Looking extremely professionally put together.


Russell

Quote from: russellsuthern on Sep 23, 2020, 04:13 pmLooking extremely professionally put together.


Russell

Thank you!!
I tried my best with it, its such a beautiful Sonic so I had to do it justice

8 October 2019

Back to the wooden strips, these were all handed over to a friend for staining, the staining was something I knew I wasn't going to do this myself as I don't have any strain or varnish from previous jobs, I got a good friend who works in a large construction workshop, and he has access to every stain colour imaginable. After numerous conversations and samples we got a colour which we thought would work perfectly.
Whilst a lot of these details were being added to the Sonics I was receiving progress shots from the staining of the wooden strips. These received a rich red coloured stain and a button polished finish, very similar to the reference images.

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13 October 2019

Once the supports had been added to the main body and all the edges cleaned, I started on the ribbing which runs the length of the body and adds a further detail to what would have been a very plain profile. Unfortunately as you can see by the image below I made a mistake when attaching the ribs. The left being the correct positions and the right being incorrect. All the ribs on the right hand Sonic had to be removed and replaced, thankfully this was my own prototype sonic So any imperfections were fine as it would only be me that would see it, the wood strips would had a large portion of these imperfections.



As well as the ribbing I had to install the final button and the housing. This was made from an upholstery pin used in sofas and chairs, I found this had a greater rounded profile than a normal drawing pin. Having fought to remove the pin section I filled in the interior with a layer of Milliput and sanded smooth before finally adding a small round recess which would fit perfectly over the button. I was very lucky to find a piece of ASA plastic tubing that was the exact size of the pin head. To ensure the button didn't slip from its housing a thin piece of 0.5mm plastic sheet was cut to the exact external size but had to include a 1-2mm lip internally, this ensured the button didn't just all out.

I am enjoying this scratch build immensely awesome work. 

karst

Quote from: karsthotep on Sep 24, 2020, 07:06 pmI am enjoying this scratch build immensely awesome work. 

karst

Thank you!

14 October 2019


What I knew would be a very challenging part of the build would be the top fins, 2 different designs but 3 of each on each Sonic. I knew I wouldn't be able to build 9 of each design. After a lot of thinking I decided to bite the bullet and try out something new, creating a silicone cast and moulding with a quick drying plastic resin.
To start the whole process I made a single 'master' of each design out of acrylic sheets of different thicknesses and some wire for detail.
There is a part of the design that wasn't completely accurate to the original Sonic or the master drawings I produced, this is the wire like sections which 'wave' around where I have only curved them. With how fiddly this piece was working in 1/2 and 1mm thicknesses, I decided to have a bit of artistic license with a smaller detail.

15 October 2019

After a couple of hours of fine detail work and lots of mistakes, I had 2 'master' fin pieces that were a close as possible to the original as I could make them. I can see that the wire isn't completely perfect to the original but at the time my patience was wearing incredibly thin and I just want it finished. I am aware it's not completely accurate and to be honest it doesn't matter every other detail is as accurate as possible I can let this one slip.
As well as the fin pieces I also made various masters for some of the smaller pieces needed on the bottom section of the Sonics, these included some sloped and rounded profile details which required a large number of duplicates.

16 October 2019

Next came the interesting and fun part, creating a silicone rubber mould for all the main elements needed: the 2 fin pieces, and some of the profile details required for the base unit.







Once the moulds were completely set, I removed the original 'masters' and started pouring resin plastic into the moulds, creating the first of many duplicate pieces. The full process of making the duplicate pieces would take me 7 days in total, this was mostly due to the amount of time waiting for them to set, any reject pieces that had either not set correctly or had insufficient mixture or even the wrong ratio of the mixture.

18 October 2019

After a number of days I was finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, 9 duplicate pieces for each of the 2 fins and large number of profile details. A lot of these pieces did require a lot of work due to air bubbles or impurities, but all these could be worked out with Milliput and modelling filler.

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20 October 2019

With the fins completed I needed to add ASA plastic strips which would form the holder for the omitter. All the mounting and drilling the pilot holes for the omitter piece went without a hitch and I completed all the pieces in a quick time.









It wasn't until I mounted the fins till I sat back and looked back at my reference drawing. Something didn't look right. I'd mounted the fins the wrong way up! If you look at the Sonic and the reference image below you'll see where I went wrong. The worst part was when I reattached them I got it wrong again and mounted them upside down again! 3rd time lucky I got it right.





Once all the fins had been added to all 3 Sonics they was really starting to look like the Dark Eyes Sonics and not just lumps of plastic.

5 November 2019

It was now time to dust off the proto-type omitter and think about making another 3. As I'd mentioned previously I had purchased a belt sander in the hopes this would speed up the process of shaping the plastic. I was right, and after a number of hours of burning plastic and being completely covered in the stuff I had 3 very rough omitters ready for final sanding and detailing.

9 November 2019

Whilst all this was happening I was planning ahead for what would be all the fine details, all the nuts, bolts screws, etc. I found a great place on eBay that sold larger numbers of screws and bolts in the smaller M sizes I needed. To ensure I didn't have to order duplicate amounts or differing sizes I purchased a selection of sizes and types.



With all the major items sanded, super glued, Milliputted and sanded again they are ready to be painted. Here are all the main pieces ready for its first coat of grey primer.
(Please ignore the very messy desk!)



After the initial 2 coats of primer I added the further detailing on the base unit with the various nuts, bolts and screws. These all needed to be treated the same way as the rest of the sonic.

12 November 2019

Next came the coloured spray paint. I had a number of brown and metallic colour spray paint from other projects, some worked some didn't but in the end I wanted a varied range of bronzes and browns over a number of light layers.

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17 November 2019

After lots of messing around with coats and layers, I had a base colour I was happy with. The lighting here makes it look a lot yellower than what it really was.









To help dull down the vibrant fresh coat of colour, I started to hand dry brush dirty brown and blacks. This helped to remove the instant shine from the fresh coat of paint.

18 November 2019

The left had received a dry brush coat of dirty black and brown as well as dry brush silver and gold detailing to making it look scratched and distressed, the right was its fresh colour.



The spring elements, which adds detail to the omitter and the fins, was an interesting challenge. I purchased a set of tension springs in various sizes and lengths, these were a perfect match to the Sonic prop. I had to find a way to stop the springs pinging off and work out how to adhere them to both elements. To help curve the spring I used a specifically curved piece of wire which would sit inside the springs. These springs were then cut to size and adhered into place.



To ensure the springs didn't move, the fins required work, there is an added detail visible which has the spring attached to. It shows a nut at the base with the spring protruding, I needed a way to have a nut visible yet holding the spring. I decided to use some of the longer nuts, using a 1mm thick ASA plastic tube washer and then finally the nut. This allowed for enough length for the glue to adhere to the bolt within the fin and enough for the spring to adhere to on the bolt.

20 November 2019

Before I could install the springs I had to attach the omitters, which has to be one of the most exciting part of the build. The omitter was held in with a mixture of super glue, hot glue and small screws. All these elements ensured the omitter will never move.









Small guide holes were needed within the omitters, these were required to hold the wire and springs into position.

21 November 2019

After a lot of force in bending the spring into position, I finally got the first spring in place, glued and secured. One down 8 more to go.









The production line starts with the rest of the springs being cut to length, bending the wire into shape and securing them to the sonics.





The end was starting to look very close at this point, the colour looked great, and the omitter and surface details had been added.