Wednesday Update - October 30th, 2024

Good day, and welcome to another Wednesday! You know those weeks that are REALLY busy, but when you look back, there really isn't anything you got done?

Welcome to my last week.

VoltCon

Last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday was prepping for and setting up at VoltCon. VoltCon Tony was really irritated at Past Tony for all the bloody frakkin' keychains he had to unpack and set up! Saturday and Sunday were the convention, and Kat and I did pretty okay. We made a bit of money, we found some cool stuff, and we saw some people we really only see once a year. Needless to say, I'm already looking forward to next year.

We got home on Sunday, and almost everything is still packed up in trunks because I haven't had the energy to get everything unpacked. Still, the Etsy shop opened back up last night, and I'm getting some stuff printed and restocked, while prepping for the OTHER show of 2024 in a few weeks.

Ghostbuster

With the convention, I haven't had a chance to work on my Ghostbuster costume much. This past week, however, I did receive an email from Hasbro asking me to make sure my address is up to date, because the Two in the Box HasLab is getting close to shipping! With that, I'll be able to mark off a pretty big item from my costume. I've also picked up a set of Spirit Halloween Ecto Goggles, and they're now with my 3D-printed set so I can look them over, and figure out how to yank them apart and improve them with some of the 3D-printed bits, along with a new head strap. Finally, I've been looking at my gray elbow pads, and wondering what I could do to make them look a little closer to what was worn on screen. You can see photos of all of these over on the Google Photos album for this post.

Support

I've had a few people ask me how they could support what I'm working on. I'm going to be honest, the money from Troxell's Trading Post goes to keeping it running, and I'm working on paying off the debt accrued from the fight to get my kiddo last year, along with some car issues. So if you like the stuff I'm doing, like the prop building and the costuming stuff, and you have more money than you need, feel free to visit one of the following sites:

• Ko-fi - Here, you can buy me a cup of tea or three. I have a goal listed on the page, and the money will get set aside until I reach that goal. When I say "set aside," it's not like Kickstarter. I get the money, I'm just personally going to set it aside until I hit my goal.
• Throne - Wishlist website. Nice repository of items I would like. Nice for the holidays or birthday.
• Amazon - I mean, we all know what Amazon wishlists are. Here's the one full of "consumables" I keep going through, like glue, paints, sandpaper, mixing sticks, and more.
• Mailing List - This isn't financial support, it's just support for me. Visit my info page, and sign up for the Troxell Builds - The Works and Thoughts of Tony Troxell email newsletter.

Everything Else

This coming week is going to involve unpacking of VoltCon items, firing the printers back up, and seeing if I can wrap up the assembly of the Belt Gizmo for the Ghostbusters costume. This is all around catching my nephew in a musical on Friday, and helping my father sort some of Mom's things on Saturday.

Finally, next Wednesday will probably be an off-week for the blog. It's November 6th, and this whole household is going to be a nervous wreck. So look for me on BlueSky or Instagram. In the meantime, please remember that the world kinda sucks, so please try not to make it suck more. In fact, if you can, please try to make it suck less.

Be excellent to each other,
Tony

Wednesday Update - October 23rd, 2024

 Hey there, everyone. We have successfully made it to another Wednesday.

BUT AT WHAT COST?!?!?!?!

Okay, in all seriousness, I hope everyone has had a pretty decent week. I'm going to be honest, I've been in convention prep mode since I last wrote on the blog, so I really don't have much to go over this week.

I guess the one thing I DO have to go over is that I'll be at VoltCon here in Indianapolis on Saturday and Sunday. I'm tabling in the Space Mall with Troxell's Trading Post, and I'm going to have the Etsy shop shuttered over the weekend as I hopefully sell off some of the stock I've had for a bit. For those who aren't aware, VoltCon is a convention that celebrates the whole "giant robot cartoon" genre, with a focus on, of course, Voltron, which is having its 40th anniversary this year. They have guests, a good-sized vendor hall, and it's a pretty tight-knit, welcoming crew. I've been to three of the last four, first as a blogger then as a vendor, and I've had a good time at all of them. If you're in the area, and like big robots, visit their website and get your tickets now!

Anyway, prepping for the show hasn't just involved getting product around. It's also involved getting displays around for the show table. Shelving, spin racks, dang near everything is 3D printed. No, it's not for "branding," it's because printing a spin rack is cheaper and probably more stable than ordering one off Amazon. I've also been busy printing some new lower-priced items, like keyrings, and cutting some prices pretty deep on some of my larger items, like dice towers.

So, that's pretty much it. I've got some stuff on order, so next week will probably be a bit more wordy, and it'll actually have pictures again. In the meantime, please remember that the world sucks out there. Try not to make it suck any worse and, if you can, try to make it suck a little less. Get out there and vote, and I'll see you next week.

Be excellent to each other,
Tony

Wednesday Update, October 16th, 2024

 Hey there, everybody. We are back with another Wednesday, and we've got a little bit to go over. I'm back in the office/print room this week, since vacation is over and I'm back to facing real life. Facing that started on Wednesday, as the post was scheduled to go out I was out with my kiddo getting our boosters for Covid and Flu, as well as some other shots we were both in need of. That kind of threw off the rest of the week, with Lizz and I mainly leaving the house to run errands but otherwise staying home, cleaning stuff up, starting to winterize Knox, and starting to get things prepped for VoltCon which is a week from this coming Saturday. Also, today is my father's 80th birthday, so happy birthday Dad!

On the 3D printing front, everything I've been doing the past week has been to prep for that. I've been taking care of some extra product, and I've been trying to figure out my table setup and printing pieces for that. I mean, if you look around, you can find retail displays for a lot of stuff. I have a keychain rack with trays for small little critters, I have a magnet display that will also have some matching keychains, I have an earring display with space in the center for extra stock, and I have stands for wood shelving that I need to complete this week so I can sand and stain the wood this weekend.

The Twitch streaming has been on hold because of the trip, the vaccines, and this past Monday was a work holiday, so Lizz and I went and cast our ballots early. By the time this posts, I should be wrapping up my Wednesday morning stream, and things should be back to normal on the Twitch account moving forward.

Speaking of Monday, after we cast our ballots and went out for breakfast, Lizz and I took a quick swing over to Spirit Halloween where I picked up a Ghostbusters Radio because I figured, if it's the wrong model, I don't want to put a lot of work into it. This one, I can print a replacement "Motorola" label to go over the Ghostbusters markings, make a new holster for it, and call it a day. After we got that taken care of, I got settled at the dining room table, pulled out the 3D print of the "belt gizmo" for my costume, and got to work.

Rant incoming.

While the file set looks really good, the tolerances are something that my machine is not set up for, because NOTHING on this piece is fitting right. On top of that, there are absolutely no instructions. I have been slowly going through all the parts and comparing them to images I snipped out of the Etsy listing, and assembling it that way. Of course, in assembling, once I figure out where a piece goes, I then need to start trimming and sanding down the base so it actually fits on the "circuit board" body, and some of these pieces aren't much bigger than a pencil eraser. I've put many hours into it already, and I'm only about halfway done and my hands are crying foul. Oh, and once I have it almost done, I still need to figure out what wires go on it, I need to figure out how to wire some lights onto it, and I need to make the holder and clip to attach it to the belt. I'm going to be honest, without the wires and lighting, this should have been a one-day build, max. I'm a little frustrated, but it's going to get done, and it'll work until I either find the real calculator used, or I get one of the $200 replicas.

This coming week, it's more cleaning and getting ready for VoltCon. I've still got shelves to build, I need to finish assembling the displays to see if I have everything printed, and I need to tape off the size of the table onto the dining room table so I can figure out if everything I have fits! Other than that, I'm going to continue to fight this belt gizmo so I can move on to other parts of the costume, like the Ecto Goggles and figuring out how to keep the hose from falling out of the holder.

With that, I'm going to wrap this up. I've had a full day, and my hands are still screaming from the hour and a half I worked on the gizmo this morning. Don't forget to take a peek at this week's photo album to get some WIP pictures of the gizmo, along with some vaccine selfies, the radio, and some other parts to the Ghostbuster jumpsuit. In the meantime, please remember the world kinda sucks right now. Try to avoid making it worse and, if you can, see if you can make it better.

Be excellent to each other, and I'll see you next week.

Tony

1984 "Stantz" Ghostbuster Costume - An Introduction

Back on the old Geeking in Indiana blog, I had a section called the “Costume Initiative.” It was where I would post updates on costumes I happened to be working on, like a Star Wars: The Last Jedi Resistance Pilot, or a Vault 101 Vault dweller from Fallout 3. With the retiring of Geeking in Indiana and the move to Geek Building, then Troxell Builds, a special section like that wasn't necessary, because now it's all about stuff I'm making and doing. Still, I did like doing the introductions which gave a history of me and the Costume, what I was looking to make, and all that jazz. So here we are today, talking about the Costume I posted pictures of a few weeks ago, the 1984 Ghostbuster.

A History

I was around 7 years old when the original Ghostbusters film came out, and the main thing I remember was ticking my father off because I REALLY had to pee right as they turned off the containment grid. It was at Sky Vue Drive-In over in New Castle, and we never saw what happened until it started running on HBO months later. We saw Ghostbusters 2 at the Castle Theater in downtown New Castle, and of course, I watched The Real Ghostbusters every Saturday morning. Things were kinda pushed to the back burner in the early 90s, when I really fell down the Star Trek rabbit hole before getting back into Star Wars in the late 90s. Luckily, in 2002, I was fortunate to meet Sean “venkman71” Bishop. We became friends, and with some other folks we made some fiberglass proton pack shells using measurements he'd been gathering from his sources (I'm not sure what the statute of limitations on that is, so it's just sources). I had one of those pack shells until I finally got it built in 2006, and the finishing was a rush job for Halloween. That pack ended up in the Storage Unit of No Return out in California, so I didn't have anything when a group of us rented out a theater to see Ghostbusters: Afterlife during the pandemic. By this point, I had started to get back into at least looking into making a new costume. I had a new ‘’TROXELL” name badge and a new No Ghost patch. I was slowly buying bits off GBFans.com whenever I had the spare scratch, and I found the 3D Printed Ghostbusters Props group on Facebook. This is what really got me back into wanting to remake the costume.

A Plan

The interesting thing about the 3D printed proton pack files is you can print each “section” of the pack individually, much like how a bunch of resin parts got put together to make the mother mold for the fiberglass pack. Well, filament comes in different colors including, well, clear. This revelation got me on the path I am now.

While I'm not looking to cosplay Dan Ackroyd's character, I AM looking at replicating Ray's gear in the 1984 film. The reasoning for this is actually kind of simple. There's no SINGLE DEFINITIVE pack or costume to replicate. Parts on each were a little different, they didn't all carry ghost traps, PKE Meters, and Ecto Goggles, so if you're like me and enjoy making costume and prop pieces as screen-accurate as you can, you kind of have to grab one character from one scene in one movie and focus on that. I'm choosing Stantz, and specifically the Sedgwick Hotel “version” for a few reasons. First, he has the goggles and Ghost trap, both of which I really like. Second, his pack in those scenes had a broken corner up by the blue light bar, which made it look like a pair of lights were up there. I believe they replicated this with actual lights in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which I forgot about a few paragraphs up but I did, and still do, play the heck out of. I'm planning on replicating this by printing that section out of clear filament and scraping the black paint off.

Anyway, this is getting long. So, right now, the question is, where am I sitting with this costume?

A Rundown

First up, we have the “uniform.” The flight suit is a Tru-Spec, which is “close enough” for now,

and it's what a lot of the Ghostbusters cosplayers use, so it does look “uniform” in a group. You've seen what I have for that, what with the patches, the elbow pads (volleyball knee pads), and the belt. The boots are jump boots with a side zipper, so that is one of the next pieces I'll be buying, because black Doc Martens just aren't the same. The belt has a pair of key fobs that I BELIEVE match Stantz's, though I do need to double-check to make sure I haven't misplaced one. I still need to make and attach the “belt gizmo” and holster to it, as well as make a radio and holster for it, which is where I have run into an issue.

All the radios you see for the costumes, including the ones they sell at Spirit Halloween, are based on a Motorola MT-500 radio, which I have some fantastic files for that I've already printed. HOWEVER. It seems that Ray, in addition to not saying “YES” when he was asked if he was a god, carried a completely different Motorola, the HT-220, which as you can tell is making me SO HAPPY.

So, for right now, I'm sticking with “close enough.”

The Ghost Trap is going to be simple, because I have a HasLab “2 in the Box” set of Ghost Trap and PKE Meter on order, and I just can't replicate a trap for as cheap as that excellent toy runs me, so that's also “close enough.”

The Ecto Goggles are the piece I'm looking forward to making as soon as I'm done making the Belt Gizmo. I have had some 3D files printed for a while now, and I'm going to clean those up so nary a layer line will be seen before replacing some printed parts with metal, making the cushion around the frame, and making the head strap, before popping it all together with real snaps and rivets. 

This leaves the Proton Pack. The big piece. Luckily, I don't have to worry about making it vent or have an overheating effect, or anything like that. I have to replicate this piece that was built in the early 80s, made out of really thin fiberglass, that used one of those big flashlight batteries on the inside to light everything up. I've already printed one version of the Proton Pack, but it's not what I'm going to be using. As I've gotten better printers, and learned more about what it takes to print a solid replica, I'm slowly reprinting parts of it and stashing them away. I also already have actual Clippard valves, Legris elbows, and other bits that I'm not going to have to print copies of, but instead, figure out how to attach them to the 3D printed pieces. I'm going through the same with the particle thrower, except I'm also trying to figure out the mechanism to make the tip of the thrower pop out. Once I have all that figured out and together, I just need to buy a “motherboard” to mount everything to, and a reinforced Alice Pack frame from one of the Circle City Ghostbusters, and the pack is good to go, along with the rest of the costume.

A Closing

So, I'm going to start finding an hour or two every week to work on the costume, starting with the gizmo. I still need to order some wires, and I need to figure out how to light everything up. Once that's all together and figured out, I need to cut and dye the leather holder for it before I can move on to the Ecto Goggles.

So keep an eye on the Wednesday updates, where I'll be posting WIP pics. Then, when I'm finished with a part, I'll do a Ghostbusters Costume Update, with the WIP photo album and write up of where I got it, what I did, what issues I had, and so forth.

I hope this is something that interests some of you. I know it's a well-tread path, one I've even walked myself. However, I know I've learned a lot in that time, and if I write down something that helps someone down the line, then I feel it was worth my time to document it.

Wish me luck, and I hope you all enjoy the ride.

Tony

Wednesday Update, October 9th, 2024

Happy Wednesday, everybody! It's starting to look like the blog is indeed back, what with having two weekly posts in a row! We just got back yesterday from Ohio, but I was able to bring a tablet with me to read over the Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition PDF. I realized that as it's nice out in the afternoon and everyone is dozing, I could just bring this to the picnic table by the bus, and start writing. So here we are, writing a blog post, my first Troxell Builds email newsletter, and starting my GB Gear plan post. But first, what were we doing in Ohio?

Kat's fall break started this past Friday. After realizing we wouldn't be able to join the family in Tennessee due to his fall break not syncing with his nephew's, we decided we'd instead hit the Ohio Renaissance Festival. Plus, we figured if we're in the area anyway, let's go ahead and check out Jungle Jim's and the Cincinnati Zoo. To save about $400 on hotel fees, we brought Knox the Bus and the Cardis with us, along with a large tent and canopy. Our “hotel” from Friday night until Tuesday morning was the Caeser Creek State Park campground, which was only about ten minutes away from the Ren Fest. I'm not going to go into too many details, but the family had a good time overall and wants to do at least the Ren Fest again.

Jumping over to Troxell's Trading Post, it has been in vacation mode while we were gone, and it just got fired back up today. I've got about a dozen new products to add, and I'm planning on getting at least one a day thrown up. I'm holding a “Back from Vacation Sale” to celebrate through Sunday, so if there is something you've had your eye on, this is the time to get 20% off pretty much everything, no code required. So go, grab those Screaming Opossum Earrings while they're still available.

I know I showed off some Ghostbusters gear last week, and it's still VERY much on my “to-do” list moving forward. I've just, you know, been in Ohio, as well as prepping for the Ohio trip, and now catching up after the Ohio trip, as well as starting final prep for VoltCon at the end of the month, and the Artisians and Authors Fair in Anderson next month. However, like I said, I've got another blog post I'm working on that'll come out, maybe Friday? In that post, I'm going to lay out what I've got, what I'm working on, and most importantly, what I'm hoping to accomplish with it. In the meantime, keep an eye on my Instagram and BlueSky feeds, because that's where I post most of my updates.

Finally, I'm back to streaming! Talking and Tea with Tired Tony on Twitch happens every Monday and Wednesday morning, and I'll sip on some tea while talking with folks in the chat while cleaning up the town in PowerWash Simulator. Feel free to join in from 9-10 AM EDT every Monday, and 8:30 to 10 AM every Wednesday.

With that, I'm going to leave you all with vacation pictures in this week's photo album, along with some teasers of items going up on the Trading Post, and what I'm working on next. In the meantime, please remember the world kinda sucks right now. Try to avoid making it worse and, if you can, see if you can make it better.

Be excellent to each other, and I'll see you next week.

Tony

Wednesday Update - September 25th, 2024

Hey there, everyone. I haven't posted since May, but a lot happened in that time, and I've not been making much of anything because of it. I'm not going to go into many details on why this past summer was perhaps the worst summer I've ever had, but suffice to say it was enough to make anyone not feel creative and I'm just now starting to feel motivated to set foot in the shop again.

So, what's been going on?

Props

As I said, I haven't focused much on building stuff for myself over the past few months. All the work I've been doing has been for the online shop, which I'll go into a bit farther down the post. This was up until about a week and a half ago, when I decided to do something simple, that wouldn't require much finishing work. So, I printed out the "Dustbuster" phaser by UnimatrixRed on Printables, and I printed it in color. So there were bits in grey, silver, white, clear red... you know what I mean. It went together nicely, and since I had the chrome silver in the printer already, I went ahead and also printed the Klingon "D'k tahg" Knife, which even had moving blades. This one took a bit more work and made me realize I needed more strong clamps, but it was another piece I completed.

As I was starting to write this post on Monday, I also received something exciting in the mail. Back in April, before the shit hit the fan, I ordered a Tru-Spec tan flight suit from GBFans, which was supposed to ship in August. Well, Tru-Spec took their time getting them restocked, so AJ was finally able to get the suit in stock and shipped this past week. I have made sure the suit fits, it's getting washed, and then I'm adding the patches and hose port to it in the next few days. With this, I'll be able to just throw on my black Doc Martens along with my HasLab pack and I'm, for all intents and purposes, a Ghostbuster cosplayer. Of course, this is me, so I'm not happy with that. Currently, the printer is working on the "belt gizmo" that I can add to my belt along with my key fobs. I've got the files printed to make a replica Motorola radio and the goggles, and I can build a whole pack out of 3D-printed parts I have in the workshop. Sometime soon, I'm going to do a specific write-up on this project, so you know what's going on, but this is my "motivation" right now, something I can focus on.

However, this isn't the only thing I'm focused on...

Troxell's Trading Post

I don't think I mentioned it much before going on the unintended hiatus, but I'm in the process of moving the trading post from Square to Etsy. I'm just annoyed at the lack of options on Square, and while I've got some more coming out in fees and all that jazz over on Etsy, I've sold more over there over the past three months than I sold through the Square site over the past year. So, if you want to take a look, you can find the shop over at Troxell's Trading Post on Etsy. Right now, it's TTRPG items from Fate's End, and an ever-growing collection of earrings, because those have been selling fairly well! Feel free to check it out, because that money is covering costs for Troxell's Trading Post and Troxell's Build, as well as starting to pay down a metric ton of debt!

As I keep making stuff for Etsy, I am also keeping the rest of the year in mind...

Upcoming Appearances

Troxell's Trading Post will be vending at two shows this fall. First, we'll be returning to VoltCon in Indianapolis, Indiana the weekend of October 26th and 27th. I'll be clearing out a lot of my MatMire Makes articulated critters, as well as having a good amount of keychains, magnets, earrings, dice towers, and dice vaults. Troxell Builds will also be presenting an encore of the "Props for Cosplay" talk that was given at the beginning of May at the Anderson Public Library.

Speaking of the Anderson Public Library, they are having an Artisans and Author's Fair on November 16th, and Troxell's Trading Post will be vending there, as well. Since this isn't a convention, I'm going to have more "general" prints, including trying my hand at some holiday ornaments, along with maybe some snow globes and nightlights. I'm hoping that between these two shows, and my Etsy sales, I might actually have sold enough to worry about putting it on my taxes in 2025!

Yeah, I know my goals are weird.

Twitch

Finally, the last thing I've started back up on is my stream, Talking and Tea with Tired Tony on Twitch. I've been streaming on Monday and Wednesday mornings, starting around 9 AM Eastern and streaming until I go to work around 10 AM. I've been talking about what I've been working on, and just shooting the bull with friends in the chat, as I clean my way through PowerWash Simulator. So far, I've wrapped up a Gnome Fountain, and this past Wednesday I started a miniature golf course. You can find that stream over at the Tony Troxell Twitch channel. 

I've also been active on my day job's Twitch channel, which we use to promote our new tabletop role-playing game campaign management tool, Lore Link. On the Lore Link Twitch channel, Mark shows you how to use Lore Link to plan and organize your gaming session. He'll also use Lore Link to run games for co-workers, whom I've dubbed the "Lore Link Players." Finally, Mark will also stream video games that are connected in some way to role-playing and tabletop games, and one he's streamed with me is PowerWash Simulator's "Warhammer 40K" add-on. If you would like to check any of these out, give Lore Link a follow on Twitch. Even if I'm not on the stream, I'm moderating the chat. Streams are normally on Tuesdays from 5 until 6:30 PM Eastern, and this Friday the Lore Link Players will be running through a Fallout Role-Playing Game adventure starting at 1 PM Eastern.

And with that, I feel like I've given a decent enough update on what's going on. I'm hoping to get back to writing at least one blog post a week, but we shall see. Also, as always, don't forget to check out the Google Photos album of items I talked about in this post.

In the meantime, please remember to take good care of yourselves and each other. The world kinda sucks out there, make sure you're not making it suck even more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck just a little less.

Don't let the bastards grind you down,
Tony

Wednesday Update - May 22nd, 2024

 

Sometimes, you just have a week where small things pile up, and it's just exhausting. That was this past week.

There has been absolutely no building work done since the last blog post. I've been focusing on getting my Bambu A1 Mini with AMS Lite printer, which many touts as "plug and play," working right. So far, I've torn it apart to replace the control board inside the AMS Lite (tiny screws + sausage fingers = day drinking), which did absolutely nothing. Finally, this past Monday they sent me a new motor assembly, which I installed on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, this looks to have taken care of the issue, and my "plug and play" printer setup is finally 100% up and running over a month after I received it. This means I can now print four colors at once, which gives me a LOT of what they call "poop" that I have to clean during printing. It's a PITA, its wasteful, and I think the AMS was a lot of money spent on what will end up being a novelty that will occasionally print something for Troxell's Trading Post.

Another item on the "small things that make Tony exhausted" thing was the bank card for Troxell Builds. Yes, I have a separate account I use to buy materials for projects, and that card came up missing. So, I spent a few days not being able to buy a bunch of filament I needed until the new card came in. Finally, the icing on the tiny little issue cake is PolyMaker has been out of stock on their CosPLA, which is my preferred filament for prop replicas. What's really annoying is, there's no info on when it's coming back in stock. If I had hair, I'd probably be ripping it out.

Still, with all that, I've printed a few more pieces for the "to build" pile. First, I've got two Pip Boys from the Fallout tv series that I got through Mystery Maker's Patreon, and I've got the parts on the way to make it "work" as well. I've also printed out the dart pistol from the TV series, thanks to files from Big Fred's Customs Patreon account, and I'm just trying to figure out what colors to print for the inserts of the vials. As always, you can check these out over on the photo album I've put together for this post.

This coming weekend is a three-day weekend, and while I'm hoping to get some work done, I'm also going to be helping my partner work on their shuttle bus to camper conversion, because they need some counters sanded down and I am the go-to when it comes to sanding in this household, I guess! If that sounds interesting to you, though, feel free to check out her work and give her a follow on Instagram under the handle KnoxTheBus.

Also, tomorrow is my "level up" day, when I turn the unremarkable age of 47. If you'd like to make it slightly more remarkable, feel free to visit tonytroxell.info and you can find different ways to support me. If you're feeling flush, feel free to pick something up off my shop wish lists. If you're not, I'd love it if you signed up for my mailing list, which will also give you a discount on your order from Troxell's Trading Post. Speaking of, I would love to spend the weekend after my birthday packing up stuff to ship out from the shop, so feel free to pick something up through there, as well!

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and bounce so I can grab some dinner and cake from my stepkid's birthday, which was on Tuesday. As always, take good care of yourselves, and each other. I'll see you on Instagram or BlueSky, or on here next week.

Tony Troxell
May 21st, 2024

Wednesday Update - May 15th, 2024

 Happy Wednesday, everybody! Yes, I'm back. It's been a heck of a month, but I should be back to building this week, after I get my workshop put back together. In the meantime, let's get back to trying to get a blog up every week.

So, what's been going on?

First off, I survived the "Props for Cosplay" talk I did in Anderson on the 4th. Now, nobody actually showed up, except for family and my friend who puts together the programs, but that's not the point! I still gave the talk, did answer questions from some folks who walked in and wanted to know what was going on, and displayed a lot of stuff. Sadly, as always, I get so focused on setting up and working with the talk, I never take photos of my setup. There is one piece, however, that I was very proud of that I built for this talk.

The Fallout 3 AEP7 Laser Pistol.

The files were from Thingiverse, and my buddy Mike had printed out a lot of the parts for me before I even owned a 3D printer. I finally got some of the stuff reprinted and started building it for the talk, back when it was scheduled to be given the day after the Fallout series premiered on Amazon. I got it wrapped up the weekend before the talk, and I tell you, I am pleased. Sure, I can see some of my failures in it, but for once I'm seeing more of the "good" in the prop, namely in the paint job. I had recently watched a video by Van Oaks Props talking about using hair spray and an airbrush for weathering, so I gave that a shot. I'd go section by section, giving the prop a light hairspray dusting, then lightly going over areas with my airbrush, then dabbing away excess paint with a shop towel. I went over it completely with two shades of brown, with some black thrown in for good measure, and I was just so pleased with how it looked. It has me really wanting to do more props from Fallout so I can continue to work on and improve my skills at this. More on that in a minute, though.

The next project I'm working on after the workshop gets cleaned, is a pair of Bo Katan blaster pistols that have been assembled since 2022 and partially painted since last fall, and the blaster belt for them to go into. My friend who I've been building these for has been more than patient, so I want to get them done as soon as I can, so they have their costume and I have that off my "to-do" list. Then, I'm rolling into my own projects.

Which, of course, are more Fallout props.

The printer has been busy, printing Pip Boys, pistols, chainsaw blades, and a few bottle caps to go into the "to build" pile. This is a mixture of items from the games and the series, and it's going to be fun to put them all together. I'll be giving more information in the coming weeks, as parts come in and pieces get finished, but let me say I'm looking to learn some things that will hopefully make a lot of these really cool.

Rolling on to printer information, I'm still trying to get the AMS Lite working with my A1 Mini. For single filament pieces, the printer has been working like a dream. Heck, I can do up to three different filaments on it! However, I should be able to do FOUR, but one of the motors isn't working. I'm still working with their support, and I'm hoping to get it back up and running soon. I have printed some fun pieces, though, which you can see over on this post's photo album.

Other than that, there's not much going on. Next Thursday is my birthday, and if you feel like giving, you can find my wish lists at this link. However, the most awesome thing you could do is visit tonytroxell.info, sign up for my mailing list, and pick up some stuff from Troxell's Trading Post. That would be really cool of you!

With that, I'm going to call this blog post done, and we'll get back to the #WIPWednesday posts next week. In the meantime, take good care of yourselves and each other.

Til next time,
Tony

Wednesday Update - April 24th, 2024

 Hey there, everyone. 

It's been about a month since I last wrote here because honestly, I've been busy. Family time, combined with "con crunching" stuff for the talk in Anderson a week from Saturday, and I just haven't had time to work on personal items, or even writing. Still, I wanted to give an update for those of you who like to check in here every so often.

First up, I did throw up a photo album for this week, though I don't have too much to show. I've been REALLY bad taking "in progress" photos of the stuff I'm trying to get done by the end of the weekend, so there hasn't been anything in the way of "WIPWednesday" stuff. You can find that album here.

On the printing front, I'm back to printing some kits. With the release of Fallout on Amazon, some of the 3D model makers I follow have been doing some pieces from the game and the show. Mystery Maker Studio has made two versions of the 10mm Pistol, the Ripper chainsaw blade, and is currently working on a Pip Boy. BigFredsCustoms has also done some Nuka Cola caps, and the syringe gun Lucy carries when she leaves the vault at the beginning of the series. So, I've added to my "must build" queue the two 10mm pistols, and I'm pondering putting one or two up on Troxell's Trading Post, as well. I've also printed my third, and hopefully final, version of the E22 blaster rifle carried by the Shoretroopers in Rogue One A Star Wars Story. This one is supposed to be sturdier than the earlier ones, plus it has areas to run wiring for lights, and had options to use a 1/2" PVC pipe as the main support, which the other versions I had didn't offer. These are going into the queue that I'm going to start figuring out after I've completed the talk, and a commission that a friend has patiently been waiting for me to complete for a bit.

On the Anderson Talk front, a Facebook Event has been created for their May the 4th event, which includes Free Comic Book Day fun, mini golf, and more. I'm trying to get two, maybe even three more props wrapped up by Sunday evening, along with a mold and resin casting, and next week will be spent gathering all of my visual aids and finishing the writing of my presentation based on what I have completed. Then Saturday I escape my neighborhood in the middle of a community yard sale, and head to Anderson. To give you all a rough idea, I'm planning on talking about my history in making props, both as a hobby and professionally. I'm going to discuss the different ways to get props together for your costumes, from 3D printing to resin casting to using household items to using actual toys. Finally, I'm going to encourage everyone to keep learning. Frak, I'm almost 47 and I'm still learning new things and new ways to make things. So honestly, if you're anywhere around Anderson that day, drop by because I'd love to talk props with you. If you can't make it, then I fully intend to do a video of the presentation like I did of my 3D Printing for Cosplay and Introduction to 3D Printing presentations I did back in 2022.

Needless to say, this will be the last post I write until at least the 8th, when I'll post my report on the talk, what I got finished, pictures of my examples, and talk about what I'm working on next. In the meantime, I'll still be posting to Instagram, and working on some new items for Troxell's Trading Post using our new Bambu A1 Mini with AMS Lite, which is going to be used for multi-color prints and small detail items. In the meantime, remember you can keep track of what I'm posting up on places other than here over at TonyTroxell.info, where you can also sign up for my newsletter, which will go live towards the end of May.

On that note, I've rambled on enough for something that was supposed to be a really quick update. Once again, feel free to take a look at the few photos of stuff I've been printing and working on over on Google Photos if you feel like it. In the meantime, please remember that the world REALLY sucks out there. Try not to make it suck even more, in fact, if you can? Try to make it suck a little less. 

Be excellent to yourselves, and each other.
Tony

#WIPWednesday - March 27th, 2024

 Hey there, everyone. It's time for a quick Work in Progress Wednesday post.

This past week, I was able to get some stuff moved around the workshop, and then spend Saturday, most of Sunday, and Monday evening working on a Fallout Laser Pistol. I got all the parts organized, sanded with 80, 110, and 220 grit sandpaper, and then covered with the Bondo glazing putty and acetone slurry. Most of the parts are ready for more sanding, but I need to use some actual Bondo body filler on some really rough bits on this. My goal is to get this done in time for the Fallout premiere on Amazon, but we'll see. If I can get it done, next up is... I dunno, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I'm finally starting to get focused on getting things around for the talk I'm doing in May, though I really don't have THAT much I NEED to build. I have a good amount of visual aids as it is, and I can easily fill the hour I have (before Q&A) talking about the different ways you can make props. I'll touch on all that a bit more in a few weeks, and let you all know when I do my practice run on Twitch.

Sadly, this weekend I won't be getting much work done. It's Who's Yer Con weekend in Indianapolis, and my job is a sponsor and running a table, which means I'll be helping run a table this weekend. Who's Yer Con is a small gaming convention, and I'm wrapping up printing a ton of "Time Out" dice punishment chairs using filament in my company's colors to give away for something like newsletter subscriptions. Once that is done, I'll go back to printing inventory for Troxell's Trading Post website and display case at Comic Carnival.

Looking ahead into April, other than preparing for the talk, my focus is going to be printing products for TTP, getting some old printers sold, getting an A1 Mini, and fixing up my Nepturn 3 Max so I can start doing some commissions I've had sitting on a waiting list. Then, after the talk, I'm wrapping up the final pieces of the Bo Katan commission I started two years ago (thank you for your patience, Luna!) before rolling into getting my Ghostbuster gear together in anticipation for Halloween and the eventual arrival of my Ghost Trap from HasLab. Yeah, there's also a PKE Meter, but I have one of the Matty Collector ones already, and since my goal is to replicate Ray's gear from the original film, I don't need one. I DO have the goggles printed, and the walkie-talkie, and I've reprinted parts of the proton pack, though I still need to finish it. Unless I see something I NEED to make pop up soon, then I'm holding off printing more for myself because I've just got so much. I mean, off the top of my head...

• VOY Phaser Rifle
• Picard Phaser Rifle
• FC Phaser Rifle
• Disco Phaser Rifle
• E-11 Stormtrooper Blaster
• E-22 Shoretrooper Blaster Rifle
• Aliens Pulse Rifle
• Rocketeer Helmet
• Rocketeer Jet Pack

And that's not even looking at my boxes in the basement. I should also throw in the Jedi Training A-Wing helmet from Rise of Skywalker and a BSG pistol for Lizz. In fact, I should bump those closer to the top of the list!

Anyway, that's a good block of words today. Remember to check out the photo gallery for today's post in this Photos folder. As always remember, if you like what I'm doing, you can find ways to support me through Amazon, Ko-fi, or even my mailing list by visiting TonyTroxell.info and checking out my links. Website coming soon.

Until next week, remember that the world sucks out there. Do what you can to not make it suck even more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck a little less. Take good care of yourselves, and each other, my friends.

Tony Troxell
March 27th, 2024

#WIPWednesday - March 13th, 2024

 Hey there, everyone.

I've been kicking myself for not spending much time in the workshop this past month, and thinking I don't have anything to share for Work-in-progress Wednesday. Well, that's because I've been working on a bunch of other stuff, so I do have some stuff to talk about this week. There won't be much of a photo album, but here's an info dump!

3D Printing Expo

This past weekend was the 3D Printing Expo at the Carmel Clay Public Library in Carmel, where I was one of fifteen people talking about 3D printing. Of course, I was there to talk about using 3D printing for pops and costuming, and showing off some of my work. Now, with this being a library presentation I do attempt to keep the replicas of props based on real-world firearms at a minimum. This meant a lot of the Star Wars stuff I had was off the list, but I was able to bring my batch of Star Trek TNG-era phasers, a few lightsabers, and the Optimus Prime helmet, along with my Bambu P1P. The event was a good time, and I did enough talking that the thermos of Throat Coat tea I had was pretty useless, especially since I hated taking my mask off. I'm already thinking about what I might make if I go back next year, and I'm thinking something about backpack size. I'll let you ponder what that might be.

Email List

A week or so ago, I met with one of the people behind Beacons.AI, the "Link in Bio" tool I've been using for the past year. They've been steadily growing, offering more than just the link in bio stuff, and one of the things they have been working on is Email Marketing. So I figured, why not?

I now have an email list. Once I hit ten subscribers (huge goal, I know!), I'm planning on sending out a weekly wrap-up email on Fridays, talking about new items in the shop, new blog posts, events that might be coming up, and maybe a meme or media recommendation. If something like this would interest you, feel free to visit this link to sign up, and as a bonus, the follow-up email will have a 10% off code for Troxell's Trading Post!

Also, a shameless affiliate plug is incoming! Suppose you are looking for a way to start putting your stuff out there as a creator. In that case, Beacons offers up a link in bio tool, a media kit tool, email marketing, and a digital online store with more stuff on the way like Shopify integration and a website builder. If something like this interests you, please check them out, and if you do, please use my Affiliate Link. Doing so will get you some money off if you sign up for a paid level, and will also get me some money to help cover costs that product sales aren't covering. Remember, I don't do affiliate stuff unless I really like the thing I'm recommending, and I really do like Beacons, as well as the team putting it together.

Troxell's Trading Post and Comic Carnival

If you've been watching my social media, you might have seen that I kind of went out of my comfort zone and spoke to Comic Carnival, one of the Midwest's oldest comic shops and a place I've been shopping for almost forty years, to see if they would like to carry some of the 3D prints I'm licensed to sell. After some discussion, I ended up bringing a selection of dice towers and boxes from Fate's End, as well as some articulated critters by MatMire Makes. They ended up wanting to sell everything, so I now have a bunch of stuff on consignment at one of my favorite comic shops (of which, I admit, I have a few scattered across the state and country). I've already dropped some signage off, and found out in just a week they have sold a small amount of stuff, so I need to bring more stock in. I'll be restocking at least once a month, so if you're in Indianapolis, please give them a visit, check out my stuff, and grab some of the Star Trek comics by IDW because they have been fantastic!

Props for Cosplay/May the Fourth

So, with all that behind me, I now have about seven weeks before I present "Props for Cosplay" or something along those lines at the Anderson Public Library. This means I need to find a balance between Troxell's Trading Post stuff, Troxell Builds posting, and putting together my updated presentation, as well as getting some items molded and cast and other items finished and painted. My goal is to have enough to talk about different ways to make props for your costume. I'm planning on touching on the use of household items (lots of Star Wars props did this, and Star Trek had the salt and pepper shakers for McCoy's medical instruments), modifying toys (HasLab Proton Pack and some of the Playmates and Art Asylum Star Trek stuff), and even a bit on molding and casting. I know I have more to cover, I just need to find my notes and outline I put together before I had to cancel due to COVID last fall.

That should cover everything for the past couple of weeks. As always, make sure you visit the photo album for this week's post at this link. I'll be back next Wednesday, provided I don't get called up for jury duty on Monday, and I'll show off some of the items I'm printing this week to help refill the case. In the meantime, please remember that the world REALLY sucks out there. Try not to make it suck even more, in fact, if you can? Try to make it suck a little less. 

Be excellent to yourselves, and each other.
Tony

#WIPWednesday - February 28th, 2024

 

It's been a month, y'all. For the shortest month of the year, it's felt like the longest, and yet I feel like I have gotten nothing done.

On the one hand, I have a decent amount of products for Troxell's Trading Post, including a few replica prop kits. Plus, I've been actively working to see if any local comic or game shops would be interested in carrying some of my work, even on consignment. I'm hoping to have some good news on that in the next few weeks. However, that's not the normal work I like to talk about for Work in Progress Wednesday. The thing is? I haven't done too much hobby work this month. That is changing, though, as of last night.

See, next Saturday, March 9th, is the 3D Printing Expo at the Carmel Clay Public Library in Carmel, Indiana. I will be there, with other 3D printing enthusiasts, showing the printer I use and what I make with it. I've got lightsabers, phasers, and a couple blaster pistols, but I want something new. I was hoping to get BD-1 done by then, but I really don't think I can finish in time. Every time I go down to the workshop, I've got three projects I'm bouncing between at any given time, and I need to focus.

Starting last night, I got back to work on Aragorn's Elven Hunting knife from Lord of the Rings. It is going to be the first piece I focus on finishing, at least to the point of paint. Up next will be the Star Trek original series communicator, followed by the Mandalorian's pistol, and the Fallout laser pistol. After that? Well, if you look in the album for today's post, you can see I have plenty to work on.

The goal is NOT to get all of these done in time for the Carmel show. Instead, the goal is to get maybe one or two of these done in time for the Carmel show, and then have more done in time for my Making Props for Cosplay talk at the Anderson Public Library on May 4th. After that, the goal is to just keep getting stuff done, because my hands and joints aren't getting any younger, and I have stuff I want to get built.

I know that's not much for this week, but it's all I've got. Dipshittery coming out of Indiana appeals courts and the State House has really taken the wind out of my sails, and has reminded me why I'm no longer an advocate for Indiana. So, please remember friends, that the world REALLY sucks out there. Try not to make it suck even more. In fact, if you can? Try to make it suck a little less.

Commercial Break - Troxell's Trading Post

 

Hey there, everybody!

Now, I'm not going to lie. There was little work done this past week. We wrapped up the final birthday weekend for my kiddo with his first birthday with his grandparents (he turned 15 this year, so that was a big deal) and then I devoted a lot of free time to making stuff for Troxell's Trading Post.

For those who don't know, Troxell's Trading Post is something my kid and I put together to get some extra cash for our hobbies. He enjoys making Perler art, and beaded Kandi bracelets and has been slowly making some cool stuff for sale up on the site from stuff he likes that he doesn't see much merch from. Myself, well, you know I do 3D Printing, but I'm also working to relearn leather working, so I can do some cool simple stuff like dice trays and journal covers.

Now, those who do this sort of thing on top of a full-time job, I salute you. I never really considered the amount of work it took to make the items, photograph the items, crop the photos, and add a watermark, before uploading everything to the e-commerce site, writing up a description, figuring out categories and variations, deciding on a price that isn't too high but also isn't costing me money to make things, and then start promoting it. Even for just four items, this can take the better part of a day, so I feel like I should be pushing this a bit more to help cover my time!

In all seriousness, you know what my kiddo makes, and you've seen a portion of what I can print. I am currently paying the merchant license fees to be able to sell prints using files from Fate's End, MatMire Makes, Mystery Maker Studios, Big Fred's Customs, Galactic Armory, and Propsmaker. While I do try to only sell what I have in stock, I'm willing to work with friends on getting some pieces I wouldn't normally get printed made, though, for some of them, it'll cost a pretty penny. For example, there's the Optimus Prime helmet I made for display at VoltCon last year. That thing, for just the print itself, costs approximately $350, because it's a beefy boy. However, if you're looking at something more like a lightsaber or prop gun, those run significantly less, so far averaging around $25 for an articulated critter, $60-$75 for a dice tower, and $45-$75 for a prop replica. Heck, I've got the TNG Type 3 Phaser Rifle up on the site for $75, and I bought a resin kit in 1993 that was nowhere near as accurate and had some horrible seam lines for somewhere in the neighborhood of $100-$150. Sure, this one is a 3D print and will need the normal work, but it's still so much nicer than what I got as a teen.

Anyway, I'm doing this post today to try to get this out to more eyes. I'm running the shop on Square's free merchant platform for a bit, because I'm already in a good chunk of change every month to cover merchant license fees, and it does not have nearly the reach or discoverability of Etsy. However, Etsy is also home to all the IP lawyers, and since some of what I deal in is prop replicas, I figure it's best to not get caught in any nets over there.

So if something like this interests you, here's where you can find the shop and all associated social media:

• Troxell's Trading Post Website
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Threads

If you could check it out, and share it around, that would be fantastic. If you check it out and find something you like, that would be even more fantastic! Also, if you check it out and see something you like that's listed as out of stock, reach out. I've got a doc where I've listed most of the filaments I've used, so I should be able to get you something similar.

In the meantime, I'm going to cool it this "commercial break" and get back to work. I've got an opossum to pack and I have some parts I need to sand down in the workshop, so I will HOPEFULLY have actual work up next Wednesday! Until then, remember to take good care of yourselves, and each other. The world sucks out there, so try not to make it suck even more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck just a little bit less.

Tony

#WIPWednesday, February 7th, 2024

 I am disappointed that last week, I didn't just post a blog with an "After these messages, we'll be right back" gif on it. Oh well, you know how it goes, you get your best ideas two weeks after the moment it would have been relevant. Anyway...

I took last week off because, honestly, I was exhausted. The first week I've had some really good progress on projects, and I was too tired to write about it. So today is going to touch on the past couple of weeks as I continue to prep for a 3D printing library thing in March and the Props for Cosplay talk on May the Fourth in Anderson, Indiana. This show has become especially real as I just got my speaker paperwork emailed to me to get filled out and sent back.

So, what has been done?

First off, I'm pretty much done with the lightsaber project until around April, when I'm pulling them out, making sure they survived, and getting some final detail bits taken care of. You can see the sabers I built in the picture that kicks off this post, with individual photos in the album I made for this blog post. Left to right, we've got Count Dooku, half of Darth Maul (more on that in a few), Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi from both Kenobi and The Phantom Menace, Anakin Skywalker from Revenge of the Sith, and Darth Vader from A New Hope. On the very bottom is Yoda's saber. These were all just printed out of different colors of filament, support material was removed, and everything was just glued together. No sanding, no painting, just lightsabers showing the "quick and cheap" option for "Good, quick, or cheap. Choose two." Darth Maul was the biggest pain out of all of these, because the fins under the emitter all snapped off as I was trying to slide pieces in, and no matter what, I can't get the two halves to line up, so frak it! It's half of the saber. Detail can be seen in the album.

Now that those are tucked away in a box, I've started on a few other pieces. Thanks to ADHD, I currently have three pieces on the workbench. The Aragorn Hunting Knife, BD-1, and the Star Trek TOS communicator have all gone under the first round of sanding and have received a nice glaze of body putty thinned with acetone. The knife blade has been glued together, and I used some UV resin in small amounts to fill in and hopefully reinforce the seam between the two halves. I need to put some serious work into these this month, so I have some stuff to show in Carmel on March 9th.

Finally, I got the Communicator Dice Holders done for two sets of Star Trek Adventures dice. I like how well these hold the dice, and now I just need to get some magnets to keep them closed.

Photo albums for this week include the one made for last week's post, and the one for this week's post.

Before I wrap up, though, I want to ask for some help. Part of my exhaustion last week stemmed from my 2011 Scion xB, the Cardis. On Saturday, we made the final car payment on it. Then, because it wanted to be as cliche as possible, Sunday it started making noises before the power steering went out Monday, apparently due to the alternator going out. We were down to one car last week, and everything got fixed over the weekend. We had the money to get it taken care of, but we really need to replenish some savings. So, if you have the opportunity, head over to Troxell's Trading Post and maybe pick up a print or two. I'm trying to get new stuff posted every few days, and I am starting to fade away from articulated critters and dice towers for the time being and printing some prop kits from Mystery Makers, Big Fred's Customs, and Galactic Armory (affiliate link). So if you have any requests, please feel free to reach out either at my email or on any of my social media accounts, and we'll see if it's something I can print for you.

With that being said, I'm going to go ahead and wrap this up. Remember, the world sucks out there. Try not to make it suck even more. In fact, try to make it suck just a little bit less. Take good care of yourselves and each other, and I'll see you next week.

Tony

#WIPWednesday, January 24th, 2024

Click on photo for
full album.

So, here I sit. It's 10:09 AM the day this blog post is "due." I guess I could just make a social media post, because nothing I've been working on involves blasters or replica firearms or anything like that, but I've just gotten into the habit of writing again, so I want to get this out there. 

Part of the reason I haven't had the time to write is because, in all honesty, I've been working on projects. The weekends have been devoted to post-holiday cleaning and reorganization, and most weeknights when I get off of work, I've been at the workbench figuring out how to put together lightsabers by Big Fred's Customs and UnimatrixPro. 

On the lightsaber front, I currently have four complete for the "Cheap, fast, and good. Pick two." portion of my Props for Cosplay talk in May, with two more that will probably wrap up this evening. So far, I've completed Obi-Wan Kenobi sabers from The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith, a Yoda saber from Attack of the Clones, and a Qui-Gon Jinn saber from The Phantom Menace. Hopefully, after some forgotten parts come off the Bambu P1P this afternoon, I'll also be able to wrap up the Anakin Revenge of the Sith saber and the Mace Windu saber. This will leave me with half of a Darth Maul saber to build, and a Count Dooku saber that I haven't even started because that f****r is intimidating.

Over the weekend, I got the burr up my a** to print a BD-1 droid from the Jedi: Fallen Order video game. I blame people on Instagram for this, because I've only put in three hours on the dang game. Either way, over the weekend I printed all the parts from Fine_Engineer's files on Thingiverse before remembering I have the Mr. Baddeley files from when I was on his Patreon to gather information for R5-D4, so depending on how I feel after making the completely static first version, I might go ahead and print one with servos to really test myself.

The only other thing I've really been working on is dice boxes in the shape of original series communicators for Star Trek Adventures. Somebody in the Facebook group posted the link to their Printables page after they made them for their gaming group, and I needed to grab them. I'm hoping to get a Star Trek Adventures game going in 2024, and I think a set of dice in a communicator is a nice way to say "Welcome to the crew."

Okay, it's now 10:37 AM and I think I've given a decent rundown of what works are in progress. Don't forget to check out the Google Photos folder that shows some of this past week's projects. 

Remember to be excellent to yourselves, and each other. The world kinda sucks out there, so try not to make it suck even more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck a little less.

Until next Wednesday,
Tony