District 9 - Arc generator Build thread[Pic heavy]

Kiwimaddog

Kiwimaddog

Well-Known Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Hi,

I've been working on this project for some time but since I find it hard to display progress in CAD-environment I decided to hold the build-thread until I had something more tangible than 3D-files.
Earlier in 2019 and after reading the Art of D9-book I felt I wanted to make me a Arc generator since I really appreciate the design that combines organic and machined elements beautifully.
I started as I usually do by incrementally construct the CAD-models and comparing to the references I could find.
It took me a while to realize that the generator is not mirrored but have two separate sides with different elements to them, quite a big realization that came relatively late in the CAD-Work and had me redo parts of the model.

I worked for quite some time to design in a primary switch into the round cover on the rh-side and I also wanted the trigger to function and some reaction to happen when pushed. I early decided that I could not really replicate the action from the movie due to it being not really feasible design-wise but my intention was instead to have the big sidecover just tilt open slightly in a reaction to the trigger being, well, triggered. I also made all canisters able to de-attach.
This idea actually went quite far with prepared routes for the wires, servo installment and such but in the end I decided to scrap it due to too many obstacles hindering me from moving forward so I instead opted for just a plain non-reactive generator for the first build. I might revisit the functional rifle at a later time though since I've already put some hours into it. Most of the hours have as per usual gone to preparing the part-split and making it sturdy and robust enough to not tear the seams. The parts and fixed together using both glue and an assortment of screws and strategical positions.

At the moment all parts are printed and waiting to be primed and finished. Iv'e combined both FDM and DLP-printing for the parts.
I'll round this intro to this build of with some pictures to make it slightly more interesting ;)

https://flic.kr/p/2i9Y1D3
Early wip
https://flic.kr/p/2ia2yKk
Early wip
https://flic.kr/p/2ia2yHB
Comparisson shot
https://flic.kr/p/2ia1rNF
View of the intended mechanical setup
https://flic.kr/p/2ia2yGp
360° video
https://flic.kr/p/2ia1rNq
First testprint of part of barrel
https://flic.kr/p/2i9Y1EA
All parts printed
 
that's looking very nice!!. your design is very clean, and i like how you have kept it hollow to keep weight and plastic down. I must admit when i did mine i had only just started with CAD and ended up using a heap of bog to cover up design issues and my parts were solid, which made for a heavy prop.
Looking forward to the rest of the build.(y)
 
paulsboutique said:
that's looking very nice!!. your design is very clean, and i like how you have kept it hollow to keep weight and plastic down. I must admit when i did mine i had only just started with CAD and ended up using a heap of bog to cover up design issues and my parts were solid, which made for a heavy prop.
Looking forward to the rest of the build.(y)
Click to expand...

Thank you kindly. To be fair I am a plastic design engineer by trade so I guess that might have had something to do with my choices. It is quite a big difference when designing parts intended for injection molding tools compared to 3D-printing but there are some definite similarities too so I believe it's still an advantage. I'm new to the DLP-area though and have went through quite a few lessons(read: printing fails) when designing those parts to be printable in an acceptable manner....
 
this is looking great!! I hope you will get to work on the functional version one day! definitely interested in how you'd solve this :)
 
So, Time for a update.

Since last I've sanded and primed all parts, and thus is almost ready for painting. Decided to go for TS-40(Metallic black) for the generator rod-piece, and matt black for the rest of the black on the main body. I have not really decided on which white paint to use yet though, But considering the slow pace this build is at I'll have time to figure that out. Before I continue, let's look at some in work pics:

https://flic.kr/p/2ip6FpX
Workstation needs a cleaning​

https://flic.kr/p/2ip6Fwv
Arc generator rod​

https://flic.kr/p/2ipajqi
Sorry for the lack of size references, should have put an apple or coke-can in there​

https://flic.kr/p/2ip9f9P
Anyway, it's approx 1050mm long​

https://flic.kr/p/2ipajeg

https://flic.kr/p/2ipajhH

https://flic.kr/p/2ipajkd

Anyway, With the primary sanding/priming work finished, I realized I needed some decals made for it as well. My main reference has been 'The Art of District 9' So I went to study the pictures and made a decal sheet for water transfer decal print. I wanted to make the decals not as they appear on the several resin-props sold by Weta some years ago but instead as it appear in the book. Sadly I can only find pictures from one side though so I'm kind of forced to assume that it's symmetrical in its application.

https://flic.kr/p/2ip6GGb
Example of decals on the hero prop​
https://flic.kr/p/2ipajsH

https://flic.kr/p/2ipajuB

https://flic.kr/p/2ip6GC3

https://flic.kr/p/2ip9f6T
Finished sheet​

And that's it for now.
Also, I might add that I have now (for those interested) uploaded the files to my Etsy-shop
 
Thank you for the encouragement, It's appreciated :)
I've started painting some parts and I do believe the end is in sight!
 
Higuys just brought the files of etcy. this is my first print of many [emoji16]
20200210_200635.jpg
 
So, I actually have painted the complete piece now and I'm waiting for some free time(and courage) to start weathering it. Therefore, I think I should focus this update on something smaller. Namely, some of the trickier decals. There are a couple of places where my printed sheet of transfer decals won't do the job properly, that is at the spots where the decal is sitting is too dark, such as on the square cover and the white pattern that sits just behind the grip.
I had an idea I wanted to try out, I thought I could print the paint template on my DLP-printer and just spray the pattern on. I prepared couple of models and printed them,
https://flic.kr/p/2iuuEkM
Eager to test I of course failed beautifully first time around when painting the square cover by adding to much white base-coat so that the end result had a foggy white aura around it. Second time around I got a better result:
https://flic.kr/p/2iuxema
https://flic.kr/p/2iuyp9v
I kind of felt it lacked the sharpness i was after so I sanded the piece down yet again and tried to rethink things. Said rethinking ended in me ordering a vinyl cutting machine(Cameo Silhouette, been wanting to buy one for ages) and I started experimenting in finding the perfect setting for such a tiny template to cut correctly. After some trial and error I managed to cut a couple that looked good and with these I actually managed a much sharper(not perfect though) result, one that I could at least feel was good enough for this build.
https://flic.kr/p/2iuyoTW
https://flic.kr/p/2iuxdQk
https://flic.kr/p/2iuuDDM

And with that, I conclude this update. Next time I'll try to have some pictures of the complete painted piece. If you feel you want to look at some more progress pics I've uploaded some on my instagram @ CADGothenburg
 
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