JamJar's Roaring Carnosaur

I don't think hiding wires should be a problem. I'll hollow out one of the legs to run wires from the speaker & main board in the body to the batteries & switch on the base.

Also...

These came in the post today!

Spoiler: Carno, 2 voice modules and MP3 player

Speaker is way too big to fit inside the carno mouth, I'll get a smaller one.

Time to test these out before I go buying that better one for a playlist of roars.

 

Looks like that speaker you want will not work on win 10. Then again i dont know if your running vIsta

 

Don't worry, my parents little old PC is still running XP before they upgrade by the next century. It's either that or finding some random who has win7

 

So if it's not obvious by now, I'll be going with the voice module rather than looking for a toy. I did swing by a couple of shops and had a quick look but there's nothing suitable for what I want.

While waiting for the better voice module to turn up (hopefully in about a week), I've been cutting up and prepping the body sections to be glued. I have to say, I was simply expecting something like 2 half sections to glue together not 10 oddball pieces. This makes things a little more difficult for opening up the body to replace anything. That said, I would rather do this right once than replacing an expensive module in the future - if it dies, it dies.

I also didn't realise how "small" the carno body actually is, with a cardboard cutout of the module I could see how difficult it wouldn't be to fit it. It looks like I'm either going to fit the module in a thick custom base like a few of you have said, or test my skills with green stuff

 

Guess what turned up today??!

Spoiler: IWonderWhatItCouldBe

Spoiler: Size comparison

I've had a play around with the audio. I loaded various roars from my top 10 track so the module can play a different roar each time I press the button. They sound pretty good, better than the other ones I have. When I loaded the 10 files it ended up cutting out and starting from the very beginning once activated again. This happened around the 7th roar, probably because it had gone over the 75 second limit or because something like a loose wire is disrupting the circuit. After cutting it down to my top 8 roars at 74.9 seconds, after playing around with it, it started cutting out again towards the 6-7th roar, never the beginning ones. I might cut it down further as well as trimming some silent areas in the audio to scab some more seconds. I'll see if this works.

About my dilemma in hiding the module... Firstly I'm going to find a slightly smaller speaker to fit inside the body and see how the sound turns out. Then I'll see if there's any possibility of fitting the main module inside as well, while using green stuff to fix cuts I'll have to make... OR ... have a compartment in the base to house the module and interchangeable batteries.

 

Hi everyone!

Audio module works fine. Plays like a dream. No need to know how I magically got it to work. That's right. All that matters is that it works again.
*cough* changed batteries
Also work has been keeping me from progressing much.

So anyway...

As many of you have suggested placing the module inside the base, and as stubborn as I am, I must agree with you. The speaker I have obtained for this model takes up a lot of space inside the body.

Spoiler: New speaker in body

View attachment 33419

Spoiler: Speaker test with other module

I have done a couple of little sound tests using the newer speaker and the audio sounds okay coming from the mouth of the carno when all the other gaps are blocked up. The resistance of the new speaker is 8ohm, where the original was 16ohm. My main concern now is the possibility of the speaker degrading or too much current running back to the module and damaging it over time. It's probably a very minor effect, I will also test the sound effect by adding a resistor before the speaker to bring the resistance to around 16ohm. Now I'm starting to think making the carno repairable is not such a bad idea.

More updates later on!!

 

Oh hey i have this guy !

 

Updoot:

Spoiler: Pics

Ankle has been glued to the leg, and pinned for extra support seeing as the entire model rests on it. Some holes have also been drilled through the foot and thatrockbasethinghestandson for when I make a base.

The model will essentially end up being in 3 parts - rider, left body and right body. This will allow me to change the speaker if required in the future. You can see little sprue off cuts I glued to the inside to hold the speaker and keep it still.

The rider has a paperclip which can be seen coming out of the bottom of the throne. I originally planned to have two paperclips so it will slide into the carnosaur when assembled and hold both pieces together without any glue. The problem I found was that the paper clips would need to be parallel if not angled outwards slightly, and would required a kink in one of the clips to 'lock' or push both body parts together - if that makes sense. I also realised the plastic holes I drilled in the carno were getting worn with more use of the paper clips, meaning the body parts would separate slightly. I might settle for some magnets instead to pull the carno body pieces together, then simply sit the throne on top.

Magnets seem the way to go. I'll purchase some ones of different shapes and see what I can get to work nicely.

 

With the sound only coming from the mouth of the carnosaur, it kinda sounds a little like a dinosaur toy roar due to the 'funnel'.

Sound echoing inside the body, which I can dampen with foam, could be contributing too.

Since the model is only light plastic, the surface the speakers are attached to (not even glued to through) are also vibrating. The speakers may need something dense or hard attached to it to change this but I don't think it can be helped.

 

I suppose you could try drilling out the head to give him a real throat ?
perhaps that would channel the sound better ???

 

*Flicking back through my previous posts* Apparently you guys haven't seen through the mouth I drilled through ages ago. Here we go:

Apart from the fine cracks between the two body segments (which makes insignificant difference to sound quality), this is the only route the roar escapes the speaker inside the body. Otherwise it would sound muffled if I blocked it all up. Compared to holding the speaker in my hand or held firm on a hard surface, the sound from the model is sounding faint and 'weak' as I mentioned earlier. It's not the end of the world however. I can up the volume of the sound files later on to see how it turns out.

I've also obtained some 2mmx2mm cylindrical magnets from a family friend who uses them for his models. I'll post some progress pics of them tomorrow.

 

Photos from the other day before I post moar photos!!

Hole drilled in spine for magnet to sit. The plan was to have another magnet on the other side but they are so strong it makes it awkward to align things properly, especially when gluing the magnets to my fingers instead of the model. I decided a paper clip should be good enough on the other side.


Both side with magnet in spine, and piece of paper clip on other side.


Magnet on the shoulder. This is will be covered by part of the reins on the other body section.


Paper clip on the inside of a part of the reins that sticks out beside the neck. It's a bit of an odd angle and might be difficult to see exactly where on the model it is if you aren't familiar with the carnosaur model.


Added a third magnet at the stomach and a piece of paper clip on the other side (just under the red wire)


As soon as I began magnetising my Carnosaur I realised I couldn't use pliers, tweezers or knives to position the magnets. All I could find while the super glue was drying was the cap of a pen. It was good enough.

Also notes on using tiny magnets:
- Don't lose them
- Don't eat them
- Don't let anyone else eat them, especially your pet
- Have a safe place for them so they don't escape your sight
- Count the number of magnets you have... like at least every 5 minute... that's what I was doing anyway.
- Magnets are dangerous yo... well the little ones are anyway...they work off witchcraft or something



More photos will follow!

Although there were three magnets against paperclips, the attraction was not as strong as magnet to magnet attraction, and the model could separate if I held one half of the model and shook it lightly. I've added a magnet vs magnet interface at the chest rather than magnet vs paper clip. I also replaced the spine paperclip with a magnet for a stronger bond.

Things are working out nicely

 

Moar photos


Figure 1. Magnets glued to inside of underarm (these will meet the magnets at the chest of the other side)


Figure 2. Chest magnets (you can also see a new magnet has replaced the paper clip at the spine)

Of all the things I've glued, this was the most difficult, simply because the magnets needed to be in a position where they could sit flush against each other. With this precision required I was limited by the tools I could use, having only my trusty plastic pen lid. Gluing the model in two complete pieces also did not help as I could not see the magnets inside when enclosed completely (it would have been easier to do all this without the spine glued on).

To make this all work, I ended up gluing a row of magnets to one side of the model (Figure 1) in order to align them properly and avoid gluing my fingers. Once the glue dried, I placed another small row of magnets onto those glue down. I then applied glue to the other model piece (Figure 2), assembled it and trusted the magnets were gluing to the other side in the proper position. There was no way of knowing whether it was working as I couldn't see inside the assembled model, nor could I check until the glue dried

Turns out it did work... just after a few attempts Boy did it make a noticeable difference with magnet to magnet attraction, much stronger now. Once the glue dried I glued bits of sprue around the new magnets to secure them further.

I couldn't stop there after that. You can see I've replace the paper clip from the spine with another magnet in Figure 2. This was similar to the above method but much easier as the new magnets could hold the model in place while I worked out what to do. I'm also going to get a few more magnets to replace one of the paper clips, and for the Saurus throne.


Figure 3. Model held by one of it's arms showing stronger bond between the two pieces


Figure 4. Gap between the two pieces running from the right should down the stomach to the left leg

Need ideas on how to cover up the gaps with strategic painting


Figure 5. Top of model, no gap visible (is on left side of spine), except at right of the neck. Two drilled holes for throne are visible too


Figure 6. Throne with pins


Figure 7. Noice, a bit wobbly though

Will add a couple more magnets then it's ready to paint

 

Yeaaah I really should have given you all a sound test a while ago. I just haven't been able to get some quiet around this zoo I live in, nor do I have a make-shift rig for a camera. I should have it done by the next update, all while giving a demonstration of the model assembly too

Between now and then I'll quickly glue on the final magnet to replace one of the paperclip pieces.

For the moment... I have some photos of magnetising the throne:


Figure 1. Throne in position for magnet location


Figure 2. Blu Tack to mark out where to drill out hole for tiny magnet.


Figure 3. Pilot hole


Figure 4. Tiny magnet glued after larger hole was drilled


Figure 5. Throne magnet - should have taken more progress pics of this one

Because there is some gap between the carnosaur spine and the underside of the throne I used a longer magnet that I dug up. This one is about 5mm diameter and 8mm long. For the 5mm hole and larger pilot holes leading up to it, I used a powered drill but ran it in reverse. This prevented it from catching on the model and potentially ripping it to pieces. Running the drill in reverse is similar to backward-scrapping with a craft knife used to scrape away mold lines.


Figure 6. Throne magnetised on carnosaur


Figure 7. Not half bad

I need to think about a weapon for the rider too. I'd use the ones from the pack but.... ... I might see what I can find elsewhere, maybe a great weapon or fancy magical weapon.

Prepare your ears for the next update!!

 

that looks amazing ... been following this one . I like the time and details you put in sir.

 

I was looking into ways to magnetize the rider as well, any idea if there would be a way to attach the rider separately from the "throne-saddle" too?

 

Awesome stuff! If you want to secure even more the magnets, the best you can do is fill around them with green stuff. Also, next time you need a magnet to stay in a specific position you can just place a blob of green stuff and push the magnet into position.

I haven´t done it, but I am most certain that it wouldn't´t be too hard. I´d remove the pin the legs come with and place small magnets in each feet. You could also place a magnet where the pin was, but then attaching the saurus to a base would be harder (If you just want to be able to remove it for storage purposes this is the way I´d go).

 

It reckon it would be possible. From memory the throne, legs and body pieces were all separate. I would magnetise the body first, then see where the throne magnet needs to line up. Drill n glue the throne magnet. Like @Jorgik said, depending whether you want to interchange between mounted and on foot, you might magnetise the legs separately.

Green stuff, is it that sticky? I haven't worked with it a great deal, but I will fill the gaps between the magnets for that extra grip. Cheers

Also, the belly magnet fell off because it wasn't glue with enough surface area covered. I might have a go at pushing it into some greenstuff

 

Thank you my dude, I'm glad you enjoy this. The carno it's getting there... slowly but surely.