REPROGEL: Strike Two!

"All work and no play makes a man boring and tired."

Whoever said these could not have spoken truer words.

And so, I stepped away from my workstation and moved to my workdesk for some much anticipated alone time in my man-cave.

This time, I tried to cast manipulators from a Fusion Works Asshimar. Here's what I have so far:

Creating the mould. As y'all can see, I'm merely using a makeshift frame/box.

  

 

Here, I made a mistake while creating the second half: I forgot to check the mould after I stepped away. Only noticed the other manipulator [was] dislodged after pouring the gel.

My son fiddled with it after I stepped away. *sigh

  

Casting: I used masking tape to hold the two blocks together.

 

Results, straight from the mould. Note the middle finger and the thumb were not successfully casted. I will need to make adjustments there.

  

After a little *light* sanding and priming. The middle finger broke during sanding; the thumb broke after I dropped the part.

  

A little more practice and this should be good to go. :)

Conclusion:

1. Reprogel will be an excellent alternative to RTV and resin casting.
2. I will most likely not use the gypsum-like material as it is too fragile for thinner parts like fingers, even after it had dried. I will be using epoxy instead; locally available epoxy clays should be an excellent alternative.
3. This will definitely be ideal for items/parts that do not require much detail, e.g. manipulators.

REPROGEL: A Cheap-O Casting Adventure! [p02]

First attempt.

For less than a dollar, I got a 1kg bag of what looks and feels like cement, except it has an orange hue. According to what I've read, gypsum is used for casting; the clerks at the shop though referred to it "cast stone". They were unable to provide a specific mixing instruction and was simply advised to play it by ear, err, eye.

Not exactly helpful.

For this attempt, I tried to get the consistency of concrete. Here are the results so far:

I mixed roughly 200g (too much as I had to throw away the excess - first pic) for the FG's foot and Kenny Roberts' head.

Results: the foot looks promising as the details can be clearly seen, but the head leaves a lot to be desired.

Looking at the head, it actually gives me the willies. Looks like a rotting zombie head. :P

Observations:

1. The material hardens in as fast as fifteen (15) minutes, although I had it sit under the sun for an entire day just to be safe.
2. Once hardened, the material has the feel and hardness of concrete (i.e. sand and construction cement) and even gives a "clink" when dropped. No chipping. So far.

Concerns:

1. Since I do not know the exact composition of the material, I cannot confirm it's toxicity. (Gypsum is supposed to be non-toxic.)
2. Like Reprogel, it has a quick setting time, so bubbles are a problem. I'll try thinning the mixture next but I doubt if it will do the cast good.
3. Reprogel whilst moist, wasn't exactly pliable. I had a hard time prying the foot off [the mold]. After being exposed to the sun for a day, the Reprogel mold became dry and crumbly. So reusable molds just went out the window.

REPROGEL: A Cheap-O Casting Adventure! [p01]

Ever since I got serious with plastic models, I've always tried to keep the expenses low. One of the things I've been keeping an eye out for was how to cast manipulators without having to use resin. A week ago, inspiration struck: denture casting. If this works, I can definitely say it's not just affordable, it's down right cheap!

Dental technicians use Reprogel to create a mold and gypsum for the cast. Reprogel comes in powder form and in 21-gram packs that needs to be dissolved in water. Once it solidifies, you'll have a mold that feels and behaves like the eraser at the tip of a graphite pencil. I was able to produce a Reprogel "patty" about half an inch thick and four inches wide (diameter). I decided to run tests to see if it's feasible to use it for molding and casting small items.

My goals were pretty simple:
1. See how much detail can a Reprogel mold hold.

2. How plastic reacts Reprogel.

The first photo shows the Reprogel "patty" with the molded head (half a head that is, as I only used the face). I also tried using an FG Sword Impulse's foot which I made a mess of while extracting the original.

Pros:
1. Relatively safe: it's made of food grade gum/rubber resin.

2. It's dirt cheap: a pack is less than $0.25 cents!

3. Smells good: comes in cherry flavor! :P

Cons:
1. You only have a 30-second window before Reprogel hardens.

2. Bubbles are prevalent as you have precious little time before Reprogel sets.

What I want to find out now is if there's a way to retard Reprogel's setting time.

Next: casting call!

SD RX-121-2 Gundam TR-1 [Hazel II] [p03]

Updates on the Hazel II. Hit a couple of snags; fortunately, it's nothing that cannot be fixed:

• The right shoulder peg broke; should not be a problem.
• The filler I used for the head was not waterproof (*slaps forehead) I had to re-fill and re-sand several times.
• Masking issues: the paint keeps bleeding. I'll need a better tape for masking.

And of course, I missed the deadline.




Anyway, let me start with the head and a body shot:



And the rest: I really love how the backpack/booster came out. Makes me glad I didn't rush things... :P

SD RX-121-2 Gundam TR-1 [Hazel II] [p02]

After so long, I finally had the chance to once more work on this SD Hazel.

I initially planned to mod this to an Advanced Hazel because I loved the visor but had been hesitating about the shield boosters. At the same time, I was working on my Zaku Kai for the AoZ GB over at HF.

I realised my plan to add Zimmerits on the Zaku may not be ideal so I switched to the SD Hazel. With even less time to work on the Advanced Hazel mods, I decided to mod it instead into a Hazel II. Besides, the tri-booster looked great anyway! :)

So without further ado, here are some WIP pics. Please excuse the quality though as I'm only using my phone's camera; at least until I can get my digicam fixed.




Front




Back




The tri-booster and the shield.



That's it for now! I just hope I can still make the GB... *sigh*


Happy Holidays y'all!

ANTS versus Zombies

Nope, no Zaku or GunPla posts this time. I've been away from GunPla for so long I'm losing my creativity. i can blame it on work, I suppose. *snicker! Then again, I got bills to pay. Sigh.

I found this article after checking my webmail: 'Zombie ant parasite' uncovered. And so, like some mindless drone, I started reading away. I remember thinking, this is "probably the inspiration for the zombie games and movies."


True enough, the header read:

Ants were being turned into zombies by a mind-control fungus 48 million years ago, scientists have learned.

Turns out the article that was posted "10hrs 57min ago" has been around for quite some time now. Good thing, because it means there are many a reference available, like this article here.


The parasitic fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (aka Cordyceps unilateralis), once inside it's host [ant], develops by consuming non-vital soft-tissue. As soon as it is ready to spore, it takes control of the host's motor systems and has the ant "take root" in an optimum position. From there, it kills the ants and , using the dead ant as an anchor, sprouts so the wind can spread the spores. All this happens in 4 to 10 days.

Repositioning the dead ant is detrimental to the fungus. The ants have also developed a way to protect itself and the colony: they exile any infected member.







Here's another reference. This one has got good photos too.

Photos are copyrighted to their respective owners and sites. All rights reserved.

Plants versus Zombies™, all related photos and materials © 2000-2010 PopCap Games, Inc. All names are trademarks or registered trademarks of PopCap Games or their respective owners. All rights reserved.

RESULTS: Zakuhin Mo Mukha Mo (MP's 1st 2010 In-House Contest)

And the winners are:



(Sorry but I'm just too lazy to create an HTML table today... hehehe)



And here's the winning piece:










The body used an MG Zaku II F2 as a base. I stand corrected: it's an HGUC Zaku II conversion with F2 arms. The rest were scratchbuilt. GREAT JOB, YVANOMECH!

More info about the Dra-C can be found in MAHQ.net.

MS-21C Dra-C courtesy of yvanomech of Mechapinoy. Photos courtesy of V2 of Mechapinoy.

All copyright for photographs used belong to the owners. Mechapinoy has no right over any photos except for the purposes of this blog. Any use of the images for MP material outside of the blog is with permission of owner. However, submitted photos for MP use belongs to MP, Incorporated. Explicit permission must be granted by the MP administration for use of the photo if such is the case.