Interest Indiana Jones Dial of Destiny - Hero Dial (fully functional)

[dcast]

ajhix ,I'm am interested in the option 2 ( finished )

 

[MichaelFuji]

Sorry for being such a pain but has the pricing already been revealed?
I didn't see any post about that as of now, however.
I do not want to buy into into sth before I know whether I can afford it. Furthermore I believe this is unfair towards to project owner as this gives her/him a certain uncertainty due to the possibility of backing off.

 

[ajhix]

I appreciate everyone's patience with this project as the holidays came up rather quickly; it was great to spend time with family. I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Update:

The last couple of weeks I was able to find time to complete the final prototype that will be the finished version. I printed various parts a couple of times to find the best orientation for printing and ease of fitment and finish. laellee has been amazing to work with; as previously mentioned, he updated several pieces based on references we found from the hero prop that brings this closer to what was used in the film. I am quite happy with how this has turned out.

Now to the details....this prop is very time intensive to say the least....

1. Printing: I have about (6) resin plate files that make up the complete dial. The case halves and gear wheels take the longest time and use the most resin. Each plate takes about 6-8 hours to print. Luckily, I do have a couple resin printers, so in theory, I can print a complete dial in a couple of days if I am around to switch the plates. Each piece is printed solid, this makes the assembled dial feel quite substantial. I rarely have print failures, but they do happen.
2. Curing and Post-Processing: This begins the time killer. Each piece is cured and sanded. I try to angle the prints in a way that will avoid noticeable damage from supports and still maintain dimensional accuracy. Oh yeah... on that note... I have printed so.... many....... test parts. This dial requires dimensional accuracy to maintain all of the articulating pieces. Unfortunately, resin printers are not known for complete dimensional accuracy; there are so many things you can tweak. Test prints that worked perfectly on an FDM printer, require a completely different setup on a resin printer. I found that out the hard way early on in the process. Lael and I worked back and forth on getting tolerances correct throughout the entire process. I am satisfied with every tolerance and fitment with the final dial.
3. Fitment: I dry fit every single piece of the dial to ensure fitment and rotation. Once I am satisfied with the rotation of the rings, plates, etc... I move on to priming. If there is an issue with any part; I re-print.
4. Priming/Paint: This takes substantial time. Each piece is primed and set to dry for at least 24 hours before paint. Throughout the last year, I think I purchased every variation of gold, bronze, paint that you can buy. As I was testing different paints there were two options: spray cans vs. airbrush- 1) Using spray cans to paint the dial would be considerably faster. I could prime quickly and paint the main gold color quickly. Obviously, paint control might be an issue; and too much paint might affect fitment. Cost would be less. 2) Airbrushing would solve the problem of paint control, but also increases time, cost, etc... Well, after substantial testing, I narrowed it down to a set of airbrush paints that give the dial the look I was going for and really made the finished pieces look better. The entire dial is airbrushed and takes about 3-4 days to make sure the paint is cured. I lay the base down and then tint the paint to the desired color. Several washes are applied and then everything is sealed. The painting takes substantial time and costs are higher due to the airbrush paint I buy.
5. Assembly: This takes a solid chunk of a day. The dial pieces interlock and also use threaded inserts to screw everything together. Every piece that Lael designed is well thought out, which makes assembly quite enjoyable. I would say that one of the biggest time killers with the assembly is the compass chain. That takes considerable time to complete... a lot of small pieces. I am OCD for details and anything that I send out has to be quality.
   
   
   
6. Cost: This was the hardest to nail down. As I calculated cost of materials and time spent, the numbers were adding up quickly. I put considerable more time into these than I can realistically charge for. The total cost for a completed dial and compass w/ chain will be $525 shipped in the USA (international orders will have to be quoted separately).

Finally....

To make this as easy and stress-free for anyone that has interest - I will not be asking for any type of payment until a dial is completed and ready to be sold. Once I finish the next one, I will contact the first person on the list. I will send that person pictures/video of the completed dial and it will be offered. If it is a bad time financially or you just want to pass, that will be completely fine. I will contact the next person and go from there. This will be a limited run and I will be closing the interest list shortly.

And... in all transparency, this is a hobby for me and I do this for the process; it gives me a project to work on. I am a one-man show and I will not rush any part of this. There are other dials out there if speed is an issue. Also, graffitilogic made a great set of files that I highly recommend for those that want to build their own.

Thanks

 

[Wistanley]

I'm interested in option 2 ( finished ) depending on price.

 

[MurdocXXL]

ajhix thanks for the Insights

Regarding topic 6. (Costs). Any idea about the cost-range of a KIT (Option 1)

Best regards
Ralf

 

[rockbottom]

Interested in option 2

 

[Raiders March]

Happy to keep my spot. When my turn comes around would like to know the shipping costs beforehand as I live in Australia.
Are you going to list a kit price as others have mentioned?
Thanks for all your work that has gone into this!

 

[AdamHunter]

Interested in Option 2 - this is looking great!
Do you have any information on the weight of the final unit? Weird question, but I always love when props have a nice heft. I’m assuming you’re printing these components solid so it likely will feel nice in the hand. What resin are you printing in? I know a while back SLA prints were beautiful but fragile, but there have been huge strides in material sciences with respect to SLA printing.

Would be cool to have a quick video snippet or similar of the ‘functional’ portion showing what moves what.

Regardless, looking fantastic!

 

[ajhix]

ajhix thanks for the Insights

Regarding topic 6. (Costs). Any idea about the cost-range of a KIT (Option 1)

Best regards
Ralf

Not sure on this one.... most of the interest was for a finished product. I want to get those done before entertaining the kit version.

Interested in Option 2 - this is looking great!
Do you have any information on the weight of the final unit? Weird question, but I always love when props have a nice heft. I’m assuming you’re printing these components solid so it likely will feel nice in the hand. What resin are you printing in? I know a while back SLA prints were beautiful but fragile, but there have been huge strides in material sciences with respect to SLA printing.

Would be cool to have a quick video snippet or similar of the ‘functional’ portion showing what moves what.

Regardless, looking fantastic!

I will find my scale and weigh a finished one. These are quite heavy. I am printing every piece solid, which does add a lot of weight to it. I am using an upgraded ABS resin that supposedly is no-brittle, low shrinkage, impact friendly etc... I tested some different resins because of the fragile nature of some of the parts I am printing. I also had to work through fitment of resin printed pieces because lack of 100% dimensional accuracy with some pieces and had an issue earlier in the process with warping of the case piece, which I was able to fix. There is a video on the first post with the functional pieces. Once I finish up this lot I am working on, I will send videos to each potential buyer with their actual dial.

Happy to keep my spot. When my turn comes around would like to know the shipping costs beforehand as I live in Australia.
Are you going to list a kit price as others have mentioned?
Thanks for all your work that has gone into this!

Yep, no problem there. I will see if I can come up with a quote once weigh one of this up and see how I can pack these safely and securely. I do not want something breaking in transit. Same answer above on the kit... I want to get finished ones out first before I decide on that.

And finally.... I am printing batches of pieces so I can finish up a bunch together at the same time. I don't know if I have a deadline for the first batch, but am hoping to have something for those still wanting to purchase in the next few weeks. I have stockpiled supplies and hardware to make sure I have what I need.

Thanks

 

[Edgar]

Fully functional? Might want to watch for Nazis in your rear-view mirror!

 

[warrenhouck]

Interested in option 2 if you decide to make more past the interest list

 

[ajhix]

Updated the interest list.....

And... I have (5) dials fully printed that are in the sanding/priming/painting phase, it shouldn't be much longer for the first batch. I stocked up on hardware needed and think I have enough paint stockpiled for a bit. I have started printing the next 5 and have got into a nice workflow that keeps my printers busy while I am at work. I should have some pictures in the next week and a half of the initial finishing of the first five...

Thanks to everyone for being patient with me.

 

[Dmarakowski]

Love the updates. I’m so excited for this great job so far!

 

[Raiders March]

Love to see a pic if you have a few done. Excited about this prop, it's complicated for sure

 

[ajhix]

Update time... last month was a little rough. Things didn't go to plan in February and things are finally shaping up.

Mid February:

I messed one of these up pretty bad... I had this bright idea of adding additional weathering as I sanded everything down. I wanted to experiment with a really worn look. Well... after priming the worn pieces, the black gloss really highlighted where I messed up and sanded down places too much, scratched the resin quite badly and really royally messed up an entire Dial. Yes, there are pieces that are salvageable... but that put me in a bad mood altogether. I took a break for a few days. I have done other props where I try to get back to where I was too quickly and then the finished product suffers.

After that happened, I immediately scrapped that idea and went back to what I had going before. Have you ever had to make something for someone else and every little flaw seems gigantic? Yep... I am OCD with this stuff... and an itch starts to become quite big and I can't sell something I am not happy with. I am sure, no one would notice the slight layer line I didn't see, but man.... it's like working on an R2 dome... once you spray some gloss black over the top, every little thing shows.

So.... I meticulously went over every piece and ended up re-printing multiple pieces in various orientations to make sure the pieces come out as clean as possible. I have to do this because the little support marks or any lines in the print can't simple be sanded over if they are on a detailed piece - or I end up with the big disaster I experimented with earlier (with details getting washed out too much). Every piece has to be strategically printed so the support marks are minimal .. AND.... so the pieces come out straight and fit together, every piece interlocks and connects in some way. And like I said... I am OCD...


End of February:

Re-printed pieces, primed, and finally..... ready for paint! I have (4) dials primed and now ready for paint (the 5th dial is sitting in a bin, it might be salvageable, but it makes me sick to think of the work I put into it already). On a positive note.....color is going down this week. And these are the best fitting, functional dials I have printed. I am incredibly happy with how they are looking and even more excited to get some out of my house.

This is a primed Dial ready for paint. Everything is dry fit in this picture and the interior pieces are not attached. I have intentions to update this more frequently and I will try to do that. My work is crazy busy and I barely have time for anything once I get home.

I am trying and these will get done. Thanks for the patience.

 

[Raiders March]

Thanks for the update, I'm sure this is overwhelming at times for you, but just take the time you need to make the prop great. You haven't taken anyone's money yet so no one should be impatient with your progress
Plug away and little by little you'll get these done, and just by your honesty alone, it makes me happy I joined this run because I believe you really care about what you create, that's a win in my book!