RWBY SCYTHE PROTOTYPE PART 1

A year ago, I saw the trailer for RWBY, fell in love, and vowed to make a working, movable scythe. One year later, after months of not working on this, and going back between idea after idea of how to start and what to do, consulting with friends, getting cold and hot feet and becoming busy with work and life in general, I finally got around to starting!

Hurrah!

I just wanted to update on what I've made so far, and where everything is headed in the next few weeks/months. Keep in mind this is all still in the prototyping stage (as you'll read), and there's still a bit of figuring out all the various mechanisms that needs to happen. It's getting exciting though! :D

Messy workspace omg!

Here's what I've done so far:

Here's a video of the blade sprung extension in action:

(Excuse my giggle at the very end.)

Eventually, the blade actions will be triggered from one motion, biased to open. And as of right now, I still have yet to figure out a closing mechanism I like, so that'll be manual until version 2+. Plus, all the prototyping material will be replaced with nicer cut metal/wood/other, and there will be the right sized bolts and nuts, etc etc etc. But the ball has been tipped over the hill now, and it won't stop rolling, hehe- :D

CLICK BELOW TO READ ON!

ROUGH ANIMATION + PAINTING DRAPERY

Just a quick update on some arts! I had done a rough animation yesterday just to take my mind off things. Nothing fancy, just an original character of mine getting wind-blown. I'm going to be trying out more animations in the future - it was rather relaxing, working on it, and I definitely learned a few lessons from it.

The following piece below came about from a desire to practice digitally painting drapery. Though most of the piece was spent focusing on her coloring, I actually spent an inordinate amount of time trying to fix her slanted anatomy and legs. After enough time though, I called it, and just went on to finish painting, haha. Next time, I'll work on anatomy more!

I didn't manage to capture all the WIPs, but click "Read more" to see some of the early work in progress shots!

MT WASHINGTON + D*C 2013

Around mid-September, I attended the Mt Washington Auto Road Alternative Energy Summit with Charles [etotheipiplusone] and friends, along with the MIT EV team. It was a gathering of mostly electric vehicles, ranging from home-grown motorcycles to commercial Model S's and Volts and Leafs, with a smattering or others, including steam and solar. A really cool bunch of people, a beautiful two days of nature, and lots of electric vehicles - Awesome! 

Above: The parking lot at the top of the AutoRoad.

There were a lot more motorcyclists than are shown here at the summit that day!

Above: View from the bottom camp grounds.

I took some panaromic shots, to try out the "Automate - Photomerge" feature in Photoshop - It's a pretty nifty tool!

Above: Panoramic view of the Summit grounds at the Mt. Washington AutoRoad.

Above: Panoramic view of the view on the road halfway up the mountains.

Warning: PICTURE HEAVY POST!
Click below to read more about my adventures at Mt Washington and Dragon*Con 2013!