SentencedToBurn

A few updates this weekend: - Starting: I got it to start, however the starter motor speed is so slow that the motor stalls by trying to idle faster than the starter before I have the time to release the starter button. I ordered a gear with more teeth to see if I can match the idle speed to the starter, or get it closer so will see. Otherwise I will need to get my head around how bendix gears actually work so I can try and work out whether I can add that on or whether a whole new starter setup will be needed. - Cooling: taking on some constructive feedback onboard (which was actually very helpful, otherwise knowing me I wouldve left that cooling monstrosity there for longer), I decided to make a start making the rear shroud panel and trying to work out how it will be joining to the front section. I tried visualising the end result, sketching it up, etc, but this is definitely pushing my ability to visualise things, so I'm just making a start and will keep adding / chopping / changing as I go until I'm happy. So as far as the panelwork goes there is no real plan. If anyone has any interesting ideas then please drop them below. My only thoughts so far are to keep the front section partially open like you had in 1920s-1930s if you open the sides of the bonnet where the head / leads are exposed, and you have your radiator / fan at the front. Here is where I'm up to, note that I may be changing it as I go depending on what comes next. The whole section is on a long hinge so it swivels backwards for access to the starter / solenoid. I had a grill added in but removed it as it looked bad, so still thinking about that one. Rear view: Front view - note the "floor" of the engine compartnent is angled as I'm leaving an opening there for now. So this entire cover swivels towards the rear and the intent is to have a bonnet-style latch there with an easy release for the back. Then I want to have the same for the front section except the front cover will be partially open.

Yeah i'm likely redoing that piece, as it was just to make sure there is sufficient cooling for the time being, using my mig with a 1mm sheet has been a bit hopeless, which is why I resorted to just spotting on the rest of it. Ive been thinking of making a cover fo the entire bottom section, like a bonnet of sorts, but sideways, and encorporating the cooling fan that way so I think that part will be replaced soon.

Quick update - last weekend I installed a high volume fan as a bunch of RC nitro plane guys said it'll overheat without cooling in minutes, so figured I better play it safe. The fan will probbaly be moved as it looks a bit rubbish with that intake etc, but I'll see. Earlier this morning I finally got it to try and start - it's trying to fire up, but the starter is spinning too slow to allow it to idle and give me time to release the start button, and ends up stalling. So I've just ordered a bunch of gears for the starter with double and triple the number of teeth, so once they arrive I'm hoping to be able to have high enough starter speed to allow it to idle while the starter is still engaged. So a bunch of random problems, but they're pretty fun to overcome one by one.

LOL once I add the kickstands to it it should really resemble something rideable!

Hey haha absolutely, although with the nitro I believe you also get a bit of nitric acid vapour which I understand is probably worse to breathe in. TBH my biggest worry about this is having a container with nitro strapped on to you. So whenever I go to test it itll be definitely with the garage door open just by the entrance. And I've got my CO2 extinguisher ready. I also decided to make bike-like kickstands for it a bit later, so you don't have to hang it on your neck and instead can place it on the bench infront of you on stands and play it that way. But yeah playing this indoors will definitely be a bit problematic, even with the small amount of fumes it generates.

The plumbing and most of the engine related wiring has been completed: exhaust, fuel in / return, air filter, and the sensors as well as the glowplug. I actually tried starting it today but the fuel isnt getting through to the carb. I think there might be a seal issue somewhere in the exhaust so I'll be checking all seals and will replace the gaskets again. But I'm also missing a primer bulb so will get one of those. Getting super close though. I ended up moving both the 5V and 3V step down circuits have been moved to the rear section of the guitar, and the Ardino will also be housed in there. Seems to be just enough space, and I'm also using the rear port with a small fan off an old nVidia card as a small exhaust vent to try drive some of the heat out. Also I've got most of my components to make my pickup, I've done some reading up and got a few small preamps to try, and have also tested the output from the step down rectifier for both 5v and 3v, and they seem surprisingly clean even while the starter motor is turning over. I didn't expect that. So it's looking pretty good so far, the main test will come once it's running though. I found I take a lot longer making brackets and components now, like the fuel line bracket had to match the angle of the shape with the body, and the same with the airfilter mount bracket. And even the mount and the position of the fuel tank, must have gone through about 6-7 options before settling on this one, as the fuel tank is pretty ugly and ruined the lines. This is probably the best spot I could come up with which is also relatively safe. That's it for now, I'm really digging the look of it now that the engine side of things is nearly complete. The shield that will protect the player's junk from the gears and the exhaust will change the shape a bit further, so will have to have a good think of what it'll look like.

Awesome thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to look it up. I'm a total noob when it comes to anything remotely outside of basic gear. Last 15 years I've literally been using the same 2 pedals, the same 2 amps and 2 guitars one of which I've rebuilt. That's it. So learning as I go, most of the time it's knowing what to learn is a challenge as there is so much info out there.

Hey I have actually but so far I've been a bit limited as I don't have that much space in the body. However since I decided not to use the entire rear section as an exhaust and I simply have a tube going in/out - the rest of the rear section is empty so there is a bit of space. I agree it would be awesome to have this thing plugged straight into a cab... And have a built in FX generator. The only thing I'm thinking is that if the power source isn't cleaned up well - then I'll not only have a ton of noise coming through the active pickups, but also the power source that will run the FX and the actual amp. Might need to see how it actually sounds once I get it to run and produce a sound of some kind, and then the option to improve it further is to do an internal FX+Amp build. Mate imagine doing a DIY valve amp, and have the valve mounted externally.. covered off by a metal cage of some sort. This is getting pretty out there! Awesome. Good point, although these motors are smooth - that's relative, they still vibrate quite a bit. I think you're right even with the rubber bushings separating the motor cradle and the body, and trying to insulate the motor from the exhaust it'll still probably move them around. Will be interesting to see whether like a light palm mute will help otherwise I can imagine the noise getting out of control.

Mounted and wired up the gauges today. I wasn't sure if they were going to suit the overall look but as far as my own odd tastes go I'm pretty happy. First; Tacho - this is meant to read the frequency / rotation of an electric motor, but for now I'm getting no reading. I'm using a 1:1 ratio transfer from the motor to an alternator so my thought was to count the RPM of the alternator which will be the same. The gauge has a few settings though so I need to play around with it. Second: Voltmeter/ammeter. You can see the 12V battery needs a bit of a charge as it just dipped below 12, also the ammeter is set between the main fuse and the battery, so it basically shows the total current flow. In this case it's only powering the gauges and the light on the starter switch. I tested it with the starter motor turning over - it was pulling about 2Amps, which is pretty much in the realms of what was expected. Third: temperature gauge. For now the probe is just hanging, I'm still thinking of the best placement. So I'm keen to have the Tacho configured correctly and the temp probe installed before hooking up the fuel tank / glow plug wiring, last thing I want to do is overrev the motor or have it overheat on me due to the lack of airflow. I dont think it'll be a problem since the intent is to idle it, but I'd rather not risk it.

Thank you! Yup I am hoping to get a bit more regular with this now like at least a few hours every weekend. The next step is to mount the fuel tank, wire up the glow plug and then keep my fingers crossed that it actually starts and runs after all this. Also have been looking up on how the pickups are wired up, figured since I have nearly 50mm of depth, and this is a Franeknstein already, maybe I should just go all in and try and make my own pickups. Worst case I'll always throw them away and order an 81x or something. But winding my own coils and putting together a basic preamp to make them active - it just sounds like it's worth trying. Just need to work out what metal is used as the core of the coils, and what's the traditional number of coils around each one etc, although can just experiment too.

Getting back into this build, had a lot of things on the go, but glad to be on this again. I got the exhaust flange back from my dad's work - I only have a MIG, where they have a TIG so they were able to help me weld a different angle to an exhaust flange. I then routed the exhaust using a few bits I had laying around in my various boxes of scrap: An old brake line mount to hold the adapter between the two tubes A pipe with the connector and bolt off an old turbo oil line Some break and vacuum line - turns out these nitro motors run very cold, I didnt realise they actually run silicone tips off their mufflers, so I was told the silicone line will work fine, can always swap it out if needed though The back section shown above will the the rear "muffler" - this lines up with my initial idea of immitating the rear section of the Borderlands 3 rocket launcher which has a "jet" exhaust of sorts, so using the entire rear section as a muffler with an actual exhaust coming out of it will be pretty sweet. I will be putting together a cover of some kind (at a later stage) so the exhaust and the starter are kept away from the player's junk. And it's looking a bit more complete from the front now with the muffler mounted and plumbed up:

I finally installed the battery, fusebox, and wired up the starter. Here is a quick demo of the starting sequence and the start itself - exhaust, alternator, fuel tank or the glow plug aren't connected yet so this is just the demo of how the starter engages

Haha i guess the COV style from BL3 is like a cyberpunk version of Mad Max for sure. Pretty close just minus all the neon/led type of stuff. They certainly overlap on their appreciation for gas powered things.

Have made quite a bit of progress: - Changed the motor mounts and angled it so it isn't as wide, which will allow me to make a separate body section to contain the motor/starter/alternator - Connected the starter motor using a solenoid, seems to work well and engages/disengages as intended - Switches / ignition key switch and other buttons have all been mounted, once I get the fuse box in the mail i'll connect it all up

I stopped this build completely for a few months - being Ukrainian born and raised it felt wrong digging my head in the sand and carrying on like I did in the first couple of months. Instead I found that I was able to provide some assistance all the way from NZ by volunteering translation work, both written and spoken. I did not realise the volume of this that was required with the refugees and other administrative work. Now I feel like I can allow myself a few hours here and there to do some work on this piece, so a few updates below. I replaced the 22cc motor above with a much smaller 7.5cc nitro motor (off an RC plane). I mounted an alternator (the motor at the top) and a starter motor (bottom). The starter motor pivots so the gears engage. I've got a 35N solenoid coming in the mail which will engage the starter and then release it. Given the solenoid is spring-release it should hopefully work well, although I do have a spare set of gears I'm using on the motor and the starter, just incase. Once the solenoid is mounted - I need to sort out the fuel tank, battery, voltage reducer for the glow plug, etc. And I decided a keystart will be most appropriate here, esp since the AR in Borderlands 3 is also started with a key. Not much work to get it started, just waiting for a few more parts to arrive.

Slowly adding a few more details to it. The top of the body is now following a similar geometric pattern to the exhaust section - still not sure if I'll be going further as I don't want it to be in the way. I have also gone ahead and made a control panel which will house the volume knob, the on/off switch (will prob use a key switch) for the motor shutoff, and a bunch of buttons to control the lighting when I eventually get to it. This control panel is off a COV Assault Rifle, although most of the items are off COV Rocket Launchers, this control panel looked too good to ignore so I followed the overall dimensions pretty closely, except for the edge of the guitar where I matched the angle of the body: In this pic here you can see the additional bit of bodywork that I added, Also from this angle you can see one of the angles on the exhaust section is continued through the bend on the control panel. I wanted to give it at least some continuation so glad it worked out.

Haha thanks mate, definitely a compliment I appreciate! I do use aviation snips on occasion but the slight warp you get with them is not something I like fixing - so quite often just go with the cutting wheel instead.

Have connected up the rear shock today and replaced the bushings with ones that fit much better. Also made a stand, this thing was getting pretty tricky to work on, so now it's much more manageable. Here is a quick update, scroll to 11 mins to skip the build part to where I actually have it on the stand etc:

I spent the last few nights after work making the rear section that's going to be modelled after the exhaust part of some of the COV rocket launchers: Using the same 18 gauge sheet to assemble it - the idea is that this section will house a muffler (that i'll have to make) inside, and will reduce the sound of the motor down enough to reasonable levels, so at least I won't have to crank the hell out of my amp to overpower the sound of the motor. I ended up switching up from a flat surface to this geometric layout, and the shock/spring setup is also looking pretty good - will need to add another shock/spring tomorrow. I bought a pair of these from a local hobby shop, rated for a 1:10 petrol RC car and feel pretty strong, so I hope they'll provide enough vibration dampening from the exhaust section to the main body. Also with me adding a rear-fender looking item from one of the BL3 rocket launchers above the exhaust section my hope is that it'll resemble a rear section of bike, I'm not much of a bike guy but the way these parts came together felt that it would be pretty fitting. The muffler section actually looks pretty fitting with the rest of it. I'm thinking of adding the same geometric setup on the face of the guitar as long as it doesn't get too close to the bridge or the neck etc, I've also tested out using some old leaf spring suspension bushings where I mounted the engine cradle - will probably go off to my local to find some better fitting bushings, van-rated nolathane bushings I used are just too hard and don't think they'll be dampening the motor vibrations.

Haha good point, But tbh my performances don't go beyond jamming in a garage with a bunch of mates, either way though i think having a stand so I don't have to hold it for prolongued periods of time will be handy for sure.

Definitely! I want each part to be functional but still resemble the COV items I'm modelling this after. Thanks! Yeah the environment of the original Borderlands really got me into it, and it just carried on from then on. Mate this is some solid advice thanks very much, actually I'll address a few of these here: - Measurements: I never thought of using a chart or a calculator, my first thought was to just copy.. i guess lesson learnt! Also good point on the measurement off the nut - I actually did that up to fret 12 I think, and then I ran out of ruler - so instead of getting a longer one I just kept measuring from fret 11 or 12 or whereever it ran out from. But yup i guess worst case I'll grind the neck back and do it all over again. At least I know there is plenty of meat on it to redo it! - Yeah the tube in the neck was unfortunately the thinnest I could get. I had to match the diameter of the pipe that I was after, Initially I was trying to find 2mm thickness max which would have reduced the weight significantly but the right diemeter was only available in 3.2mm or thicker. The body though is as thin as I'm comfortable with at 1.2mm (18 gauge), so that's why I just have a 10gauge (3.2mm) plate connecting the bridge and the neck, and will weld a couple of braces to ensure its super ridgid in the centre. - Fret levelling - totally hear you, I will definitely do that - Other bits of the guitar will likely be made out of 1.2mm sheet to keep them lighter, but in all honesty this thing is going to be heavy as hell. By the time the battery is in, all the decorative parts which will all be metal except for the lighting, then the exhaust that I'm routing through to the back section, etc. I'm actually planning to add a built-in stand, perhaps similar to a motorbike kickstand. Just so I can let it idle / charge the battery if needed, etc.

Hey yeah nah mate thats my goal is to actually have it running. But the fallback is that I can run it only to charge the battery, and then have it off - but that'll be my last resort. I guess it's good to have an outer by design haha. Having it running and generating power for the pickups / lighting will be ideal for sure, will be quite interesting to play too. Will definitely need to put together some sort of a heat shield around the back of it too.

Dude no I haven't seen that, the Ultrazone is absolutely insane! I'm defintely going to be reading up on that tonight, that's some real artwork man. Also thanks very much man! Yeah the BL3 COV items are pretty much Mad Max / outer space merger type of thing.

The back of the neck is a section of 10 gauge tube. I don't have a TIG, and I suck at it anyway, so the best I could do with my MIG. Not bad in the end, pretty happy with how it came out. The head: as mentioned before, inspired by the COV AR barrel, both parts are 10 gauge steel again. The head is held together by 2 M10 screws, the spikes are threaded in one by one. I'm using my old ESP tuners I had laying around from one of my old fixer-uppers. The body and the engine mounted up together. The body is 18 gauge steel, following my original mockup, the engine is mounted on a 1" box section, for now bolted directly but the intent is to use bushings in the end. The motor is pretty stripped out at the moment but it has been tested and runs. The plate that connects the bridge to the neck. The angle hasn't been adjusted 100% yet, but once I nail it, I'm welding two crossbraces on either side of that plate to ensure ridgitity. Also small shims can be used to adjust the neck angle. I'm hoping that the action won't be too high, so leaving myself the ability to adjust this. I don't think a truss rod is necessary with a neck that's probably stronger than my axle stands. Still need to adjust the body / backing plate to drop the neck down to the body a bit so it matches my ESP exactly. I figured if I get the dimensions right by copying then less room for error. Here is how it is now, still a TON of work to go, I'll likely go into next year with this. At the moment only spending a few hours every weekend but it's about the journey and not the destination I reckon. Although super keen to see if it'll actually be playable. Will need beefy strap mounts, it's already weighing in at 8kgs (17.5 lbs), that's without all the accessories, battery, exhaust, etc etc. So I'm expecting it to be close to 15kgs / 32lbs once I'm done. My wife said i should use a chain for a strap, which is actually a pretty good idea. Oh and the last bit, if you scroll to the last minute, you can see the neck/head here as I go over it after making it:

Progress so far - the neck: The fretboard: 10 gauge steel, I'm using my V50 as something to get the measurements from, so copying it exactly, including fret height and width, the nut dimensions and the head angle.