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Post by rocketeer on Jun 26, 2019 20:41:50 GMT -6
Herb Deeks, who apparently had a thing for the pulp movie serials of yesteryear, once issued a resin kit of a tank-like vehicle used in the 1936 "Undersea Kingdom" serial. The other day, looking for a new project, I pulled it off the shelf and figured it wouldn't take much to finish it up.  But of course it wasn't as simple as that. Looking for pictures of it on the Internet, I kept stumbling across an intriguing vehicle called the Jungle Cruiser, used in the serial "Tim Tyler's Luck", from 1937. The Jungle Cruiser was the old Juggernaut, reworked a bit with a new cab and a complicated sort of nerf bar that protected the front and sides of the vehicle.  So I thought about converting the Juggernaut kit to the Jungle Cruiser, and then it occurred to me that it might be fun to just scratchbuild a Jungle Cruiser--after all, I had the Juggernaut kit to copy from--and then I coud display the two side-by-side, as sort of a before-and-after. So I got out the sheet styrene. I used silicone mold putty and casting resin to make a copy of the Juggernaut's sweet Art Deco grille::  and built the nerf bar from styrene strip and some working hatches using HO hopper car hinges:  ...and used almost a whole sheet of MicroMark rivet decals:  I built a simple base, made a couple nameplates, and bought a 1/35 scale movie camera kit, and here's the result:   Here's a link to a Flickr album with more pictures: www.flickr.com/photos/150559382@N07/albums/72157677687610417/with/47636938472/ |
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Post by rodsnracin on Jun 27, 2019 5:25:15 GMT -6
Now those are UNIQUE! Neat idea on the display, too. Nothing better than building an old resin kit, unless it's scratchbuilding something! Great job on both!
Brian
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Post by rocketeer on Jun 27, 2019 7:43:31 GMT -6
Allow me to post one more picture, showing off the nameplates:  |
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Post by 41chevy on Jun 27, 2019 12:08:28 GMT -6
Wow, what great builds and a good idea for them. Never saw them, now I got the vid's on Hulu to watch. Paul
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Post by hobbybobby on Jun 27, 2019 18:29:39 GMT -6
Ditto here, never seen before, but they looks amazingly fantastic, Steve, i love the details and the mods you have done, thumbs up!  A small question: do these things have wheels, or are they floating or something? And another question: how in the world have you created these great three-dimensional nameplates?  |
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Post by rocketeer on Jun 27, 2019 19:57:45 GMT -6
...A small question: do these things have wheels, or are they floating or something? And another question: how in the world have you created these great three-dimensional nameplates? They have wheels, hidden underneath. I made another putty mold and cast four copies of one of the Juggernaut's wheels to use on the Cruiser. A fine sculptor named John Dennett told me how to make nameplates easily. You order a rubber stamp (you supply the art) and then make a resin copy of it (silicone rubber mold, polyurethane resin). The only trick is that you have to order the stamp "reversed", because a normal rubber stamp is a mirror-image of the final imprint (That is, normally to print STEVE, the stamp says EVETS). Since you don't want your nameplate (which is a resin copy of the rubber stamp) to say EVETS, you have to order a stamp that prints EVETS. Here's a stamp I ordered to make a nameplate for another project:  It's "reversed"; that is, if you smeared it with ink and used it as a stamp, the stamped image would say "NOOM EHT NO SAMTSIRHC". The label on the package shows this. |
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Post by rocketeer on Jun 27, 2019 20:01:47 GMT -6
Oh, I use Powerpoint to do the art for the nameplate. Create a text box, pick a font, fiddle with the outline, save it as a jpeg. Use another program to flip the jpeg horizontally, then send that off to the rubber stamp company.
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Post by chromecop on Jun 28, 2019 0:15:50 GMT -6
WOW, that's cool !!!!
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Post by kabdriver on Jun 28, 2019 15:26:25 GMT -6
What a great pair of builds, Rocket! Absolutely killer - I'm particularly impressed with your scratchbuilt version! How long did it take to apply all the rivets? A little while, I'll bet.
Great tip on the rubber stamp thing too, really clever thinking!
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Post by rocketeer on Jun 28, 2019 17:00:25 GMT -6
... How long did it take to apply all the rivets? A little while, I'll bet... It took three sessions of a couple hours each: Right side, left side, top and ends. You know how it is: You kinda get into the groove and the time just flies by. The nameplate idea is not mine; one of the vendors at Wonderfest, a really nice guy named John Dennett, explained it to me a couple years ago. It's a great technique. Very flexible; you can put anything on your nameplate you like. You have to have resin casting capability, though. |
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Post by kabdriver on Jun 28, 2019 18:16:44 GMT -6
I thought about designing some name plates like this to be 3D printed too, I’m not sure if it would be economical compared to the cost of having the stamp made and using some resin casting / moulding supplies though
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Post by rocketeer on Jun 28, 2019 19:47:17 GMT -6
With 3D printing you could have some letters stick up more than others or have cutout letters suspended in a frame, or spiraling upward, or any number of wild and creative things.
But I spent my whole working life staring at a computer screen, and I don't care to do that any more, so no 3D printing for me. The rubber stamp method is appealingly low-tech and physical.
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Post by kabdriver on Jun 29, 2019 6:34:08 GMT -6
That’s fair!
It would be fun to maybe mould one of those plaques with clear resin with a little LED cast right into it somehow so it lights up!
That idea has SO MUCH potential, I’ve been thinking about it constantly since you posted about it 😂
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Post by Rodger on Jun 29, 2019 7:28:53 GMT -6
Great stuff.
I really dig funky things out side the box.
I have a thing for robot kits.
Always looking for early Sci-Fi movie subjects.
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Post by rocketeer on Jun 29, 2019 9:52:40 GMT -6
...maybe mould one of those plaques with clear resin with a little LED cast right into it somehow so it lights up!... I haven't had much luck with clear polyester resins; what's worked best for me is Pebeo Gedeo clear epoxy resin; it cures best and quickest if you keep the ambient temperature above 70F or so. I'd love to see what an internally-illuminated nameplate looks like. Lately I've taken to using LEDs from Evan Designs; they offer a wide variety of colors and sizes, reasonably priced, with current-limiting resistors already wired in. |
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Post by 41chevy on Jun 29, 2019 12:02:44 GMT -6
That’s fair! It would be fun to maybe mould one of those plaques with clear resin with a little LED cast right into it somehow so it lights up! That idea has SO MUCH potential, I’ve been thinking about it constantly since you posted about it 😂 Google "Edge Lit Signs" They are clear acrylic with solid color lettering and are lit through the edges with a bank of LED's . A friend does glass sign craving and edge lights it. Looks like it is hovering in space. Paul |
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Post by kabdriver on Jun 29, 2019 12:33:35 GMT -6
Very cool!! I need to start messing with lighting more!
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