Three Legs are Better than Two

[the DOCTOR]

I posted this in my "workbench" thread below, but thought I'd show you the process from the beginning: this is my three-legged 'tank', based on the idea that the British Empire might have back engineered from Tripods left behind after "the War of the Worlds"...

...I started out with a selection of acrylic Christmas baubles, one of which was 160mm across, and three at 80mm across, three halves of which became the upper legs, with the help of three disposable plastic wine glasses, the lower legs came from a set of plastic vases, and the feet are the other halves of the 80mm baubles:



And that's what I had after a little bit of work, the sockets for both the legs and the ankles were push moulded in 2mm styrene:





The rather crafty way of articulating them was arrived at after I'd spent two days thinking of increasingly complicated ways of doing it: it being a further push moulded disc on each joint, trapping the socket moulding between itself and the hip or ankle:





Really pleased with the way it works, I'll probably use those non-scratch felt pads you can get for furniture feet to stop the paint from scratching when it's painted.

The knees are just old fashioned hinges, with 3mm threaded rod running though a set of 40mm Christmas baubles, all held together with brass dome head nuts:



Then came a door:



Which opens:



Of course, I then realised how difficult it would be for the crew to get on and off, so I made a folding ladder:







Then, in a moment of madness I decided to make an etched brass spiral staircase to get between levels:



The basic shape, which folded up to make this:



To which I added a handrail:



View through the door:



And a quick mock up of the upper level:



I will hopefully be etching a six segment flor panel for this, in a mesh style, so you can see the lower deck through it.

I left this project for a while to finish off the Aerial battleship, but have been quite busy again in the last week, firstly putting some details on the legs:



^A flange with nuts and bolts on the shins, to make it look more industrial, and also some bracing on the upper legs:



And a door over the ladder slot:





A large grill on one of the other two sides:



Behind which sits this engine:





Also, a latch on the door:





The wheels are HO/OO train wheels with the flanges turned off!

On the other side is another engine, based on the notion that Martian technology has three point rotational symmetry:



And here they both are, in situ:



An interesting exercise was making sure the legs didn't foul the engines!

More soon!

[DARKVIEW]

fantastic detail x 3 ;-)

[Lrl]

I'm a fan, look forward to future posts, thanks.

[the DOCTOR]

Been trying out some of the etching:



And in place:



It's good, but not great: I'm investigating some etching suppliers...

More soon!

[the DOCTOR]

Put three push-moulded 'dimples in the top half:



A few days on, and I added the ball-and socket gun mounts: two simple push-moulded 'cups', and a 40mm acrylic bauble:



I've had to order some more baubles, and some M1.6 dome nuts and bolts to hold them all together, should have them all rotating nicely by the end of the week.

Going to add three weapons, one will be a standard cannon, one might be a sort of wrecking ball or giant 'Morning Star', but today, I hope to start on the heat ray...

[the DOCTOR]

And a heatray:



The cut out centres from the sockets, some styrene tube, and a lid from a disposable insulin syringe!

[Conrad Turner]

That, sir, is no heat ray. That is obviously a multi-tronic optic system complete with radiation baffles.

[Translation] Cor, that don't half look like a Dalek eye stalk![/Translation]




Very well done.

[Crimson Binome]

thats a thought a steampunk Dalek - wow

[the DOCTOR]

\Well, HOORAY! The etchings have arrived:



And some of them fitted:



View through the door:



Added an 8" howitzer from a 1/35 scale kit I picked up cheap in a charity shop:



And decided to add a two-part opening hatch in the roof, partly for restocking the weapons, but mainly so there's a way to see all the interior detail:



More soon!

[DARKVIEW]

excellent work, what great detail and design ;-)

[the DOCTOR]

Doors on the roof, only two, because I thought three would be too complicated:





But after due consideration, and some nagging, I had a go at a three door configuration:





Much better!

Started on some instrumentation on the three 'arms':





All together:

[Neo-Uk]

This is great.
Now how much were they again

[Captain Sci-Fi]

Every time I see an update I am all over it, love what you are doing with the detailing each stage is just looking better and better. I have bought all the chemicals and brass sheet to try a little etching myself, that's how inspired I was with your deck plating and stair case.

Keep up the amazing work..

[Lrl]

This is a fascinating build, long may it run.

[DARKVIEW]

Attention to detail is just breathtaking .... More please.

[Howard]

If Nemo ventured onto the land, this is what he'd use.
Fantastic realisation, problem solving and as Darkview said, attention to detail.
Brilliant.

[the DOCTOR]

Glad you're all still watching!

Here's where it was when I had to break off to build a raygun for a customer:



Added portholes to the three driver hatches, and here it is open:



Another view:



And built a claw for the extending arm:



Again, acting on advice, I have modified the arm to have a working elbow joint:



Which makes more sense, as you can see here:







Also added some intake/exhaust detail to the 'thighs', in an attempt to sow that there is some kind of 'engine' for each leg:



Quite pleased how they turned out, quite insect like! Also, added three 'toes' to each foot, to try and take away the whole 'it looks like a sink plunger' effect:



And here it all is in it's current state:



Really need to find time over the festivities to do some more...

[comet]

This is a fantastic creation. Can't wait to see it finished. Such wonderful detail, your skills really are something to behold.

You could call it 'The Stomper.' It reminds me of some of the art
work you see on the covers of sci fi magazines, like Clarkes World or F&SF.

Dave.

[DARKVIEW]

Fantastic, get your work shown to companies like Weta etc...

[thundergod]

Absolutely fantastic work . Superlative design and attention to detail . I've promised myself that this will be the year I build my long planned " Tripod/War machine " , so I'm following this thread with much interest . ( Of course , I won't be knicking any of your ideads . Honest ! )