Just sent an update with some in progress photos to the email list, check your email if you're on it. I'll put some more pics in this thread when I get a little further along and I'm ready to share them publicly.

But the other news for people who aren't in on the LE run is that I took some time to sculpt what will hopefully be the master model for a mass produced version. I want to see what my friend Keith thinks of it first, he has way more experience than I do with casting, make sure I don't need to change anything to help it cast right, but then I'll show it.

Definitely trying to keep my word and make a cheaper version, stay tuned for more details as we experiment a little.

The focus is getting the LEs done first though, so I doubt I'll have much more to report on that front until after they ship out.

Just got the leather in the mail. Going to start dying them tonight if I can, getting close to having the first batch fully done.

Here's a look at the leather tops for the hammers, with a drawing I did etched in with a laser. I'm dying the outside and leaving the skull raw. I'll use a wood burning kit to write the edition number before the /30 on each one.

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Well on the plus side I'm covering the international shipping out of pocket, so you're getting a little discount!

Wait until you see how they fit with those thinner lids you printed me, it's perfect.

I'm on a mission to prove that people doing pinball projects are capable of communicating with their customers!

Seriously, it's not that hard. Anyone who says they can't take 10-15 minutes out of their week to send an email to the people supporting them is full of it. I work full time (in front of a computer all day if my Pinside posting wasn't a clue!) I have a family, including a daughter who's been home sick all week, and I do these projects at night or in my free time. Still find time to keep people updated. And I know from the responses I get how much people appreciate it, which just motivates me to keep doing it.

Now for a really long haul project a weekly update might be overkill, but personally I feel like if you're taking people's money you owe them to keep them involved. I didn't even take pre-order funds for this project, I'd feel doubly committed to updates if I had though. If you want to be secret and work at your own pace, hey great. Don't take money from people first!

I'm definitely going to explore it, but no promises on timeline or anything. I have some other things I've started that I really want to finish before starting anything new, this hammer project was a bit of a derail, didn't know it would turn into so much work when I posted this thread.

Doing some build testing before final assembly. Making sure everything fits etc. Shot it in slow mo because why not? Be over pretty quick otherwise!

Here are the die cut tops for the hammers, ready to go.

The straps will be dyed to match with their own laser etched design, show those soon, need to finish dying them all still.

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Happy to announce that this project is entering the final stage, the first 10 are done, and today I'll be cranking along on the rest of them, the other 20 are all prepped for final painting.

Once the limited edition ones are done I'll spend some energy on the mass market version if people are still interested in it.

Here are some test fit pics of the first one from last night. I'll post some better photos later.

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The rain is really not cooperating with wanting to lay down a coat of matte poly right now!

All 30 hammers have finished paint, I just couldn't seal them because of the rain. Tomorrow should be dry, so I'll spray the final ones. Then I can start assembly of the leather and screws. Probably the biggest PITA part of the whole process by the way ...

The majority of people are already paid up, so I'm basically going to start packing once my boxes and bubble wrap get here, should be Tuesday, I'm not far from U-Line, always next business day delivery.

Sun's back out in SoCal, all is back to normal, so just put the first coat of matte clear on the hammers. Will let that dry a bit then a second coat and they'll be ready to cure up so I can start installing the leather and spikes.

Everything is on track for the schedule I laid out, packaging will be here tomorrow.

Because updates without pics suck.

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It's windy out today!

Thanks! People are actually paying up faster than I expected (thanks everyone) so I'll probably end up packing them pretty much all up at once. Will take a little longer to start that way, but will get them all out faster overall. Might need a few days, but sending them out by the end of the week is my goal.

The ones I clearcoated today are ready for final assembly, so I'm really in spikes and leather land (sexy) for a bit more, and then ready to pack them all up.

I've decided to scrap all the work I've done and research an entirely new thermoplastic to 3D print the frames with. I'll be taking out several patents on the process, and while it may look just like normal plastic, be assured it's far superior in many ways. Unfortunately if you'd like to hear any details I'll require you to sign an NDA.

In the meantime I have artists working on artwork for a bowling themed hammer, a circus strongman hammer, and one that looks like the Red Queen's croquet mallet. Plans for the Ben Heck hammer have been scrapped, I heard that Charlie once listened to MC Hammer, and now that Ben is working with him I can't have that.

These delays are unfortunate, but I assure you that you'll be very pleased when you get the final product, in three years.

In the meantime everyone will get a form to pick their hammer color, your choices are electric green, electric purple, or electric pink.

Last 20 hammers have leather, going to start spiking them tonight. Packing supplies are here.

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I am going to try and make the cast version work too, so anyone who wants one that missed on on this will still have an opportunity for a similar idea. I'll start a new thread for that if it looks like it will happen. I've already sculpted the master model, just haven't spent any real energy on it since then since I want to get these limited ones out first.

I'm going to start packing them up today. I thought the rain might have knocked my schedule back a day, but I've made up the time.

Boom. HAMMER TIME. I need to take care of work stuff now, but I'll start packing up tonight.

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