I have some parts of the prototype well under way, of which you will find pictures scattered at the end of this entry. First however, I want to describe what I had envisioned the project to look like and where I’m headed now.
The basic concept hasn’t changed: to make a working, customizable spinning top with the most effective lock mechanism possible. Bolts and nuts are not only common, they’ve proven to be effective, both in real life and in the last Beyblade series.
Initially, polymer clay was to be the main component in the making and shaping of the tops’ various parts, the metal bolts and nuts serving only as the lock. However, given its light weight and easiness to cut, I am apprehensive as to its ability to spin with such heavy parts in the centre (stainless steel bolts and nuts) and its resistance to impact, the former having been proven true, the latter being no longer necessary to prove. The parts will then include metal, in the form of sawed, drilled and filed washers, as its main component, with polymer clay being relegated to being an anchoring paste that connects the multiple pieces of part together.
On the subject of parts with multiple pieces, I originally intended to have everything glued together, but I instead decided that everything would be screwed together. This decision stems more from the spirit of customization found in the original series of Beyblade–where we are lead to believe that, both in the animated series as well as from the fake rivets and screws carved on Plastics series Beyblades, that they were made from scratch, from multiple pieces–than from any shortcomings in the various available glues. That way, every part can be completely assembled or disassembled at will.
Prototype (Pictures)
Attack Ring:
Tips:
LNocto 