Thomas the D̶a̶n̶k̶ Tank Engine Build

[xXDashIVXx]

This is a project I have been wanting to do for a long time now, and I am fairly confident it wont take me too long as it is only a helmet and a gun(or two), plus a suit.

Woah woah woah Dash! Dont you have multiple builds that you are working on already!?!?!

Yep, and you do too, so calm it! And I am not going to point fingers at anyone else... *cough cough randomranger cough turbo cough*

Woow. That hurt my lungs. Anyway, I am too lazy and procrastinate too much to glue on 3 peices to finish the construction of my torso, and I want to put everything else on the backburner so I can finish this in a week or two.

Here is what I am aiming for:

Oh yeah. This'll be great.

I have ripped a game model from Garry's mod to use as a base, while it has been slightly edited to more fit the design from the sfm video. It was then scaled in armorsmith and proted into pepakura.

Most of the pieces are square, so I pre-labeled them by number, and even specified what material they would have to be, and how many times they would have to be traced, so that I dont mix them up.

Traced and cut out fairly well

I then cut out the foam WITH A BRAND NEW BLADE!!! There is nothing more satisfying than having a clean easy cut that glides through the foam!

Next, contact cement, and viola( <- heh) we have a fairly clean asembly!

Did this for all the rest and this is what I have so far:

I will continue tommorow, but most of the rest of it will be made out of pvc foam board and plexiglass so i can keep the integrity of the helmet where the walls are really thin, and I can keep it light weight and see out of it.

 

[TurboCharizard]

Absolute madlad and I'm so proud of the top quality memery that the Discord Gang is coming up with.

Well done xXDashIVXx

 

[Benton188]

I'm now envisioning the Thomas and Friends theme song....but done completely with gunfire. It's beautiful.
Also, are you sure it's sized correctly for your noggin to fit in? It looks a little small in the last pic.

 

[GMer56]

I've been tempted to build either one of these or a Reaper Leviathan mask...

Gonna 3d print a face for it?

 

[xXDashIVXx]

I'm now envisioning the Thomas and Friends theme song....but done completely with gunfire. It's beautiful.
Also, are you sure it's sized correctly for your noggin to fit in? It looks a little small in the last pic.

I have scaled it a few times. My head will probably be very close to the sides of the walls, but it isnt necessarily going to fit in the tube. Most of it will be inside the rest of the outside walls and needs to be cut away, but I am waiting until after it is assembled to start removing chunks so i dont over do it. Plus some peices are missing so it will fit higher up. (I also plan on hiding a speaker inside of the coal, so I may not be able to shoot my guns, but you better be sure that theme will still be crankin!)

I've been tempted to build either one of these or a Reaper Leviathan mask...

Gonna 3d print a face for it?

I was going to, but I think I decided I like the silly look of the flat face from the sfm rather than the actual 3d shaped one in the shows, so I am going to try and print it on paper and shape it.

 

[xXDashIVXx]

Not much progress today... sintra is a little late so I will get it tommorow. What I DID do, was make a lean dome in tinkerCAD to scale and imported that into blender. I then spent a long time looking for the right image/model used, and learned how to texture objects using .jpg files in blender! Exported as an .obj, and this allowed pepakura to accept the texture... now to have some fun!

 

[Dirtdives2424]

xXDashIVXx this is an EPIC build. Hysterical concept. Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[xXDashIVXx]

xXDashIVXx this is an EPIC build. Hysterical concept. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Me too, but you know how THAT goes...

 

[xXDashIVXx]

As I am writing this, I can hear the mailman truck a few streets down, so i am excited.

I cut out the face and it seems to be working okay. This is a test peice on some regular a4 printer paper. The one on the left is just the picture with the eyes cut out to see if I could use a black window tint for the eyes, and it looks like it would work well. For the most part if i do go down this route i wont be using the eyes to see, it will just be a little bit more vision above me.

The right us the cut up face but tested for a coat of modge podge. It worked good, and the cut peice(although taped together) have zero seam or white showing it was multiple peices connected. I just need to figure out how to seal the paper though as modge podge will not work. It discolored the paper. Maybe I can attempt painting it, but I would never be able to make it identical and I kindof like the non-hd look of the original photo...

 

[GMer56]

Inkjet printers ink tends to be water soluble. Laser jet toner generally isn't. (not sure how it reacts to solvents or if modge podge is indeed a solvent). If you don't have a laser jet printer maybe go to staples or something and get a $1 printout.

Why not keep the face flat? Its a subtle enough detail I don't think anyone would notice if the face wasn't a dome and it would be easier for ya.

 

[xXDashIVXx]

Inkjet printers ink tends to be water soluble. Laser jet toner generally isn't. (not sure how it reacts to solvents or if modge podge is indeed a solvent). If you don't have a laser jet printer maybe go to staples or something and get a $1 printout.

Why not keep the face flat? Its a subtle enough detail I don't think anyone would notice if the face wasn't a dome and it would be easier for ya.

This is probably easier, and I may do it just because of time, but I want to get this as close to the original model as possible (within reason and proportion to fitting a human body) and I think it looks better curved... I'll get their eventually

 

[xXDashIVXx]

Not sure how odinmakes or anyone uses this stuff, but sintra is an absolute pain to cut. A knife takes several good cuts with lots of pressure to get through. I think a bandsaw would be ideal, but my blade broke so I had to make due with a jigsaw but that didnt work too great, and i have some weird wrinkle like creases all over the peices now. Oh well.. got it all cut out and I guess this means I need to do a little extra spot putty and sanding...

All peices of sintra were assembled with superglue and so was the foam that is connected to the sintra. Didnt make too much progress this week on this project, but i am confident next week will be fruitful

 

[Lieutenant Jaku]

agreed sintra is an absolute pain
(i think?) thats what my mug was made out of and i broke a few blades cutting material for that, you just have to go slow and steady with cutting it

 

[MNKr]

I did something very similar for Halloween this year

Meet Thomas the Vape Engine
I ran a tube inside the body of the train so my vape clouds would exit the smoke stack

 

[xXDashIVXx]

I did something very similar for Halloween this year

Meet Thomas the Vape Engine
I ran a tube inside the body of the train so my vape clouds would exit the smoke stackView attachment 283329

This... I dont even know... xD I very much do appreciate the selection of face though my good sir. Maybe we should gather at the next con and chug along together

 

[xXDashIVXx]

Not too much was done today except peiceing some more parts to the main body. I removed the top roof aswell since I wasnt happy with it and plan to redo it.

 

[Benton188]

Dankness has reached 90% sir!

 

[xXDashIVXx]

I dont think pepping the face will work. I may fibreglass this to get the shape, and then get someone with an airbrush that knows what they are doing to repaint the face on a perfectly smooth surface. It does look beautiful though...

 

[ButterBacon3000]

Dankness has reached 90% sir!

Only 90%? I'm sorry...
But u can become much danker sir
U must it is your mission
This is what u signed up for sir!

This is what you must strive to become

 

[Lieutenant Jaku]

Only 90%? I'm sorry...
But u can become much danker sir
U must it is your mission
This is what u signed up for sir!
View attachment 284289
This is what you must strive to become

you know if he put an extendable tube behind the face...