TDesperation is the Step-mother of Invention:
I devoted a lot of time today on reconciling the ankle mechanism culminating in using round headed 'Stove' Bolts to take the place of the ball/socket mounts of the ankle actuators.
Drilling into the recesses (Four points) of each foot pad and installing rare earth magnets I have a viable base for while perhaps not articulation at the very least, readily assembly/dis-assembly for conversion from Mars to Lucius and back again.
The Madness Continues:
Even though I've resigned myself that articulation for this model is not on the table I am proceeding as if it were just on the outside chance I may have been hasty in my assessment.
http://i.imgur.com/hwWeS07.jpg
Right now I am in the midst of producing the upper trunnion assembles of all 16 foot adjusting cylinders which will rotate and swivel depending on the attitude of the foot plate. Naturally this is the Lucius version and allowances for the Mars pieces must be considered when the re conversion is desired.
http://i.imgur.com/5TpF0ek.jpg
I haven't worked out the details of that as yet.
Illegitimi non carborundum:
After a month of doldrums I have finally figured out how to proceed with these greaves. Strangely my first impulse held true and I have reverted back to my original plan for a semi operable foot mount.
http://i.imgur.com/DphGOV4.jpg
I also now have a plan for the ankle actuator armour which also vexed me the past month.
http://i.imgur.com/mq3qV9Z.jpg
With luck I should see an end of this project by the time the year is out. Yay!
Back In The Groove:
After a month's hiatus I think I have recovered my direction on these models. The stopping point was the actuator shields and how to make them follow the compression of the foot leveling cylinders and still not be too cumbersome appearing. I believe I have the solution.
One might well ask why so many pieces for what should be a simple three paneled construction. Well economy for one thing; the industrial quality sheet styrene I employ comes in only three thicknesses 0.020, 0.030 and 0.040 thousands inch, 0,50 0,75 and 1,00 MM respectively and sheet styrene of 2,0 and 3,0 MM is prohibitively expensive in hobby stores.
http://i.imgur.com/y4suuM1.jpg
The second consideration is strength, the laminations add considerable durability to the glue seams and allow the sides to flex as the sleeve follows the cylinder through its evolutions.
Third once assembled it will be easier to sand and shape the constructions to their final finish each one being individually destined for a particular slot even though they appear almost identical on all four greaves.
There is a rational to my madness............
Not Pretty But It Has the Flavor:
I went to an outrageous effort to install these foot actuator shields instead of taking the easy route and just make greaves similar to the Warhound but I wanted something more than just a bigger version of the Wolf Scout. I think these Lucius greaves convey the flavor of the Mars Reaver whereas the greaves would have been too bulky had I encompassed the hydraulics under the greave surface.
http://i.imgur.com/2u1Gcf5.jpg
All the hydraulic shields will have to be custom fit to the individual leveling cylinders but that's a minor consideration now that they are basically manufactured.
http://i.imgur.com/hhJMK2q.jpg
I just have to remember to label which goes where.
Le Coup de Grâce:
It's time to put this thing out of it's misery or triumph. After putting all this effort into manufacturing the various greave components I have to put the finishing adjustments on 16 actuators (4 for each foot times two Reavers). Already I have speculated that the Reaver in reality would waddle on the battlefield due to the set of the legs. It's gait would be a rocking pendulum motion sure to disquiet the intestinal tract of the hardiest Princep but we are not to reason why but to duplicate the visage of the Reaver and ignore the dynamics of the mechanics.
In the first image below we see the foot/shank/greave assembly in its full flexed step position where I am about to install the cylinder sleeves to the outer side toe and front center toe.
http://i.imgur.com/hLRSUa2.jpg
If all goes well I shall proceed to the extended position (image below) and see how far I can make the step work. I have my doubts that it will be more than one and a half foot lengths.
http://i.imgur.com/KY2DQX4.jpg
Are we having fun yet????
Gone Astray:
This project keeps going astray; Bah,Bah,Bah!
But I think I'm back on track now. The shape of the head has vexed me until this morning where I believe I have come up with the definitive Reaver head.
http://i.imgur.com/td0yoZ7.jpg
Fortunately I don't have to do much modifications to the existing work
http://i.imgur.com/rV9y0K1.jpg
but once done I believe it will fit better under the hood and also be a midway morph between the Lucius Warhound and the Lucius Warlord and I shall call it;
the Black Vegetable.....
No, no, no; The WarReaver
Three MM Too Wide:
The front center panel below the windscreen is three MM too wide.
Due to the beveling of the cheek panels which I didn't allow for the thickness of the sheet i.e. one millimeter..............
http://i.imgur.com/6KM801r.jpg
Easily corrected.
Note how I had to cut into the roof line on either side of the hood and change the roof from canting in towards the rear to flaring out towards the rear.
http://i.imgur.com/tDxegUG.jpg
This will allow for more freedom of movement side to side under the carapace hood which is a better design.
Note in the side elevation below that the cheek shield panel extend lower to protect the conduits and give the front an angled approximation of the Warlord curved face shield skirt but retaining the angularity of the Warhound. An interesting compromise that bridges the design two other titans' visages.
http://i.imgur.com/0dHZnO9.jpg
Finally it's coming together in my mind's eye............
I am on fire with enthusiasm again. 
Dog Pile On the Rabbit:
One of my readers likened the previous left image to Buggs Bunny, a thought that occurred to me as well. The right cockpit he likened to Mortal Combat's Scorpion which on googling I don't see at all but somehow it struck a mnemonic chord with him.
Anyway to complete the Buggs Bunny simile the next stage show the beginnings of outriggers or fenders that carry the Warlord helmet theme but that is only a temporary allusion.
http://i.imgur.com/EGHThvZ.jpg
and
http://i.imgur.com/nMjwtqH.jpg
Further along shows the method to my madness:
http://i.imgur.com/DSeLM4n.jpg
The ears once dried bend down to form the fenders (for want of a better term) tucking beneath the rear of the cowl.
In the final image a 3/4 front view shows the underside of the side trim.
http://i.imgur.com/orYcdNI.jpg
The other noteworthy item is the faceted cowl front that was built up of layers of styrene. once dried that will have the edges sanded to round off slightly but still have flat surfaces so as not to copy the Warlord cowl to closely.
A New Strategy:
So the new strategy is to borrow a page from Michelangelo's workbook; when asked how he approached sculpting he was purported to have said that the figure was already inside the block and all he did was chip away what wasn't needed.
http://i.imgur.com/WqBeqzH.jpg
Now I am not comparing myself to Michelangelo because he worked in marble and I in ''ahem'' styrene but the principle is the same; just pile on enough styrene and then remove that which doesn't look like a Lucius Reaver.
http://i.imgur.com/mJ2onFv.jpg
It was also said that he didn't want to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling as he thought himself a poor artist in that medium and critics of his work complained that his figures were all too masculine the women looking like men with breasts.
http://i.imgur.com/bNGEbCE.jpg
His response to that was, "He did not know art but he knew what he liked."
http://i.imgur.com/byBc3iE.jpg
So as you can tell other than the images I really didn't have much to add to this post.
The Bad Boys:
So now we come to the bad boys in this recap of my stable of scratchbuilts; the Reaver twins.
It just goes to show that its easier to proceed on your own than to correct someone else's mistakes.
The Reaver titan has so many casting flaws that it is no wonder that a Lucius Reaver was never produced. The Mars genera with it's more organic design hides these flaws but the angular Lucius design brings them into full bloom.
Thankfully these are the only six pieces left that require adaptation to the Lucius pattern by which I mean 12 because I am modifying two titans.
http://i.imgur.com/UmX8Sxz.jpg
The front and back pelvic armour should be a cakewalk and I'll probably knock that out today the Lucius armour will just clip onto the Mars armour for a quick change.
Likewise I am hoping I can do the same for the kneecaps but they will have to accommodate the Lucius greaves and I should also like to extend them up to protect the thighs, something FW didn't think necessary.
http://i.imgur.com/5Ca1VaC.jpg
The heads are still giving me headaches and even after a month of sketching and searching for internet ideas I have yet to come up with a satisfactory resolution as to how the head should look.
My gut feeling is to try for a intermediate morph between the Warhound head and the Warlord head and that is the course I am pursuing with the head on the right side but the problem there is to make it work I have to lose the distinctive cable conduits that distinguish the Reaver. Fortunately the conduits are held on magnetically so removal and reattachment is quite easy.
I'll try to resolve this over the Thanksgiving break.
The Blackadder Patented Armour Locking Device:
Well not "Patented" (Who could be bothered) but it seems I have circumvented a sticking problem. It came to me this morning after yesterday when I was thinking how to attach the upper leg armour without resorting to mutilating the Mars legs with unsightly screws and or magnets.
I hit on the premise of utilizing the compression ability of the tubular styrene as a linear spring clip that can be snapped in and out with equal facility and still have sufficient strength to hold the armour in place.
First an image of the rest of the fruits of this weekend's labor; the waist armour clip on Luteus Pattern armour.
http://i.imgur.com/Jgd4Jxa.jpg
These four pieces (Two Reavers remember) snap on readily over the Mars waist armour front and back and hold in place without falling off. They are just basic now but will be embellished with all sorts of 40K goodies and layered armour sheets to echo the Warlord.
In the center of the above image is my little jewel of inspiration, the tubular linear clip.
The close up doesn't really show the construction any better but suffice it to say that it is a very close tolerance fit so the armour will be not sliding up or down when applied or twist askew.
http://i.imgur.com/c6l9dmo.jpg
Below we see the basic clip in place utilizing the shoulders of the resin casting to lock it in place prevent up or down sliding
http://i.imgur.com/U75oJKb.jpg
And the two thigh cylinders clamping the styrene tube sufficiently tight.
Next; the rest of the upper thigh armour still to be designed............
Test Model:
I'm going to need a test model that is always assembled for the rest of this/these build(s).
It's just too much trouble assembling and reassembling each time I have pieces to fit. fortunately all the pieces so far are interchangeable so the one test model will be enough.
The front view showing the new snap on thigh armour and codpiece looks amazingly in proportion (at least to my eye and surprisingly the camera's eye as well.) I was not prepared for that.....
http://i.imgur.com/WyLzxKO.jpg
It seems I won't be needing the kneecap armour after all which is fine with me as it would have been a nightmare to make the kneecaps ride up and down with telescoping pistons as the knee flexes. Maybe someday in a moment of insanity I'll try making that mechanism but not this year.
The rear view still has pleasing proportions although I note I forgot to mount the after part of the groin armour.
http://i.imgur.com/Bq1rSVe.jpg
The side view shows that I haven't as yet resolved the neck issue but I think the head is finally starting to make some sense as far as appearance.
http://i.imgur.com/9xHsDqD.jpg
Gone is the squashed toad look which I categorically do not like even in the Mars Pattern, by extending the chin down and increasing the height of the brow the head now fits well as an intermediate between the Warhound and Warlord so there is a continuity of design.
I had hoped to have these completed by Christmas but it looks like February is the new target date.
On the plus side I think I am ready to start detailing, whew!
Multi Faceted:
Sometimes things go right and when I hit on the idea of coffin shaped armour for the upper legs yesterday I had it in the back of my mind to expand on the two dimensional look by adding facets to the surface. It all came together this afternoon with the result below.
http://i.imgur.com/JYRu9MS.jpg
Where it ties in with the lower greaves.
http://i.imgur.com/9Qq0nXd.jpg
Now I have the notion to carry it a bit further with 'slides' connecting the greaves with the upper armour........... and I have just figured what they'll look like.
Should be done tomorrow.
The *Tick's Sidekick and Vlad the Impaler:
Well I hope it's not the case but right now the Reaver head looks like a cross between Arthur The Moth and Count Dracula but it is coming along. I am at loggerheads with muse of inspiration so all this may be just an exercise in futility.
http://i.imgur.com/Xdcd2XK.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/87D6gji.jpg
Still plugging away up until Christmas Vacation.... This year in Poland. Cripes, who's idea was that?
*BTW probably one of the funniest sitcoms ever produced
By Jove I Think He's Got It:
Well it was a tough fight but I think I've nailed the basic look of the head
http://i.imgur.com/cAm3Lgq.jpg
Of course 'eyebrows and nose detail need to be install and ducting in the cheek area as well as on the sides but the basic shape is promising and with the eye openings allow the headlights to be seen it pretty much manifests my original thoughts.
The image below shows that the eye ridges need to be more of a frown shape and I may angle the lower rim of the eyes as well....
But I am very pleased I was able to heighten the 'Face' when compared to the Mars Pattern visage.
http://i.imgur.com/vscGqkd.jpg
I particularly like the wings on either side of the brow even though at the moment they interfere with the hood which precludes the head movement side to side.
http://i.imgur.com/jsWdBd5.jpg
Meanwhile the top hamper is finally faired in and all I need make is the air intake in front of the center rocket pod.
http://i.imgur.com/MyESrwz.jpg
So this is pretty much the shape of the hull and carapace with only the belly armour to be designed.
http://i.imgur.com/DsiXixF.jpg
Then we can get to the fun part, the detailing...........
I've Still Gotta Repeat This On The Other Reaver Head:
I've devoted a lot of effort to making this one Reaver head and everything has pretty much fallen into place. I was going to use the FW Resin 'eyes' for the windscreen display but they are a tad too low and far too recessed to be effective so I am making panels to mount new 'eyes'....
http://i.imgur.com/1AX7PXV.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/7UFJ9M2.jpg
I have gotten so far ahead of myself on this one head that I wonder whether I can duplicate the work on the one left behind......
Just looking at the intricacies of the development astounds me and I have grave doubts I shall be able to duplicate the procedure.
http://i.imgur.com/R7uwzMI.jpg
Yeah I know the work isn't 100% symmetrical
http://i.imgur.com/pUXq8MW.jpg
but clearly those who may point this out have never bought a FW product.......... Ha!
Walk Like an Egyptian:
This head is taking on a decided pharaonic appearance through no intent on my part. Hopefully once the side paraphernalia is installed that will disappear.
http://i.imgur.com/1HhFHdl.jpg
I'm rather pleased how the sensor arrays in the eye socket turned out, much better than installing lenses as if they were windscreens as was my original intent.
http://i.imgur.com/MdNAQhZ.jpg
The side view still looks sparse..........
http://i.imgur.com/l2Yw5ZL.jpg
And the top view needs a couple of Asps and Ibises
http://i.imgur.com/e7zqiX4.jpg
In a condo made of stona....
