M+ Drone Fighter 3D Printing Project Request

[Jasonc]

On 3/24/2017 at 6:56 PM, spanner said:

any new updates? just curious of course, no hassles. 

Sorry for the delay. I've been having this lingering cold that's just terrible, so I've been limiting some of my time to sleep. In any case, the picture I posted above has a lot more pieces done, and I'm starting to work on smaller parts now. For each main body piece, I have to do some intricate sanding in the gun track, as there was so much primer put in it when I first got them, that they don't slide properly. I should've checked before painting them, but that's not to say that they had issues. The paint held up nicely, and I'm up to date on fixing those. There are a couple parts I still need to recast, since I'm now fine tuning all the cleanup, and realizing that some of them just aren't up to par.

Aside from the small problems, I can get a couple out by the end of April (about time, I know) I wanted to get them with a perfect gloss surface, but with resin, it's nearly impossible. I found a super fine white primer that has helped immensely, but I'm going to flat paint everything before I send it. Now, that can (but not necessarily) cause an issue with decals staying on should anyone decide to use any of them, so if you want it glossy, just let me know and I won't matte coat it. At the end of this, I may not even use the decals for mine, save for the kite, and putting one decal on and putting another clear matte coat is not a hard thing to do.

 

[spanner]

all good mate! keep up the great work! thanks for the update! 

[Metal Man]

So, just to get things straight. The gloss finish is good for putting the decals on, but the matte finish is not. Right?

[Jasonc]

2 hours ago, Metal Man said:

So, just to get things straight. The gloss finish is good for putting the decals on, but the matte finish is not. Right?

The smoother the finish, the more coverage the decal will have in adhering to the surface. It can still adhere, but it's best to put another coat of matte clear over the decal right after that to make sure it stays where you want it. I also use a decal softener, which makes the decals more pliable and soft, so I've never had a problem with putting them on matte finishes, but yeah, still better to put them on a gloss coated piece.

[NZEOD]

Gloss is a smooth surface like glass, matt has a talc in it that gives a gravel like finish under a microscope.

[Jasonc]

Main bodies are finished!!! Those were a bit difficult, but alas, they're all done. Out of all the tail fin pieces, I need to recast 4 more as some are now looking like they'll require too much time and work, and if done, would take some of the detail out. That said, all but two still need to be wrapped up. The intake sections are done, and just need some touch up with the insides, and I've started working on the gun barrels, black tail pieces, and the camera platforms. I also started on the engine pieces, but those are going to require a bit of sanding. they'll be done in a stainless steel color, and I'm using a light grey primer as base. I'm also going to be working on finishing my recasting this weekend, or at least getting the parts I'm short on, or don't look good another go. the clear pieces need to be redone, as I'm really not happy with the look of them. I'll be recasting them from a different angle that should give me a cleaner cast. As for the wings, that will be the main work, as it's the majority of what is seen. I finally have a prototype piece that is just perfect and it took awhile to get it like that. I'll be doing that, and once done, should be an easy cleanup once I start making copies. I have 14 done now, so as I stated, there will be kits going out at the end of this month.

[spanner]

Sounds great mate! Thanks for the update! 

[Xigfrid]

Nice news!

[Metal Man]

Good to hear Jason!

Do you have any pics?

[Sharon Intel]

Oh man oh man oh man, I don't use the word "giddy" to describe my mood, ever....But this news brings it to mind. Thanks for the update!

[Loop]

Thanks again Jason for keeping us informed on progress!

[Jasonc]

17 hours ago, Metal Man said:

Good to hear Jason!

Do you have any pics?

I can try to take some. The pictures won't be anything really pretty, but just piles of finished parts on a table top. I'll get some tonight when I get home.

[Metal Man]

Many thanks 

Edited April 12, 2017 by Metal Man
Accidental quote

[Jasonc]

Ugh, sorry about no pics. I am starting to put a few of these together, while working on the wing sections I do have done. Those are definitely taking time to clean up due to the amount of surface. Nevertheless, I'm still looking to get one or two out by month's end. From there, I'll just be wrapping each individual one off as I go. Most major pieces done, and just needing small pieces finished and a few more recast of wings. I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[spanner]

thanks for the update Jason! 

[Xigfrid]

Nice !

[Murphy]

are the unpainted versions going to be done at the same time as the competed ones?

[Jasonc]

16 hours ago, Murphy said:

are the unpainted versions going to be done at the same time as the competed ones?

I have those coming out this week as well. I painted one too many, so I just finished up the extra unpainted. I have two painted going out this week, and I believe it's two unpainted. I'm just waiting on the clear parts I'm recasting for them. So far, those came out much better than the last batch, so if you are one of the unpainted kit guys, yours is out this week.

[charger69]

How is it going Jason? As far as I remember, I have two painted ones.

[Jasonc]

Sorry for the delay. I have two painted, and two unpainted done. I'm actually out of town, but once I get back, they are boxed and ready to go. I don't know,who they're going to, as I'm going based on the list, but they're on a fast track, now that the,hardest work is done.

[spanner]

thanks for the update Jason! no rush for mine. Im happy to wait (best for last wink wink!) 

[Sildani]

Hey, what's your opinion on WSF Polished? Or that black hi-def acrylate?

[Jasonc]

On 5/20/2017 at 7:42 PM, Sildani said:

Hey, what's your opinion on WSF Polished? Or that black hi-def acrylate?

WSF polished is very porous, and a little soft for thinner pieces. In working with it to prep a larger piece, I have to primer, light sand, primer, light sand, and do that about 6 or so times just to make sure all the pours are gone. Afterwards, I usually scribe in panel lines again to redefine them, and then clear coat. It's a process. I haven't used black hi-def stuff, but I do use the Frosted Ultra Detail. It's brittle and not good for durable stuff, but it takes just very light sanding and one or two coats of primer to make sure you got it all, and you're ready to go. I wouldn't use that stuff on permanent pieces though, as if you drop it, it breaks very easy. I may try some of the new material they have and see how that works, but at the same time, one has to consider costs as well.

 

For the rest of you waiting, I'm back from my trip, and got back to work today with it. I did manage to break a piece I was all but done with in some accident, so that was a drawback, but it's why I recasted extra pieces. I have 3 going out tomorrow, and hopefully another 2 Monday. I did make a new mold for the clear parts, and it works as good as possible, but the resin take 2 days to cure for the pieces. I'm trying to get ahead of them, so that they're ready when each kit is. I have some in the tank now, and those will be out tomorrow. All decals are done and clear coated, so I'm happy with those. I printed the kites on white backing and the rest on clear, so there will be white for those. The only thing with the white backed decals is that they have to be cut extremely accurately in order to not have it show past the black circle of the decal. If I thought about asking a decal guy, but the time and cost just isn't something I budgeted for.

I'll also post up some simple instructions for those that are getting painted ones. There is some gluing needed, as the wings are too wide to fit in the box, and I don't want to have it completely attached to avoid possible breakage. Also, some of the gimmicks added don't work as well as they should, i.e. the retractable laser. they can get a little loose when they're set to fully retract. Because of this, I need to leave them a little with some integrity. It's probably best to just leave them out, and maybe even glue them permanently out. That's what I'm going to do with my own, but that's just because it is a kit, and I don't plan on using it as a toy, so I'm fine with that. The wing attachment piece that opens and closes works fine, but because they're painted, it's not something I plan to move all the time. That works great, but again, to each their own. With everything out and flight ready, it looks great. I'm happy with the kit. It should look great with those other 1/60s.

[Metal Man]

How are things looking Jason?

[Jasonc]

5 are now done. 3 of them are for one order, but the other two are for the next. As I'm going in order of when they were received, I'm just going down the list and getting them done, and notifying everyone when they're ready. Yours is a custom paint, so I made all the major parts that are ready to go. At this point, I'm just working on the small parts for yours (clear parts, engine, etc.) I'm hoping yours can go out this week as well.

other than that, not much to tell. All of them are on final stages now, and should be going out one order at a time now.

[Metal Man]

Thanks for the update Jason! Almost over the mountain eh?

[spanner]

4 hours ago, Jasonc said:

5 are now done. 3 of them are for one order, but the other two are for the next. As I'm going in order of when they were received, I'm just going down the list and getting them done, and notifying everyone when they're ready. Yours is a custom paint, so I made all the major parts that are ready to go. At this point, I'm just working on the small parts for yours (clear parts, engine, etc.) I'm hoping yours can go out this week as well.

other than that, not much to tell. All of them are on final stages now, and should be going out one order at a time now.

[Jasonc]

On 6/3/2017 at 3:14 PM, Metal Man said:

Thanks for the update Jason! Almost over the mountain eh?

Yeah, just sent 3 out today, the next 2 are for another order, and those are just a matter of waiting for some paint to set before I box those.

 

AS A REMINDER:

I'm doing this, because I want those of you who ordered these painted to know that these are still not sturdy like a toy. They have some gimmicks to them that are cool for certain display purposes, but they are not meant to be played around like a toy, and will probably wear down paint if moved around too much. For those that ordered them painted, the kit will come with 4 parts (not including decals). The wing and and hook are going to be separate, as well as the camera housing. These will still require you to fit the pieces in and glue them down. If I completely assemble the item, it will be a bit bulky, and would be more prone to breakage in shipping. Because of this, I will provide quick instruction if needed. It should be pretty easy to figure out, but you'll need to fit the wing latch on the wing, then you can glue the wing onto the main body. Please make sure you test fit the pieces first. If the wing is a bit tight, you can ease this by lightly sanding the front of the wing. The resin will let it bend a little, too, so make sure not over sand it, as it'll leave a gap. Once those two pieces are secure, dry, and how you like them, you can then put on the camera housing (cockpit looking piece. If the piece doesn't quite fit into the wing hole where it is supposed to anchor, you can use an exacto knife to trim the camera housing section that fits into the wing. Again, it is resin, so be very careful not to damage it. If you need to sand any of the parts the housing will fit in, the camera piece on the main body that it sits on can be sanded down and/or thinned, as it won't be seen. Also, if there is a bit of a gap between the camera and the housing, it may be due to the camera part itself hitting the clear parts. You can even sand that down, as it's not too visible under the clear parts.

Understanding that these are resin parts is a must. some parts may be prone to change in very hot climate conditions, and so, if you have and parts that have warped, you can fix them by getting a bowl of ice water, then while you faucet is running really hot water, put the warped piece in it, while lightly massaging the piece to the place it's supposed to be. Once it's in the correct spot, put it in the ice water. It'll stiffen up real quick. This is mainly for those that have the standard resin wings, and not the task 2 wings. The task 2 wings are really solid, and should be just fine, but if not, same rules.

The wings will look like they're broken on the bottom. I did this because painting them and putting all this stuff together, along with shipping meant having to make the wing where it would fit onto the main body that is already attached. The engine housing portion has a really good lock down on the wing, so once it's in there where it should be, the front wing area that was supposed to anchor to the main body can just be glued and have zero negative effects.

If you want to put on the decals, they may not stick all that well, being that the kits come in matte coat. As many of you are modelers, you know how to fix that, but if not, I suggest looking on youtube on putting on decals. If you have issues with any of the decals, I can send out more, but if you want to avoid paying for shipping, just be careful.

If you need to do any touch up painting, I used Tamiya TS-8 Orange paint. For the black, it's just Tamiya matte black. For those that chose unpainted kits, I hope to see what you used, and your finished kits. As I have mentioned before, because I'm painting a lot of these, time is not on my side to do them perfectly. I do try, but with assembly line painting, it can be a bit of a stretch to detail them up like I'd want to do mine. I know some of you have sent me messaged about that, and I do try to make them all look as beautiful as possible. If anyone gets their kit and has any issues with it, just send me a pm. And by issues, I mean broken parts, decals that don't work properly, that sort of stuff that I can resolve. Thanks, and hope this helps. OK, now, I'm back to making more.

[wmkjr]

Thanks for the update! 

[Xigfrid]

Thanks for the update, making so many painted kits is an achievement itself.

[charger69]

Jason your explanation post is great! Thank you very much for your efforts!

Edited June 7, 2017 by charger69

[wmkjr]

Just wanted to say thanks again to Xigfrid and Jasonc for their hard work in making this a reality! Just got my package in today. I've includes pics of a painted assembled kit w/task wings and unpainted unassembled kit without task wings. I didn't do any gluing on the assembled one yet. It also includes decals that I forgot to take pics of. I just need to prep the shapeway missiles and figure out where I put the Yamato adapter for the assembled one and figure out what I want to do with the other ones.

Edit: Also gotta thank charger69 as he got the ball rolling on this.

Edited June 8, 2017 by wmkjr

[Xigfrid]

Nice!

[spanner]

 They look amazing Jason! Great stuff!

[Jasonc]

On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 7:38 PM, wmkjr said:

Just wanted to say thanks again to Xigfrid and Jasonc for their hard work in making this a reality! Just got my package in today. I've includes pics of a painted assembled kit w/task wings and unpainted unassembled kit without task wings. I didn't do any gluing on the assembled one yet. It also includes decals that I forgot to take pics of. I just need to prep the shapeway missiles and figure out where I put the Yamato adapter for the assembled one and figure out what I want to do with the other ones.

Edit: Also gotta thank charger69 as he got the ball rolling on this.

I'm glad they got to you in great condition. Again, any issues, let me know.

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 0:07 AM, spanner said:

 They look amazing Jason! Great stuff!

Thanks. As I said, I get a little fixated on making them look as good as possible. I know that's great for everyone here, but it's part of why some of these have taken forever. I'm still working on the clear parts and those are steady in being done.

The latest wing will probably be the last recast, because I have enough to go through more than half of the orders with what I have currently. I made sure the new wing was going to be an exceptionally smooth recast, and with that, I also painted and prepped this one myself. The prototype part is perfect. I'll be making the parts until the mold wears out, so at the end of this, there might be a couple more orders, with the exception of keeping a couple extra parts around for any mishaps from you guys. Today I pour the new wing mold base. Tomorrow the "lid" of the box.