After completing upgrades for the Dragonfly, I proceeded to develop parts for the ubiquitous Cobra Hiss Tank which has been available in one iteration or another for the better part of 30 years. My first upgrade was to develop an armored canopy that I believe is more realistic and matches the aesthetic of the upgraded HISS V.5. After creating a 3d version of the original HISS in Solidworks, I proceeded to design the canopy and have SLS prototypes produced via Shapeways. Once I validated that the design would not only fit but open and close properly, and had the look I was trying to achieve, I offered the part for sale in my own Shapeways store.
After developing the upgraded wings and turret for the Dragonfly, the next logical step was to create accessories that attach to the wings. That said, I proceeded to develop rocket and gatling gun pods that are based on hardware used on real attack helicopters. In the case of the gatling gun pod, I was actually able to find an exploded drawing of the XM 18 gun pod used on Cobra helicopters in Vietnam. Once I was satisfied that the parts had the look and fit I was going for, I placed them on sale in my Shapeways store both individually and in sets.
My most recent project is a set of upgrade parts for the GI Joe Dragonfly helicopter which was originally molded in the early 1983s. When GI Joe was rebooted in the 1980s, many of the vehicles that Hasbro designed were based on vehicles in service with the US military and as such, the Dragonfly was based on the AH-1 Cobra which entered service in the late 1960s. The parts I designed are based on the later AH 1W Super Cobra which remains in service with the US Marine Corps. The upgrade set consists of a chin turret and wings which both utilize the mounting fixtures which were designed into the toy while following the look of the of the more advanced helicopter. Once the parts were designed, I had them printed via SLS from for test fitting. The parts are now available for purchase from a variety of materials from my Shapeways store.
After the AMR-10 was scaled down to 1/100, I proceeded to cut the model up into various parts that could be easily be reassembled. Once the parts were separated, I hollowed the solid bodies and added posts and fixtures while keeping the parting lines and gaps as discreet as possible. The finished kit contains 14 parts, and the boom can rotate around the hull. The colors I used for the assembled rendering were influenced by the Veritech transformable mecha from the Macross series.
As long as I can remember, I have been a fan of the Robotech/Macross universe. As a child I watched the cartoon, and eventually went on to draw mechs and space ships, build Robotech model kits, and even play roll playing game in my teenage years. That being said, I had decided to take some time to fill the gaps in my model collection by recreating some of the lesser seen gear from the series. The model shown is a mecha recovery vechicle called the AMR 10 and has been drawn in 1:1 scale according to my references. The next stage of this project will be to scale the model to 1:72 and 1:100 scale and then break the model into pieces for printing. My ultimate goal is to have printed a model kit that will fit into the scale that the Destroid and Veritech models are produced in.
In late 2009, I began working on creating my own tankard for use at the local Renaissance Faire. The design I ended up with was greatly influenced by the Solar Seriesof ceramic cups by United Brands. When looking for materials I chose Yellowheart wood which will patina into an amber color over time. Due to shop scheduling constraints, the cup didn’t make it onto the CNC until April of 2011. The images above show the concept and the various stages of machining and finally the finished piece which was stained with a non toxic butcher block finish.
In the spring of 2010, I met with the CEO of a local toy company who was looking to develop a drink topper for water bottles as a side project. The concept was for a device that was filled with a vitamin powder that could be screwed to a water bottle and mixed in the bottle once attached. Over the course of two months I engineered several concepts, two of which were turned into SLA models. These images reflect renderings and prototypes of the 1st concept.
In the summer of 2010, we were approached by an engineer looking to have 3 view drawings created in Autocad turned into prototypes. I imported the drawings into Solidworks, and created the 3d models seen above. Once the 3d models were approved by the engineer, SLA masters were created from which Alpha Studio cast three prototypes using soft tooling.
In the summer of 2008, Alpha Studio was approached to develop a new mounting fuxture for King Size Bows to attach their bows to. With the aid of a mockup provided by the client, I designed a fixture that could be easily assembled by a car dealer or end user in a short period of time so that the bow itself could be presented in a manner of minutes. Over the course of three months we tested a variety of models and mounting fixtures produced via SLA. In the end, the prototype shown above was approved and sent to the injection molder for final production.
As soon as the shop began receiving production units, we began testing various radio and speaker confugations. Additionally, we tested two iterations of windshield mounts, which were waterjet cut and bent in house. Once our client was satisfied with their sound and ride tests, production commenced in full.
