Radioman
Active Member
Hello all!
I just recently joined the local Star Wars club and as we were encouraged to bring stuff to show off or trade to the first meeting, I brought some 3D printed props. While there, I was asked to do a commission for Mara Jade's snub-nosed blaster. Not finding a decent 3D file (or even two pieces of reference that agreed) I opened up Autodesk 123D and did my own.
Autodesk 123D is a free and pretty simple to learn 3D design tool. There are versions for both PC and Mac which I use both versions of, depending upon which system I happen to be facing. It's especially good for guns, droid callers and the like. Faces, not so much. Rhino is a good choice for that.
I designed half the gun on the flat plane since I new it would be symmetrical. Trust me, don't bother trying to match things up on each side. It's really easy to design one side, then use the mirror command to create the opposite image. Note that you have to print out BOTH since you don't want to end up with two left sides.
I used a Printrbot Metal Plus to print out the two sides. Each took around 4 hours each and amazingly, I got both on the first try. The inside pieces are pretty flat so I didn't need to do much prep work to epoxy them together. A couple of notes here, the grip is probably a little short. I eyeballed the measurements and designed it for a woman's hand. But, I could probably lenghten that another inch. Two, I might pull the whole nose of the gun in an inch or so.
Here's a look from the back, showing how nice the mirrored sides look. (In the background you can also see my droid caller design, the Kylo Ren Lightsaber hilt that's going around and Princess Leia's Sporting Blaster.)
Some sanding, primer and a first coat of paint and it starts to look like a real blaster. (Funny story, I was standing in front of my open garage sanding this mindlessly when a realtor and a bunch of folks came to tour the neighbors house. I cheerily said "hello" without realizing I was sanding a black firearm (fake though it may be). Oops.)
I usually use grey primer but for some reason I can't always see the plastic defects until the first coat of paint. So it's back to sanding.
I spent a loooong time sanding tonight. There's lots of nooks and crannies where plastic doesn't always melt properly in the 3D printing process. Although it's not done, I do like the distressed look. That's always been one of my favorite things about the Star Wars universe; it looks lived in.
I'll post final pics but thought I would share. I'm obviously a 3D print fanatic and happy to talk about it or share learnings.
Mark
I just recently joined the local Star Wars club and as we were encouraged to bring stuff to show off or trade to the first meeting, I brought some 3D printed props. While there, I was asked to do a commission for Mara Jade's snub-nosed blaster. Not finding a decent 3D file (or even two pieces of reference that agreed) I opened up Autodesk 123D and did my own.
Autodesk 123D is a free and pretty simple to learn 3D design tool. There are versions for both PC and Mac which I use both versions of, depending upon which system I happen to be facing. It's especially good for guns, droid callers and the like. Faces, not so much. Rhino is a good choice for that.
I designed half the gun on the flat plane since I new it would be symmetrical. Trust me, don't bother trying to match things up on each side. It's really easy to design one side, then use the mirror command to create the opposite image. Note that you have to print out BOTH since you don't want to end up with two left sides.
I used a Printrbot Metal Plus to print out the two sides. Each took around 4 hours each and amazingly, I got both on the first try. The inside pieces are pretty flat so I didn't need to do much prep work to epoxy them together. A couple of notes here, the grip is probably a little short. I eyeballed the measurements and designed it for a woman's hand. But, I could probably lenghten that another inch. Two, I might pull the whole nose of the gun in an inch or so.
Here's a look from the back, showing how nice the mirrored sides look. (In the background you can also see my droid caller design, the Kylo Ren Lightsaber hilt that's going around and Princess Leia's Sporting Blaster.)
Some sanding, primer and a first coat of paint and it starts to look like a real blaster. (Funny story, I was standing in front of my open garage sanding this mindlessly when a realtor and a bunch of folks came to tour the neighbors house. I cheerily said "hello" without realizing I was sanding a black firearm (fake though it may be). Oops.)
I usually use grey primer but for some reason I can't always see the plastic defects until the first coat of paint. So it's back to sanding.
I spent a loooong time sanding tonight. There's lots of nooks and crannies where plastic doesn't always melt properly in the 3D printing process. Although it's not done, I do like the distressed look. That's always been one of my favorite things about the Star Wars universe; it looks lived in.
I'll post final pics but thought I would share. I'm obviously a 3D print fanatic and happy to talk about it or share learnings.
Mark
