Sharks with freakin lasers on their heads.

All I asked for were sharks with freakin' lasers on their heads.

Well it looks like I finally got them. This is my newest tool and it will definitely ratchet up my projects a notch.  It is a 40w hobby laser cutter from Full Spectrum Engineering. It will cut materials up to 1/4" thick and installs like a normal printer. It is liquid cooled and uses a dc motor controller instead of servos motors for movement. This keeps the cost down. Unlike the Zing by Epilog I was looking at ($10K+), this one is only $2500. Adding in a stand and water the unit is still under $3k. So $7000 cheaper. That savings is great but payed back in setup time and learning curve. Luckily time is something I have.

I will work on the final setup an calibration over the weekend and hopefully have my first cuts done. For now here are the unboxing pictures.

Airbrush Spraybooth

I have been meaning to post this for a week or so and have just been too busy to get the tutorial written. So here is the build in photos. The fans are 100 cfm, 12V PC fans. These were ones form an older PC project. Really as long as you can pull 150 cfm or more you are normally fine. Most small commercial units max out at 180 cfm. It really comes down to how quiet you want the thing to be.

The fans are brush-less but not spark proof. Sounds scary right. Not really, unless you are using rattle cans or spraying straight alcohol the fuel/air ratio is to low for anything to ignite. Also I use a mix of water, flow aid and matte media to thin my paints. None of the products are flammable. I do not show the exhaust tube and shroud in the pictures but really they are not needed. No matter what anyone tells you or how well you vent it DO NOT USE RATTLE CAN PAINT IN THE BOOTH!!! 2 reason 1) it can ignite and loosing ones eyebrows or house is never a good hobby sacrifice. 2) the propellant will kill the fans by eating through the varnish on the motor windings causing them to spark and then see reason number 1.

The entire thing was built form scraps from other projects so cost was nothing but if I had to add a price it could be copied for $20-40 depending on the fan selection and filter price.

Enough typing, on to the photos.

The project that was - Shoulder pads

Sometimes project die for the strangest reasons. In this case it is due to my ineptitude with fiberglass. After 3 attempts I am rethinking this project and will have to take it into a different direction. Oh well, I at least still have the paper template to design the new ones off of. I think I am going to switch to a wooden form to lay the fiberglass against instead of doing a hollow paper form.

Terrain Project - Got to love toy store finds

With Adepticon quickly approaching I need to build a display board. The problem is I was stumped for an idea. I could do another simple one like the magnetic one but I wanted something a little more unique. While shopping for some stuff at Target I went through the toy department and came across this. The Tech Deck Street Tour Love Park set. This thing blew me away. It is the perfect scale and has all the little details that make it the best base for a larger project.

Out of the box it looks great. It is made from a heavy weight plastic and it modular so it will attach to the other Tech Deck sets. The seams are tight and with a couple of exceptions not noticeable. The cement areas have a slight texture to them and there are worn areas that look natural. The steps are wide and easily fit 60mm bases without tipping. The pylons at the top are the perfect height for troop sized figs to stand behind.

Now for the numbers. The piece is roughly 16 inches wide, 13.5 inches deep and 2 inches at the highest wall.

For more details and additional looks at the piece check out my YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/lathanm