Ronons Blaster or Particle Magnum from Stargate: Atlantis (WIP)

roberteliason

roberteliason

New Member
First a short introduction as to why I'm doing this.
I cosplay for charity at various events and sometimes it's just not appropriate to carry realistic looking firearms. Stargate has mostly contemporary firearms, so I needed something less 'realistic'. A space gun :)

So I found a 3D file for the Particle Magnum that Ronon Dex made famous. I kept it laying around in case I got access to a printer. Luck had it that I came across one for a very reasonable price, so I jumped at it.

This is me very first 3D-printed project and it's also the first I do with moving parts and electronics. So I'm way out of my comfort zone here :p

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So this is the first batch of printed parts. All went well this far.
After these parts I tried printing the cylinder parts, and that is still causing me problems with getting sturdy enough prints.
Looks like I'm going to have to edit the model for the cylinder insert. But that's a later lesson.

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And this is where I'm at right now. I've glued the frame and the muzzle parts together and mocked up some of the other parts.
Most parts have been filed and sanded. I've added some Tamiya Putty to even some parts out.

The kit has cable runs and cavities for holding electronics, but there are no plans for those. So I'm making it up as I go along.
I'll stick with simple lights only, no trigger action. The trigger is spring loaded though, so that's nice!
 
Made some progress yesterday. It's definitely starting to look and feel more like a weapon now :)

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In order to access the electronics for changing batteries and so on, I decided on attaching the left side panel on the barrel with magnets.
There were some rare earth magnets laying around from another project that worked perfect! I routed out a cavity with a rotary tool and superglued the magnets in place.
I decided that in order to prevent the cylinder from swinging out when handling the gun that I'd add a magnet to hold it in place.

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madmax said:
Cool,i have this file so i'll be doing it in the future,good luck ,and remember your mistakes and ideas make my build easier...lol
Click to expand...

Most of my fails have involved getting to grips with the 3D-printer and the slicing software. I'm using Cura, and while it's easy, it's kind of aggravating at times. It won't add supports in some cases, and it resets some settings, but not all when updated. Stuff that costs you time and materials.
I'm looking at Craftware, but I haven't managed to get the settings for my printer to work yet. Apart from that, it looks more competent than Cura.

But I shall endeavor to fail, for science! ;)
 
I finally managed to get an acceptable print of the cylinder insert! The bag that the gun rests is full of failed prints of various kinds, cylinder parts and muzzle parts mostly.
The cylinder cap is printed with transparent ABS which just arrived in the mail :)

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I've omitted showing you how the trigger works. Super simple really. Springs.
Just had to file down the cover plate a bit do accommodate the springs, and hey presto. A stiff, swampy trigger! :p

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I've purchased some Tamiya spray paint and primer that should look great on this.
And the electronics need to be sorted.
But that's a story for another day...
 
I've always liked this prop, and I like what you're doing with your prints. Seems like an ambitiously fun first 3D printing project!
 
mrwax said:
I've always liked this prop, and I like what you're doing with your prints. Seems like an ambitiously fun first 3D printing project!
Click to expand...

Thank you! :)
Yes it is a bit ambitious, but I wanted it bad enough that it felt worth all the hassle. Getting into 3D-printing and the inherent limitations of the technology has been very instructive. And fun! :)
 
I use Cura,but i just use it in a basic way cos i'm like a monkey trying to fly a jet with things like that,i've just finished a Mal firefly/serenity gun,then it's a Logan's run ds blaster so the Ronan gun will have to wait
 
madmax said:
I use Cura,but i just use it in a basic way cos i'm like a monkey trying to fly a jet with things like that,i've just finished a Mal firefly/serenity gun,then it's a Logan's run ds blaster so the Ronan gun will have to wait
Click to expand...
Cool! Do you have any pictures? :) I find Cura to be easy to get off the ground with, but limiting when you run into problems with your prints.

Skickat från min E5823 via Tapatalk
 
Had a bit of leave of absence, but I'm back at it.
Sanding and priming and priming and... :facepalm

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Good thing about primer, it shows all the mistakes. Bad thing about primer...? Yeah, guess XD

I've also been looking into the electronics. It's nothing fancy, batteries, LEDs and some resistors so that should be simple (knock on wood).
The issue is fitting it all into the cramped spaces that I have to work with.

Expect more sanding and whining before anything more exciting happens :p
 
I finally got around to the electronics!

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The cylinder LEDs are super bright. I'm guessing that will help make them stand out in well lit areas :p

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The barrel lights are far more discreet though...
It's just a yellow LED and a 3V battery shining through a roughed up piece of plastic.

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The cylinder is much brighter. But that's fine!

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Here's a shot of the electronics in the cylinder. It's not pretty, but it works.
The circuit runs off of a 12V battery with two parallell circuits of 2 LEDs in series with a 330Ohm resistor.

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I'll continue to tinker a bit with the electronics to make them a bit more robust and prettier.
Then it's painting! :D
And I'll make a holster for this bad boy!
 
After long last I've got a paint job that's beginning to look pleasing to the eye :)
It's not my strongest skill, so it's been a few turns going back and resanding and recoating.
But soon enough it will be done and I can get to assembly!

The paint is Tamiya Deep Metallic Blue. It might be a little too dark, but I can let that slide for now.

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OK, I'm calling it done!
It's not as good as I'd like nor as bad as I had feared. And that's just fine :)
Perfect being the enemy of done and all.

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Here's a shot of the assembly of the trigger group.
The paintwork is a bit rough. Something to adress in future projects.

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Here's the finished product, with the braided Wraith hair wrap on and some aging added.
The braid is mede from a cheap synthetic yarn ;)

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Some closeups of the details.

The take away from this project is that 3D-printing a prop and getting it to a good finish on it is possible.
But it takes a lot of sanding and filling and more sanding.
With the lessons learned I suppose it's possible to improve on this particular design to make it more true to the original and finish the planned electronics compartments.
It would be great to have battery holders integrated in the design for example. A working trigger would also be a cool thing to add.

The next step is to make a holster for it. But that's a story for another thread :)
 
Great work! This is probably one of my favorite pistols. That perfect blend of old school western revolver, mixed with great sci-fi that doesn't scream "steampunk"! (Though I do like steampunk too)
 
Thanks BDBear! It feels great in the hand. Instant bad-ass :p
Design wise, it's a stroke of genius. Combining the feel of the Wild West with awesome high tech. Complements the Ronon character perfectly.
 
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