Dredd 2012 Lawgiver 3d print (YES! ANOTHER ONE!)

[mogcaiz]

Hi! I found this thread to be greatly informative and relevant to me as Im sitting next to my own home 3D printer spitting out parts for a prop Im currently working on. Like you, I found priming and sanding unavoidable, but its a great joy to work with nonetheless.

I've just started, and in general quite new to prop making. Do you plan on giving the Lawgiver a worn metalic look similar to the helmet? Example: http://www.therpf.com/attachments/f...edd-prototype-helmet-3.jpg-143621d1360956277t And if you do, care to share how to approach to get a surface similar like it? I don't want to risk my long sanded 3D prints a crappy paint job

 

[JOATRASH FX]

I respect your comments and note your concerns, but I have had over 30 years casting in metal , not just white metal , but brass and steel and did indeed make several suggestions to Rich Coyle over castings during the Blade Runner gun productions. I think it's possible, it could certainly be done using CNC milling out of stock , or even out of sheet aluminium . My only reason for suggesting it is, I would like to see a PFC forward venting donor gun on full auto ( i don't think a resin shell would take the strain , but am willing to be proved wrong. I have an order placed for one of your casts , and shall be working on that target once it comes .

Oh, you'll get no argument from me regarding aluminum! Even 0.5mm would hold up fairly well. I was talking about pewter casting my shell. I'd like to be proven wrong too, but pewter walls of 0.7mm would buckle by finger pressure alone if something wasn't done to strengthen the insides. My shell fits snugg against the Glock... there is no wiggle room to thicken the walls, so pretty heavy modding would be needed.

May I ask what you are thinking of doing with the casting? You will have a very hard time hollowing it out to get a "working" gun in there if that is your plan. (Also, you would need to scratch build a couple new partsthat would probably be destroyed.) If there is even a 1% shrinkage factor in the resin the cast may not align at all well with a workin Glock, airsoft or RD.

If you are getting it as base to CAST off of or otherwise base an entirely new build on, please PM in private for a talk about about permissions and such. :thumbsup

 

[Propsjonnyb]

My own personal prep tips for the gun are as follows, a good wash in warm soapy water and left to dry completely. then apply a good primer coat and sand down to key the surface, then several layers of satin-black, let each dry before you add another , a slight buff up with an abrasive pad and then a coat of gunmetal, Humbrol did and I think still do, produce a gunmetal paint that you apply and when dry you buff it up ( 'Rub & Buff' - I think its called in the US) it gives a very realistic look to any resin painted piece.

 

[JOATRASH FX]

From the look of all available imagery, the Lawgiver looks to be satin black (possibly anodized) so I think a gunmetal shade would be a little off. Alclad also made a nice gunmetal as part of their range but I've been interested in trying Humbrol's.

@mogcaiz The method I usually use for guns that are going to be weathered is to coat them in the following order:

1. Lacquer-based Primer (sometimes I use spray filler if the surface is rough)
2. Lacquer-based Black coat (not COMPLETELY necessary)
3. Lacquer-based Silver metallic of some kind.
4. Lacquer-based Clear coat, gloss or satin (this will dull the silver, but that's ok)
5. ACRYLIC SATIN or SEMI-GLOSS BLACK (water-based like Tamiya, Vallejo or Citadel), applied with an AIRBRUSH.

IMPORTANT: the last step MUST be water based and the previous one MUSt be lacquer-based. Once the top coating is dry, I go over "stress areas" and edges on it with a q-tip or some "rough" paper that is moist with AJAX WINDOW CLEANER. This will dissolve the black acrylic but not harm the silver coating underneath. If you used a really glossy clear under the acrylic, you can also use masking tape to "rip" paint chips of black off the gun- careful though so you don't take off huge chunks. (Use thin masking tape from Tamiya or something...)

This method gives a VERY realistic weathering since the metal-color is actually coming from underneath the gun instead of dry-brushed on or somthing.

 

[Ray48]

While the aforementioned tips are certainly worthy of consideration, my own preference when painting well cast items, such as this excellent Lawgiver cast by Morgan Thirteen, is to apply as little finish material as possible. The more coats of paint you add, the less fine detail will be showcased. Not everything requires a primer. In fact, props made of styrene plastic will take paint very well due to the methylene chloride used in most "rattle can" paints. the same with lacquer as the solvent will etch itself into the surface. I only use primer in painting metal or wood, mostly, or when I'm trying to fill imperfections. If you want to insure a good paint bond there are "adhesion promoters" which are almost water thin, which will improve the bond. If you have a goodly number of real firearms, as I do, you will find that well cared for guns do not have a lot of chips of the finish. Those may be more common with military weapons used in very rocky environments. If they have been treated that roughly they will soon be looking at a trip back to the armory. I carried a duty weapon for many years and most of the wear was due to repeated holstering of the gun. This imparts a bit of shine around the muzzle and high edges of the frame. Sometimes the finish was completely worn through and the bare metal was visible. That was usually time to refinish the gun to avoid rust and pitting. It looks like Dredd's gun has some light scratching and scuffing around the muzzle guard and edges. Most guns have a variety of finishes ranging from blued to parkerized, but few show chipping ,partly because the finish is usually not very thick, so going to the effort of putting tape on the surface to pull off chips is largely unwarranted. If you look at the guns in a pawn shop (don't know if this is common in the EU) you will not find many showing more than a few scratches and scuffing on those second hand weapons....unless they are antique. My preference is the semigloss lacquer or enamel with the lightest rub n buff silver or pewter on few high spots and edges. If you over do it you will find that it is not as realistic. Granted, we are talking about a matter of personal preference, this is mine and I don't expect all to agree. I urge those that can view real firearms to do so as you will find that few show the kind of abuse you may assume. Oh, because most of the finish is gradually worn away, the human eye cannot easily discern the edge of the finish versus bare metal. just feather the silver into the paint area. Look at the Lawgiver holster to determine where the rubbing might eventually scuff off the finish when holstered. Remember, only bad guys are ordered to drop a gun or kick it across a cement floor...eventually having his gun melted down for scrap.

 

[nicklambo]

Love the info...Would love to see a video how to even more...!

 

[JOATRASH FX]

...... The more coats of paint you add, the less fine detail will be showcased....

Well, going so far as "chipping" is something I've only really done with weapons like the Pulse Rifle, where it is very appropriate comparing it to the real props. Either way, having silver underneath the black still makes it close to "actual" weathering and one can chose how much of the black to rub off. Painted weapons like the Pulse Rifle (shrouds) or those in District 9 seem to have a bit of chipping applied to them. Prop guns also seem to get weathered more heavily to show up on screen better of course.

Weathering on the lawgivers seems to change from scene to scene but there's a fair bit of metal showing on them. For this particular kit, you could throw down some heavy paint without losing any real detail as long as you take care around the serial number plate- THAT will certainly fill in quickly is you use a heavy primer!

I've had varying results with primer/no primer on different plastics- you also have to factor in that paints will vary in different parts of the world due to environmental regs. You also need to be a bit careful with those adhesion promoters... lay on too much of one and you could actually damage the plastic! (It happened once when I used a super-strong promoter on some parts for a '73 Firebird I was "pimping"... the damn spoiler developed CRACKS.)

 

[Tvayumat]

Ray48 your post could be broken into a few paragraphs for easier reading.

You make an EXCELLENT point and you articulate it very well, but it's tough to read in wall-of-text format.

I'm 100% with you on the LG weathering. To me a dinged, scratched, worn weapon says "I don't take care of my most important tool". A judge with a faulty lawgiver isn't really a judge at all, or at least he won't be for very long.

 

[Ray48]

Sorry for the reading difficulty......never had much use for paragraphs myself...call me crazy.:wacko

 

[JOATRASH FX]

To me a dinged, scratched, worn weapon says "I don't take care of my most important tool". A judge with a faulty lawgiver isn't really a judge at all, or at least he won't be for very long.

Well, Dredd certainly has been for a while, lol. It all depends on whether or not you are going for screen accuracy. The lawgivers in the film were pretty weathered and obviously not blued, but painted (realistic or not). The great thing about Judges is that there are so many and you can tailor your weapon any way you want... :thumbsup

 

[Tvayumat]

I think in Dredd's case the handful of worn spots on his weapon say "I use this every day, several times a day"

 

[AmazonChitlin]

I worked in law enforcement for awhile and the blue on my gun eventually started to wear after so much daily use. The bluing wore off where it would rub against the holster.

I'm also in the military, and our rifles have tons of nicks and chips and stains on them...especially while I was on deployment. Anything that is used daily in a harsh environment will develop them.

EDIT: These are 1911's, and not my photo's, but you can see what I mean by the bluing rubbing off.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/RChang824/pics9-12-08025.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c352/WIZZO499/DSCF9028.jpg

 

[naphaniel]

do you guys have any pictures of your painted/weathered Shawn's Lawgiver to show ? As I am waiting for mine, I'm curious about what the others buyers have done with it. Thx

 

[stormtrooperguy]

I didn't do much with mine... just some minor silver weathering along the areas that would rub:

 

[ricky2009]

does anyone know where i can get the layout of the gun itself? trying to make one but cant find the right specifications

 

[JOATRASH FX]

does anyone know where i can get the layout of the gun itself? trying to make one but cant find the right specifications

There are no ready-to-go specs or diagrams. If you want to make one, your best bet is to get a glock replica and extrapolate measurements from screen grabs.