Quad Stug print arrived today!

I received the 3D print of the Blighter Quad Stug today.  It is insane!  It is so big.  It dwarfs the vert tank.  I took some pics of it next to the scale allied grunt.  I have to get some molds made and start shipping these guys out.  I can't wait to set these guys up in a battle scene.  Now I totally have to make an allied bazooka trooper unit to help take these monsters out.  Let me know what you think.

FYI the legs are separate so that I can cast them independently.  I modeled in a little joint so that the legs can be attached at different angles.  They fit so nicely I just slipped it together for the pics.

New Reference Book

I'm addicted to buying art and reference books and  I just got another called Uniforms of WWI.  It has tons of illustrations and pictures.  I wish there were more photos because sometimes details are lost in the artist's interpretation, but overall it seems like it'll help a great deal with coming up with new Rivet uniforms.  It even has me thinking of the looks for the other nations that are part of the allies and blighters.  I'd also like to do a horse mounted unit and maybe something like that crazy dog towed machine gun.

Rivet Land Battleship/Carrier

I've always been fascinated with land based battleships.  The idea of a GIANT tank that is pretty much just a battleship with tracks sounds so cool.  So I was watching starblazers the other day and that got me sketching some ideas and I decided that Rivet Wars needs one!  Why hadn't I done this before?

So here is a really rough sketch and 3d model.  It's similar to a Wasp Class Amphibious Assault Ship in that there is a runway so it can handle aircraft as well as a ramp in the stern for deploying troops.  I added some big guns so it also has the firepower of a battleship.  Oh and a giant drill like the sub in Atragon :)  That's so it can go through mountains and obstacles.  It's the Rivet version of a wave motion gun :)  I'll do more design and sketching but I'm digging the feel of the massing and where it's going.  Let me know what you think?

Will I make a toy of this?  Absolutely.  I'll probably make a smaller one to start, like 6" long maybe?  I'd like it to come with a couple tiny planes and vert tanks that you could put on the deck.  Making one to scale with the 55mm vert tanks would be pretty crazy but never say never...

Tattoo avec rivets

There are some rivets in this image so I thought this might be interesting to some Rivet Wars followers :) My friend finally got a tattoo of a piece of art I drew for him.  The tattoo artist did an amazing job capturing all the detail and complexity of the original piece.  I'm pretty honored that someone would permanently ink on their body something that I had sketched.  I'm really glad that it came out so well.  Good stuff.

This is the original sketch.

Vert Tank Cross-Section

This is still a Work in Progress, but I'm really liking how it's coming along.  Tons of rendering and detailing to be done.  It's got the feel of those tank cut-throughs that I love so much.  I'm going to make this into a print and a t-shirt I think.  How cool would it be to build one of these?

Here is the kind of tank cross-section I'm trying to emulate.

and I got my ticket to New York Comic-Con!

Blighter Quad Stug is off to the printers!

I felt like the Stug model was finished up so I sent it off to be printed.  This is a much bigger model than the vert tank.  The legs will be cast as separate parts from the body.  This is allowing all the cool detail that'll appear in the legs.  Can't wait to see a couple vert tanks take on one of these :)

Rivet Wars Painting hanging in the Toybreak studio!

So I was watching episode 183 of Toybreak today and I noticed that there was something familiar hanging on the wall.  Then I realized it was the watercolor that I had sent to George and Ayleen.  How cool is that?!?!  I'm such a fanboy :)  But it just blows me away that my stuff is up there with so many other great pieces. To me that means a lot.  Good stuff.

I had to document this moment.

New Watercolors in Progress

I've been working on these for a few days.  Just doing a little here and there when I get time.  One of the things I love about doing the watercolors is that I can draw and paint in any room of the house.  And even if we go away, like this past weekend, I can take my stuff with me.

Rivet Wars Issue #1

I thought this might make for some good Monday morning reading.  The first issue of Rivet Wars the comic!  Hope you all like it.

Stug Progress

Did some more work on the Blighter Stug last night.  Thought I'd take a break and do a quick post.  I am starting to love the leg detail with the rivets and springs.  Let me know what you think.

The Blighter Quad Stug Aus F is powered by a Maybach HL120TRM with a 6 speed gearbox. It can reach speeds up to 40 km/h with a range of 140 km. It is armed with one 7.5 cm StuK40 main cannon. The Stug serves in an anti- tank role in support of front line units. The Quad leg configuration allow for all terrain deployment although maintenance requirements on the Porsche suspension have been higher than anticipated.

Rivet Trench Raider

Here is an idea I had for a cool Blighter unit.  It's a Trench Raider.  A sort of crazy unit that under the cover of darkness will sneak over to the allied trenches and then just start throwing grenades around, causing havoc with only a pistol to defend himself.  Not many of these guys ever returned from their missions.

The reference is a cool Verlinden figure from the 2002 catalog.

Rivet Wars on Toybreak 182!

Wow!  George and Ayleen discuss the Rivet Wars project at around 50:00 of Toybreak episode 182.  Plus Luke Chueh is on the show!  It is so cool to see the crew looking at the Rivet art on their show.  It is Toybreak that motivated me to go forward with this project so in a really cool way it feels like things have come full circle.  Thanks so much guys for featuring Rivet Wars.

Toybreak 182 on Youtube

Allied Grunt Figure Now in the Store!

I'm pleased to announce that the allied grunt figure is now up for sale in the store.  Each piece is only $15 and comes bagged with a vert tank stats card.  I hope you guys like how they came out.  Thanks! 

New Printed Cards for Toys

I finally got the order for my printed cards to go in the toy bags.  No more laser printed cards.  This does mean no sketch on the back but these are laminated with trimmed edges.  They feel...professional :)  For me these are reminiscent of the cards that came with GiJoe or Transformers toys.  On those you had to cut the card out from the box but here they're all trimmed for you.  Hope you all like them.