Limited Run Dredd Lawgiver 2012 Full Electronics and Action

[Props3D]

I accounted for rough handling, but not for smashing it around so hard it would literally tear up the sides of the boxes. I guess I really underestimated the postal service. It sucks because it took me over an hour of work per box to run the 3 CNC jobs and put together by hand. I wanted to make something original to hold them while minimizing the amount of waste in the packaging.

Before the next 4 go out I'll do a noodle on how to protect them better. It may be as simple as adding bubble wrap around the inside edge against the tabs to absorb shock.

 

[Props3D]

Shipping damaged one arrived 5min ago and already done, I love modularity! I just swapped the cowl from my one to this one, pushed the recoil spring and speaker back in place, and done.

The damaged top was limited to only the 2 resin sights so I just needed to attach a new laser sight to the cowl, replace the front sight, and it can go right back on mine.

I am going to make a quick Instagram reel later on how to attach the speakers permanently, takes less than a minute. I know they can come loose with a good knock but that was part of the design, full modularity. In hindsight not securing them better was probably dumb since I never explained it that well and it can look bad.

 

[Props3D]

I made a short vid on accessing the internals and tacking down the speakers:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[enterprise0216]

Sweet video to dive in there an execute a repair if needed. Thanks for the video and walk through. You never know if you will ever need it.

 

[Spidey74]

Props3D - those quick videos are so great. And much like all the things that Chris does, he makes producing those videos look so easy

 

[Spidey74]

Quick update on my end.

I'm making progress on the electronics part of the next two builds. At this point, I have two working kits ready for final assembly, and I'm working on the components for the last two kits. Goal for this week is to get final assembly completed for the next two Lawgivers which will entail fitting and gluing the brass plates and aluminum knob, fitting led and barrel assembly, and the full electronics caddy. Once assembled then a power test to ensure all the functions are working, then I'll get them boxed for shipping. Chris will contact individuals once items are ready to ship.

 

[Spidey74]

Small update on my progress.

I managed to get the next two props nearly finished. Both have the brass plates and aluminum knobs fixed in place, the trigger and cocking mechanisms are assembled and in place, and both caddy's assembled. Both power and function checks passed and were ready to have final assembly done for shipping.

Unfortunately, the caddy separated in two places during fitting which is not a big deal since it's screwed down and secured to the frame. However, I want to replace the caddy before it's completely assembled so it doesn't impede or hamper any future servicing (if it's ever needed). So I started printing a replacement caddy and my Prusa stopped with M112 - Emergency Stop error

Turns out that after 3.5 years of printing the heat bed thermistor crapped out. My printer has always been incredibly reliable and I've only had to replace the nozzle over the 3.5 years. Just bad timing I guess. So I've ordered the replacement part and it's on the way. While I'm waiting, Chris was nice enough to print out some replacement caddy's for me and they should be here in a day or two. Should be an easy swap.

 

[Props3D]

they're the new 'beefcake' edition caddies, since there's no stress on the caddies once installed I had originally designed them super thin to make more space for wires. In hindsight I should have considered the fact that they're coming in and out for updates. If anyone else in the run has issues with the caddy let me know and I'll mail you a new one.

The new caddy design also has better speaker retention so they won't pop out if you bang them. On careful inspection the original design 'bowed' a bit around the speakers so they can be banged out out easier than expected. I have 3 LGs now as well, as building over a dozen for the run etc, and haven't had that issue. But it's been reported that it's arrived at least once with the speaker out of place due to the rigors of shipping (again, it just pops back in) so I want to fix the issue. You can still glue the speakers down in the current design if it's happening to you or if you're worried about it happening, but the new caddy design fixes that:

 

[enterprise0216]

Reinvention is the mother of compliance and reasoning. You never know if becomes a problem. Until the problem itself emerges then a new solution / redesign is the correction. No issues with my Lawgiver other then i can't seem to put it down...LOL!

 

[Gee2]

Reinvention is the mother of compliance and reasoning. You never know if becomes a problem. Until the problem itself emerges then a new solution / redesign is the correction. No issues with my Lawgiver other then i can't seem to put it down...LOL!

Same here, every time I'm in my man cave/office I pick it up, run it through the cycles... It even inspired me to finish my Dredd suit (finally). So much goodness out of this piece.

 

[Spidey74]

After I got the caddies swapped out, I have two ready for shipping after the weekend.

retraceoj

pubmarcus

Props3D will message you about final payment and shipping. Once received I'll get them in the post asap.

And I managed to get most of the components done for the next two kits. Will continue on these this week.

On a side note, I was not successful replacing the heat bed thermistor. I think I installed it wrong so I might need to order another one and try again. I'll figure it out later this week.

 

[Props3D]

Spidey74 I got 2 more caddies printing, will express them over to you today.

So I have some fun news, asavage's Lawgiver has been sitting in a post office on the other side of the country due to a postal mixup, no idea if I can get it back or not. Fortunately, I'm making 2 for the video and on the back half of filming so the Lawgiver in the video is now asavage's and the second one is Toy Traders. I'm going to be at a fair with Toy Traders on the 20th (Vancouver Fan Expo if anyone wants to say hi, Craig will be with me) so I have a bit more time with theirs.

On the video side, I have 10 hours of footage already and less than halfway though, these are very involved to say the least. But I'm over the hump and the first video should be ready "soon". The first video goes from printing to priming, second is electronics and coding (which includes training), last is paint and assembly.

 

[Gee2]

Love it... Not that Adam's LG is sitting in a Post Office, but the video. Just a thought; with all the trials your team has gone through with this project, including it in the final video as a "what to expect or Murphy's Law" when taking on a huge project might be an interesting bit of info for anyone considering something of this magnitude?

 

[Props3D]

I will totally do that when the run is done as it's own follow up video. My point on the videos is to teach people how to make their own, and just generally what's involved in making these kind of things, so I'm trying to keep it to that since it's already a massive endeavor. If I got going on my experiences with the run it would be another hour longer. I already found the perfect music for it:

 

[Damage]

Congrats on finishing up an amazing project!
Im kicking myself for missing out on this. I know you said you're done after these last couple, but if you ever change your mind and make any more..i would love to jump on it.

Damage Jack

 

[Props3D]

Updates:
- pubmarcus retraceoj 's Lawgivers are in the mail!
- Sent the last 2 caddies to Spidey74 Craig yesterday so he can finish up the last 2 for his part of the run since his printer is on the fritz and all the last ones are getting the revised caddy
- asavage 's Lawgiver may be beyond recovery, it's in some postage limbo 4,000 miles from where it was supposed to go, so I'm dedicating 3~4 hours a day during weekdays for building/filming and 5~6 hours weekend and that puts completion on Sunday, and I'll overnight it on Monday morning for Tuesday arrival. I had a previous goal of getting this done for a show on the 20th but this just pushes it all up a week.
- First video has completed filming, it will be published on the 14th. It will cover printing to priming. I've hired my daughter to rough cut all the footage, over 15 hours and counting so it's too overwhelming for me to film/edit/build/sleep and make the deadline (self imposed, yes, but I want to set something tight to get this finally 100% done)
- Second video should be only a few days after that. That will cover soldering and coding. I will post a link here to the part that covers training so anyone who wants to customize their Voice Recognition can use that until the 'owners manual' video is done. Craig's coming over to the mainland in a few weeks so we'll film the supplementary owners manual video together
- Last video will be be by the 20th at the latest. Covering assembly, painting, optional metalworking, finishing etc.
- There's a chance my daughter will just rock the house (she's won awards for filmmaking so she's not a noob) and I'll be able to post all videos on the 14th, no promises
- Last electronics kit will be done tomorrow at the latest, doing that together with filming so I have multiple takes

 

[Props3D]

Just letting you know the video is being worked on as fast as I can. I've been filming every day, the LG is an animal to put together properly finished at run quality. I just passed 30 hours of footage (7TB!!!) and I'm now on the last part, final paint and putting it together. Keep in mind that's footage from my A camera only, there's an equal amount of time of setup and faffing so this is really a life dominating thing, but it will get done.

I've filmed the training part now and will try to cut that together early and post a private video here by the end of the week. Craig's coming over this weekend for a show so we're going to try and film the owners manual then. Craig just did another code overhaul for reliability and responsiveness that won't make much difference to anyone who's already got one working, but updating the code is part of the training process so you'll get the benefit regardless if you choose to retrain it.

I will also put a standing offer out there that if you want the beefcake caddy OR if you don't have the correct USB cable I'll just mail it out to you. We figured everyone has 100 USB cables laying around so we included the charger but not the cable. If we're wrong, just DM me and one will be in the mail. And if the thinner electronics caddy gets damaged on removal for training, I'll mail you the new strong one. It's very easy to swap and I'll post a video how to do it if this case comes up.

It's trucking ahead!

 

[Props3D]

An offer to anyone who wants to make a LG and has a 3D printer, and maybe some early thoughts on a retrospective:

I finished the first top coat on the video one last night, asavage's replacement for the one that got lost in shipping, and realized I'm hitting 37 hours of footage. And that's not including the fact that I spent days pre-sanding the one for the video so I could skip that part. I will still have to sand one at the end so I can cut the footage in. So all in, it's probably 40~50 hours to make each one.

On the side of the project itself, I've loved it! Process of developing the model, getting feedback, collaborating with Spidey74 and BeakZ , and iterating until the final build is far beyond what it would have been on my own, has been awesome. And the output of that is a carefully documented project with videos that is, hopefully, easy to follow. So in terms of empowering people to make something cool, this is a total win. Which is how I went into this project to start. But as a run? 50hrs/$600= 12 dollar an hour, and then subtract around 150 in parts for each, not to mention 4 months of evenings, weekends, has turned out not to be something I want to do on a regular basis.

First off, 0 regrets. This was an awesome experience and the repetition helped me streamline my shop, refine processes, and FINALLY get filming up to the point where I feel I'll be able to provide quality content. I've loved all the engagement from the RPF and the people I've talked to along the way. But I really do think this will be my one and only run. AND I really don't want to be offering 'kits' ongoing like I mentioned in a previous post, the parts are all easy to source and we made a detailed shopping list.

I do these builds as both a way to tame my overactive brain and have fun, and so I'll keep releasing models, code (with Spidey74 of course), and hopefully collaborating with BeakZ again on some awesome builds. And sharing all the outputs and resources with making videos on the Props3D YouTube channel so you can make your own.

So I'll be soldering up the rest of the electronics into 'complete kits' next month and selling them off for $230, all soldered and ready to go in a caddy. This will also include mag plates, metal bars, screws, resin parts, lens, battery, charger.

I probably have enough for 4~6, just because I ordered the parts and I want to use them up. If you want in, DM me or reply here.

Next project on the list: Mando's IG-94, fully electronic of course! (and no run)

 

[enterprise0216]

Truly incredible run by all you guys. Totally understand the ratio cost and super time consuming project. I am still watching all your YouTube videos and playing catch up. Lots of information to process and the details are on point. Truly a blessing to be part of this run just kick @$$ all the way.

 

[Props3D]

Truly incredible run by all you guys. Totally understand the ratio cost and super time consuming project. I am still watching all your YouTube videos and playing catch up. Lots of information to process and the details are on point. Truly a blessing to be part of this run just kick @$$ all the way.

I'm pretty embarrassed about the channel the way it is right now but thanks for watching This is my first 'full scale' video. I'm hoping to do one a month (I have enough projects done for years) then slowly fade those videos out. There's a lot of experiments, stuff for friends, and just messing about.