BUBBLETRON

As most of you either guessed or know, it was me who bought the Bubbletron off Ebay recently.  I haven't seen one on Ebay in 14 years. 

This one has an unpunched card.  It also is loose.  The blister has been lifted on the right side to allow for easy removal.  The chest decal is quite faded.  I would suspect that whatever bubble fluid is inside has been replaced.  Either the fluid leaked out and did the damage to the decal and weakened the card enough to allow the blister to be removed on the one side or someone lifted the blister on the one side and this item is played with. 

Either way, Im happy to have it.  The price was stupid I know.  But I could be dead before another one ever becomes available.  

 

Its pretty faded, but it isn't peeling from the edges. 

Working the Properties of the Mold

When I first got into casting I basically followed factory guidelines.  A mold contains 2 halves. But those are steel injection molds.  As my experience has progressed, I have found that maintaining a 50/50 mold split is making for ALOT of extra work because of where the cast line ends up.

We all know how much I hate cast lines.  With steel the molds are unforgiving so it has to be a 50/50 split.  We are using silicone.  which is flexible.  We can bend and stretch the mold carefully to remove pieces from the mold that would be impossible with steel.  Not only that, by varying the surface contour, we are helping to ensure positive alignment of the mold halves.

These following pictures are the new molds for Homeworlds upcoming Anniversary Edition Crystal Roboid.

This is a sprue mold.  The left side would be the bottom of the mold.  By being able to bend the mold to aid in the release of the cast piece, I can now cast the holes in the boots so I dont have to manually drill them.  I have moved the Mold break line so that it falls on the edges of piece instead of in the middle of the detail.  So Detail is no longer affected by sanding.  This is HUGE news for me.

Here's a shot of the mating part of the mold.  At the top of the mold you see a small channel and at the bottom you see both the vent and spout.  We could not do this if these were steel molds

The unconventional mold split also helps to guarantee a perfect mold alignment along with the locators.

Im looking forward to doing this more and more.

MIX WELL...ALWAYS!!!

One thing you will keep hearing at Homeworld is MIX WELL.  First off, I do not use sub standard products for any project.  ALL of Homeworlds Blog Exclusive's are made with fresh stock.  Whats left over I use for customs and commissions.  And then I experiment and have fun with whats left.  Sometimes I dont use it all and I might have 1/4 of a bottle left sitting for a month or two.

Here's what they DONT tell you about the shelf life of a product.  The SHELF LIFE  of a product is directly linked to the AMOUNT LEFT IN THE BOTTLE.   If you have two bottles of the same product one 1/4 full and one that is 3/4's full...the one that is 3/4's full will have a longer shelf life.

I always say that 90% of casting/molding issues can be traced back to ineffective or improper mixing.  I recently found a bottle of the reacting agent for the silicone molds I had forgotten about 3 months ago that was almost 1/3 full.  It was worse than molasses.  Now if I didnt have the pressure pot I wouldnt have tried this because the pressure pot helps force the silicone.  But before I throw something away, I want to be sure its garbage.  This was the perfect opportunity to experiment with.  LETS SEE WHAT THESE PRODUCTS CAN DO!

And I mixed the shit shit out of it.   It looked like it was half cured already.  And I mixed it first in its container by itself and then I mixed it with part B and mixed the shit out of it some more and globbed the silicone into the frame and threw it into the pressure pot. 

I dont care what the outside of the mold looks like.  Just whether or not it made a good mold internally.  And it worked beautifully.  Unfortunately I dont have any pictures just yet...but it proved to me once and for all that mixing is the most important part of casting.

Big Man Toys

I missed the last run at Big Man Toys.  Lee was nice enough to run 1 last cast for me.  BMT in league with Creative Consultant Bryan Wilkinson have created a new figure based on parts from the Micronauts Battle Cruiser.

My ONLY complaint...it isnt articulated.  But Im working on that.  :-)  This is an incredible little guy about 2 1/2".  I asked Lee to send me one right out of the mold.  I suddenly have an urge to paint.  me.  Yes.  You heard that.  I want to paint this guy.  Although I am not sure if I am going to go with the Cosmic Attack Cruiser or the Transfer Fortress colors.  Black and gold doesnt seem to bad either. 

I spent the morning sanding.  Unfortunately I had to sand some detail away, but it still looks great.  Im hoping to paint it tomorrow in between molds.

Micronauts Museum Issue

While I am slowly getting rid of my entire Toy Collection, Comics were always my first passion.  I have a few hundred of various titles and a few undergrounds as well. I have most of the Micronauts and All the variant covers.  I will always buy comics.

I have never been an advocate for AFA grading.  Buying something that was AFA graded seemed a waste of either a figure or a comic to me because you need to hold it and or play with it/read it to appreciate it.  Thats my belief.

However I believe I found an exception to my rule.  Like I always say, If you dont ask, you'll never know.  I recently submitted an offer for this next item and was quite surprised to find it was accepted.  Since I have read and have other variations of this comic, and others can easily be found, there is no reason to NOT have this particular item AFA Graded.  Its sealed as it is.

Micronauts Sleeping Bag

There has been some interest in my Micronaut Sleeping bag.  I have been working quite a bit and havent been able to make a complete list of items for sale.  Im caught between final touches on Sultan and working ot.  Sorry.

The Micronauts Sleeping bag I bought back about 12 years ago.  I was dirt broke and unemployed when I bought it.  At the time it was THE most expensive item I had ever bought.  Factoring in the currency exchange rate, I paid almost $400 for it at the time.  It was my very 1st unique item I ever purchased for my collection.  Im not sure if I am ready to sell it. 

Sultan is too much of a distraction right now.  I'll try to get that for sale list done asap.

Area 51 Airfix Micronauts

 Back in December of 1998, a Sci-Fi collecting magazine called AREA 51, did a 6 page article on the Airfix Micronauts.

 A quick read reveals standard facts about Micronauts history going back to the Henshin Cyborgs then how Takara expanded to the 3 3/4" format with the 5mm peg system.  There is a brief mention of a child choking incident 'outside' of MEGO products that says MEGO voluntarily began making the firing systems less functional.

Not having an Ampzilla, I cant confirm or deny this, but it mentions that Ampzilla is a 'MOTORIZED' vehicle.  I have never heard of them being motorized, but hey...I thought the Sharkos had a die cast body until I recently bought one.

But one fact about this article that is incredibly wrong is that it says Centaurus, Kronos and Lobros ( Page 23 under 1981 Decline and Fall)   WERE NEVER RELEASED in the USA appearing only in Italy.

I can totally destroy that.  In 2006 I sold a US version Lobstros and currently have the US versions of 5 of the 6 Micronaut Aliens MOSC displayed on my wall.  I dont have a US version Kronos, but know for a fact one exists.  I missed out buying it.  You can see the "I" in front of the word Micronauti on the Kronos card to the right along with the Italian writing underneath the figure name compared to the US cards which have Simply Micronaut and then English writing under the figure name.

There is also a quick mention on Transformers.  Now this is just a quick read while I sit here writing this.  But I found enough contradictory information in the article that warrants me to read the entire article thoroughly.  If for no other reason than to verify specific facts.

Newest Micronaut...SHARKOS

I have rearranged my Micronaut shelf.  Other than a few Interchangeables and my Magnos, this is pretty much all I have kept for Micronauts figures besides my customs.  Whatever isnt in this picture is for sale.

But my SHARKOS has arrived.  For years( DONT LAUGH TOO HARD) I was under the impression that the Sharkos had a die cast body.  I thought...what a useless toy.  To give it an aquatic theme and then put a die cast body on it is a disaster.  I never asked.  People's opinions on it varied. Some liked it, others didnt.

 Recently I put a shit n giggles bid on a Sharkos on Ebay.  Only because it was 100% complete with box inserts as well.  I fully expected to get outbid.  But I didnt.  So now I own a Sharkos.  After buying one, I have a little more respect for the toy and am a bit choked at myself for not researching this vehicle.  Had I,  I most likely would have bought this vehicle years ago.




I am trying like heck to get caught up on alot of posting I havent been doing so this picture of the new shelf will have to do for now.  I'll dissect the Sharkos more in a future post.