66 replies to this topic

[PlasticSoul]

Thanks! Yeah Im kind of surprised it hasnt been done already, it wasnt an innovative idea, lol

 

Yes it was.

 

Anytime anyone makes anything with a critter it's innovative!

[Bigmantoys]

very cool!

[Talyn]

Thanks guys, I hope to get this molded by the weekend and have release info shortly after that if the molding goes well.

[Talyn]

Available for preorder now! Ships Jan/Feb 2015.

http://plasticgeek.storenvy.com

Edited by Talyn, 23 November 2014 - 07:36 AM.

[CompletelyMADballs]

Super interested when you sell, love to add it to my collection are you going to paint the prototypes you are selling?

Edited by CompletelyMADballs, 24 November 2014 - 05:26 AM.

[Talyn]

They are available for order now at plasticgeek.storenvy.com. These prototypes are unpainted and will be cast in gray resin.

[CompletelyMADballs]

I'll be very interested when you do a painted version

[Talyn]

Well so far I havent sold one of these, so I cant guarantee that will ever happen. Thanks for the interest though.

[Sixthwizard]

I would love to have one, but the prices on all the Custom Balls turn me away.  I would love to have some.  But figure- I would just pay for an original release madball sealed up on card for around the prices of all the Custom scenes "balls".

 

NO offense.  Your sculpt is effin suhweet!  Just wish all the custom balls were about $30...I would pick them all up from every maker

[Talyn]

I wish they were cheaper to make as well, but its a size issue. The material cost alone to make a 3.5 solid resin ball for me is about $25-30, not counting time and work cleaning it up after the fact, just material cost.

 

Once im able to do the squishy foam balls, THOSE will be cheaper because the material expands, so much less is used, making it cheaper to produce. But unless I sell at least a FEW of these, theres not much justification for me to spend even more on other materials.

Edited by Talyn, 25 November 2014 - 07:38 AM.

[Sixthwizard]

I understand completely.  That is a big ball if i may say so.  haha....

[Talyn]

For the record, lowered the price to $55 to help a few people out.

[imperfecz]

I would say you are spending waaaaaaaay too much on resin if the material alone costs you around $30 to produce one. I would find another source. For now, you can stretch your material, using any number of fillers...

[Talyn]

I use SmoothOn 325 or 326 trial size units, which after shipping is about $30-35. Making one ball like this takes almost half of a trial size. So maybe its a bit less than $25-30 per ball, but its pretty close. Of course that doesnt include the huge amount of silicone to make the intitial mold that id like to make up the cost of. I wont really be able to use fillers if I make any clear colors available, but I suppose I could use them for solid colors. I do have many colored powders and stone fillers as well.

Edited by Talyn, 25 November 2014 - 03:35 PM.

[CompletelyMADballs]

Would you be interested in doing a painted one for me?

[Talyn]

There will be painted ones available not too far off.

[sanjeev]

I'm no expert in casting, so please forgive my ignorance...but have you considered doing rotational molds? I know Motorbot has done tons of beefy-but-hollow rotational castings before in low-durometer resins. The figures come out just slightly flexible (tough enough to withstand a shelf-dive) and since the walls are only a few millimeters thick, not a ton of material is used.

[Talyn]

Yeah I've done rotocasting before, but It doesnt seem super practial for something this size, I'd only do it for really big things like props, I'd be afraid of it cracking with one drop.

 

Anyway, resin wont be the main material for this ball. I've finally ordered flexible foam, so as long as everything goes smoothly when I get it and test it out, most future releases will be done in that, making them like original squishy Madballs. And those will be cheaper because the material expands, so I'll use much less of it. Of course being foam means I can't do translucent colors, but I'm going to play with metallic additives and see what else I can do. I think swirled colors would work well.

 

Paint may be an issue with the flexible foam, but hell, its an issue on real Madballs as well. We'll see when I get there. Thanks for the input guys

Edited by Talyn, 03 December 2014 - 01:25 PM.

[Talyn]

[sanjeev]

Cool! Looking forward to seeing how the foam ones come out!

[Talyn]

It didnt work too well, I think I need to get a higher density foam, it just has too much expansion leading to too many pinhole bubbles across the surface, and it cant be pressure cast because the gas from the expansion needs to escape and pressure would only collapse the foam.. Basically it doesnt self-skin the way I thought it would. Trial and error I guess..

 

It squishes just right though!

http://videos-d-1.ak...623622894_n.mp4

 

 

 

[sanjeev]

Pinholes or not, that's pretty effing awesome, man!!

 

Obviously, keep experimenting to see what you can come up with...but in my opinion, the squish makes up for the pinholes!

 

What sort of paint did you use? And does it hold up well under heavy play? The paint/skin on vintage Madballs obviously has a tendency to chip and peel away...and I've even had individual paint patches/applications on the modern ones peel right off under normal play...

[Talyn]

I'm using Tamiya paints right now and they seem to be holidng up pretty well, no cracking or rubbing off. I went ahead and painted up that test one fully just to see what it could look like.
 

 

 

[PlasticSoul]

Tru:tek had the same issues with that type of material and from what i remember went through loads and loads of the stuff without ever getting it up to the standard where he would be comfortable selling them. It was a more complicated piece though as far as angles and cuts(Rotten Tomato)and a little bigger as well. That's why they came out in solid rubber with a seriously hefty price tag. 

[Talyn]

Yeah, Allumilute sells one they say is self skinning, but Im not sure it will be any different than this Smooth-On stuff.