SoaringSentinel

Finished it! didnt want to wait till the weekend so i put it together now... As i said before she's got more design flaws than i can count and she looks decent in pictures. but she can barely stand. Some parts had to be glued into place but i'm proud if i'd have to do this again i wouldn't use ball or friction joints. but instead i'd stick to hinge joints as much as possible I'll see about getting better photo's made later

I have not sold any of the figures precisely because of those design flaws. it was a good learning experience of what not to do though. I could fix the figure so that it will work but that will require quite a bit of time, which i currently neither have the time nor interest for.

Were more alike than you think. if this goes according to plan then this will be the first big hobby project that I complete at this point i've put so much time and money into this that i have to finish it. just for my own sanity I've done some more work on the instructions. i'm also painting one of the new heads just to get an impression of what the final thing will look like here are page 1 through 4 which will come with the kit version of the figure.

Thank you! when pouring a mold without a vacuum chamber make sure you pour consistently in a thin stream in one corner of the mold box and then let it slowly flow out from there that way you minimize air bubbles in the mold. another good thing to try is have one extra person take a thin stick or something and pop air bubbles around parts in the molds that have small spaces and just have them rub the silicone into those spaces while you're pouring. that way you make sure it gets in everywhere. and the thin stream ensures that you wont get air bubbles trapped against the parts. also never pour the non-evacuated silicone directly onto the parts. always pour onto your clay bed or the bottom of the mold box What i said about building something you're interested in or are passionate about. In this context i think that applies more towards artistic and entertainment projects rather then things that have a practical application. For a project like Luna it's in essence a toy and display piece. This is something people can live without. A Winch is something that serves a function and if there is a winch that serves that function better and at a lower price then chances are people are going to go with that. I don't know much about winches but in my mind it's a tool to pull things along or lift things up. How well does your winch compare to others. If it's objectively better than others, then your problem may be in marketing. Just my two cents. For Luna It's a little different. because there are a ton of Luna sculptures and figures out there some look better than mine and some don't. But only mine is fully pose able (as far as i am aware). Even the official toys don't do that. so my only competition are other fans. you have a ton of big companies to deal with that build nothing but winches. But I'm not doing this because i want to turn it into a business (I already have my own video game studio) this is because I want a cool Princess Luna Figurine that's pose able and I believe there are other people out there who want one of those as well (and I was right). I could have just printed the figure for myself and scrapped the whole making copies part, and I'd have been done in December. But now I've learned a new skill (making molds and casting parts out of the mold with resin) so even if the whole thing still goes sour I have a new skill and at least 1 princess Luna figure

I'm not dead! I've finally managed to get good casts! the trick? Rotate the molds constantly while the resin is curing. (so borderline rotocast) I'm getting a near 100% success rate with negligible air bubbles, even on the molds with tiny parts. That said i am still missing 4 molds and i have to remake the molds for the feet. since that mold was just not salvageable. I've got more silicone on the way (my third 10 lbs bucket) so the rest should be ready next week! Motivation is back with a vengeance Here's a set of completed sprue's

Well sadly things are not going well. with this being my first attempt at casting anything there were bound to be problems. And there have been. I've made some mistakes I didn't buy enough silicone to account for those mistakes. Air bubbles in the casts out the wazoo, if it could be a problem for an inexperienced caster then it happened to this project live and learn I suppose. I had hopes to have a completed figure by now but both the mistakes in the molds and some personal stuff have prevented that from happening. This is also exactly why I didn't want to take anyone's money for a figure upfront. delays are bound to happen and so they have. don't worry the list still stands and once I finally get this casting business down I'll be contacting you all in order.

My first ever silicone mold is done and so far it looks like a success! Next mold will be poured tomorrow. nearly have the clay bed ready for that. if all goes according to plan i'll be ready to start casting next weekend

All of the Casting supplies are in and i'm going to start with the molds tomorrow Also yesterday I promised an update on the Instruction booklet. Sadly i only managed to finish the first page. in anycase here it is. I'll try to finish the rest when the molds are curing. getting ready to pour the first test mold And now we wait and see if i mucked anything up

Well after much delay i finally have the shipping confirmation that I'll have all of the supplies i need tomorrow... I apologize to everyone eagerly awaiting the final result and your pre-ordered figure. Looks like i'm going to be making the molds this weekend (the clay I got for the two part molds didn't work so I had to get different clay which is coming along with the rest of the supplies) and then hopefully i'll have something cool to show you by the end of next week. I'm going to try and finish the instruction booklet for the Kit version of Luna tonight so expect an update on that tomorrow. Fast approaching the finish line now

I've tried my hand at making plushies but it wasn't as much fun for me as I had hoped. so it never went anywhere. You can check out my progress on that here if you want: http://mlpforums.com/topic/53047-my-first-plushie-princess-luna/ The thing I try to do when starting a new project is. Take a subject I'm passionate about. I look at what other artists are doing. and then make something that I think people would be interested in and something that I would want to own myself (even if you don't intend to sell it) and try to make it at least as good as what some the best fan artists out there are doing. Then if you can, try to surpass those. Even if you project falls short of your goal or expectations you'll at least have learned some new skills. For my Luna figure i'm doing something that at least to my knowledge no one else has done or at least has done to this level of detail and mechanics. It helps keep me motivated knowing that i'm doing something unique. As for selling, If you want to make something that people will take notice of and would want to buy. Make something you want to own yourself first. then figure out how to make copies or how to best sell it later. If you don't want to own what you're making then why would someone else (I know this isn't always true but that's how i think about it)

By Sunbutt i mean Celestia. Sunset shimmer is not even on the radar for now. and yes cadence is a princess hence why i said i'm completing the princess set first. so first Luna then cadence then Celestia and lastly twilight. The trouble with making custom characters is I don't think people would pay the rates i'd have to ask for custom ponies. And since i have no interest in owning a figure of someone else's OC there's no personal investment for me. You see the way these are made i'd have to make a new head and tail for each figure. The Luna heads are around 70 dollars a piece not counting the labor to prep them for casting. by making copies of them using resin i can split those costs but seeing as these are people's OC's i doubt there will be a demand for more than 1 of each. So I'd have to ask more for a custom figure than for luna. You're looking at like 300 to 400 dollars minimum per custom figure. even more if you'd want an alicorn sized figure. So at least for now i'm sticking with the show ponies and maybe if my figures are still populair enoegh after i've made the mane six i can start doing some custom work but that's a year away at minimum. if it does ever happan.

All of this is true and to be honest it has been a lot more work and a lot more money than i wwas expecting. but my main goal is not to get rich off this just enoegh to cover the expenses for My next figure and get some better equipment. Once Luna is done, I'm going to do cadence, mostly because Cadence is just low hanging fruit since she has almost exactly the same bodyshape as Luna save for her head, mane, tail. regalia and hooves. so i would be able to make cadence fairly quickly. but after that i'm moving onto sun butt. Which will require a 100% new sculpt. And Celestia will be made too scale with Luna and Cadence so that means she will stand close to 13 inches tall to the top of the horn and i don't even wanna think about how long she'll be with that huge mane and tail. It's going to be fun though once sun butt is done I hope to do twilight and complete the princess set. I hope to have Celestia ready for print by the time season 5 starts though. but seeing the number of delays luna has seen so far i'm not getting my hopes up.

I made it with Autodesk Maya. I don't like using CAD software. I prefer polygon modeling art programs. I tried to get the price down as low as possible. but sometimes material costs for a figure this size just prevent me from going any lower

While i'm waiting for the casting supplies I went ahead to start on the assembly instructions for the kit version of the figure. I'm still going to add dotted lines page numbers etc. These instructions will be printed and send along with the kit version of the figure and will also be posted online on my deviantart account for those who get the completed figure and want customize it or something

Pre-orders for Luna are open now! For all the information and available sets check out this link http://sentinel373.deviantart.com/journal/Princess-Luna-Action-figure-Pre-orders-Now-Open-505908916 The base figure will be 200 USD but there is a cheaper and a slightly more expensive version availible. If you have any questions please dont hesitate to ask.