Radioman
Active Member
Hello all, I thought I would document my Infinity Orb project. Picture intensive but I hope you enjoy!
I started with an excellent 3D file from Tony Youngblood over on Thingverse. If you have a 3D printer and want to take a crack at it, here is the link:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:430184
The orb is 3 pieces: two outer rings (13 hours print time), two inner pieces (6 hours print time), and two rings (2.5 hours print time). I questioned whether the inner rings are necessary but the author stated it was necessary for support.
Once printed, it was the standard primer job. The ring is not a tight seal with the outer orb so that meant Bondo time. My wife, who does miniatures, suggested I try pushing Bondo through a syringe so I could get into the crack. It turns out that works great! Once the Bondo dried and I sanded, I took a Dremel with a bore tool to add some designs into it so there wasn't a giant band of solid Bondo around the mid-section.
I also printed out the grappler files to act as a stand. I debated whether or not to do the full, horizontal presentation but ultimately decided I'd go vertical so I only needed to print half of one side of the grappler.
And painting begins.
I tested a number of different stones including aquarium rock, a bluish stone my boy had from a scout trip, etc. Nothing seemed to be right so I decided to wait on that until the end.
Test fitting the other half and beginning to poke around with electronics to decide how to light.
The first test on the stand. Overall, I was pleased although I didn't get the arms on the grappler perfectly level. Fortunately, the orb has so many nooks and crannies that I can make it fit for display.
Detail painting on the orb exterior was pretty fun. Just a dry brush silver so you don't get globs down inside the detail.
While I'm struggling with a gem, my wife suggests we make one out of two part casting resin. She did a small sample for me with a dollhouse light embedded in it. The color was good and the light functions, although not bright enough. I sculpted a stone of about the right size and poked holes into it with the end of the paintbrush because I knew I wanted an uneven surface for the light to play with. Once we baked the clay positive, we made a rubber mold and then poured the resin mixture into the mold. When it was done the next day, I shot it with a couple of coats of gloss clear coat to give it some shine. As I'm writing this, my wife is sitting here saying she wants to remold it and put glitter in the mixture. Go for it, honey!
Now it came time for the light. I bought a pack of submersible pool light from Michael's (use a big coupon like 40% because it's $20 for 12) and disassembled the unit. I removed the dome and screw bottom. The actual light unit is 1" in diameter so I drilled an inch out of the bottom of the inner piece. I don't have a switch in yet but I'll get to that eventually. The penny is there because there was just enough give on the batteries that as it sits upright they don't touch to make a circuit. These lights, I should point out, are really bright, which is exactly what we want.
Here's the final stone, inside the orb. This picture was taken in low light. When you open this in a dark room, it's amazing! The "chambers" inside the inner orb do an amazing job of channeling the violet light. The second pic is the finished orb on display on the grappler.
Thanks for reading! If I do anything else with it, I'll post an update.
By the way, I also did this yesterday, which is why I was messing with pool lights. Now that I have two of the Infinity Stones, it looks like I'll be making the whole set. *sigh*
I started with an excellent 3D file from Tony Youngblood over on Thingverse. If you have a 3D printer and want to take a crack at it, here is the link:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:430184
The orb is 3 pieces: two outer rings (13 hours print time), two inner pieces (6 hours print time), and two rings (2.5 hours print time). I questioned whether the inner rings are necessary but the author stated it was necessary for support.
Once printed, it was the standard primer job. The ring is not a tight seal with the outer orb so that meant Bondo time. My wife, who does miniatures, suggested I try pushing Bondo through a syringe so I could get into the crack. It turns out that works great! Once the Bondo dried and I sanded, I took a Dremel with a bore tool to add some designs into it so there wasn't a giant band of solid Bondo around the mid-section.
I also printed out the grappler files to act as a stand. I debated whether or not to do the full, horizontal presentation but ultimately decided I'd go vertical so I only needed to print half of one side of the grappler.
And painting begins.
I tested a number of different stones including aquarium rock, a bluish stone my boy had from a scout trip, etc. Nothing seemed to be right so I decided to wait on that until the end.
Test fitting the other half and beginning to poke around with electronics to decide how to light.
The first test on the stand. Overall, I was pleased although I didn't get the arms on the grappler perfectly level. Fortunately, the orb has so many nooks and crannies that I can make it fit for display.
Detail painting on the orb exterior was pretty fun. Just a dry brush silver so you don't get globs down inside the detail.
While I'm struggling with a gem, my wife suggests we make one out of two part casting resin. She did a small sample for me with a dollhouse light embedded in it. The color was good and the light functions, although not bright enough. I sculpted a stone of about the right size and poked holes into it with the end of the paintbrush because I knew I wanted an uneven surface for the light to play with. Once we baked the clay positive, we made a rubber mold and then poured the resin mixture into the mold. When it was done the next day, I shot it with a couple of coats of gloss clear coat to give it some shine. As I'm writing this, my wife is sitting here saying she wants to remold it and put glitter in the mixture. Go for it, honey!
Now it came time for the light. I bought a pack of submersible pool light from Michael's (use a big coupon like 40% because it's $20 for 12) and disassembled the unit. I removed the dome and screw bottom. The actual light unit is 1" in diameter so I drilled an inch out of the bottom of the inner piece. I don't have a switch in yet but I'll get to that eventually. The penny is there because there was just enough give on the batteries that as it sits upright they don't touch to make a circuit. These lights, I should point out, are really bright, which is exactly what we want.
Here's the final stone, inside the orb. This picture was taken in low light. When you open this in a dark room, it's amazing! The "chambers" inside the inner orb do an amazing job of channeling the violet light. The second pic is the finished orb on display on the grappler.
Thanks for reading! If I do anything else with it, I'll post an update.
By the way, I also did this yesterday, which is why I was messing with pool lights. Now that I have two of the Infinity Stones, it looks like I'll be making the whole set. *sigh*
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