Building the PKking Dark Elf Queen Part 2

In part 1 the focus was on getting the core parts of the model cleaned up.  For part 2, I must get the leg and body attached together (so we can properly mount to the base later). Three main goals: 1) Use an attachment method that allows parts to be removed from each other, 2) When parts are together they are positively locked and do not shift position.  3) Listen to Dubstep (Butterfly Crash, Glitch Mob, Two Fingers) while working.

The plan.

PKking's engineering has made it easy for me to put this together with a screw.  First thing is to get the leg attached to body.  Start with the screw you will be using then drill hole to accommodate that specific screw.  Diagram shows the basic logic.

Imagine where screw axis will be.

Here is the actual part, I am holding up a some rod stock so I can visualize the hole.  Its an exercise in seeing if it will work before I start hacking into this thing.

Mark entry point with Sharpie.

Check visibility.

In this case the screw head will be covered by the skirt.  The less filling, grinding and sanding the better.

Use calipers to measure the screw.

I know what you might be saying, "oooh fancy tools, too expensive for me".  Sure you can go crazy and buy a $150 Brown & Sharpe pair of calipers.  (For my day job I did, because I use them all the time).  I just checked, you can get a decent 6" dial caliper on Ebay for $10-$15ish.  Don't get digital, battery will be dead when you need it.  Since I'm in the US, I use the English measurements, the dial is measured out in 100ths of an inch. The 440 screw is around .108 hundredths of an inch.  If I want the threads to bite, I should drill under this, about .099, or a #39 drill bit.

Mark center.

PKking used square rod stock to build up his master.  This allowed him to assemble the parts as he sculpted them and ultimately became the breakdown for casting as well.   Because he has already figured this out, we* will simply go down the road he has already provided.  The road we are on now is this square shaft.

*Note on use of "we".  This is the "Royal We", I.e., you and me, but really means You.  Example: "We should take out the trash".

Get hole started on center.

Using the # 39 drill bit carefully get your hole started on the center of his square shaft.

Like so.

We are just getting it centered.  Once you tag the surface, check it, you will be able to see if your on center or not.

"...stay on target"

Slowly, staying on this imaginary axis, drill all the way through.  As the bit breaks through the surface keep in mind you have just wrecked a one-of-a-kind $110 resin masterpiece.  Yes, I will find where you live and re-position all of your Star Wars action figures or worse blunt a corner on your 9.6 DD #168.  True value is not is not measured in collections of atomic particles.

More drilling.

Time to extend the hole up into the body.  I check using the model and mark the depth with tape.

Lightly tag.

Again, before we wreck this beautiful model any further, using existing hole as a guide, we only want to mark the inner surface.

Check centering.

Looks good, hole is in center.

Crank it.

We are good.  Drill up to the tape.  Now, you will notice the tape is missing, I'm not sure what happened here, but I am going to put the blame squarely on Sticky (my AMS Deamon).

Another diagram.

My pics got messed up a bit, but the diagram will make what is going on here clear.  Right now there should be a .099 hole in both parts of your model.  This hole is a "Tap" size hole, meaning it is the right size for threading the 440 screw.  We want the 440 threads to bite on the "A" portion above.  The "B" portion is a "Clearance Hole", meaning it will need to be slightly larger than the 440 screw.  What this does is allow the screw to pull the "B" section of the leg snug against the "A" section.  At this moment both holes are .099. Remove the leg and carefully drill that hole to .111 (not shown, BTW).

440 tap.

Here is the body and a 440 tap.

Carefully tap hole.

Resin is soft, so tap hole carefully.  This is why I used 440 size screw, the threads are larger and have more bite.  Additionally, the hole is deep to allow for more threads to bite.  Eventually, the threads in the resin will tear our, so we will not overuse the hole.

Recess hole.

As you can see, the entry is at an angle causing screw head to hang out.  We need this 440 screw to be recessed so that skirt will fit.  This means a little grinding.

Grinding.

Use the flat side of the grinding tool to seat against the hole.  The outer spinning face of the tool does the most grinding, the end does not.  Use this to your advantage to define the hole.

Leg firmly attached.

PKking's leg attachment point is awesome, the addition of the screw locks it in place with no wobble.  And, we can remove the leg for assembly and painting.  Oh yeah.  In the next chapter, we will get the skirt on, after that get her attached to the base.  Time to go brush my teeth.  Cheers!