Andy Moore

Yes, there is a bit of similarity. I've re-worked the yellow one now to incorprate some white areas like Claptrap has. It's still a work in progress, but I think I'll be going with yellow in some form.

I might be a bit late with this, but Meng made a small error with the kit by only moulding the hole for the radiator filler on one side of the engine cover. It's the small semi-circular recess near the front, which should be a full circle. The easiest way to fix it is to simply drill a hole straight through the engine cover, then cap it off from below with styrene sheet. You'd probably still be able to access the underside of the cover if the fighting compartment is still unglued. Andy

It's just a temporary test of a new rank badge to replace the previous row of roundels. The new forum software doesn't support the old format. Andy

So, as promised, I'm going to keep this thread going with the Quad Gonk, most of which is printed now. You've seen the lower body already, and the upper body was originally going to be broadly the same. However, I decided to re-work the design slighty before printing by lowering the centre section and adding the nine round holes that will be plugged with some round, err... plugs. The two slots on the side will have wire mesh behind them, the same as the slots in the lower body. I haven't added the inset channels at either end like the lower body has, but there's a larger inset area on the front with a further recessed panel where the face plate will attach (which is printed, but I haven't got around to photographing yet). The two cutouts on the top will have some sort of detail panels inserted, but I'm still working on those. As you see it here, it's not yet been sanded so you can still see some print lines on the sides. These are the plugs which fit into the holes in the top of the uppper body mid section. I'm thinking of these as the tops of power cells that would slide down inside the upper body for charging, and could then be removed to power other equipment. Essentially, this thing is going to be a walking battery charger. There are only eight here instead of the required nine, as the carpet monster dined on one. I've since printed a replacement plus a few spares. These two little boxes will sit in the recesses on the rear side panels on the upper body. The one on the right has a small chunk out of the base which chipped off when I was removing the print supports. The resin used for printing can be quite brittle when it's cured. Fortunately I printed a few extras of these as well. You've already seen the front and rear bumpers that will attach to the mid band, although I've now re-pinted the front one with a slightly different design. I've also printed some small shield-like panels that will mount to the recesses that run along the sides of the mid band. The feet are a slightly different style to those I used on the previous Gonk, but I'll be attaching them in the same way via the rectangular bocks that drop into holes in the base of the lower body. I'll also be using the same ribbed tubing for the legs. So this is what he's looking like temporarily pieced together. Most of the details are only attached with blue tak for now, so everything looks a bit wonky. Just a few more details to print, then he should be ready to start painting. In the mean time I've been trying out some different colours and markings. Not sure what I'm going with yet, but any suggestions are welcome. Andy

Lovely build Matt. Looks like a decent little kit as well. I guess with white metal it doesn't matter if you get a paint chip somewhere, as you can just call it weathering. Andy

Thanks for the comments everyone It was Yoda for me. I could never find the figure anywhere until I saw one of the stand that a local toy shop had set up at my school's summer fair. Bought the figure straight away, and I've still got it today (nearly 40 years later😬) Thanks Dan, Well, I've got a few things planned, but it always seems to be time that's the limiting factor. I do have a quad Gonk that's nearly ready to go though. Andy

No problem Graeme, I think the only critical bits on the chassis, as far as placement goes, are the leaf springs and axles. As long as they're in the right place, making the wheels line up correctly with the arches, the rest of the transmission doesn't really matter as it's almost completely hidden. I don't think it would make any real difference if you just cut down the prop shaft to fit. Andy

Hi Graeme, To be honest, I can't remember any significant issue with fitting the shaft. I think it had to be fitted at the same time as the rear axle to allow the location pins at each end of the shaft to drop into place. It's possible that I may have trimmed a little from one end, but that would have required removing one of the pins as well, and I can't remember doing that. 6mm sounds quite a lot too, and if I did shorten the shaft I'm certain it wouldn't have been by that much. I've just measured the shaft on mine and it's a fraction over 30mm (not including the pins), so if yours is the same length I didn't trim mine. I do remember that it was quite fiddly to get all the cross member in place on the chassis, and I had to double check each time that I was placing them in the correct positions. I guess it's possible that if you've got one of the cross members misplaced, it might have thrown out the spacing between the gearbox and rear axle. There's a couple of photos here of the chassis from below and above. They're not from the best angles, but you may be able to spot if something's out of place on yours. Have you got any photos of your chassis? I might be able to see if anything looks significantly different to mine. Andy

The latest droid to add to my ever growing collection, this is an EG-6 Power Droid, or 'Gonk'. They're a fairly common sight throughout the films and TV shows, although PT-1N here isn't based on any particular one. He's mainly constructed from 3D printed parts for the larger components, with some traditional kit bashing used for the details. It was a huge amount of fun to essentially design and manufacture my own kit, and I'll cetainly be doing more printed droid models in the future. The full build can be found here for anyone interested. Finally, here's a few comparison shots with my previous Gonk, DN-LD, who was built from a JPG resin kit, and one last shot with R-33K who was loitering around the photo booth. Thankd for looking Andy

I'm calling a wrap on this one now. He's got the additional dusty weathering I mentioned above, and a few oil and dirt splatters mainly around the mid band. He's also now officially PT-1N. I'll get some more shots of him up in RFI later. In the mean time I've been working on a couple of other droid projects, the first of which is a quad (four legged) Gonk. So far I've only printed the lower body and the mid band, but I should get the other bits printed this week. There are quad Gonks in the SW univerese, although I don't think any have appeared in live action films and shows yet, and they essentially look like normal Gonks, but longer and with four legs (obviously). Mine's going to follow the same basic layout, but I've given it a more modern, technical look, with castellated corners on the main upper and lower body and more inset panels. The lower body looks a bit messy here as it's had a coat of Mr Surfacer and then been sanded down. The large opening at the back and the smaller slits on the front and side will have wire mesh panels set behind them to look like cooling vents. The three holes in the back of the mid band that you can see above are for my favourite addition on this droid. As I'm picturing this droid working in some kind of industrial environment, it's going to need some kind of impact protection so I've given it front and rear bumpers. The rear one has three posts on the back that push straight into the holes on the mid band, while the front one just sits over the front edge. I might add some more side bumpers to the inset rectangles along each side of the mid band as well. The other droid I've been working on is a new dome for an astromech unit which I'm going to call an AT unit. I wanted something that was fairly low and flat, rather than the usual round or conical domes. This initial print is something of a test run to see how the design looks, and I'm probably going to go back to Fusion 360 and refine a few areas before doing another print. The dome is designed to mount to a Bandai Astromech, and it's being modelled by R2 here. I'll continue this thread with the quad Gonk once I've got all the pieces printed, but in the mean time thanks to everyone for following along and for all the suggestions/ideas along the way. Andy

I think that has to be done. I'll start doing some designs for a transporter and an MRV (Mouse Recovery Vehicle) Andy

Okay, I think the Gonk is getting close to the finish line now. I've added some dusty weathering to the feet and legs along with some oil leaks and general dirt weathering, so I think they're about done. The lower body's had some of the same dusty weathering, along with a few more dirt and rust streaks. I'll probably give the lower half a light mist spray with Tamiya buff to soften and blend the dust splatters, but otherwise I think this is also about done. On the upper body I've added the wires to the control box on the side, and again given it more dust and dirt. I've also painted the 'E' panel on the left side in a minty green, because I think the red was looking too dominant and it needed something to contrast with it. The green had some masking fluid chipping as well. I was originally going to paint the back box in a different colour, but I quite like the way it looks at the moment with a rusty oxidised metal finish so I think that's going to stay as it is. I've also added the two cables to the side bumps which were made from a couple of short springs Hopefully I should get the last bits of weathering done in the next day or two. GONK

Great looking build Brian. The weathering looks spot on. Andy

I did use a small brush for some of the chipping, probably a 00 or something about that size, but most of it is done with a sponge. And, as mentioned earlier, I've now added some chipping to the main body. I've also started to pick out some of the smaller details, although I'm still chopping and changing with colours a bit, which is why the faceplate changes colour between the two shots below. There's some preliminary weathering here and there, mainly airbrushed, but I'll be adding to that later with oils. And despite saying that I wasn't going to paint the Mice until I'd finished the Gonk, I ended up painting one of them anyway. Just the MSE-C for now; I need to do a little more work on the MSE-T before I paint that one. GONK

Fantastic work on the weathering John. I really like the way you've emphasised the panels while keeping the effect realistic. Andy

Turned out great Pete. I really like the paint finish with the subtle panel colour variation. Andy

Thanks chaps. Andy

A brilliant piece of imaginative kit bashing. Iove the muddy weathering on the feet and legs. Andy

Yes, there's going to be some chipping, but just painted on over the red. I did think about doing it with either hairspray or masking fluid, but I don't want the chipping to be too extensive on this one, so hand painting it will be easier. I've now added a simple design to each side of the lower body to break up the red a bit, and also a little emblem/logo on the top of the upper body. The stripe on the lower body has ended up looking a little like a j, at least on the right-hand side. That wasn't intentional, but it doesn't really matter and some of the design will probably get covered over with the weathering anyway. In the end I desided to stick with the grey for the feet, and they look a little less boring now I've started weathering them. You can see a little of that in the above photos where I've sprayed a rusty brown here and there. That's now been added to with some chipping and oil washes. The legs have been painted in a dark rubber colour for now, but they'll get some more weathering later on. Life can't be all Gonk though, so the printer has been churning out various pieces of meeces over the last few days. I've just finished washing these wheel sets which I thought I'd try printing vertically direct on the plate. They've come out okay, although I've lost a little of the detail in the hubs. Of course, the wheels will need something to attach to, so I've also made a couple of new mice, the first of which I'm calling an MSE-C or Cargo Mouse. This has got a lowered back with a removeable cargo pod, but is otherwise the same basic proportions of a regular MSE-6 Mouse Droid. I've also done a flatbead version that I'm calling MSE-T or Transport Mouse. Yes, I know... what's the difference between cargo and transport, but I just liked the way the names sounded. This one has three individual containers that will sit on the back. These will both get finished and painted once El Gonko is done. GONK

So, I managed to make a start on the main painting last night. I masked off the waist band, as I think I'll be leaving that in aluminium, then gave the main body parts a pre-shade in the recesses and around details with Tamiya Hull Red. That was followed up with the main base colour using Gunze Russet. I then mixed a little Tamiya Flesh into the russet and sprayed some patchy faded areas. For now I've left most of the detail parts unpainted, as I'm still not sure what colours I'll be using for them. The Russet had left the body with a slight pinkish tint that I wasn't keen on so I added a glaze of Gunze red to bring the finish back to a redder tone. I also added a light spray of Tamiya orange here and there to simulate some discolouration and staining to the finish. The red will be the main base colour, but I'm probably going to add some design or deco in another colour so he doesn't look so monochromatic. For now the feet have been painted in a grey shade, but that might change depending on what colours I use for the deco and details on the body. GONK

Yeah, it does look a bit busy from that angle. I think they'll blend together better once painted, the metallics tend to make everything too prominent. I'm not really sure how I'm going to paint the details yet though. There'll probably be a bit of trial and error to see what looks best. He'll stay free standing like my other droids.They're all lined up on a shelf at the moment, so he'll be joining them. GONK

Some aurebesh or Huttese graffiti is definately a possibility. Well, I've added a little sensor thingy to the top. I like the idea of a radar scanner though, but I might keep that idea for the next Gonk which I'm planning to be a covert surveillance/spy Gonk. Yep, they just slide down over the original styrene tube legs which still bare the load of the body. And indeed here they are. The bottom of the ribbed tubes are glued directly to the top of the feet, and the tops will just butt up to the underneath of the leg mounting block that the styrene tubes slide into. I've also added a little greebly bit at the back of each foot for the guitar string cables to attach to. I'd been toying with the idea of stippling some Mr Surfacer onto the body to give it a slight cast texture, and in the end decided to do it as it adds a little visual interest when viewed close up, and also helps to hide the few remaining traces of print lines. With the legs on, it was looking something like this I still felt it needed a little more detail though, so I added the sensor thing that I mentioned above to the top front corner, and a little bolted-on control box on the side. This was intentionally placed a bit skew whiff to look like a bodged modification by some inept Tatooine moisture farmer. There'll be a cable running from the box to the sensor which I'll add after painting. The rear socket box has also had a few more details added, including a master cut-off switch. At this point I decided it was time to stop playing around with the details and get some paint on him. I primed him in gloss black, then gave him a coat of Alclad magesium, apart from the mid band section which was finished in aluminium. I probably won't use any of the metallic finish and it'll get over-painted by the main colour (probably red), although I might keep the waist band in aluminium. The metallic was done mainly to see how he looked in that finish, and to provide a fairly neutral undercoat for the rest of the painting. I should be able to start getting some colour on him tomorrow. GONK

I'm considering doing something like that Pete. I wasn't sure about it because Donald had a riveted repair patch on one side, and I didn't want to copy too many features from that one, but he definately needs a non-standard modification of some kind. It's actually something that could even be added after painting to give it some authenticity as a repair. Well, apart from a possible repair patch, I think he's pretty much done now. I've printed a couple of additional parts, done some more scratch-built greebling, and finally found something for the legs that I'm happy with. The extra printed parts are a replacement face plate because I wasn't really happy with the original one with the wonky vent, and the two side bumps, which are presumably power sockets, that most Gonks generally have. The new face plate is essentially the same design as the old one but I filled in the area behind the vent grilles to stop them deforming. It doesn't have the same depth as before, but it should look fine with some black paint run into the slots. I've also added a bit of extra greebling in the middle of the plate, although I would probably have been better doing that the old fashioned way with styrene becuase in a few places where details are very close together, blobs of resin have filled in the gaps during the print. The same thing has happened on the top and bottom vent slot which makes them look a little shorter than the rest. Hopefully non of these slightly rough areas will show too much once it's all painted. Ignore the gap at the top of the face plate - it was only loosely pushed on for the photo. The side bumps aren't based on any specific reference, just something along the lines of what you find on most Gonks. The holes on the edge are for some cables that will be added after painting. I mentioned a few posts up that I'd sent for some ribbed tubing from ebay that I was considering using for the legs. That turned up this morning and, after cutting off a couple of short lengths and sliding them over the existing styrene tube legs, I decided that this was definitely the way to go. It doesn't really look like the wire-reinforced hose used on the original prop costume, but I'm not really bothered. It looks fine, was really quick to do, and I can use the same method on future droids since I've got a couple of metres of it. So, with the legs taken care of, and pending any further additions, this is how he's looking now. Next it'll be deciding what bits to glue together now, and what to keep separate for painting. GONK

Thanks chaps, That's roughly the one he's based on, and if I pose him with his front angled down, he does look a bit like he's deactivated. So, I've ordered some 10mm ribbed tubing from ebay, which might be another option for the legs. While I'm waiting for that to arrive, I've been playing with some possible greeble details. To start with I've cut out and glued on the 'E' panel on the upper body. It's not a perfect match to panel on the original droid, but I'm not bothered about creating an exact replica, more just something in the spirit of the original. When I built Donald, I gave him a scratch built box on his back with some power outlets on it. I thought I'd do something similar here and found part of a fuel tank from a Russian truck in the spares box which looked the part. The power sockets are headlamp casings from something or other, and I'll probably add some further detailing with photo etch, or whatever else I can find. The panel below it on the lower body is a part left over from my old Slave 1 build, and the vent on the side is another spares box bit maybe from the Oshkosh M911. All these bits are only temporarily attached at the moment, but I quite like the look of them so they'll probably be used. GONK

Very nice build Steven, and a great video too. Nice work with the printed cones, much cleaner than the kit parts. Andy