Buck Rogers "Movie Poster Blaster"

JOATRASH FX

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Hey everyone,

I figured this build might be worth a thread by itself. Been doing a lot of Buck Rogers and classic SciFi stuff lately, and this is the latest project. A friend here on the RPF challenged me to make the blaster Buck holds on the movie promo poster.

This one:
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The 3d model I did, based on the toy.
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Since we only really see the front of the balster on the poster, I took the liberty of adding the EDF logo on the side instead of the plain disc that's on the toy.

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I made it hollow so that I can add electronics (see below), so the trigger will move, the side switch will function as an on/off and there will be a couple extra functional buttons with fun effects.

Printed parts:
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Some work-in-progress shots. I'm using a 15(-ish) layer paint method to replicate the look of old brown-blued steel, like you'd see on something from the 40s or 50s. (I've used this method before on my Mandalorian blaster, and a simplified version of it on a Blade Runner pistol.) It's a mix of layers of blacks, metallics, graphite rubs, transluscent blue+orange-brown and such.


Here, getting a graphite rub:
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And here, after more weathering. Note the 'corrosion' on the surface in some areas.
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Here's a first test of the sound module:

More to come on this as I continue the assembly!
 
Wow, what printer are you using?
Formlabs v2 and v3 depending on the part. For no-muss-no-fuss printing they are good, and reliability is solid (well, sort of), but even for low-end professional grade printers they cost a small fortune to run- probably 4-5X the cost per ml of printed resin compared to the cheaper LCD resin printers out there. The F2 has a few hardware design issues... sensor glitches and such, but I've learned to work around them. The F3 is better in may respects, but still has a ways to go (through firmware updates) until some areas of the quality level is on par with the F2, except for when it comes to clear resins... the F3 simply kills the F2 with those. I've had very few actual 'failures' when printing with them and a lot of the time, it could be traced to something like the mirrors needing cleaning. The detail level you can achieve is simply astounding, rivaling much more expensive machines. Basically, they offer a lot of convenience that comes at a fairly high price, if you're a hobbyist like me. What's important for me is that I know that I can hit 'print' and the part will turn out almost exactly like i designed it... no warping or other issues. And that the next time I print the same part, I'll get the same result. I'm not a 'tinkerer' when it comes to the hardware.
 
Time for another update!

Photos of wiring up the blasters:
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I don't go through a lot of hot glue, as I find it rather messy to work with, but I like it for securing electronics. On a piece like this, which will be sealed up forever, I also use it to stop wires from moving around.

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The sound board just barely fit across the length.
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Barrel in place:
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Once the entire pistol was assembled, I went over it with an additional layer of oil paint weathering. It really does make a huge different to the final finish!
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Oils wiped off. Grips are screwed in place and can be removed for battery swapping.
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First (of two) blasters done.
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Aaaaand here's a video showing the electronics. Don't know if I mentioned this before, but the sound board is polyphonic and can play several sounds at once, so it doesn't cut off the laser blasts (or other sounds) when the button is pressed again.



(And yes, it plays the entire song!) : )
 
Somehow I missed this one, but I love it! Takes me back, and it's awesome to see it built as a "real" gun. Thanks for sharing.
 
Outstanding! Glad I finally stumbled on this thread. A couple weeks ago, I picked up the original Man From U.N.C.L.E. toy gun at a flea market. Pretty good shape for almost 60 (?) years old. I had been planning on 3D printing that movie poster one. Maybe I still will. I'm a little reluctant to "destroy" a cool toy gun, even if it's to make a cooler prop. My printer is no where as nice as yours is, though!

Obi-Bob
 

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