GlitchTech
Active Member
My wife, Erica, is a big fan of Ender's Game. So when the movie came out last year, she decided to make a Flash Suit. You can check out her some of her build at 80% Complete: Ender's Game Flash Suit on Pinterest
As part of the build, she asked me to build the Flash Gun. Since I have a 3D printer, I thought that would be the best way for me to proceed. I've built a few other props on it, including my Loki Scepter from Avengers (Chitauri Scepter (Loki's Short Staff) - Mk 2 by GlitchTech - Thingiverse).
Grabbing the reference images from http://www.therpf.com/f9/enders-game-flash-gun-199077/ I started 3D modeling the gun. I currently use SketchUp for my modeling (though I have started playing with Blender).
With the design done, I decided to step it up from a plastic brick and design in electronics to give it some life. In the movie, when the trigger is pressed, the blue circle (in my model) lights up with a spinning light and then the beam fires from the nozzle in the copper/gold section. For each of the spinning lights, I decided to use a NeoPixel Ring from adafruit. A simple LED will suffice for the beam illusion. Initially, I toyed with the idea of using a laser pointer but decided against it.
I'm still toying with the idea of adding a sound board. But I don't have to make that decision before the first version is done. The design of the gun is entirely bolt together for the electronic spaces. That way I can pull the guts and use them in something else if the gun breaks or we have no use of the internal electronics any further. As of now, I don't have the sound assets nor do I currently know how to play audio from an Arduino. Oh well, something to learn in the future.
The lights will be controlled via an Arduino Pro Mini and powered with a LiPo jumped up to 5v. Thankfully, SparkFun has a board called Power Cell which provides the booster and a charging circuit in the same board.
I purchased the electronics that I didn't have sitting around and started modifying the gun design to accommodate. I figure it would be best to work on the be the grip, so I can make sure the battery, charging board, and power switch all fit. I designed a battery sled to hold the power systems with a path for the power connector to reach into the body of the gun for the control and light systems.
With the design looking good, I decided to print out the battery sled out on my Makerbot Replicator (1st gen). Since I print in ABS usually, I designed in some shrinkage tolerances.
The print turned out pretty good, though future versions will have more wiring space. No need for a re-print, things were just a little cramped.
Next I am printing the rest of the handle. I'll write up the next post when those components are completed.
Update: Model is now available http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:417286
Finished Piece:
As part of the build, she asked me to build the Flash Gun. Since I have a 3D printer, I thought that would be the best way for me to proceed. I've built a few other props on it, including my Loki Scepter from Avengers (Chitauri Scepter (Loki's Short Staff) - Mk 2 by GlitchTech - Thingiverse).
Grabbing the reference images from http://www.therpf.com/f9/enders-game-flash-gun-199077/ I started 3D modeling the gun. I currently use SketchUp for my modeling (though I have started playing with Blender).
With the design done, I decided to step it up from a plastic brick and design in electronics to give it some life. In the movie, when the trigger is pressed, the blue circle (in my model) lights up with a spinning light and then the beam fires from the nozzle in the copper/gold section. For each of the spinning lights, I decided to use a NeoPixel Ring from adafruit. A simple LED will suffice for the beam illusion. Initially, I toyed with the idea of using a laser pointer but decided against it.
I'm still toying with the idea of adding a sound board. But I don't have to make that decision before the first version is done. The design of the gun is entirely bolt together for the electronic spaces. That way I can pull the guts and use them in something else if the gun breaks or we have no use of the internal electronics any further. As of now, I don't have the sound assets nor do I currently know how to play audio from an Arduino. Oh well, something to learn in the future.
The lights will be controlled via an Arduino Pro Mini and powered with a LiPo jumped up to 5v. Thankfully, SparkFun has a board called Power Cell which provides the booster and a charging circuit in the same board.
I purchased the electronics that I didn't have sitting around and started modifying the gun design to accommodate. I figure it would be best to work on the be the grip, so I can make sure the battery, charging board, and power switch all fit. I designed a battery sled to hold the power systems with a path for the power connector to reach into the body of the gun for the control and light systems.
With the design looking good, I decided to print out the battery sled out on my Makerbot Replicator (1st gen). Since I print in ABS usually, I designed in some shrinkage tolerances.
The print turned out pretty good, though future versions will have more wiring space. No need for a re-print, things were just a little cramped.
Next I am printing the rest of the handle. I'll write up the next post when those components are completed.
Update: Model is now available http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:417286
Finished Piece:
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