The Time Machine Build Diary

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Done with one!

Monday, December 31st, 2007

Approaching the home stretch now, surely. This project has been a nightmare, and I strongly urge any one wanting to build this kit to look elsewhere. May I suggest a Delorean kit?

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

These leds, embedded in hand-tinted clear resin, light up nice and bright.

There are mostly done now, too.

As are the end caps for the front and rear - they are clear resin with opaque ribbing.

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

Playing catch up with the website updates! Main circuits are done.

Cones were meticulously hand painted over top of the decals, as the decals were not opaque enough when lit from within.

Light cages were soldered - I taught myself to solder wire for this project!

Many failed attempts - I wasted a good two weeks on the cages and mini cages for the small leds.

Planned on using these.... but what to do? They were opaque and made of pvc!

Resin parts, hollowed out, didn't transmit the light needed...

So a mold was made of the parts!

So - the solution! I tinted clear resin and poured six castings (two each in red, green, and yellow) with leds embedded.

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

Monday, September 24th, 2007

Housing for motors - done.

Decals for lit cones - done.

Dish (green piping), gold bolts, and dish front axle covers - done.

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

Dishes are nearly there - you can't quite tell in this pic as the dishes were just sealed with a clear coat that's still drying, but the inner pie pieces are gold. Need to add the green piping and then mount them to the motor housings!

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Didja miss me?

Dishes are done - just need decals!

Chairs are almost finished and they're looking pretty cool.

Last of the part rebuilds are primed.

Oddly-shaped red light is being constructed.

Bored hollow - these will be cut, thinned evenly along the inner curved surfaces, and reglued.

Monday, August 6th, 2007

Perhaps the biggest hurdle has been passed, with the conclusion of the major part reconstructions I had to do.

Dark green enamel was sprayed and has cured.

Dishes were given a final primer and then sprayed with copper. Of course, the copper showed even more flaws than the primer did, so one more round of putty and sand work was needed.

The results are totally worth it!

For the gold pieces, I'm using a specialty paint that I have to have smuggled into the US, as it's apparenty too toxic to sell here. The C-3PO builders have used this stuff for it's superior shine.

These parts cure/harden this week, so while they do that, I'll start on the Time Circuit cylinder... the dash board, if you will.

Friday, July 27th, 2007

I want to smack the guy that poured these parts.

It took ALL WEEK to clean and prep these.

See what they looked like?

And see how half the parts were riddled with HUGE holes that needed patching/resculpting?

Testing the drive wheel.

Spinning dish axles are carefully centered, and pinned for strength.

It all payed off - the bearings are smooth as silk, and the dishes on both models spin very nicely!!

Click here to see!

Monday, July 23rd, 2007

Last week was a wash, due to a nasty sinus infection, but a course of antibiotics brought me back, and I finished these last night:

Monday, July 16th, 2007

I got the wrong green... so these get repainted tonight.

More part refining. I am so tired of these rough castings.

Tuesday, July 10th, 2007

Chairs coming alive!

I got a new table over the weekend to better manage all of these ever-expanding models.

Bearings have been installed into some resin parts. I have to putty these guys and clean them up!

The "kettles" are also assembled.

Thursday, July 5th, 2007

Another week filled with part refinements. Three passes and six days of putty/sand/prime and they are up to snuff. Tedious, yes? Motors are installed in these fellas now - will take pics tonight!

That brown looks really nice in person - I think it's a wonderful base for the wood finish. I also sanded the tops with a rougher grit sandpaper to impart a woodgrain surface - it's pretty neat.

Friday, June 29th, 2007

Another week filled with part refinements. I spent every night this week meticulously rebuilding and/or cleaning the intricate scrollwork on the parts that make the Time Machine's chair. This needs to be perfect!

The base's sides were joined and puttied, removing all the gaps and wonkiness. Chair sides were refined over a period of three days - all those little balls were cleaned and sanded back to round.

Leg details - primed this stuff in black, as it will help with the woodgrain I'll be painting.

Sides were finally ready for the last primer coat - smooth and gorgeous!

Cushion parts were cleaned, sanded, primed.

And the arm rests were finshed and sanded as well - careful pour stub removal on these babies!

Monday, June 25th, 2007

It was a busy week for Time Machines.

Bases and motor housings were sanded and primed. They need another pass with the putty and sandpaper.

We are almost there!

Work began on one of the most intricate and focal points - the chair itself.

This is only after the first day of removing flash and casting "goobers"... these parts need a lot of love.

Lots of careful sanding and X-Acto work...

And lots of air bubbles in most of the pieces - each one gets discovered, and filled with Apoxie Sculpt.

The chair construction began, and modifications had to be made to get all four base panels square and straight.

Success - but it took a LOT of trial and error to get where I wanted them to be. This kit is not for the inexperienced.

More part cleaning and refining.

And even more part cleaning and refining. I have no doubt these will be jewels when they are complete.

But right now I want to scream :-P

Because there are still gaps and casting imperfections that I will have to fix this week. So tonight, it's a putty party.

Monday, June 18th, 2007

Playing catch up, now that I'm back from the beach!

Worked on straightening the leg supports...

Built the motor housing...

Finished the chair repairs.

Polishing up those bases, wiring, and puttying seams.

She's got legs!

Switches!

Thursday, June 7th, 2007

The last two days have been a blur of scratchbuilding from styrene sheets of varying thicknesses...

Templates were used.

Sheets were cut.

Stacked and laminated together. Some were given a rounded edge in keeping with the blueprints.

Primed and ready for a little drilling!

Holes were drilled for the Time Generator mounting base...

This should give you a rough idea of the size of the model.

One more snag - this one will be easier to fix. When the master pattern for the chair base was assembled, the kit maker accidentally swapped two legs - unfortunately making the left leg in the photo much higher than the right leg (you can see the 2x shim piece on the left leg and no shim on the right leg - each leg should only have one). I'll fix this next.

Tuesday, June 5th, 2007
I recently recieved two Time Machine kits from Masterpiece Models, and have begun the builds. Each will be fully motorized and lit!

Two boxes of resin and two boxes of "upgraded" parts and electronic components!

All resin was soaked overnight in a soap solution and scrubbed with Comet to remove mold release agents.

Motor mounts and light housings come together.

I drew templates for the base, which is made from laminating thick styrene stock.

Undersides of bases are done! These will be painted to look like wood, even though they will be mostly out of sight.

The only hiccup I have encountered is a casting flaw in one of the dishes - most of the bolts are miscast. I will contact the company today to see if they will offer a replacement. Otherwise, I will have to shave the bolts off and replace with hexagonal styrene rod. A tedious step I want to avoid if possible, as it just takes up a chunk of time!

I'm excited :)