Need help with Weapon Swap on Reaver Titan!

[Stiff Neck Studio]

Hey guys,
Current commission has me doing a Reaver Titan with all the options. MY major problem is that the customer doesn\'t want magnets to be used becuase they are so powerful they snap and break. I thought of just drilling straight down through the shoulder, down through the arm, and straight out of the bottom of the weapon. after that is done I could insert a really long bolt through them all and then put a washer and nut on the end. Only problem is that it tears up the weapons, and won\'t even work on the powerfist. So mabe some kind of hook system? Let the ideas fly or if you know of something that has worked in the past please pass it along. -Wes

 

[Dragonsreach]

If, as I suspect this is intended as a Gaming Piece, you are limited in your options.

Given that the junction between shoulder and weapon is via the Ball & Socket unit as shown above the best way I can suggest is to use a threaded rod & nut system.
IF that Ball & Socket unit is separate to the weapon then things are \'relatively\' easier as you will be able to countersink and epoxy a nut into the weapons socket.
Drill through the B&S unit itself and set a threaded rod though it into the nut.
Then the issue become how to hold it into the shoulder.
I\'d strongly suggest that the receiving end of the threaded rod is drilled through and again countersunk on the top surface where a nut can be comparitively easily locked into place. This counter sink on the top of the shoulder will have to be camoflagued via a flap panel and a hinge with some kind of decoration.

All in all good luck with this as it\'s something I would seriously not want to even consider.

 

[Jericho]

The obvious option would be to have the nut in the shoulder, and the bolts stuck to the arms... but I don\'t know how the Reaver builds so the body might get in the way of screwing guns on.

Tough call man, without seeing how the parts work together it\'s hard to suggest anything.

Do you know how a Leman Russ turret hooks into the hull? I\'m not sure how to replicate the effect exactly in this case but maybe something along those lines could work.

<edit> Mike beat me to it, but I was also gonna suggest a serious epoxy for this job, superglue just won\'t cut it for screwing big resin pieces together. </edit>

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Jericho
Do you know how a Leman Russ turret hooks into the hull? I\'m not sure how to replicate the effect exactly in this case but maybe something along those lines could work.

Hadn\'t picked up on the Hook idea like this.
My concern about that method would be the accuracy and stress factors. To reduce the potential of the weight of the weapons tearing the hook it would have to be made of metal, which in it\'s turn adds to the adhesion or anchoring issue on the upper socket.

Man the more I think on this the less I\'d want to do it.

 

[cyberakuma]

this may sound awkward in my explaination as i can\'t think of the proper names but wouldn\'t it make sense to use a clip style release kind of similar to the plastic buckle fastenings on backpacks (obviously not those ones) as when you push it up it will hold securely in place then until squeezed together to release the weapon arm and be replaced with the next one not sure of the pieces you\'d need to use though but logistically it seems like the more reliable and easier option for regular weapon changes without magnets

 

[Stiff Neck Studio]

Hi, while yes that would be ideal there would be no way to push and release the snaps as the weapons arms go up into a very deep socket. Even useing a hook type system is difficult as there is no room to move it around since the arm joints fit so firmly together.

 

[Trevor]

I know you said no magnets, but why not? You can get weaker magnets, or you can recess the magnet and put a layer of putty over the top to weaken the strength of the magnetism.

 

[RuneBrush]

Been racking my brains to come up with how this can be done. As Mike said, a hook type system could cause stresses and wouldn\'t be \'firm\', so you could end up with rubbing.

How about incorporating an airbrush hose quick release mechanism into it (e.g. http://www.everythingairbrush.com/acatalog/Quick_Release_.html). You\'d need to incorporate a movable trigger into the arm to allow it to release however.

I think that the weight of the arm precludes the use of a spring loaded catch (such as holds stylus pens into iPaq\'s and Nintendo DS\'s).

I\'m curious as to how a magnet can snap or break? The rare earth magnets that I\'ve used are solid blocks of metal, not the traditional black ferrous ones you get.

If you have the actual weapons arms, could you weigh them and see which the heaviest is? The weight of the thing is going to be a major factor, regardless of the method used.

 

[Stiff Neck Studio]

Ok guys I figured out how to do it and it supports the weight just fine. Take a look at my utube video i did for the customer. -SNS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDmwnR5cmSI