Armortek

Hi all,

Firstly thanks to Gill for allowing me to post on the forum.

After a post in the Armortek Owners section about my kits ( http://www.armortek.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3140 ) I thought it might be a good idea to explain what is involved in converting a Dragon figure. Also thanks to Mick and Tim for the nice comments, cheers guys.

Below are the instructions for our conversion kit, you will require a donor Dragon figure for the head, hands and right arm. Also included with the kit are bearings, pushrods, clevices, ball joints and tubing. I have modified the resin parts slightly since I originally drafted these instructions but the construction is essentially the same.

Instructions:




Other bits...
You will also need to source servos and some way of operating the finished figure. Thanks to the internet and especially direct sales from China all these parts have become very affordable of the last few years.

Servos...
I personally use Giant Cod in the UK ( http://www.giantcod.co.uk/ ) for my servos, for those international owners try someone like Hobby King in China. On average they are £3.50 each for these figures! Due to available space the choice of servos is a balance between size and torque, the neck servo being the smallest and the arms servos the largest. Below is a list of servos that were recently used for a figure that went to Frankie in Hong Kong, they did require slight enlarging of the mouldings as they are just about as big as you can get away with.

1x 3.7g DYSO201 micro (neck up/down)
1x CS-929MG metal gear )neck left/right)
2x Towerpro MG90 14g 2.5Kg torque metal gear (arms)

If you intend to use multiple layers of clothing or very thick jackets or jumpers then I would strongly suggest washing or soaking the garments in fabric softener to aid movement. Also if you are using lets say a shirt under a jacket then cut the shirt arms off and use just the cuffs on the end of the arms and the main shirt as a sleeveless vest. It is important that you reduce as much resistance as possible to maximise the servos torque. I did suffer from slight interference from 2 of the servos using the parts listed on the last email. This was easily resolved by twisting all cables and wrapping each lead around a ferrite ring - http://www.giantcod.co.uk/ferrite-rings ... 03168.html

Controller Card...
We used to use the Wizard range of cards but now there is a new kid on the block. The Pololu Maestro range are incredibly cheap when compared to the older larger Wizard units. The Pololu Maestro cards are available in 6, 12 and 24 channels, this basically means 1 channel per servo. Unlike the Wizard cards that used a built in potentiometer to input programming the Maestro cards are programmed via your PC, you will require a USB to mini USB lead, commonly used on digital cameras, phones and Satnavs

The software for the Maestro card is downloadable for free here - http://www.technobotsonline.com/pololu- ... oller.html

Here's the instructions download link - http://www.pololu.com/docs/pdf/0J40/maestro.pdf

Other Stuff...
There are a few other items that you may need, depending on your setup. Firstly you need power to the card which in turn powers the servos. You can utilize your tanks 12/24V battery with the voltage reduced to 6V via a Ubec. Here's a link to the last one I used, again from Giant Cod - http://www.giantcod.co.uk/strongpower-u ... 02704.html

Chances are you will find the standard servo leads are too short to comfortable reach the controller card, you can use normal Futaba style servo extension leads to remedy this. Once again I can't recommend Giant Cod enough for a quality cheap option.

Finally...
OK, I've covered the basics. I'll add more over the next few days, or if anyone has a specific query then I'll do my best to help. Our kits are £34.95 with fittings, please look at our website for more info - www.churchillcreations@yahoo.co.uk

All the best,
Sym.

Just a few pics to demonstrate the build...

A half built figure with the back open.


A finished figure with the larger servos installed. We had to make holes in the back to help with horn clearance. You may also notice that this figure has a rotating base on a standard futaba servo. This angle demonstrates the left arm mechanism that has a raise and point movement.


Slightly off subject, here are some pics of the larger 1/3rd scale figure that uses standard sized servos with a twisting waist feature. No arm movements on this one.



Cheers,
Sym.

Hi Sym

Welcome to the forum! This post of yours is so long overdue on here!!! Glad to see you and hope all is well.

As everyone can see by his post, Sym is more then happy to help get your crew up and running.

Happy animatronic-ing
Tim

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the greeting, how are things in sunny CA. I hope you're well my friend.

Cheers,
Sym.

Hi all,

Thanks to the forum I've had quite a few enquiries, and several of these were interested in the rotating body setup. This was an option requested by Frankie in Hong Kong and was made by simply cutting a ply disc as a base, then using a standard size Futaba servo with one of their large disc horns screwed and glued to the bottom of the figure. This involved some tubing and long 2mm bolts to get the right distance to ensure a tight tolerance.

I'm now thinking of moulding a resin disc that will replace the ply version and have the servo shape moulded into it. It should then be a simple case of screwing the servo in without all the fiddling. Simple!

Cheers until next time,
Sym.

Hi Sym, long time no see, hope you well. Your figures was so good, thanks for your help

Hi Frankie,

I'm good thanks, how are you? Yeah I saw the videos on Youtube, your tank looks excellent.

You've started something with this rotating base idea, I hope you don't want royalties, lol.

Did you have a go at reprogramming your Maestro card in the end?

Cheers,
Sym.

Hello Sym,

Do you have already information on the
2 fig i wanted?
regards Yves

Hi Sym,
I have use the setting that you design, the motion so smooth. The figure was reliable. Nice Work!!!
Cheers
Frankie

Hi Yves,

Going through my emails now so expect a reply within the hour, sorry for the wait.

Hi Frankie,

I'm amazed you liked the programming so much, it was the first time I'd had a go with these new cards so I didn't get to spend the time I would have liked on it.

Thanks,
Sym.

Some of the enquiries I have had have raised the question of options, one of those being driver figures where there is no need for arms. As a result I can offer the following...

The 2 body mouldings together with the 2 neck mouldings and associated fittings. Obviously without the need for arms this cuts down on 2 mouldings and a lot of the accessories including bearings.
Therefore I can offer these kits for £20 + p&p.
______________________________________

As a matter of interest are there any other suggestions or options that you would like to see produced? Anything is possible, it's just down to how much money you want to spend!

Thanks until the next time,
Sym.

Hi Sym

Thanks for the info on the Pololu boards. I have been using a Wizard 3 board until now, but it is SO large, it won't fit in my Tigers turret with the blank firer fitted


I think the picture says it all. It's smaller than a standard servo

Got a 12 channel Pololu on Friday and spent the weekend going through the programming. Pretty striaght forward. Just wondering what to use the spare 4 channels for

Cheers

Mick