Stopping by to say HELLO!

[EmperorKai]

Howdy folks- it's been awhile, and thought I'd check in to see how everyone is doing.  I'm very pleased to still see many familiar names here and hope all is well with each of you.  I haven't had a chance to catch up with the site- still reading through many of the threads, but I am not seeing much of Harv.  I hope very much that he is well- perhaps someone here could bring me up to date?

As for myself, still building quite a bit since "retiring" though my eyes are not quite up to par anymore, so I've changed up my approach a bit.  One of the things I've been spending time with is 3D design and printing.  I've done quite a few projects over the past couple of years, mostly science fiction but some military modeling as well.  I'll include a few pics.

Among my recent projects, the ARK II (from the 70s TV show) in a proper 1/24 scale.  Currently prepping decals for that one.  The Klingon Bird-of-Prey from Star Trek is actually a series of detail parts that I did up for the AMT kit.  In the background of the BOP is a very long term project, the Randy Cooper Star Destroyer, a rather atrocious kit.  Fiber optics and a plethora of parts and assemblies including engines and the hanger bay.  Lastly, the Thunderbolt from Babylon 5 in 1/32.  Pretty cool to see that one next to an F-14 Tomcat.  In the background of that pic is the unpainted prototype- that project went through over 140 design iterations.  The display base turned out really nice as well-  I really need to take some decent pics of the finished model.

The 3D work here is done by myself.  I've considered the idea of producing some of these kits for sale, but I'm not ready to work that hard yet.  The ability to design the kits I always wanted but weren't made has opened up so many possibilities, and I'd rather focus on those right now.  For example, I just picked up another P-61B kit so I can finally do an XP-61E.

In the meantime, I'm currently  working on bunch of WW2 armor- if I can get my camera to work I can post.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi and let everyone know I'm still working hard at re-living my childhood. 😁

Kai

 

[Martinnfb]

Hello Kai,

welcome back. So much to share, thank you for that. Your work looks amazing as it has always been.  Regarding Harvey's absence, here is an appropriate topic.

As you might have noticed, there were quite a few changes already implemented in the structure of the website and guys are working on improvements and adaptations as we speak.

Looking forward to your work.

Cheers

Martin

 

[CANicoll]

Welcome back, Kai!  Good to see your work again.  Top notch stuff.

Harv is busy on Facebook as well - lots and lots of updates there. 

[HubertB]

Good to see you and your work. Great stuff ! Please post more of it.
 

3D design can be a great time-eater. I am very often caught between the « why not design and print this part ? » or « why not scratchbuilding it the old way ? » dilemma, knowing that the 3D design would always be better. But, for the time being, my hesitancy has always been about re-climbing the learning curve of 3D design. 
This said, I have recently finished setting-up my man-cave annex : all my machines, including the 3D printers are operational ! And what a pleasure to have the paint booth ready at any time !

So I may soon follow your path (again)

Cheers

Hubert
 

 

 

[biggtim]

Dang nice looking work!!

[Peterpools]

Kai

Welcome back my friend and it's a pleasure to see you posting again. Some brilliant work for sure.

 

[ScottsGT]

Kai, love your syfi builds!  Your ARK II brings back a lot of memories.   I’m a syfi nut myself. Check out my Seaview build in the group wet build section.  
 

I’m kind of doing the same-re-living my childhood one kit at a time!  Well, until that adulting thing gets in the way.  Wife keeps handing me projects, along with the house.  

[BlrwestSiR]

Welcome.back Kai! That's some great work there. The BoP looks impressive. The Thunderbolt even more so. Any chance you're working on a Star Fury to go with it? 

[EmperorKai]

On 7/23/2024 at 6:07 PM, Martinnfb said:

Hello Kai,

welcome back. So much to share, thank you for that. Your work looks amazing as it has always been.  Regarding Harvey's absence, here is an appropriate topic.

As you might have noticed, there were quite a few changes already implemented in the structure of the website and guys are working on improvements and adaptations as we speak.

Looking forward to your work.

Cheers

Martin

 

Thanks Martin for the heads up- I am greatly relieved to see that Harv is hanging tough.

[EmperorKai]

On 7/23/2024 at 8:23 PM, CANicoll said:

Welcome back, Kai!  Good to see your work again.  Top notch stuff.

Harv is busy on Facebook as well - lots and lots of updates there. 

Thanks much Chris- Unfortunately I'm not on Facebook, but I'll see if I can work out something so I can check in with him directly.

[EmperorKai]

On 7/24/2024 at 12:33 AM, HubertB said:

Good to see you and your work. Great stuff ! Please post more of it.
 

3D design can be a great time-eater. I am very often caught between the « why not design and print this part ? » or « why not scratchbuilding it the old way ? » dilemma, knowing that the 3D design would always be better. But, for the time being, my hesitancy has always been about re-climbing the learning curve of 3D design. 
This said, I have recently finished setting-up my man-cave annex : all my machines, including the 3D printers are operational ! And what a pleasure to have the paint booth ready at any time !

So I may soon follow your path (again)

Cheers

Hubert
 

 

 

I hear you Hubert- I had the same dilemma.  I feel fortunate in that I feel my design skills have improved to the point now where I can print better than I can scratch build for most things.  The ability to improve and reprint as many times as I want is also a huge benefit.  What 3D printers are you using?

[EmperorKai]

On 7/24/2024 at 5:23 PM, ScottsGT said:

Kai, love your syfi builds!  Your ARK II brings back a lot of memories.   I’m a syfi nut myself. Check out my Seaview build in the group wet build section.  
 

I’m kind of doing the same-re-living my childhood one kit at a time!  Well, until that adulting thing gets in the way.  Wife keeps handing me projects, along with the house.  

Thanks Scott- Nice job on the Seaview!  I'll be re-visiting the Ark II project again to add a full interior and do the Roamer as well on the ramp off the back.  I went through that project with the possibility of producing it as a kit.  If I can find my build pics, perhaps I'll add a build post for it.  In the meantime I have a big ol' list of other sci-fi projects I also want to do...

[EmperorKai]

On 7/24/2024 at 6:38 PM, BlrwestSiR said:

Welcome.back Kai! That's some great work there. The BoP looks impressive. The Thunderbolt even more so. Any chance you're working on a Star Fury to go with it? 

Thanks Carl!  I actually intend to do a whole series of 1/32 science fiction including the Star Fury.  I'm currently in the design phase of the UFO Moonbase Interceptor from the TV show.  Other 32 scale projects on my include

• SA-43 Hammerhead from Space Above and Beyond
• X-Wing and Y-Wing, Star Wars
• UD-4L Cheyenne Drop Ship from Aliens
• Blackbird and Stealth Viper from Battlestar Galactica 2003

I've also got quite a list on non-32 scale sci-fi on my list as well

[BlrwestSiR]

The Hammerhead would be nice to see. I have somewhere an old 1/48 resin one. Full of pin holes and badly cast details. 

There's a B5 White Star somewhere at my parents house too. 

[HubertB]

On 7/30/2024 at 11:56 PM, EmperorKai said:

I hear you Hubert- I had the same dilemma.  I feel fortunate in that I feel my design skills have improved to the point now where I can print better than I can scratch build for most things.  The ability to improve and reprint as many times as I want is also a huge benefit.  What 3D printers are you using?

two Elegoo printers, a 4K one (Mars ?) and added recently an 8K one (Saturn ?), and two FDM printers, a Felix and a Prusa (for wgich I still have to set up the multi-filaments device . I also bought one year ago a powerful gaming PC (with the relevant grapic card to go woith it) to run the 3D-design software, Atom 3D, which has the outlook and features of Solidworks, but not the same licence cost.

Hubert

[Bomber_County]

1 hour ago, HubertB said:

two Elegoo printers, a 4K one (Mars ?) and added recently an 8K one (Saturn ?), and two FDM printers, a Felix and a Prusa (for wgich I still have to set up the multi-filaments device . I also bought one year ago a powerful gaming PC (with the relevant grapic card to go woith it) to run the 3D-design software, Atom 3D, which has the outlook and features of Solidworks, but not the same licence cost.

Hubert

5 printers Hubert, now that’s just being…….😮 I was reading about the Mars 5 ultra at the weekend. Is resin a real hassle with the curing and washing etc? I assume with FDM that is not required?

[HubertB]

7 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

5 printers Hubert, now that’s just being…….😮 I was reading about the Mars 5 ultra at the weekend. Is resin a real hassle with the curing and washing etc? I assume with FDM that is not required?

4 only, not 5 …

FDM is Ok for large pieces, and allows to use filaments like HIPS (polystyrene). But the filaments’ layers are visible, so forget about fine resolution details.

SLA allows much finer resolution and is what you need for detail work. And with 8K, and now 12 K, the size difference of parts with FDM is getting less and less relevant. Yes, you need to wash the parts, but that is what a wash and cure station is for. And some resins are now water-washable, which is a plus, but you need to verify the resolution obtained.

Hubert

Edit PS : You may think that I am a compulsive collector of technological gear. The truth is that I have kept the older machines when I upgraded to newer, more capable, ones, whether it is the SLA machine from 4K to 8 K, or the FDM machine from Felix to Prusa. And I have a professional interest in this technology with my company.

As the technology evolves fast, there is a very small second-hand market for the "obsolete", or rather "superseded" machines, so trying to sell them is a low-success endeavour. I gave away in the Christmas raffle 2 years ago my first Anycubic SLA machine. It ended in the hands of Carl, after a stop in Calgary .