Southcross Model Monstrosities

[Grayson72]

I like the red

[Pat S]

I sent my cousin a link to the files, and he created a MONSTER!

[Pat S]

More...

[Pat S]

Last two.

Pivot note:

Note the position of the legs in relation to the body in 'MAC-3'.  This is with my custom Pivot installed.  This is the maximum degree of pivot.  35 degrees either way is the maximum swivel allowed without removing parts from the build.  There are 2 small boxes (parts P-2) (see Manual 3) attached to the rear underside which hit on the top of the legs during pivot.  By omitting these boxes from a build you could actually get full 360 degrees swivel.  I didn't want to omit anything so I settled for 35 degrees, which is still, fairly dramatic looking.

Also, in order to get any pivot at all, you must shorten part 'D-1' (see Manual 3) 1/4", and move it forward 1/4".

Weight problem:

Installing a Pivot also weakens the center of the model because the two halves are not glued together.  The MAC is obviously front heavy with 12" worth of cannon protruding forward of it's center of gravity.  All this weight tilted the upper body forward and opened a small gap in the mid section at my Pivot.  To correct this, you may need to add weight in the rear to balance the upper body.  Not much.  I used 6, Sixteen Penny, nails inserted into the back of compartment Q-1(see manual 4) Add your weight before you seal the back of the compartment with part Q-4.

This seemed to balance everything perfectly and corrected the original forward 'tipsiness' of the MAC.

Barrels:

Don't even bother trying to use the barrel prints on sheets 'S' & 'T'.  I spent four hours trying to get decent looking barrels out of them and finally designed my own from scratch using 'Picture Publisher.'  I mentioned my 2 part design with 'skin'.  Try it this way and you'll get some great looking barrels with little or no visible seam.

The main gun barrels are, by far, the hardest part of this model to "get right."

[Pat S]

Last one

[wildgoose]

Here is the Macross Emblem that I used on the previous Monster. Print it any size you want.

[Pat S]

Here is the Macross Emblem that I used on the previous Monster. Print it any size you want.

Uh oh, you're all in trouble now! Welcome aboard wildgoose.

[Southcross]

Here is the Macross Emblem that I used on the previous Monster. Print it any size you want.

SWEET! thank you so much... all the other RDF logos I have are not nearly as high rez as that one

[Southcross]

Last two.

Pivot note:

Note the position of the legs in relation to the body in 'MAC-3'.  This is with my custom Pivot installed.  This is the maximum degree of pivot.  35 degrees either way is the maximum swivel allowed without removing parts from the build.  There are 2 small boxes (parts P-2) (see Manual 3) attached to the rear underside which hit on the top of the legs during pivot.  By omitting these boxes from a build you could actually get full 360 degrees swivel.  I didn't want to omit anything so I settled for 35 degrees, which is still, fairly dramatic looking.

Also, in order to get any pivot at all, you must shorten part 'D-1' (see Manual 3) 1/4", and move it forward 1/4".

Weight problem:

Installing a Pivot also weakens the center of the model because the two halves are not glued together.  The MAC is obviously front heavy with 12" worth of cannon protruding forward of it's center of gravity.  All this weight tilted the upper body forward and opened a small gap in the mid section at my Pivot.  To correct this, you may need to add weight in the rear to balance the upper body.  Not much.  I used 6, Sixteen Penny, nails inserted into the back of compartment Q-1(see manual 4) Add your weight before you seal the back of the compartment with part Q-4.

This seemed to balance everything perfectly and corrected the original forward 'tipsiness' of the MAC.

Barrels:

Don't even bother trying to use the barrel prints on sheets 'S' & 'T'.  I spent four hours trying to get decent looking barrels out of them and finally designed my own from scratch using 'Picture Publisher.'  I mentioned my 2 part design with 'skin'.  Try it this way and you'll get some great looking barrels with little or no visible seam.

The main gun barrels are, by far, the hardest part of this model to "get right."

wow Pat S!

gonna see how I can apply that to my 3.0

[wildgoose]

Here's something for every ones' viewing pleasure.

[Southcross]

Here's something for every ones' viewing pleasure.

hrmmm... not bad.. you need to tweak your "edges" of your image when you photoshop an image, otherwise it stands out... also btw... the Mark II Monster fires its barrels in 2s or 4s... the Muzzle Flash or "flame plume" is more cone/ball of fire shaped... the blast coming out of barrel 4 looks like the HE shell detonated or something at the muzzle.

[Brianw76]

That thing is gonna be huge! Good to see another person put a docutech to use with personal projects. I'll have to do the same with my 6180 at work. Can't wait to see more of your project.

[Southcross]

That thing is gonna be huge! Good to see another person put a docutech to use with personal projects. I'll have to do the same with my 6180 at work. Can't wait to see more of your project.

NO FAIR! YOU HAVE A 180!?! hehe my company has been promising to get us a 180 for monthes. We are already exceeding the capacity of our two (2) 135's by 25-33%

Thankfuly they dont' frown upon our personal usage as long as its reasonable (though I am very self conscious about printing on our color machine). I can print any PDFs/Books I download... I just can't print 60 copies of a 400page manual to distribute

I've been in OT "overload" this whole weekend... I haven't even looked at it sinse last sunday I'm starting to miss my little friend

[Southcross]

Ver 3.0 update:

I'm about %50 complete doing my cleanup of the parts. i.e. %90 done replacing the text, fine details, etc. The next step is working on any "custom" parts, modifications, and the "additional images".

This part is giving me some great needed practive working with Vector art.

I've decided to not clean it up %100... I think the JPG compression adds a bit of edge weathering and texture to the surface. things that would appear as "lables" or painted on, metal plates, port openings, etc I am redoing the graphics on to make them stand out like they were a different surface or material.

Here is a sample of some of the cleanup I have done so far: (sorry dialup users)

Before 1

After 1

Before 2

After 2

Edited March 4, 2004 by Southcross

[Grayson72]

I don't suppose you're going to share all this greatness with us when you're done?

[Southcross]

I don't suppose you're going to share all this greatness with us when you're done?

well I can "share" but the deal is these files are HUGE! At the last time I checked the files were well over 120MB. And I'm still not done. The files are currently in B&W and I will have to convert them to color for my custom "images". Color can be almost 2-3x bigger.

I might be able to do "printed" copies, but thats even trickier, as I would have to limit how many I can print. Otherwise my employer might get a little miffed.

If I would share the files, I would distribute via CDR media. I would ask for a small "donation" for the work (and of course the CD + shipping). Depending on how this thing comes out... I might "break the mold" and possibly sell the completed model on ebay.

[pfunk]

were counting on yer good work man, thats comming out pretty sweet

[Angel's Fury]

were counting on yer good work man, thats comming out pretty sweet

I second that!

[Southcross]

Day 5

Got quite a bit more work done on my v.2.0

I've been over working myself over the last two weeks. So I decided that I need to spend some quality time with my little friend. Problem is, I have a really bad cold that's just plain old whipping my ass. But I'm going to do as much work as I can.

Summary: days 1-4 (legs and frame of torso completed)

I completed building of the torso. Found several areas that needed "modification". what was originally a very small "gap" of unsupported material. I created "shims" (left) to fill and support this gap. I also figured out that v.2.0's center of gravity was behind the centerline of the legs, so I created a cardboard "insert" (right) to weigh down the front of the torso. (see image below)

I also started to assemble one of the barrels, completed the first barrel insert, and installed it... it looks kewl!

get more information and see more images at: Southcross Model Monstrosities: Monster V.2.0 Day 5

Edited March 7, 2004 by Southcross

[Grayson72]

great progress, I like the insert idea but I think it's too thick.

[Southcross]

great progress, I like the insert idea but I think it's too thick.

do you mean my cardboard "weight" for the nose? Its only about an 1" tall, whereas the nose of the Monster is about 2 1/4". I also made it small enought to be inserted into the nose after the torso has been completed, but before the legs are attached. I figure it should add about 6-8oz to help rebalance the bad boy.

[Grayson72]

No I meant the insert for the barrels.

[Southcross]

No I meant the insert for the barrels.

well I think part of the problem is that the barrel should actually be tapered, but for the purpose of making a paper barrel.. I think the designer made it straight for simplicity. What I did for my barrel insert design was I took the overall Paper Monster dimensions, took the overall length of the real Mark II figured out the scale to be between 1:50 to 1:60 for ver 3.0 (or between 1:72 and 1:60 for ver 2.0). I created the inital design based upon a 1:50 scale (better to be wrong on the high side in my opinion). 16" at 1:50 is .32", then I rescaled my ver 3.0 insert back to the ver 2.0 size. and wha-la that is the insert I put in. and it does "appear" very close to correct.

According to the dimensions of a US Battleship's 16" gun barrel: the bore is 16", but the outer diameter of the barel is between 32" and 36" (about double the bore size).

I'll see what the overall "look" looks like once I have my ver 2.0 completed and see if I need to "tweak" it for my ver 3.0.

[Southcross]

I don't suppose you're going to share all this greatness with us when you're done?

well I can "share" but the deal is these files are HUGE! At the last time I checked the files were well over 120MB. And I'm still not done. The files are currently in B&W and I will have to convert them to color for my custom "images". Color can be almost 2-3x bigger.

I might be able to do "printed" copies, but thats even trickier, as I would have to limit how many I can print. Otherwise my employer might get a little miffed.

If I would share the files, I would distribute via CDR media. I would ask for a small "donation" for the work (and of course the CD + shipping). Depending on how this thing comes out... I might "break the mold" and possibly sell the completed model on ebay.

I have an FTP server up and running now ... that would make it a lot easier to share the files... but unfortunatly I'd have to be a "nagger" and try to solicit donations if you download so I can afford to 1. register the FTP software and 2. to help pay for my Broadband ...

[THOR]

I wonder how hard it would be to cut the panels out of plastic? I know I'm crrazzzy.

[Southcross]

I wonder how hard it would be to cut the panels out of plastic? I know I'm crrazzzy.

I've thought about it... cutting out the panels would not be the hard part, doing the folds would be... now you could cut out all the panels and try to glue them together... but picture smashing an eggshell in little bits then try glueing them back into an egg.

the major problem would be that there is no internal support for the exterior panels, you would have to build one as you go... might as well just scratch build one for that matter... oh and make a resin casting and make resin's for your MW firends

[Southcross]

OK, I think this will be my last "addition" to the images for v.3.0... I had thought and thought of what would be an interesting addition... sight gag... etc... that I could use... came up with this to put on the back of one of the legs.

"Monster Tagged by Kaifun" (lower right says "Kaifun was here")

I am trying to get a "spray painted" effect, but I couldn't get the "paint drips" to look right, so I left them out. Please if any other photoshop people want to try and add the "drips" please PM me and I can get you a copy of the .psd I am working with. Now the "spray" looks spread out, but they should look sharper shrunk down when I print it.