{"id":1643,"date":"2008-09-07T16:45:06","date_gmt":"2008-09-08T00:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1643"},"modified":"2009-02-11T16:46:28","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T00:46:28","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-dampfrich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-dampfrich\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb Dampfrich"},"content":{"rendered":"

08.22.08 \u00c2\u00bb Sources & Concepts<\/p>\n

I wanted to design my own suit for a “Design
\nYour Own Suit”<\/a> group build over at the Maschinen
\nKreuger forums. I’ve also been on a steampunk kick so I decided
\nto combine both into a single build. This is a fully scratchbuilt
\n“what if?” suit based very lightly on the Heinrich.
\nMaK in the 1800s. (Ma. K. zbv 1800?) In fact it really doesn’t
\nresemble it at all except for them both having front windows.<\/p>\n

I wanted this suit to be a fully enclosed and
\narmored suit based on antique diving suits and steam boilers.
\nIt’ll have a large boiler on the back as wel as a plethora
\nof piping, valves, knobs and rivets.<\/p>\n

I did a lot of research when starting this.
\nThe bulk of it consisted of doing Google image searches on
\nsteampunk, steam engine, steam boiler, antique diving helmet,
\nand more. So much great stuff in my searches that I’ve been
\ninspired to make several more steampunk builds in the near
\nfuture.<\/p>\n

08.18.08 \u00c2\u00bb Initial Scratchbuilding<\/p>\n

I wanted the front to have that diving helmet
\nlook, but also have a larger view port similar to the Heinrich
\nor Gustav. The cock-looking object next to it is the boiler
\nfor the backpack. The larger ball-portion will be hollowed
\nout and be filled with coal. I’ll make a vented door for it
\nfirst.<\/p>\n

I also want to have him holding a bronze cannon,
\npossibly steam-powered, similar to the center one here. Ideally
\nI can find someone to lathe the basic shape for me (rings,
\nball-end and taper) and I’ll add the floral designs. Otherwise
\nI’ll have to look around for something similar in size and
\nshape for my needs. I want it to be about 5″ long total
\nand have a ball-end like the other 2 in this
\nimage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The base will likely be cobblestone with a gaslight.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

08.18.08 \u00c2\u00bb More Scratchbuilding<\/p>\n

Here’s the start of the powerplant on its back.
\nI’ll be adding some watch gears and some of those old-fashioned
\nelectrical capacitors on the back near the top. Plus lots
\nof piping, rivets, and knobs.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

08.18.08 \u00c2\u00bb Even More Scratchbuilding<\/p>\n

Here’s the latest on the Dampfrich. I made my
\ngrab\/roll-bar around the top from brass rod and styrene. The
\nsteam whistle is made from miscellaneous parts. And I hollowed
\nout the large sphere a bit for the door and to add coal later.
\nI started on the shoulders and arms. The thinner tube inbetween
\nthe shoulder and mid-upper arm will be covered in Aves later
\nto make that a leather joint cover. Oh, and I finished the
\nhinge for the top hatch.<\/p>\n

For the finish I’m planning to be mostly copper
\nfor the main body with brass, bronze and iron accents. There
\nwill probably be some wood in there as well and definitely
\nsome leather. The interior will have a nice leather (with
\nbuttons) chair-back and the rest of the interior will be flocked
\nin red to simulate that classy red velvet of the time period.
\nAnd with all of that, a “nicely worn and used patina”
\nas was used to describe steampunk on one of the sites I researched.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

08.20.08 \u00c2\u00bb Even More Scratchbuilding<\/p>\n

Here’s the latest! Mostly I’ve just worked on
\nthe front window detail and door. I made a mold for my Wave
\nhex-bolts since I felt like I was buying way too many of them
\nlately. I used those on the interior of the door and on the
\noutside I used the same diameter slices of hexagonal rod from
\nplastruct. That stuff is great for bolt-heads… just slice
\nand glue. I also did a few strips around the body which will
\nlater have more bolt-heads or rivets. Screws on the door were
\nmade from heat-mushroomed sprue and the groove cut with a
\nscribing saw.<\/p>\n

I also found some cannons at the LHS in a set
\nof civil war soldiers. This came with a single cannon, but
\n2 barrels which will leave me with another for future ideas.
\nThe wheels and cannon-mount will also co into the spares box
\nfor future oddities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

08.21.08 \u00c2\u00bb Feeling Riveted<\/p>\n

Here’s yesterdays progress. I started a periscope
\non the hatch along with a breathing tube\/air hole. I also
\nadded bolted bracings around the exterior. The bolts are hexagonal
\nrod from plastruct sliced thin. I made a mount for the steam
\nwhistle as well. I also too a shot of the window glass pieces
\ncut from package plastic. Oh, and I started the front armor
\nskirt too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

08.22.08 \u00c2\u00bb Standing Tall<\/p>\n

At this point I’ve finished the very basic shapes
\nfor the legs, but enough to stand him up! Yesterday I made
\nthe basic shapes from styrene. Today I stuch them to some
\nduct tape so seal-up one end of the hollow shapes then filled
\nthem with white resin. This makes them easier to add pins
\nto for posing and whatnot.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Shown here the suit is standing on its own.
\nThe feet are solid boxes right now, but later I’ll carve and
\nfile them into more of a foot shape. You can see the penciled
\nlines where I’ll be cutting. I’ve also finished the front
\nand rear skirts and mounts.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

A few people asked about my bolt molds. Since
\nI’ll be using a LOT of Wave option bolts I decided to make
\na simple 1-piece mold in order to make as many as I’ll ever
\nneed. Glue the bolts to a piece of styrene then place into
\nthe bottom of a cup. Apply mold release then pout your mold
\nmixture into the cup over the styrene and bolts. Remove the
\nmold when cured and pour leftover resin into the top an time
\nyou have some. Then slice them off the form and you’re done!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

08.27.08 \u00c2\u00bb Just about done…<\/p>\n

This week I’ve been adding a plethora of rivet
\ndetail and finishing up the other additions to make it steamworthy.
\nFirst up on the backpack is where I’ll be placing some watch
\ngears as detail. You can also see the wood being used as the
\nelectrical insulating mount. After is the seat-back. I rolled
\nout some Aves Apoxie Sculpt then applied it to a square of
\nstyrene. Next I brushed it with water and put a piece of plastic
\nwrap over it spread flat. The back of a needle file tool was
\nused to push in the plastic where the buttons will be creating
\nthe wrinkles in what will eventually look like leather. Remove
\nthe plastic and let cure!<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

And lastly here is the final suit. Not pictured
\nis the electrical cables valve knobs, pilot, and there’s “ugly
\ntoob” instead of thicker spring for now. Need to pick
\nthat up still. I also need to add a cast texture to the cannon
\nand lower boiler. After that it’s on to priming and painting!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

08.30.08 \u00c2\u00bb Pilot, Color and Paint<\/p>\n

First up is a shot of the pilot I sculpted.
\nI think the cap and goggles and big mustache sets off the
\nsteampunk mood. “there’s no beard like a nineteenth century
\nbeard”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nextly is the rough color scheme. I took one
\nof the above images and filtered it to look like lineart.
\nTHen I colored it and added a few more filters to give it
\nthis look. Basically it’ll be leather, copper, brass, iron,
\nand bronze. All od which will have a nice tarnished look.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Since I’ll want to keep track of what I did
\nfor future reference, and of course to let everyone else know,
\nhere’s how I’m painting this beastie. First everything got
\na coat of Alclad II Jet Exhaust. For the copper parts I sprayed
\non in the center of panels and such Alclad II Copper. For
\nthe Brass, I was on my own since AFAIK Alclad still doesn’t
\nmake a brass paint. For mine I mixed a touch of Alclad II
\nJet Exhaust and Copperwith Pale Gold and Magnesium. Probably
\n70:30 Gold to Magnesium then a small amount of the J.E. and
\nCopper. This makes a very dull brass color. I could make it
\nmore yellow-brass by adding some more gold and copper to the
\nmix. Basically mix to taste. This too was sprayed like the
\ncopper over the Jet Exhaust base.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

09.01.08 \u00c2\u00bb Paint and Gears<\/p>\n

Next up with the painting I used various mixes
\nof Rub-n-Buff thinned with mineral spirits to discolor the
\nmetallic surface. Silver and Gold were miced to lighten all
\nthe brass bolts and discolor the brass and “Autumn Gold”
\nwhich is really like copper was used to lighten and discolor
\nthe copper bolts and surface. Also shown is the various valve
\nwheels that I’ll be using. They were painted in brass then
\ndabbed with red acrylics to give them a rough painted and
\nchipped look. ALso shown are the boiler and secondary steam
\ntank. Silver Rub-N-Buff, thinned with mineral spirits was
\nused to simulate solder on the pipe joints. Silver RnB was
\nalso used to lighten the bolt heads on the steel portions.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Next is the body with a satin coat of Future
\nFloor Acrylic. This seals the metal paint, evens the sheen
\nand creats some tooth for the later oil-paint weathering steps.
\nAlso shown is the built-watch-part gear sections of the backpack
\nand electrical system. You can also see more silver solder
\ndetail painted on the copper piping around the waist.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

09.03.08 \u00c2\u00bb Weathering and Flocking
\nPrep<\/p>\n

The poast few days I worked on weathering this
\ncontraption. First I applied a filter of dark yellow from
\nthe 502 Abteilung line of oil paint. When cured I applied
\nmy discoloration which consisted of 502 Abteilung Industrial
\nEarth, Navy Blue, and Dark Yellow. Lastly after the discoloration
\nhad a chance to dry I applied pin-washes of thinned Black
\nand Industrial Earth oil paint. These were also streaked to
\nmake greasy\/sooty rail marks. Next up is pigment powders.
\nHere is a larger shot of the back as requested.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the next two shots you can see that I painted
\nthe interior (badly) with a marron mix of acrylics. This is
\njust a back-coat for the marroon flocking which will be applied
\nover it. I wanted to make sure that there was a back coat
\nin case there was thin spots in the flock coverage that would
\nshow through. I managed to mix-up a nice match. The flocking
\nwill look like the interior has a maroon felt coating. Very
\nluxurious and I think it will fit in with the look of the
\nperiod. More on
\napplication of flocking can be found here.<\/a> I also used
\nit in Vorflugkontrolle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

09.04.08 \u00c2\u00bb Building and Flocking<\/p>\n

Yesterday I flocked the interior and constructed
\nthe rest of the painted backpack. The flocking is being particularly
\ndifficult to photograph however due to the dark color. Next
\nup is to finish painting the leather parts and the figure
\nand weather with pigment powders. Oh, and the new front window
\nglass is from a watch-face. (part of a large amount of watch
\nparts I purchased on eBay) Worked out well!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

09.07.08 \u00c2\u00bb Final Update<\/p>\n

Here’s the final update. In the first image,
\nyou can see the flocking better and the seat back inserted.
\nIn the last 3 images you can see the painted pilot and the
\nleather padding around his torso. As is usual with MaK-type
\nsuits, the pilot would never fit in without being deformed
\nsome how. Note the extremely short waist of the pilot!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

09.07.08
\n\u00c2\u00bb Completed Images<\/a> \u00c2\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n