Infinity War: Gamora's Switchblade

[JOATRASH FX]

I started this a while back but other things got in the way.

Still early days, but I'm using the same technique to make it as I used on my replicas of Drax's Knives. Details will be transferred directly from the screen object onto the 3d model (and it's not done with photogrammetry). Gamora's knife is much more intricate than Drax's knives, so it will be interesting to see how far the method can go. I'll be making the gems as separate clear-printed parts.

Here is a very quick test I did on a completely flat model at about 1/2 scale. The gems are just clear epoxy glue mixed with acrylic paint to give me an idea of how it might look.

I'm happy enough with the test to proceed to the full build. It's going to be static, but I'll make the blades removable. Will update the thread as I go.

 

[MiamiLoco]

Nice!! Do you plan on doing a run???

 

[DrCyanide]

Details will be transferred directly from the screen object onto the 3d model (and it's not done with photogrammetry).

Now you've got me curious, what kind of technique do you use to do something like that? I've only got a clumsy guess based on the details in the Drax thread (that guess being you use edge detection to get a black and white outline of the shape, convert that into an SVG somehow, and import that into your 3D modeling software).

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Nice!! Do you plan on doing a run???

If I'm happy enough with the final result, then I might offer them, yes.

Right now I'm mainly planning on how to set it up. Most likely I'll do the ends in several pieces, then have a 'connector' in the middle, to be able to insert the gems from inside. I did some experimenting with tinting the print resin, but have gotten better results with transparent paint over a clear print.

Now you've got me curious, what kind of technique do you use to do something like that? I've only got a clumsy guess based on the details in the Drax thread (that guess being you use edge detection to get a black and white outline of the shape, convert that into an SVG somehow, and import that into your 3D modeling software).

That's a pretty good guess... and not too far off in principle, but it involves a lot of manual, hands-on tinkering. Maybe I'll do a write up of the method in the future, if I get the time.

 

[JOATRASH FX]

I think I've successfully transferred the etchings on the knife blades to the 3d model. Test printing now in rubberized resin, which is an incredibly delicate process in terms of setup. It's much more difficult to set up and print than the hard resins, including taking twice as long! I don't think the rubberized resin was made to print this kind of detailed piece at all but so far so good. You can see in the photo and video below that at least one of the supports has failed, but it's more than halfway through and still going. The critical part will be once it starts to reach the very thin tip. This is the only resin where I've had quite a few failures, but then I seem to keep wanting to do things it wasn't really designed for.

In other news, I've been studying the physical prop construction closely and... hmm... will be trying something a little more ambitious with it. More soon!

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Well, the rubber blades printed... and the etched pattern came out surprisingly well, BUT I'm not really happy with the overall surface. The very thin model makes the rubber move around too much during printing, so the surface isn't completely flat and even.

Also, even more important, the blades will be too soft and floppy for what I'm planning and need to be able to push them into the body of the knife.

Just for fun I did a fast'n'dirty paint-up, again using epoxy glue with paint for the jewels and I'm happy with the results. This is just a cheap rattle can silver with a wash of black.

I also did a test print in hard engineering resin and the blades turned out much better than in the rubber.

 

[MiamiLoco]

Any updates on this?

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Any updates on this?

I've done a lot of work on it, but nothing worth showing yet.

 

[thegnome]

I like this thread, good job!

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Thanks! I'm still working on stuff that isn't really interesting to show off. I'm actually looking into making it functional. It's not super-likely that I will succeed, and I don't want to disappoint everyone, so am waiting until somethings are a little more clear until I show off that part. Working on a couple other things while trying to find a couple suitable springs. Will hopefully have something interesting to show soon... even if it remains 'static'.

 

[MiamiLoco]

Static or Functional, I would be interested in one!!

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Static or Functional, I would be interested in one!!

Noted. I'll eventually have an interest thread up if it happens. There's a risk it would be a pricey kit though... lots of parts needing multiple print runs, and a fair amount of resin needed.

I printed a test of he functional mechanics this weekend. It's based around using springs from airsoft pistol magazines. In principle it kind of worked- springs are strong enough, resin seems to hold up to the punishment of the blade hitting the stop and mechanism should work but there were a couple problems that kept me from trying it properly. The spring kept coming misaligned, so I've made a couple revisions that I'll be trying over the next few days. The gold 'squiggles' and gems will be added later, as an outer shell, which is how they seem to have done it for the actual hand prop Saldana handles in the film. It's surprisingly large too.

 

[JOATRASH FX]

So, um, yeah.

I'm calling it quits on making a functional copy of this! The second test was better, and the changes I made worked, but even the printed plastic is going to be too dangerous to fool around with. (My pricked finger concurs.) The spring is too strong as well, and after a few repeated tries, the outer shell fractured.

So I'm either going back to making a completely static piece, with manually inserted blades, OR maybe I'll look into having the blades come out by pushing a lever. The latter would mean sacrificing accuracy, and I don't think I want to do that... so right now I'm leaning towards a static version.

 

[meowmint]

So good!! Looking forward to seeing more

 

[MiamiLoco]

Any updates on this?

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Any updates on this?

No, it's going to be a few weeks. My printer has been sent out for a tuneup and will not be back until mid-late August. I might do some work on the model before I get the machine back, but I've got a bunch of other things to take care of as well. But I'll get back to it as soon as I can.

 

[MiamiLoco]

Any updates?

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Nothing to show at the moment. Planning what projects I'll be doing over the next few months and this is on the list to get back to, as I'm tinkering with multiple items. (I'm currently also not at the computer much, but cleaning a bunch of printed parts and doing some light metalwork.)

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Back on this now...

 

[XerocTheCreator]

Good start! Love the spring mechanism your building!