#WIPWednesday, December 13th, 2023

 

As you know...

I've been putzing around, forgetting about, and then remembering to write on this blog for a while now. Just random thoughts, nothing big, but recently, I've started thinking about what the focus is going to be here, especially as I start focusing even more on Troxell Builds and Troxell's Trading Post.

For Troxell's Trading Post, I'm going to start putting blog posts up about different props I'm working on, especially if there's a kit in the shop for that prop. It won't be a full build diary, but it will list the techniques I used, the supplies used, and most importantly, the paints that I used. I figure the first post I'm going to work on is the Type 3 Phaser Rifle from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

For Troxell Builds, well, that's the real reason I'm starting this. You might know I post mainly over on Instagram, with some cross-posting over to Facebook, and completely different content over on BlueSky. Well, Meta has some vague policy about replica weapons that I still have yet to find, so every time I post a work-in-progress (#WIP) photo, especially of a phaser rifle, I get flagged, my content stops getting recommended to people that don't follow me, and I have to go in, find the items they flagged, and contest it. Within 24 hours, everything is normally straightened up, but it's so blasted frustrating. I've made it a point to check every few days to make sure I haven't upset the AI, and it's tiresome. I've been posting more over on BlueSky, but not all my friends are over there, nor do they want to be over there.

So, here I am. Wanna know what I've been working on over the past week?

Props for Cosplay Presentation

Last month, I was supposed to do a talk at the Anderson Public Library, covering building props for cosplay. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I contracted COVID the week before the talk, and even though I tested negative by Friday, I was still worn down all week and not able to wrap things up. I've rescheduled the talk for next year, and it just so happens I'll be doing the talk on May 4th. This means I'm switching the focus on some of my examples. One of the things I'm doing is showing how one can do a quick and inexpensive prop using 3D printing, and the examples are going to be lightsabers that I'll probably also give away during the presentation.

These lightsabers are still being printed, so I'll have more photos next week of what I'm doing, but that's just part of it. I'm also going through many of my older "kits" and finishing some of them up for the talk. The hope is to have a couple blasters (though I am trying to limit the number of replica firearms I'm bringing), a couple nice lightsabers, and a couple of Fallout props (the Amazon series drops just a few weeks before). So, I'm going to be pretty busy through the winter.

Click on image to view more pieces

Phasers and Phaser Rifles

Ah, the stuff that's been getting me flagged on Instagram. So, here's the deal. As I've said before, a lot of what I've been printing over the past few years has been printed for Teenage Tony the Trekkie who didn't have a ton of money to pick up those cool prop garage kits he saw at booths like Paraphernalia from Beyond Planet X at conventions. After doing the TNG Phaser Rifle, and then building a Star Trek First Contact phaser rifle for a friend for DragonCon, I've decided I need more phaser rifles in my collection.

Thanks to sales and credit on CGTrader, I have a few to work on now. So, when I'm not working on stuff for the Anderson talk, or trying to put something together to sell on Troxell's Trading Post, I'm going to be working on these. Photos are below, but right now I have mostly printed phaser rifles from Picard, First Contact, Voyager, and Discovery. These don't have a "due date" attached to them, because I want to take my time, focus on getting better at finishing, and maybe even figure out how to add electronics to a few of them. The pieces from Picard, First Contact, and Discovery are all from MakerLab on CGTrader, and they're set up for electronics and lights. The compression rifle from Voyager is from 3DTechDesign on CGTrader, and their pieces, while looking great and fitting together really damn well, are not set up for lighting. Lighting or not, though, I'm looking forward to getting these put together when I'm burned out on working with Star Wars stuff.

Click for larger view, as well as other photos

Ko-Fi

The last thing I want to talk about is my Ko-fi page. If you followed Geeking in Indiana back before the pandemic, you know I had this to help fund things like convention center parking and whatnot. I also had Patreon for monthly support to cover hosting fees and the like. Well, now I'm using Ko-fi. Over here, you can donate money towards equipment (current goal is a Bambu AMS) or supplies, and I'm back to doing "exclusive" items for supporters. The project I'm going to start with, that I guarantee I'll be taking time off from everything else and working on at least once a week so there will always be progress, is going to be Gimli's helmet from Lord of the Rings. 

There's a freebie for you. I don't even think I've posted that publicly over on my site.

You can get more information on that over there for just $3 a month. If you would like to help in other ways, there's always buying our 3D-printed stuff over at Troxell's Trading Post, or if you're shopping on Amazon you can use my Affiliate Link so I can earn a few extra pennies here and there. You can find the whole list of ways you can support me over on my Beacons page.

I'm going to go ahead and wrap this up. Next week, I'm hoping to at least have some lightsabers to show off to you all! In the meantime, though, take good care of yourselves and each other.

- T