BSC2023 zemjw A Spaceman Came Travelling

[snitcythedog]

Much better than the vinyl. 

[Tarnegol]

Despite the fact that 3d printing is obviously witchcraft, this is all looking very promising.

[marianas_gamer]

Great progress! I like the aesthetic.

[Vanvlak]

Robot chamber orchestra, go for it! 
Love the floor design 

[zemjw]

The main thing added this week was the printed floor.

I wondered about having steps up to the statue, but settled on an offerings table instead. It's nothing complicated, just some blocks with yet more runes on them

I put the connectors in this week, so the blocks are actually "floating", rather than just sitting on each other. The plan involves painting them green, to match the "energy" coming from the runes.



A slightly higher angle shows the offering table a bit better



I'm mulling creating some spaceman totems for the table, and I've been trying to see what different sizes look like. To scale, it should probably be 6mm, and even that is just over 15". However, the Epic 40k figure doesn't really read, so I think it'll be 10mm, as per the skeleton. I should have some spare skeletons that I can chop up, as I'd really rather not try to create something that size in greenstuff



I have to print an updated version of the spaceman, and decide if he's getting a backpack or not. Once that's done I need to print him a pedestal, with holes for magnets.

However, I think my plan this week is to start gluing things in place. I've been avoiding that step, as it seems rather final, but it has to be done...

[snitcythedog]

Ooooh.  That is very nice.

[McMordain]

This would fit right into the No Man's Sky game.
Looks great.

[zemjw]

Starting to glue things down. This is my hi-tech jig for making sure the floor is square.

The tool at the front is a "Model Pal". It's a suction thing with different sized heads, and was very handy for lifting a tile without disturbing its neighbours. I've had the thing for many year, and I think this is the first time I've used it

[Wirelizard]

Lego and masking tape for the win!

Really like the look of this as it comes together, the whole "weird sci-fi" vibe appeals to me.

[aircav]

 That looks fantastic 

[zemjw]

Thanks folks

I lucked out with the Lego. The half-height brick is exactly the height of the ePVC base, so I was able to get a nice clean line the whole way down.

The walls are now glued down, so it's time to start thinking about painting the thing, even if this is called a "Build Something Contest", not a "Building Something And Then Paint It Contest"

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

This looks Amazing 

[zemjw]

I've been bulking up the spaceman a bit, and getting the holes ready for the magnets. I have to say that I really hate working with magnets, as the little $%^" keep skidding all over the place

I need to bulk up the shoulders a bit, as it looks like he doesn't have any deltoids, and there's a tiny bit of work on the fingers, but I think I'm pretty much ready to call it done. I was going to add a backpack, but it complicated printing and didn't really add anything to the scene.

After and before pic. The more I look at them, the more I see Mr and Mrs Spaceman Came Travelling



Holes for the magnets. There are corresponding holes in the plinth

This looks Amazing 

Thanks. I'm happy enough with the build, but I'm now starting to stress over the paint job. I enjoy building stuff, but there's so much that can go wrong during painting that I put it off as long as possible. However, with only a little over four weeks to go, that's not an option

The plan for this week is to finish the spaceman and modge-podge the XPS pieces to seal them. Then it's time to start on the painting...

[AKULA]

That looks incredible already   

[zemjw]

It's been an odd week of ups and downs.

The main "down" was a seam up the side/back of the spaceman statue. It turns out this is a known problem in 3d printing, but one I'd managed to avoid before. However, on cylinders it turns out to be really noticeable. For info that explains it better, see this link, but basically it's because each layer starts in the same place on the print. I've done some tests, and a random start cured it on my test cylinder. I shall find out tomorrow if it actually works on the statue.

On the "up" front, the walls and floor are glued, and I've made a start on painting the walls. I had wondered about painting the walls before gluing and decided against it. That was not a good choice, and I'm now faced with getting paint into thin gaps.

I made a start priming the obelisk pieces, and I've settled on a colour scheme.

One thing I like about 3d printing is that it lets you make tools for specific purposes. I want the obelisk blocks evenly placed, but I didn't want to draw on the XPS (and it was no longer square after texturing), so I made myself a handy guide.



It's sized to let me place the obelisk bases centrally on the wall and equidistant from each other.



I have a few things I'd like to make if I have time. This week, however, is a lot of painting, so this may be my last picture update for a while