Spartan Design

[Tiree]

Now - I have to admit, I think this is one of the best pictures to be published for RRT about a game piece. It is clear, concise and shows you how the game piece is supposed to be put together. http://palladiumbooks.com/cuttingroom/O ... ctions.jpg

I really wish Palladium would publish all of them for their pieces.

Now that said, it looks like the count is: 21 pieces for the Mace Wielding Spartan with Open Missile Launchers (The most in use of pieces), 19 for Missile Launchers closed. 19 for the Gun Pod and Missile Pods open, and 17 if they are closed.

Still, it's quite a bit of pieces for my taste and to be honest, for my skill level. But this is probably the reason why I don't play wargames. But it does baffle me on this:

If you can make a single piece for a closed missile pod, why can't you do the same for an 'Open one' And if you were really smart, make 1 single piece without the lid, and a lid. That way the person decides: Open, Closed, Or Partly Open.

Then of course, I always thought that there was a Gun Cluster in the center torso. Shouldn't that be represented too?!?!?!

[BuzzardB]

Wow...and I was too lazy to assemble my wargamesfactory skeletons because I though 9 pieces was too many >_>

[Jorel]

I think the reason for the split open missile area is possibly detail of the missiles them selves. may have been hard/not possible to get those details down below the open lid for both rows or something like that.

[glitterboy2098]

the open missile pod has all the missile tip details, and those are hard to avoid getting bubbles/miscasts from unless you minimize the number of places sticking up. at least, if you don't want to be sticking sprue connection points all over the tips of those missiles.

[jedi078]

Does anybody know if the Spartan can be made in such a way that the arm wielding the mace can be easily swapped out for the arm wielding the gunpod?

Same goes for other 'options' such as the Artillery pods. It would be really nice if you can swap out the missile launchers so you can switch off between a Heavy or Light arty pod.

[Kryptt]

Glad nd reworked the design. It's a little better than what we had before. It's not great but a compromise I can live with.

[glitterboy2098]

Does anybody know if the Spartan can be made in such a way that the arm wielding the mace can be easily swapped out for the arm wielding the gunpod?

with the spartan, it looks like if you have a drill and some small magnets, you could set the arm up that way. won't be easy though.

[jedi078]

Does anybody know if the Spartan can be made in such a way that the arm wielding the mace can be easily swapped out for the arm wielding the gunpod?

with the spartan, it looks like if you have a drill and some small magnets, you could set the arm up that way. won't be easy though.

Yeah it is a possibility.

[Morgan Vening]

Does anybody know if the Spartan can be made in such a way that the arm wielding the mace can be easily swapped out for the arm wielding the gunpod?

with the spartan, it looks like if you have a drill and some small magnets, you could set the arm up that way. won't be easy though.

Yeah it is a possibility.

Actually, for a non-clip together model, the revised Spartan looks like it'll be one of the easiest for arm swaps, with a couple of caveats. The first is assuming the assembly guide is also a parts guide (ie, you get two seperate full arms, and not just hands). It SHOULD, and the previous version did, but assuming gets you into a world of problems.

The second, is if you don't care that much about rotational flexibility (ie, as long as the arm is connected, you don't mind that it sits at a gravity neutral position). Because if you don't, all you need to do is use some flexible steel sheet (it's 0.025 inch thick), cut it and glue it to the interior surface of the torso. Then you drill out a small recess in the connection of the arm, and insert a small rare-earth magnet, and that should provide more than enough strength to hold the arm in for casual usage (don't try to pick it up by the arm, and you should be fine). There are flexible magnetic sheets of 0.020 inch, but I'm not sure they'd have the same grip as a rare-earth, and being non-recessed, might be a problem keeping close to flush.

You could avoid the rotational flexibility issue by using pins, but that seems like a lot more work. Similarly, you could use two rare earths, but as the pods are hollow (but the arm isn't), I'm not sure how far you could drill in before you punch into the cavity.

[rosco60559]

It looks like magnatizing parts will be a challenge at this scale. Other than that thanks to the parts count there nay not be too many young players.

[glitterboy2098]

It looks like magnatizing parts will be a challenge at this scale. Other than that thanks to the parts count there nay not be too many young players.

no more so than a games workshop Space marine. the GW figure is actually a bit smaller than the RTT figure. its just that like with any figure, you have to plan ahead carefully.

[Tiree]

the open missile pod has all the missile tip details, and those are hard to avoid getting bubbles/miscasts from unless you minimize the number of places sticking up. at least, if you don't want to be sticking sprue connection points all over the tips of those missiles.

I don't understand this - can you please elaborate.

Are you saying that you can't have all 6 missiles on one part, unless the missiles are the sprue connections?

[Morgan Vening]

the open missile pod has all the missile tip details, and those are hard to avoid getting bubbles/miscasts from unless you minimize the number of places sticking up. at least, if you don't want to be sticking sprue connection points all over the tips of those missiles.

I don't understand this - can you please elaborate.

Are you saying that you can't have all 6 missiles on one part, unless the missiles are the sprue connections?

I think he's referring to raised flow. When the liquid plastic is pumped into a mold, it flows along pathways, starting at the injection point, and ending at the sprue outlet points. As the missile warheads are an end point, and are both significantly raised and fairly small, forcing the plastic into those points without flowthrough, and the air out, even under heavy pressure, is likely to result in the miscasts he was referring to. The same would be likely for the open missile door, but that's likely to have a sprue connection point, which helps force air out of the empty spaces. Short of a true vacuum seal press (too expensive a process for something with an acceptable tolerance like these miniatures), it's an issue of how much you can get from it, at a reasonable price point.

Now, they could have done it with slide core molding, and some proper planning, and 98% of the problems would have been a non-issue, but that's not what's being discussed here.

[Forar]

Unless it proves to be far too challenging/frustrating, I'm tentatively planning on magnetizing the Phalanx and Artillery pods.

The Spartan for WYSIWYG (bare hand, mace, GU-11) and the MPA/FPA might be a step too far for my meager skill, but that'll remain to be seen.

[Morgan Vening]

Unless it proves to be far too challenging/frustrating, I'm tentatively planning on magnetizing the Phalanx and Artillery pods.

The Spartan for WYSIWYG (bare hand, mace, GU-11) and the MPA/FPA might be a step too far for my meager skill, but that'll remain to be seen.

The Phalanx should be cake (unless they went out of their way to make it difficult).

The Artillery Pods are likely to be more challenging because of the apparent lack of a second rocket stem. So the magnet points are on each rocket pod and the tops of the T, rather than at the base of the rocket stem. Switching a rocket pod for the paired cannons should be simple, but that adds a different magnet point. Seems like you'll have to make a choice between fixed choice rockets, and cannons, or multi-choice rockets, but no cannons. That's based on the sprue we've seen, still unassembled almost 7 weeks later.

Depending on the difference in the sculpts, it may be a simple matter to convert regular Regults into Particle Cannon Regults, and with so many in BattleCries, not a real loss. Or possibly make those convertible, and leave the 4 Arty's as light/heavy.

Spartan shouldn't be an issue, as stated above. But the MPA/FPA will depend on how it's connected, and what points are duplicated.

[Forar]

Eh, I'm not enough of a purist that it'd particularly bother me to have the connection point slightly offset if it lets me easily swap between those three options.

But that's a good point, and depending on the figures and how they're designed/I build them, some options may simply not work well or at all.

[jedi078]

Depending on the difference in the sculpts, it may be a simple matter to convert regular Regults into Particle Cannon Regults, and with so many in BattleCries, not a real loss. Or possibly make those convertible, and leave the 4 Arty's as light/heavy.

I've thought about this idea as well.

[Tiree]

the open missile pod has all the missile tip details, and those are hard to avoid getting bubbles/miscasts from unless you minimize the number of places sticking up. at least, if you don't want to be sticking sprue connection points all over the tips of those missiles.

I don't understand this - can you please elaborate.

Are you saying that you can't have all 6 missiles on one part, unless the missiles are the sprue connections?

I think he's referring to raised flow. When the liquid plastic is pumped into a mold, it flows along pathways, starting at the injection point, and ending at the sprue outlet points. As the missile warheads are an end point, and are both significantly raised and fairly small, forcing the plastic into those points without flowthrough, and the air out, even under heavy pressure, is likely to result in the miscasts he was referring to. The same would be likely for the open missile door, but that's likely to have a sprue connection point, which helps force air out of the empty spaces. Short of a true vacuum seal press (too expensive a process for something with an acceptable tolerance like these miniatures), it's an issue of how much you can get from it, at a reasonable price point.

Now, they could have done it with slide core molding, and some proper planning, and 98% of the problems would have been a non-issue, but that's not what's being discussed here.

Thank you for clarifying this. Wouldn't this be where those little tabs at the end come in? The ones you kind of twist off or snip?

[glitterboy2098]

you mean flash? no, that is from where the join between the halves of a mold don't quite stay together as plastic is injected, and a bit of it leaks between. usually it is harmless, and more noticeable on older molds, but it is annoying, and it often indicates the mold wasn't secured just right. its not something that is intended to occur. while it does result in less chance of bubbles in a part, it also means the part has a higher chance of being deformed or the wrong shape/thickness. generally you try to design molds to minimize both bubbles, miscasts, and flash.

if you mean short bits of sprue, yes those are often due to the vents to remove air during injection.. but would you really want to have something you have to snap/cut sticking out of a fine detail on a part? you run the risk of destroying the very detail you just added..