Zak's-Haks [003b]: The Phantom - prep for assembly
Here you will now start to see the sporadic, but consistant, format in which this was recorded, that is, via the notes app on my phone. I tried to be pretty thorough, but not too intense, for the recorded work for the nights. Enjoy :)
7/15/2013 open the box!!! Take video (re: Zak's-Haks [003a]) and gasp at the pages of directions and number of pieces :) deflash head and driver seat and top torso section 1 hour
10/19-10/20. Start de-flashing on weapons... Dremel needed...D-Cannon extremely slimey. Too much release agent. Pulsar will need to be bent back into shape a bit. Glaive is cooler than i originally thought and might be my favorite weapon right now. 1 hour
10/27 Dremel weapons for maybe twenty minutes. Finish de-flashing most. More Dremel is still needed for some mold lines.
10/28 fifteen minutes... Take holofield projector fins out of bag. Deflash one of four in its entirety... Will need to be bent back into shape a bit. minus some dremmeling...
10/29. First long session focus on and finish deflashing the holofield fins. One needed major dremelling due to offset mold. Take angled approach on sanding fins and create a more sharp profile. Also finish weapons completely. 2.5 hours... Longer than I thought it would take for four fins. I think that may be a theme for this model. Also had the first reported injury... Got snagged by a small fin on the side of the pulsar base. Can't stop... Deflash the head cover steersman cockpit and upper torso main section. Another half an hour
10/30. Pile of de flashed parts gets bigger. Half an hour.
11/4 half an hour on upper arms and ankle guards. Also decide to build the new spirit seer model :). Looks cool as if he's helping to sing the new model :)
11/12 have fifteen extra minutes for deflash of heel and shoulder mounts. Also finished asurmen and maugan ra.
11/30. Hour and a half spent on major leg sections knees and some shoulder pad sections. Lots more dremmeling for mold lines on lower legs. Luckily the lines are on the insides of the legs :). Also base coated the Shrine of the Aquila in a bit of downtime.
12/25. Hour and a half on shoulder pad and waist sections. Talk to Griff for an hour about Hackmaster during the process. I need to kick it into gear if I'm going to get this built by the apocalypse game on feb 22nd...
12/26 half an hour on random small pieces elbow joints head hinge pins etc. Got a small amount of time free during the end of a long nap for little girl :). Later in the day finish the rest of the bag of small parts in another fifteen minutes.
I some how then decide to stay up late and end up finishing the deflashing!! I am super tired through the whole night and accidentally snap the pulse laser... It was really bent and I was stupid to try to bend it back. I've done too many of these to know not to do that. Oh well , star cannon in the hull for now! I smile with glee as I deflash the last toe piece. I decide to go to bed assuming that I have received a complete kit and have finished this very laborious first step. :). I spend about another hour doing this and deflash the feet pieces, hands ( which are way cool) and some shoulder pad sections and misc joints.
12/27. And there was much rejoicing...the kit is complete :). Had ten minutes today to lay out the pieces and gawk at the three by three area they took up
Total time for deflashing - 10:20 So, could have finished this in a day if I had straight time...oh to have free time...
12/31. It takes about 1.5 hours for the obligatory bath and scrubbing :). Then I put it in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour to bake to really solidify the pieces.
*Just kidding. Please do not put resin into the oven.
1/1/14. Spend about forty five min heating up pieces trying not to heat shock my 13x9 Pyrex with boiling water. Then dowse the pieces in freezing cold water to set. All of the weapons were slightly bent. The pulsar being the worst. The holofins all were also bent all over the place but for now this tried and true method seemed to work. The previously snapped pulse laser was also bent so I left the pieces apart and bent them back with this method. I'll probably pin them back together and green stuff a smoother transition at some point.
Total time elapsed - 12:35
Next up - the assembly.
-ZS
