Sandcrawler project

[mDust]

correct me if I'm wrong on #1, as that would then eliminate #2): 1. a water cooling system must be fully contained to prevent evaporation and contamination. 2. that means I'd have to cover the waterfalls, which would look weird. 3. just thought of a 3rd reason....just had to spend $400 more fixing my truck than I was expecting, so I don't have the $$ for WC at the moment.

WC loops *should* be closed systems. If the environment is fairly clean and you're willing to constantly refill the coolant, then having it open to a waterfall shouldn't be too much of a problem. However, since you have cats, I'm sure there's abundant cat hair just about everywhere, right? To make the waterfall work, you'd need a filter between the waterfall and the rest of the loop to catch anything that might fall into the water. Something like a coffee filter in a reservoir would keep any debris from damaging your pump or clogging blocks or rads.
Also, don't put any toxic additives in the loop. The water will make noise so the cats will find and explore it quickly...they will likely decide to take a drink from it every now and then.

BTW, the crawler looks great!

[artoodeeto]

Thanks mdust, I'll keep all that in mind, very good points. And yeah, you're right, I could almost make a 3rd cat out of all the hair... +rep for the WC tips
In all likelihood, I won't be doing WC, really for 2 reasons: 1. can't afford it, and 2. the system won't really need it anyway (however, it also doesn't "need" to be put inside a model of Rivendell, so that reason doesn't exactly hold water).

[artoodeeto]

And here's the remaining to-do list on this puppy:
1. add raised area around front of rear roof
2. fix wires under front roof so it sits flush
3. cover remaining roof areas with posterboard to match rest of model
4. add texture/details to roof areas
5. sculpt larger pieces of machinery
6. mold the sculpted parts
7. cast the sculpted parts
8. attached casts to model
9. build up smaller machinery pieces on outside using old model parts
10. add wall coverings to interior
11. build floors in upper sections to cover tops of new lights/wiring that illuminate the lower areas
12. add floor coverings
13. design and build interior machinery
14. build and insert crane into front interior of model
15. cover up hinges
16. cover sharpie markings to prevent them showing through the paint (if anyone has advice on this, please please please let me know...I wasn't thinking when I used the dumb sharpie)
17. prime and paint interior
18. prime and paint exterior
19. build base – sand with some rocks
20. bolt (maybe) bottom half of case to base

[artoodeeto]

Just emailed the Exploratorium in San Francisco, CA. They're doing a case mod exhibit Feb. 11, 12, and 13 (I think), and I definitely want this to be a part of that if possible. Expect to see some crazy fast progress on this from here on out. Speaking of crazy fast, I've crossed #1 off my list in my previous post.

[Airbozo]

Just emailed the Exploratorium in San Francisco, CA. They're doing a case mod exhibit Feb. 11, 12, and 13 (I think), and I definitely want this to be a part of that if possible. Expect to see some crazy fast progress on this from here on out. Speaking of crazy fast, I've crossed #1 off my list in my previous post.

I just made an offer in the thread about the Exploratorium to help setup any mods. Yours included.

[artoodeeto]

k, another incremental update. I've added the raised, sort of a fence, thingy around the rear roof section (old photo first for comparison):

note the hinge on the front slanted part. This slanted portion raises up so I can remove the entire middle roof section (after removing the front roof section). I left the roofs removable so I can still access the lights and wiring in case something decides to go wonky and/or burn out. It made working on the roof panels a bit more difficult, but I'd hate to have lights go out someday and not be able to fix them.

thank god for ebay - I have an asus crosshair II m/b, and this little use-only-if-water-cooling fan it came with is perfect for the spot on the model pictured below. problem is, I need 2, not 1. Quick trip to ebay later, and I should have 2 more of these puppies probably after christmas (I'm keeping the original fan intact in case I sell the mobo someday).

Not sure if I'm going to alter the plastic housing it's in, it's a little too tall. I'll see what they look like when I get the new couple of fans:

Overall shot of the top, what it used to look like first, then what it looks like now.

Finally, the PVC pipe rendered completely useless (and thus garbage can fodder) by my re-design of the back part (first shot is what the back end used to look like):

The pipe to be tossed...it's great for machinery-looking things, but these pieces are far too large to be useful. Oh well. At least I didn't spend a ton of cash on them.

[x88x]

By 'tossed', I assume you mean tossed into the spare parts bin?
Looking good..making everything easily accessible is a really good idea. My onboard video recently started overheating, and I'm kicking myself for not leaving an easy way to get to it...or anything, for that matter...

[artoodeeto]

By 'tossed', I assume you mean tossed into the spare parts bin?

maybe. currently they're in the trash can, but I'm really probably going to hang on to them til I'm done, just in case. they're full of screw holes, the screw-on caps are actually glued on, and without some serious jigsaw slicing and dicing I can't use them, so I'm not really expecting them to leave the trash can.
aw dangit...I think I might be able to make use of them LOL! keep an eye out, you may see 'em in there again...

[Loki]

Can't wait to see the paintwork on that...

[artoodeeto]

I've begun the sculpting process! I have more done now than just this one piece, but I haven't photographed the other yet. I still need to add a rim around the top of the piece. It's not perfect, but I'd say not bad for 1) not having sculpted anything in years, and 2) doing it mostly by hand. If you think sculpting a face is tough...try doing a tapered-top symmetrical cylinder by hand. Ugh.
The chrome circle in the very top is a hubcap from a 1/12 Ferrari F40 model. I'll use the drinking straw where pictured, but it'll be cut shorter to fit. Once this sculpted piece is totally done, I'll mold it and cast it twice, one for each side.
The unpictured sculpted piece I'm working on is the "machinery" that'll go on the back wall of the crawler, and again I'll be molding it, then casting it twice. Once the casts are in place, I'll add old model parts all around to complete the look.
The other visible pieces in the photos are a couple of Asus motherboard heatsink fans. I'm not planning on making them operable at the moment, but I may just run the wires into the space where the light wiring is to give myself the option. The fans, if they worked, would serve no functional purpose (since the intake side is the more-interesting-to-look-at top portion) but it might look kinda cool if they spun while the computer was on.
After all that, it'll be on to the interior...and then painting after that. Oh yeah, the white flat piece of plastic under the sculpted part is just the base for the sculpture, it won't be present in the final cast (just the gray chunk will be).

One other thing - I have to get this done by early Feb. so I'm putting myself on a pretty rigorous schedule - an hour or two after work each weeknight and at least 4 or 5 hours a day on weekends for the rest of this month. Now that holiday craziness is over, I'm hoping that's pretty realistic.