that implies pain/suffering, which this was not, just very, very long. To give you an idea, I can generally pour all the molds for one average 1/72 model, say a Spartan or Regult, all in one shot. Basically, 1 kit = 1 pouring session. With the Graug, there were so many molds that it took 4 separate casting (pouring/pressurizing) sessions with both a 5 gallon & 2 gallong pressure tank just to make one kit. It might not make sense now, but once you have the actual model in hand and you lay out all the parts, it'll make sense... I hope :mellow:

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I don't know if I'd necessarily call it an ordeal; that implies pain/suffering, which this was not, just very, very long. To give you an idea, I can generally pour all the molds for one average 1/72 model, say a Spartan or Regult, all in one shot. Basically, 1 kit = 1 pouring session. With the Graug, there were so many molds that it took 4 separate casting (pouring/pressurizing) sessions with both a 5 gallon & 2 gallong pressure tank just to make one kit. It might not make sense now, but once you have the actual model in hand and you lay out all the parts, it'll make sense... I hope :mellow:

I think it's like an body building ordeal Having to mix, blend, lift, pour, pry..... all labor intensive.

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John with all that you had to do with this kit and its size and work. Is This a size of a kit you would not tackle again? I know you put a lot of hard work into it, but was this at times overwhelming and Just not worth it for your time? I know we all love an appreciate it, but doing this kind of project again in the future not be worth it?

Carl

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John with all that you had to do with this kit and its size and work. Is This a size of a kit you would not tackle again? I know you put a lot of hard work into it, but was this at times overwhelming and Just not worth it for your time? I know we all love an appreciate it, but doing this kind of project again in the future not be worth it?

Carl

Truthfully, it was a more challenging and time-consuming bite to chew than I'm used to for a garage kit, but I have no regrets. Were I ever tackle something like that (or even more grandiose) I would do things differently. For example, if I ever get around to the 1/32 Legioss, because of its size, complexity, and likely high cost, I would break it down into several instalments over a number of months. Better for my psychological health, and better for everyone's wallet.

Also, for the official record, I don't do these models for profit, and never have; all I've ever charged for is my labout and materials. No matter what, you gotta realize that what I'm doing now, I only dared to dream I could accomplish in my wettest fantasy as a boy, so I don't even really consider it work, more like full-blown arts-&-crafts with the occasional tedious step. ^_^

Edited by captain america
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Truthfully, it was a more challenging and time-consuming bite to chew than I'm used to for a garage kit, but I have no regrets. Were I ever tackle something like that (or even more grandiose) I would do things differently. For example, if I ever get around to the 1/32 Legioss, because of its size, complexity, and likely high cost, I would break it down into several instalments over a number of months. Better for my psychological health, and better for everyone's wallet.

Also, for the official record, I don't do these models for profit, and never have; all I've ever charged for is my labout and materials. No matter what, you gotta realize that what I'm doing now, I only dared to dream I could accomplish in my wettest fantasy as a boy, so I don't even really consider it work, more like full-blown arts-&-crafts with the occasional tedious step. ^_^

John I know you do this for the love of what you do. No one would take the time to do the craftmenship that you offer for what I seen. Thats why I am willing to pay the cost for a kit I have always wanted. Even if you do get a little profit off of the top of your work. I know that many others and I are not complaining. :D

Last crazy question. Is the Cats Eye still on your list of things?

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John I know you do this for the love of what you do. No one would take the time to do the craftmenship that you offer for what I seen. Thats why I am willing to pay the cost for a kit I have always wanted. Even if you do get a little profit off of the top of your work. I know that many others and I are not complaining. :D

Last crazy question. Is the Cats Eye still on your list of things?

It's all because of John's selfless contribution of his time in making the models let us have the chance to grab what we have from him. Just look at the time that Wave need to develop the Tomahawk (still developing). I believe for the same quallity, it will be very very expensive. And the models that John sculpts are the ones that the market is very small. That's why the big brands in the modeling world never even plan to manufacture it.

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Destructions => Instructions

WHEW!!! And...d'oh!

I was having a horrible moment there after John posted about binning the moulds, I was thinking he might be planning to blow up the master with primercord or something, just so that nobody could ever ask him to mould it again. :D

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Cap'n, have you ever tackled a transforming kit before?

That depends on what you mean by "transforming kit." I've built many commercially-available variable model kits in my youth, and I also mastered the AFC-01 Armored fighter in 1/32 several years ago. It was made such that it could be built in any of the three modes, but not actually "transform," since that would mean sacrificing realism in key areas like joints, which goes against my philosophy.

Oh, and as for finishing my own models, I've gotten around to a few (see pics below) but with my law and commercial studies in the last few years, my "just-for-me-model-building-time" has been almost nil. I told myself that rather than rushing a model and doing a half-a$$ed job, I'd just put them in storage until I have time to build them.

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and I also mastered the AFC-01 Armored fighter in 1/32 several years ago. It was made such that it could be built in any of the three modes, but not actually "transform," since that would mean sacrificing realism in key areas like joints, which goes against my philosophy.

Hmm. This means I would have to buy three hover tanks/AGACs from you. I could live with this... ^_^

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What else would I pack my "titanic" monster model kits in? :lol:

Speaking of titanic Monster models, John...how about it? Mike doesn't seem in any hurry to do a new run of his. One from you would be pretty amazing.

Yes...I AM trying to drive you into an early grave. :)

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