AgeOfStrife
Active Member
Hi,
I've recently been bitten by the NECA 1/4 scale bug and have 8 of the Predator figures as well as Dutch. I only have 1 of the three classic "jungle hunter" figures, the closed mouth version, and this means I have no figures with the classic bio mask look. The nearest is Big Red with the slightly modified P1 styled bio. I decided to 3D print a bio that I could have the jungle hunter hold, or placed beside him, and ended up trying to make it so it could fit over his face although the mandibles are a little too open for the mask to sit flush against the face.
While working on the model in Sketchup I stumbled on photos of the internals of what I think is the Sideshow bio, and ended up adding a few details inside while at it. Once the model was completed in Sketchup it was exported in DAE format, imported into Meshlab to convert to OBJ format, and finally imported into netfabb to be exported to STL ready for printing. It was printed on a Stratasys Fortus 250mc printer that I have access to at work, which uses ABS with PLA support, and has a print resolution of 0.25mm. It still needs a little more soaking in caustic solution to remove the last remains of the PLA, but I'm pretty happy with the results and thought I'd share them in case anyone else is tempted to do something similar.
The original mesh was created from a PDO file here on Predatorium that I was able to convert to OBJ format, cleaned up a little in Sketchup 2015 and then an internal layer added to make it 3D before running through Meshlab to make it a lot smoother, then edited again in Sketchup to replace the left temple hose connector, add a hose connector socket to the left cheek, and add the internal ridges on the upper surface, and vents and hoses in the mouth area. I make a 3D scan of the jungle hunter head in 123D Catch on my phone, resized this to match the actual NECA head, then resized the bio to fit this head mesh as closely as possible.
Once it's cleaned up it'll need wiping with acetone to smooth out some of the print lines, probably buffed a little with a dremel sanding head, primed and painted. Hopefully I'll get around to this over the next few days and post an update if anyone is interested.
Initial mesh in Sketchup with internal layer added.
Final mesh ready for printing
3D print with most of the support material removed
More details and photos are available in my blog at http://www.ageofstrife.com/blog/Spack/
Dan
I've recently been bitten by the NECA 1/4 scale bug and have 8 of the Predator figures as well as Dutch. I only have 1 of the three classic "jungle hunter" figures, the closed mouth version, and this means I have no figures with the classic bio mask look. The nearest is Big Red with the slightly modified P1 styled bio. I decided to 3D print a bio that I could have the jungle hunter hold, or placed beside him, and ended up trying to make it so it could fit over his face although the mandibles are a little too open for the mask to sit flush against the face.
While working on the model in Sketchup I stumbled on photos of the internals of what I think is the Sideshow bio, and ended up adding a few details inside while at it. Once the model was completed in Sketchup it was exported in DAE format, imported into Meshlab to convert to OBJ format, and finally imported into netfabb to be exported to STL ready for printing. It was printed on a Stratasys Fortus 250mc printer that I have access to at work, which uses ABS with PLA support, and has a print resolution of 0.25mm. It still needs a little more soaking in caustic solution to remove the last remains of the PLA, but I'm pretty happy with the results and thought I'd share them in case anyone else is tempted to do something similar.
The original mesh was created from a PDO file here on Predatorium that I was able to convert to OBJ format, cleaned up a little in Sketchup 2015 and then an internal layer added to make it 3D before running through Meshlab to make it a lot smoother, then edited again in Sketchup to replace the left temple hose connector, add a hose connector socket to the left cheek, and add the internal ridges on the upper surface, and vents and hoses in the mouth area. I make a 3D scan of the jungle hunter head in 123D Catch on my phone, resized this to match the actual NECA head, then resized the bio to fit this head mesh as closely as possible.
Once it's cleaned up it'll need wiping with acetone to smooth out some of the print lines, probably buffed a little with a dremel sanding head, primed and painted. Hopefully I'll get around to this over the next few days and post an update if anyone is interested.
Initial mesh in Sketchup with internal layer added.
Final mesh ready for printing
3D print with most of the support material removed
More details and photos are available in my blog at http://www.ageofstrife.com/blog/Spack/
Dan