Big Sister

[Loess]

One of the packages that I was waiting for arrived today.



I managed to acquire an accurate Buckeye gas nozzle off ebay. This is the closest thing anyone I'm aware of has managed to find to the nozzle that 2K based the Little Sisters' ADAM syringes on. I'm hoping to put this in some rubber soon, and make some casts available for people who don't want to chop-up a $100 antique to make an ADAM syringe.



In other news, I got some pictures of my failed attempt to blow-mold a lexan dome. This piece is the reason that I went and ordered one.



I had the too-clever-by-half idea that I could heat up a piece of lexan, lay it on a board with a hole in it, clamp it down with a frame that had the correct hole in it, and form it to shape by blowing compressed air in underneath it.



Yeah, that didn't work too well. I overheated the lexan, and caused it to bubble, couldn't seal it properly, and when I failed to nicely inflate it to shape I tried to push it by hand (in gloves) and mangled the shape of it.



Epic Fail... lesson learned.



Make a proper vac-forming rig, or a much better blow molding machine before trying that again.

 

[Nicktendo]

I managed to acquire an accurate Buckeye gas nozzle off ebay. This is the closest thing anyone I'm aware of has managed to find to the nozzle that 2K based the Little Sisters' ADAM syringes on. I'm hoping to put this in some rubber soon, and make some casts available for people who don't want to chop-up a $100 antique to make an ADAM syringe.

That would be amazing... I know my girlfriend would loooove an ADAM syringe.

 

[Jeddychan]

One of the packages that I was waiting for arrived today.



I managed to acquire an accurate Buckeye gas nozzle off ebay. This is the closest thing anyone I'm aware of has managed to find to the nozzle that 2K based the Little Sisters' ADAM syringes on. I'm hoping to put this in some rubber soon, and make some casts available for people who don't want to chop-up a $100 antique to make an ADAM syringe.

hey I might be interested too... the cheapest I saw for those on ebay was like $10 with no bids and all the way up to $100 like you said...

 

[juliet76]

Loess my friend, if it was just you working on this project I'd tell you that you're a sexy man. But seeing as how Annie's right there with you working on it I guess I have to say that you're a damn sexy couple!



This is a mighty fine looking project indeed. I love the amount of work you're putting into this and the quality of it.



Keep it up both of you and I look frward to seeeing more of it.

 

[Loess]

Thank you very much, Joe. (I've timed us, fiberglass goes 3X faster with her helping, and the results are sooo much better than me by myself )



Sorry it's been so long between updates, but we've been too busy working on Sister (and did an art show, and hosted our families for Easter) to upload photos or update the thread.



As a teaser, I'll just leave this here.

More content tomorrow soon (ugh, still spending all our time in the shop), promise.

 

[Xbox Fanboy]

Great progress!

 

[juliet76]

As a teaser, I'll just leave this here.

HOLY SHE-ITE!!! :eek



*runs off to show Linda*

 

[Loess]

Humm, it's been a month.... it seems like that's a trend in my threads.



We didn't make AD with Sister, but we have gotten a bunch done on her.



Most of the rough work for the arm needle-lance is done.









Annie did a great job sculpting the details on the helm.







I got the toe-caps trimmed and ready to attach to the legs.



As soon as I can pull the rest of the photos off of our cameras, I'll get those up on here. The legs are pretty much done, we've got molds for the gas nozzle(look for a thread in the classifieds soon, or shoot me a PM), the helm and tank are mounted to the mantle, and Annie finished most of the leather-work for the shorts.



Now that we've recovered from the Detour-crunching burnout, we're starting to get work done on her again. I really hope it won't be another month before I update again. :rolleyes

 

[juliet76]

Looking great Loess! Love the harpoon, and the picture of Annie in the helmet!

 

[Loess]

Thanks, Joe!



I was able to get the other pics downloaded, so there's new content in record time! :eek





We epoxied the knobs onto the left shoulder (the right, too, but I don't have pics yet) and epoxied the pump motor to the left arm shield.





We've also got a lot of the lance body done, just some details to add, and then assembling it all.





Annie did a ton of detail sculpting with DAS self-drying clay. This stuff is NICE! If you're working with a fairly thin layer, it'll adhere to bondo that's sanded to 60-grit and moistened with a bit of water.





The tank is mounted to the mantle!





My dad helped me to get some pins installed in the MDF rings on the tank and corresponding sockets drilled in some MDF brackets we epoxied on the mantle. To make sure the tank stays on its mounts, we added a bolt and tee-nut to clamp the tank ring to the mount bracket.



On to Molding!





The gas nozzle and some bolts prepped.





My homebrew vac-chamber: A Harbor Freight vacuum pump, paint pressure pot (also from HF), a big piece of 1" thick acrylic, and some plumbing parts.





It's ghetto, but it works really well. I can reliably pull 27-28 inches of mercury, and degas rubber pretty easily, provided I haven't overfilled the mixing bucket... :rolleyes





On with the Pink Goo!





Flipped, and ready for the other side of the molds,





Irwin! You can NEVER have too many clamps! :lol





First Pulls! They came out pretty nice, but the nozzle mold needed a little tweaking.





There were a couple places that trapped air bubbles, but a quick application of an X-acto made some fine vent channels to let the air out of them. I'll get some pics of the new pulls to show off soon. And, I'll start up a thread in the classifieds, if anyone's still interested in getting a cheap resin copy to make into the Little Sister syringe, rather than having to chop up a $100 antique.

 

[Loess]

What was that about not taking another month to post more pictures? Ooops.

Well, I have an excuse, sort of. May was about when we kicked into high gear on planning for our wedding, and this got pushed back, not abandoned, but we didn't have time to pull pics of of the camera and upload them.

My sister helped us on the patterning and sewing for the leather shorts, she also made Annie a special Yaoi paddle, since we mostly go to anime con's with her.


In the last few months, we also got a bunch of work done on finishing the details on the mantle and helm.


The helm is finished, except for paint and installing the lights and fans. We made the faceplate removable, held in place with two pairs of neodymium magnets epoxied into the helm flange, and the faceplate flange, and a couple short pins to keep it from sliding.


First coat of primer!


The tank, with the handwheel and plastic cast bolt heads in place.


And, the last work that we've got documented, the needle-lance.


The legs are done, I have to get a pic of them in their finished state, still. About all that's left is to build the cage, and the arms, and a little bit of sewing on the leather, and then we'll be ready for paint!

Now that I'm finally getting my shop improved, we'll be able to finish this project! No more having to dedicate a 6 hour block of one weekend a month to it.

 

[blue2k]

This is such a detailed build, very well done so far. Quick question if I may? I noticed that you applied fiberglass resin and matting directly onto the expanded insulation foam. Did that not melt or degrade the foam? I have read that it's supposed to eat away at the foam if you do not surface the foam first (with some unknown material).

 

[Loess]

This is such a detailed build, very well done so far. Quick question if I may? I noticed that you applied fiberglass resin and matting directly onto the expanded insulation foam. Did that not melt or degrade the foam? I have read that it's supposed to eat away at the foam if you do not surface the foam first (with some unknown material).

Thanks!

The polyester resin that we used will indeed melt polystyrene foam. The pieces that we 'glassed here were coated with 3 thick coats of Mod Podge. Once the mod podge is dried, it will seal the foam against the resin.

Of course, you don't need to seal if you use epoxy resin (expensive!), or urethane foam (also expensive).

There are other coatings which are sold as foam sealers, but I haven't tried them. We did find that flat latex paint does not work as a sealer.

Another thing that I found recently, but haven't been able to test yet, is a special polyester resin that supposedly doesn't melt polystyrene foam, and is pretty close to the price of normal polyester resin.

 

[blue2k]

Mod podge is not a well known product where I live (U.K.) but I have read that regular P.V.A. glue (watered down) is a suitable alternative, and about half the cost. I dont know about the U.S., but in the U.K. we have pound shops (where the price of everything is a pound). They sometimes have 2 part epoxy resin injectors, and that would be a cheap alternative. I suppose the U.S. equivalent would be a "thrift store"? I did not know that the cavity wall insulation foam was polystyrene, I had assumed it was expanding polyurethane?

 

[adventchildmatrix]

Mod podge is not a well known product where I live (U.K.) but I have read that regular P.V.A. glue (watered down) is a suitable alternative, and about half the cost. I dont know about the U.S., but in the U.K. we have pound shops (where the price of everything is a pound). They sometimes have 2 part epoxy resin injectors, and that would be a cheap alternative. I suppose the U.S. equivalent would be a "thrift store"? I did not know that the cavity wall insulation foam was polystyrene, I had assumed it was expanding polyurethane?

the pva glue watered down works but not to brilliantly sometimes. if you go to hobby craft theres a white foam glue for about £1.50
also i used to work at poundland (yes everythings a pound) the two part epoxy resin injectors are rubbish. used it to glue the bottom of my shoe back to the leather had to redo it every week. just my 2c

anyway to to why i posted

nice work loess wish my girl-friend was into costuming you must supply pictures of the finished costume or ill set mr bubbles on you.

 

[Loess]

Mod podge is not a well known product where I live (U.K.) but I have read that regular P.V.A. glue (watered down) is a suitable alternative, and about half the cost. I dont know about the U.S., but in the U.K. we have pound shops (where the price of everything is a pound). They sometimes have 2 part epoxy resin injectors, and that would be a cheap alternative. I suppose the U.S. equivalent would be a "thrift store"? I did not know that the cavity wall insulation foam was polystyrene, I had assumed it was expanding polyurethane?

Ah, I didn't know whether modpodge was available overseas, or not. It's not surprising that it isn't. I think that it is just some derivation of PVA glue. We do have dollar stores, but they don't have epoxy kits.
The pink foam that we used was extruded polystyrene insulation board, which is a common home-building material over here. The self-expanding foam that we used was polyurethane, and would be ok with polyester or epoxy resins.

the pva glue watered down works but not to brilliantly sometimes. if you go to hobby craft theres a white foam glue for about £1.50
also i used to work at poundland (yes everythings a pound) the two part epoxy resin injectors are rubbish. used it to glue the bottom of my shoe back to the leather had to redo it every week. just my 2c

anyway to to why i posted

nice work loess wish my girl-friend was into costuming you must supply pictures of the finished costume or ill set mr bubbles on you.

Thanks!
Once we finish this there will definitely be pictures, the only unfortunate thing is that it's hard to find a good location for an undersea photoshoot in Iowa.

 

[blue2k]

There is no reaction with resin and polyurethane spray foam? That's excellent news for me, as I have been looking long and hard at a suitable surfacing material for hardened spray foam. I almost used papier mache, so Im glad I dont have to do that now considering how tedious it is.

Ps, thanks for the additional info adventchildmatrix. I wont be buying any of that then.

 

[Toacrabman]

I remember when one of my friends told me about Yaoi, then I left the room, because she is crazy.

 

[Loess]

There is no reaction with resin and polyurethane spray foam? That's excellent news for me, as I have been looking long and hard at a suitable surfacing material for hardened spray foam. I almost used papier mache, so Im glad I dont have to do that now considering how tedious it is.

Ps, thanks for the additional info adventchildmatrix. I wont be buying any of that then.

Urethane is good stuff, once it's set, not much will hurt it.

I remember when one of my friends told me about Yaoi, then I left the room, because she is crazy.

There was a good Penny Arcade about what yaoi is a few years ago. It really captures the reaction of most people to finding out what it is.



I did some work on the helm lights and fan tonight. Here's everything for it, a bunch of high-power LED's with their current limiting resistors, and the helm exhaust fan.


The LED's will go in behind the portholes, mounted on rounds of mat-board to hold them in place and block the light from coming in. The fronts of the ports will have lexan lenses, backed up with frosted plastic diffusers, to even out the light and obscure the LED. This is the paper pattern, to figure out how large to cut the plastic sheet.


And, the last pic for this update, the fan, where it will be mounted to blow hot air out, and draw in fresh.

 

[Loess]

Hmmm. This 'months between updating' seems to be a recurring problem, I really need to get better about updating as we're working.

Finally got some paint on the helm and mantle!


Also, we've got the cage started.


Some 1/8" x 1" aluminum flat bar, rolled into rings, and pulled into shape.
The joints are all held together with black-coated 3/16" binding screws,


Looks pretty good to me.


A little more work on the tank and leather, and a bit on the arms, and Sister's all done!