June 19, 2026 Praying Mantis Model Completed!

   Gasp, wheeze, at looong last Martin completed the MECROB PHANTOM PRAYING MANTIS build. This was a really tough build because they create their models from reclaimed materials. Thus they have to have a lot of tolerance in the design and that makes the build difficult. 

The other thing that makes their builds difficult is that they love to do enormous stackups on a long screw. These two steps were among the hardest because they really aren’t two steps! That’s right, as noted above, step 35 doesn’t produce a completed assembly, there is no stop nut holding it together!

In the above drawing, if the part has just a number, that’s an assembly. If it starts with a letter, that’s an individual part. 

Therefore, this is really one giant step, comprised of 8 assemblies and 10 parts. Martin had to balance all them together on the LS27 screw while he was completing the assembly with the S2 nut.

Here is the completed model!

A surprise! They put in a blue LED to light up the green tubes. Those are vials from levels that didn’t pass quality control.