In celebration of The Walking Dead pinball I'll be working on a new shooter this weekend. Haven't sculpted in a bit so I'm looking forward to it. I'm thinking something gory like a severed head

Stay tuned for the play by play!

Just found my wand scanner... will make this happen soon.

In the meantime. ..

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No preorders on this one Rob... this is my most ambitious one yet.

Real art takes time

Next!

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I don't mind, I enjoy sculpting! I did the Starship Troopers and Bad Cats sculpts to practice a few techniques and because I love those games. If it doesn't work out, I'll add it to the portfolio. I just like showing you guys the process

Often imitated, never duplicated as they say!

Did not know this! Hope I'm doing him some justice.

Getting there..

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Some further detail

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Lol Mike. Btw, your sculptor does nice work.

Leaving it here for tonight.

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looking forward to more progress on this tonight after I finish up a few more T-1000 mods.

- B

WHEW! It's got a shooter rod. Ok, carrying on....

Some more progress tonight

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Thanks guys for all the kind words. It's nice to be recognized for all the hard work. I realize there are others out there doing similar shooter rods.... I'll leave it to you to decide which one to go with.

I'm looking forward to painting this bad boy.

looking to finish this off tonight, really looking forward to painting this sucker!

Making some progress... not quite done.

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Alright, sculpting phase done. Time to setup the mold!

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Haha thanks all... should be a challenge to figure out the paint scheme but I'll keep the progress reports coming so you all can see the process. We're about 8hrs in so far.

So to keep things going with TWD ('cause I fricken love zombies) I'm going to re-hash my old bone flipper concept and sculpt some with some rotting flesh, etc.

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ALSO ... I will be selling this head as a non-shooter rod option in case you wanted to add it somewhere on the playfield (like under the left ramp!)

way ahead of you

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I had to finish the neck ... It was bothering me. Now it looks like a victim of Michonne! he's in the silicone right now, still curing.. I'll shoot my first cast tomorrow and fire off a few new pics. . In the meantime, I've started work on the zombie finger flippers.

Thanks, Mez! Yeah I'm going for creepy rotting fingers for sure.

Here's a pic of the neck area, and a couple of the demolded piece. Excited to start painting tomorrow

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Final pics below.

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To answer your questions, I drill every shooter individually after casting (hence my drill injury earlier this year LOL!). My shooter rods are typically built with a single part mold, and I simply pop them out. More complex shooters do however require a two-part. Deep crevices and high detail used to be lost due to air bubbles, but I bought a vac chamber about a year ago and it's been a god-send... it's allowed me go into a level of detail I never thought possible. Air bubbles are almost a non-issue at this point. However, the lifespan of the mold is as with more complex detail comes faster mold degradation. I'm betting I'll only get about 20 heads from this mold before I have to make a new one. The T2 molds I get maybe 10 pieces out of. It all depends on the complexity really.

Anyway after pouring the resin and it cures, I then pop out the piece and remove the flashing (waste). From there I sand down the necessary areas, wash each one with soap and water to remove the mold release. After everything has dried, I drill each one out using a real funny drill bit size (lol). Fill each one with glue and carefully set each blank shooter rod inside so that they're all set to the same length of a regular shooter rod. This is a common mistake for other shooter rod makers I think. Set the rod too deep or too shallow and it totally changes how the ball launches. Anyway from there I prime each piece and hand paint them. Then I apply a minimum 3 layers of clearcoat for durability, let that cure for a few days and mail them out accordingly.

Each shooter takes approximately 2 hours from start to finish to produce, which can make for some long nights sometimes.. but I enjoy it. Seeing one of my finished products out in the wild or on pins at Expo brings a smile to my face, as I'm sure it does a lot of other mod makers out there.

This zombie head took over 2 hours just to paint, but that's always the case with the first few while I get my paint scheme down.

Making custom shooter rods from scratch is something I've been doing for almost 7 years now, so there's been a lot of trial and error to get things to where they are now.

Yup, officially for sale!! $65 shipped worldwide.

$55 shipped if you want just the head (no shooter) so you can make your own playfield mod with it.

payments can be sent to [email protected], PLEASE make sure you put in the notes what you're buying. Please be patient for your order to arrive, I make them from scratch on a per-order basis.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words.

- B

errr also, when my flipper tops are done I'll be selling these as a kit with the shooters, so anyone buying a shooter now that wants the flipper tops as well will get a discount on those when they're available.

- B

just a quick thread title change to reflect the finished piece. Thanks again to all for the kind words. I'm looking forward to doing the zombie flippers to match

*bump*

I like to do these in batches to save time on setup (resin, paint colours, etc). So that said, I'm trying to get as many pre-orders in as possible before the weekend.

Cheers

- Brock

I'm not sure I understand this question..

Ed! Thanks for clarification. Sorry about that.

From here, just expect to get your shooter in the mail.

Bump for the night crowd

You guys rock... almost brings a tear to the eye.

Got a weird question from a member.. "do your shooters come clearcoated or do I have to do it myself?". Then I realized why... bobbleheads aren't typically clearcoated.

The answer is YES. All of my hand-made parts come with at least 3 layers of clearcoat.

- B

I got hit with a nasty cold on the weekend so I'm a little behind, but production on the zombie shooters is back in full swing. If you want in on this batch, now's the time!

- B

Will post progress pics of the flippers this weekend.

Got caught up in family stuff, didn't get a chance to make much progress on the flippers. More soon though.

In the meantime, I've shipped a bunch of these and those still waiting should be getting theirs very soon! Thanks to all for your support.. more products coming soon.

Hey sorry about that! Between the TWD launch party yesterday and our Canadian Thanksgiving up here I've had little time to check pm's unfortunately, but I'm on it! Ygpm.

Hey I'm working on it!

Thanks Ozno, I'm totally open to suggestions! I can also paint any of my shooters however you like.

All pm's answered! More going out this weekend, and more in the works!! Thanks to all for the positive response.

These ones take around 2hrs per to make, but we'll worth it in the end.

Also looking forward to pumping out product faster in December when I no longer have my day job. Lol

Pffft!! No bobble heads here my friend..

I haven't finished the flipper fingers but will post progress soon

Yes of course

*bump* still crankin' 'em out!!

The zombie horde is coming!!

(Go Habs!)

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Lol Roland! Could be worse... I could be a Leafs fan.

(Thanks for the order)

Haha true enough, but are you sure he's the one that did the sculpting? Steve Ritchie told me a while back that they've used the same guy for their custom sculpts for many, MANY years.

3rd layer of paint... many more to go! 2 hrs of paint per shooter. It's a labour of love.

15 will be completed this weekend. If you don't have yours yet, it's coming!

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All this painting is turning me into a zombie.

More pics of finished product

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Not a problem, my good man!

I'd love to see a pic of this on someone's game if they're willing

Another shipment going out on Monday, MN-flipper -- yours is in there

Thanks fellas, I'm cranking them out as fast as I can.. I'm a bit of a quality nut.

This zombie horde has passed my QA criteria and are ready to spread their infection across the globe!

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Thanks!!

These have all shipped, thanks to the early adopters for their patience. All caught up now.

Thanks man, I try my best to offer the best shooters around.

Often imitated, never duplicated.

starting a new batch this weekend.

Excellent! Thank you at the post office right now shipping more!

You would be correct

both orders should be in your hands this week sometime, guys.

Thanks for the praise, Roger! Let me know if you need any more help

- Brock

Last call for this round.. Need to move on to new shooters.

First person to post a photo of this shooter on their TWD game gets $10 off their next order.

Actually I like that idea for a promo.. going forward, this applies to all my new shooter rods.

Cheers

- B

Thanks for the kind words, brother.

I'd be more than happy to work with Stern if they ever offer.

Unfortunately Steve Ritchie told me they don't accept ANY outside designs whatsoever. My only hope is that my designs reach Gary and the team some other way (word of mouth, social media, etc.). Or I'll throw a bunch of them in Gary's face at a pinball show down the road lol

If yours isn't there today I'll be very surprised!

Heh.. naw, just one of the two games will suffice.

Yeah that doesn't make any sense... I don't get why they would change the size of the shooter

Ryan, did you take the shooter out of the game? If so try it in Xmen or something to confirm

I just measured an old and new shooter from my inventory, they're the same size -- 3/8" diameter.

I get my blanks from PBL, same as everyone else. Very curious what's going on here.

Anyone else try theirs yet?

Ok I tested a few of this round of shooters in my Iron Man and they're definitely binding. I compared a new shooter with an older one in my inventory and notice this new batch from PBL is way less polished. Thankfully a couple rounds of Novus and a rag solved the issue. Whew!

So if anyone else has any binding problems, I suggest.. Well.. That you buff your rod rather vigorously.

I'll post a video of one I just did to show the difference

I apologize for the hassle, gang. I'll give these a good rogering before sending them out from now on.

Just wipe the grease off with a rag and then Novus it. The solvent in the novus should do the rest. Novus 2 for sure.. novus 1 is almost like a glass cleaner, only good for plastics really.

Don't forget to clean all that grease out of the housing with a Q-tip.

Done and done. I'll be finishing this round up this weekend, so let me know now if anyone else wants one!

- B

Good to know, Ryan. I spoke to my supplier of blanks and all has been clarified. Good times.

More going out this weekend! If you don't have yours by now, it will be in this weekend's shipment.

GMH, Aztarac, I'll check my production board when I get home from work.

Not to worry my friend, these aren't limited runs and one is always available when you're ready.

I appreciate the kind words, I work really hard on these and you guys and gals make it all worth while.

Hey gang, I've fallen a little behind thanks to the extra hours I've been putting in at the office training my replacement (one more week till I'm a jobless bum!), but I have more going out tomorrow and am greatful for everyone's patience.

On the bright side, in a week's time I'll officially have a LOT more time on my hands!

4 more going out today. Slowly getting back up to speed.. in 3 more days I'll be doing this full time and I'm really looking forward to it!

Dave, GMH, yours were shipped out earlier and should be there any day now.

Yours too.

Aztarac, i sent yours last monday so if you don't have it by today I'll be very surprised! Probably just a delay from Thanksgiving at thus point.

I'm shipping more today... I'm a jobless bum now so I have a lot more time on my hands.

Yep all good Ed, I'll get a new one out to you. I sent yours before I began testing fit of the rods on my games (something I've never had to do before). It seems Stern has changed things on us a bit. For what it's worth, I buy my blanks from the same guy as everyone else (PBL) and they're confident the problem has been solved.

I do appreciate the videos though! If Stern is having this same issue on their lines the workers must be having a hayday

Seriously? ? Ok let me look into it.

I see what you did there

Yes, yours was sent last week

This is now my full time job, so things will move quicker.

Dave yours should definitely be there by now, pm me your deets and iI'll follow up

TWD Premium bump! Your Premium pin deserves a premium zombie shooter. . Only the best!

Order now for guaranteed delivery before Christmas!

I'm on it!!

Painting zombies like a mofo

Ryan, i likely won't get to zombie flippers till the new year. It doesn't make sense to do them without getting caught up on my other orders.

Gang, if you're still waiting, hang tight. I just finished 10 and starting another 10. You WILL get your shooter before Christmas.

Final batch of orders and replacements are ready to ship, and i actually have 6 extra! Anyone? $60 usd Shipped!

Hey Robert, I'm currently away from home visiting family, I'll have to check this when I get home on Monday

Just got home, will respond to PM's momentarily.

To give you an idea on how complex these are, painting them is a 13 stage process before clearcoating

They're coming to get you, Barbara!

Another batch done, shipping RIGHT NOW!

Sizing issues are 100% gone.

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I've been clearcoating my shooters since day 1. I couldn't in good conscience sell a shooter without it!

Never use a rod without protection.

*bump*. More shipping this weekend

PM's replied to, shipments are slowly but surely moving out. I build everything completely from scratch, so I do appreciate your patience. The zombie sbooter is my most complex shooter to date, but I refuse to compromise quality yonmove them out faster! That said, I'm doing my largest batch ever (28). 8 are accounted for, 20 will go into inventory for future orders to speed things up.

Building up an inventory on everything! Was up till 4am this morning to make it happen, will be doing the same tonight. Having a large inventory is my goal, I plan on finally manning a booth at some upcoming shows also hope to announce some exciting news very soon..

Anyway I'm rambling. Back to work!

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nnnNnNannRg!

Thanks Roland! I have 20 of them ready to ship!

*up*

Haha fair enough. Glad you like it.

FYI I have another round of these in the works if anyone wants one.