Blackadder's Imperator Titan Build

[Blackadder]

Sorry to have been so long in responding:

The tedium of making dozens of these structures; revising, chopping and rebuilding better representatives of them seemed like not the most interesting aspect of this build.

https://i.imgur.com/OYc5SIe.jpg

I finally have enough, eighteen, for the first tier of the greaves and, with slight modifications, I have devised of a better way to produce the second tier, eight in all, that is less labor intensive.

Couple that with an abscessed tooth, a root canal, and a mild case of the flu made me less than amenable to communicating my meager progress with my peers.

The castle portion of this construct will necessitate a lot of repetitive work and no I am not going to "cast" or 3D print any portion of the requisite components. In my warped OCD way I consider that cheating

Of course I am hypocritically not above using bitz.

 

[zathros]

I actually understand that sentment. You have shown a path towards fabrication in a traditional manner that yeilds excellent results. Some of the 3D stuff I've seen I wonder why people even post.

 

[Blackadder]

Thanks for the reply.........

Blackadder is Back In the Groove

To be a bit self serving I'm feeling much better and the past few day have been most productive. The gabled naves in the first level greaves give the appearance of homogeneity even though they aren't exactly the same.

https://i.imgur.com/BYJ02mZ.jpg

The first attempt at a stain glass insert for the naves for lack of a better name.

https://i.imgur.com/8d8LHKb.jpg

A side by side comparison I stumbled across on my imgur preview index. Even though my Emperor will be taller the proportions are pretty close. Whew!

https://i.imgur.com/wdDpheK.jpg

Note to self, "I have to shorten the second and third tier. And hip region needs to be beefier."

 

[zathros]

Looks really great!!

 

[Blackadder]

Supporting Cast:

A flurry of activity this week finally putting the finishing basic touches on the spaced corner greave armour and casting the hip joints with aircraft grade industrial resin.

I'm particularly proud of these hips and knees as they are an inch wide and barely a quarter in thick but they will bear the weight of bowling ball mass of the torso and a lot more but still not give a clunky appearance. Once the Hips are mounted I can add decorative gewgaws and details and the huge hydraulic cylinders that will stiffen the structure so it can be posed.......

https://i.imgur.com/CiJVhyI.jpg

Further detailing of the second and third tiers will commence tomorrow.

https://i.imgur.com/9ahxtKa.jpg

I've decided to make the troop egress through the rear of the greaves and under the foot pad area as opposed to the traditional staircase down the front toes although I shall be keeping the center doors on the three sides as well but the design of the Epic Emperor was poorly thought out and made no real allowance for the purported troop transport alluded to in the rules and text description

https://i.imgur.com/pHK0Zmf.jpg

Besides I don't like the staircase concept; Period!

 

[Blackadder]

Those Crazy Ideas:
Of the questions I get most often is; where do I get these crazy ideas and those that question my sanity, but is really it's just my questioning how would something like these Titans actually work.
In the images below there are actuators that seem to serve no function and if they did they would be far too small to be effective.

Drawing on my aircraft experience I liken the actuators here to the landing gear on jumbo jets such as B747 and L1011 airliners. In particular the 747 has landing gear struts that are as thick as a man's torso. How much larger would the walking hip and knee actuators have to be on an Emperor Titan to be adequate to support the mass and function as a real mechanism would need to.

The biggest problem I have with most of the scratchbuilt Titans is the hydraulics when represented are totally too small in diameter to do the requisite job they are supposed to do.
So the next few posts will be dedicated to the walking actuators and hopefully I can make them sufficiently large enough to be believable.

 

[zathros]

Probably made of some kind of unobtanium, from that Universe.

 

[Blackadder]

Hair of the Dog:

I've raised quite a few hackles with my last post where I pointed out the inadequacies of some renderings of 40K machina.

Part of the charm of many Forge World vehicles is the anachronistic technologies; battle tanks that look like they would be at home on a WWI battle field. Treaded tanks that compete with a-grav skimmers. hulking great bipedal automata that stretch the limit of credulity.

Apparently I have crossed the line by attempting to rationalize the designs to make them appear functional in the real world.

Don't get me wrong, I love the FW genre for the charm of the components but to my mind, things have to function realistically. I've already compromised myself on the lateral shifting component of walking dynamics.

Regarding the caveat of, "it's only a game," and, "Who needs realism?"

Need I remind you that the game can be played with coloured shoe boxes, blocks of wood and chess pieces if realism isn't necessary. No one needs to spend a couple of weeks salary on a highly stylized ten kilo chunk of resin to field a Titan.
That said I offer my version of the leg actuator system.

As some have pointed out, the shock strut of the landing gear is a closed passive hydraulic system (Oleo Strut) relying on compressed air and hydraulic fluid to provide a metered cushion for landing.

I liken the force of impact with each step in the same category as an wide body commercial aircraft touch down albeit much more frequent.

Forge World provides no source of hydraulic pressure in any of their models and it is the cross section area of the cylinder that determines how adequately the mechanism protects the mechanical vitals of the machine. Land a 747 with a collapsed strut and you are likely to incur structural damage necessitating a very detailed inspection not to mention numerous lawsuits from irate passengers with suddenly occurring compressed vertebra.

https://i.imgur.com/lA1lGWu.jpg

My shock struts will provide indication that the situation exists and allowances have been made for the problem plus they will serve as a function by locking the knee in any configuration other than a straight legged stance.

https://i.imgur.com/fOKNgVE.jpg

All without compromising, too much, the overall appearance of the model.

 

[Cybergrinder]

Looking forward to it!

 

[Blackadder]

Here's Johnny:

Now we'll real put your faith in my decisions to the test when I lay this down upon you all.
I've decided to cut the second and third tiers down about 2 inches (5 CM) Gasp!

The legs looked too long and gangly

https://i.imgur.com/sGYBtVc.jpg

It took a lot of nerve and we'll see the wisdom or folly of this decision but right now it seems the right thing to do.

https://i.imgur.com/kbt3AiE.jpg

I went through these evolutions with my warlord until I got it right (To my eye anyway) lengthening and shortening the upper and lower legs about three times in total each.

 

[zathros]

No one can knock Oleo Struts, then have been around for a century and work great!!!

 

[Blackadder]

The New Helsreach Chapter 11

Has revealed a heretofore unknown area of detail under the greave skirt ( Yeah I know what I've said.)
https://i.imgur.com/mi7Tgk1.jpg

Anyway I knew there were actuators there but I fought the temptation to make the toes movable as the effort I put into movable toes on my Warlord was pretty much for nothing. I rarely pose it with the toes flexed.
Another tidbit of detail is the corner spires have pointy bits on both ends.

 

[zathros]

The sharp pointy bits are to transmit sound better.

 

[zathros]

Just downloaded the last segment of Helsreach, will watch it later with my son. Thanx for the heads up!

 

[Blackadder]

I love this Helsreach series.........

Details Details:
The Devil is in the details. Since I found out last week courtesy of HelsReach 11 that the corner spires are pointy on both ends; Egad!!!!! I've come up with a way (I think) to make the legs pose-able to a degree. The image in my last post shows internal cylinders that while I know they had to be there. None the less; it is nice to have verification.
https://i.imgur.com/0ZezakH.jpg

I've also worked on the Upper leg housing and made the foot pad ankle gimbal system a reality that I believe will be strong enough to support the 10 kilos of mass this model will ultimately have.
https://i.imgur.com/dI41YB6.jpg

It took a bit of scrambling to make up for that deficit............
https://i.imgur.com/GYfmdur.jpg

Right now I am just toying with the components to see what can be done.... I may have to scrap the idea of the internal mop handle for a more utilitarian center column.
https://i.imgur.com/HTPFpjl.jpg

Which would be a pity but I'm not exactly wedded to the idea; one of the benefits of designing on the fly.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

This is truly a work of art!!!

 

[zathros]

Greeble the mop handle?

 

[Blackadder]

Greeble the mop handle?

Most definitely. The mop handle will be the core of the interior of the greaves. I haven't worked out the details yet but I intend to have the company strength troops suspended in harnesses à la the Space Marine drop pods............

 

[zathros]

Cool!!

 

[Blackadder]

Zounds!
I hate to toot my own horn but this actually worked out as a surprise to even me.

https://i.imgur.com/GutkRnb.jpg

The above view is of the internal structure where I hope to be able to house twenty to forty troop harnesses and still have room for the stabilizing cylinders

https://i.imgur.com/Iaisvly.jpg

The view above is of the rear disembarkment doors which I feel are much more practical that front mounted doors as it give the troops the ability to form up before confronting their adversaries. Not in the best Imperial tradition I know but definitely saner.

https://i.imgur.com/1JzNvHK.jpg

The friction gimbel works as designed and I am hoping with the 20 odd pounds of Emperor Titan they will provide the requisite stability. The stabilizers may offer assistance there.

https://i.imgur.com/LS5xiMs.jpg

Front clearance also seems adequate when assuming the classic combat pose.

https://i.imgur.com/VIXWH91.jpg

and with the second and third tiers in place we begin to see the entire leg become a reality.
Finally the interior structure that will house the troops.

https://i.imgur.com/n1EB95i.jpg

This structure will slide out of the greave to reveal the inner transport chamber and the mechanical walking devices/components. I'm going to be hard pressed finding room for all that needs to be here and still have room for activation.