Been a while since the last update - since last time I’ve made progress on the feet, the knee area of the lower leg, and the strut that’s visible at the front of the leg. Most of the work has been application of Bondo to the existing parts - Bondo’s a great medium for getting parts built up quickly, due to how well it bonds to itself and how quickly it cures… But at the same time, for these faceted parts, the number of Bondo applications I have to do can get pretty tiresome.
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Around the end of October, J.E. completed his group build entry, called “Calibre 305″. You can see the model below, or on his site, AC Armory.
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So this is the project I wanted to have done for the MMC Blue contest last month and the Armored Core group build this month. Unfortunately there’s no way I can meet the build deadline at this point: I spent too much time working on Granitecon projects this month and last.

Anyway, the project is mostly ready for paint: most all the seams, etc. have been dealt with, the various warpy surfaces have been sanded flat, etc. The big thing going on right now is I’m working on wiring for the thing: wires to drive the LEDs installed in the thrusters, plus wires to power and communicate with a microcontroller that will control the LEDs.
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Yeaterday was “Granitecon”, the annual IPMS show in Nashua, NH.  I had been pushing to get three new projects done for Granitecon - my Takara 1:35 Scopedog (originally started for the July, 2007 MMC), my 1:144 Queadluun Rau (originally meant for the February 2008 MMC), and my 1:144 Zaku “Death Face” (actually completed for the March, 2008 MMC - but I felt like it could use some scenery and weathering…)

Anyway, I pulled an all-nighter before the show to finish things up.  Fortunately I had already made enough progress on the models that this could work: the Queadluun Rau was basically done already (I decided not to weather it - I like its current, fairly vibrant look), the Scopedog just needed some weathering and scenery - so most of the night was spent making a display base with rocks and little patches of grass.  At this point I also decided not to do any further work on the Zaku - there was enough time to make one display base, but not two.

So I made it to the show sometime after 11AM with three good entries, and the sci-fi category was surprisingly full of good entries.  Nice stuff, most of it - so I wasn’t counting on a win…  And, as it turns out, I didn’t place.
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My host, Dreamhost, is doing some server migration - and in exchange for some free bird seed I’ve volunteered to be one of the early movers, and to be patient with ‘em when things go wrong.

So I guess we’ll see what happens…

Seems the first completed entry to the Armored Core Group Build is in, built by Clem:

It’s called “AC Split Skull”.  You can see the photos in Clem’s Deviant Art Gallery. I’ve made a copy of the photos here as well. Read the rest

When I first started buying Kotobukiya’s Armored Core kits, my intention was to come up with relatively easy builds that would be unique enough to be distinctive.  Most of the configurations I’m building are based on ideas I’ve developed in the game: I don’t necessarily feel my model projects should be limited to what works well in the game but I do enjoy using the game to experiment with different ideas, and I also enjoy the idea of building models of designs that I actually use in the games.

AC “Cherry Bomb” originally started as AC “Cherry Breaker” - the concept was for a fast, overboosting AC armed with a parrying blade (high-damage melee ramrod weapon - it’s hard to hit with it and you have a limited number of times you can use it…)  However, I found that by replacing the parrying blade with a linear rifle, I had a configuration that worked very well for me in arena battles against the computer: a configuration based on speed and precision with a single weapon.  Gradually I’ve abandoned the “Cherry Breaker” concept in favor of “Cherry Bomb”.
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Currently I have three projects on the bench that were painted and near completion, but not quite finished, so lately I’ve been trying to finish them up.  The first is a 1:35 scale Scopedog I was working on for the July 2007 MMC (I missed the deadline).  The second is a 1:144 Queadluun Rau I was working on for the February 2008 MMC (I missed the deadline).  And the third is a 1:144 HGUC Zaku that I did for the March 2008 MMC (I met the deadline, but I felt the model wasn’t entirely “done”…  I intend to do some more finishing work on it.)

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My last progress update for this is now about three months back - since then things have been progressing slowly (lots going on)… Here’s the photos, showing the current state of things:

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The Group Build page is now online and I’ve created this new post category where I will post updates related to the group build - things like summaries of the progress on various projects, new projects added, projects completed, and so on.

There have been a couple people so far who have said they might participate in the group build - their projects will be listed on the group build page once I have some information from them.  For my part, I’m resuming work on the Crest “Close Combat Type” I started last year for the MMC Armored Core contest. In terms of part preparation that project was just about ready to be painted by the time I stopped work on it - but some issues with LED lighting and wiring held me up. I will be resuming that project and then hopefully also have time to finish one of my other Armored Core projects before the deadline.

Remember, if you’d like to participate, please leave a comment on the group build page and I’ll put your project on the list.