Glimse into my workshop

New bench built. Allot of stuff to get into a small space still in the process of tidying every thing up. The walls are crooked and two brick piers each corner which complicates things. The car when its in the garage comes within 30cm of the bench.

I didn't want to loose any of my big items which meant moving my drill press and ditching my old bench to make something that would fit it and house my compressor underneath. I also didn't want anything to trip/catch my knees or feet so no central legs. Everything I importance was scaled into a 3D model for a cm perfect fit because I need to maximise the use of this modest space.

4.5x4.5cm framing with hidden bracing, screwed/glued and secured to both walls
2.5cm MDF top cut to fit flush
Frames is set back 2cm from the top
Shelf set back 4.5cm into the frame

I plan to revisit the middle shelf and partition it adding a set of 2 draws to the right side. Draws juts take a long time to make so its a project for a less hectic time. Also going to go back and smooth edges to save catching myself on them. I need to add a MDF top the the drill press cabinet, it needs to come out any way to have the draws cleaned (metal shavings from previous owner) and come concrete snots chip off the floor wall that's stopping the cabinet from butting up flush

If you're wondering what I do for bigger projects, the car goes outside and I use this Folding Table. It packs away nicely, light weight but strong, not too bouncy and you can screw into it. Cheap enough to not cry if it gets wrecked. Had mine 2 years great for casting, spray painting, can put my chop saw on it and outside messy jobs.

MWO Hunchback 1/60 scale

As Austin Geiger guessed correctly I'm working on the Hunchback from MWO most of making it solid has been done. Then its a case of making it work as an articulated real world model this includes adding joints fixing clipping issues.

The hunchback is fairly rare in how much varieted it looks I considering the best way to design the model and how swapping the humps will work. I think I will run into issues with hitting the articulation in the shoulder while getting a clean fit I can't really see how until all the parts are cleaned and solid to see the common shared elements. The SRM6 variant posed a 2nd issue with the mirrored hump it has to be able to affix without leaving a trace and the game model keeps the rear barrel at the back clips the vents. It might be the case that I make a torso solely for the SRM6 variant otherwise I'll be too many compromises but will see there might be a way I haven't seen.

Above the model broken down into its sub sections (scale version on the right hand side for reference). Everything has been made 'a solid' bar the humps and the forearm. Odd lines, broken mesh and such referencing marks for fit I add/leave them when I start and they get deleted once everything is finalized.

I haven't really shared any pictures of my workshop its a dual purpose space where I cast and also keep my classic car. The space isn't the greatness but it has to do till my house extensions is built and I'll gain a good deal of space and be able to divide the shop from the garage. Any way for the time being with the arrival of new machine I have to optimize the garages lay out which means ditching my current workbench and build a bespoke solution that houses the new machine, keeps as main of my other items (compressor, drill press, under bench storage) my dust extractor and bench sander will have to find new place to live for now. Below is a scale mock up to help me make 100% use of the space.

Going keep playing with it see if I can steal a bit more space some where. As you can see its a small space and the marked rectangle on the floor is where the car comes too (I move it outside when I need the shop space and its rented out over the winter). Either way I have to make it by this Thursday.

Something new

So I thought I would bring you guys up to speed. I sank a lot of time into the leopard and it was almost there but it required a huge amount of effort more than I imagined to surface finish it. It started me thinking there's got to be a better way to get parts perfect parts and not priced to volume. So I did some digging and long story short I found something went and had a demo and bought it (it should arrived Thursday).


It should produce ready to cast parts but requires careful design which some times become mind boggling. What does this mean well I'm going to scrap the SLS printed leopard and remake it on this machine (plus a little bigger and redesigned some parts. There's work to be done on the 3d model to get it fit for this machine to make but until I get the software its hard to know where the changes need to be made. I'll bring you some updated when its up and running (I have to build a bench for it and move some stuff from the workshop)

What I don't want to sit idle so I've used this down time t crack on with the next model below is the biceps made solid with some added details to the cylinders (cylinders are easier to finish now before everything is made into a solid) 




Any experts want to hazard a guess what mech this is from?