Rebel / Alliance Rank Badge Tutorial

[Mara Jade's Father]

I went back to my actual lens that I have on my replica I made years ago. I thought there was a bevel on top but it appears to be a pretty sharp 90 degree angle, so I removed the bevel.

Utilizing the spacing of the pip alignment of the large backing, I scaled down to proportionally to come up with a new pattern for the smaller OT backing. I am pretty happy with it,

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

am i right in assuming in this propstore one, we're looking at pop rivets hammered and ground on the back? I bet you can rivet the white layer of the switch lenses and snap the red part on top lol

I do not know what is really going on there. I agree it looks like a pop rivet that has been sheered. I also think the white insert is in use. But I have no idea how they joined the rivet to the insert.

I want to grab a fe lenses and see about making an adapter peg. Something you could 3D print in white and sand the cover over for those who want to use a real lens.

FYI: Current distributor prices for lenses is about $3.88 each plus shipping. If I wanted to buy 8 lenses (5 for general and 3 for commander) with shipping, it would cost $40.78. As you can see, if you wanted to do multiple ranks and each color, it can get pricey which is why i hope I can make the 3D printed look good. I want too see how gloss simple gloss paint can do. And also try proper color filament.

Ultimately I want to offer a nice replica that a builder can make as nice as they want for as much cost as they want to put in. I think it would be nice to have these to knock around and not worry about time and cost to replace if needed.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

For those interested, here you can see how much hole adjustments were made to the large backing.

 

[ID10T]

Maybe print the lenses in clear resin and paint the inside? That’ll give good gloss and good depth to it. Maybe.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Here is a no paint, no glue option.

Pips snapped in place and all parts printed to color, wet sanded, and hand polished with automotive polish.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

Looks pretty spiffy!

Printing the "pips" in tranluscent plastic would probably have an interesting effect, too. And with the rise of online cutting services, getting the backing cut from aluminium wouldn't be hard (though it might be pricy) if you're able to share a .dxf.

I say this purely speculatively, though; I currently have no inclination to make a Rebel or NR costume.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Looks pretty spiffy!

Printing the "pips" in tranluscent plastic would probably have an interesting effect, too. And with the rise of online cutting services, getting the backing cut from aluminium wouldn't be hard (though it might be pricy) if you're able to share a .dxf.

I say this purely speculatively, though; I currently have no inclination to make a Rebel or NR costume.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Yes, I have considered a lot of that. Basically this is a project that I just started thinking was possible and I took on the challenge to see if I could do it. I am playing around with different variations of using the files to develop different techniques to replicate this way one could build a decent replica without fear of limitation of skill, cost, or materials.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

For those interested in what painted vs printed to color back looks like. Left is painted, right is printed in silk silver.

Here is a comparison with the one I made 20 years ago with a metal back and real lenses.

 

[ID10T]

I like metal.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I finally got some red filament.

Here they are with silver silk PLA printed backings on the left and painted backings on the right.

 

[ID10T]

Looks decent with the painted back!

 

[Darthmagpie]

MJF, I'm curious as I'm 3 months into 3d printing. On the silk one I see the print lines but not on the painted. On the painted one, is the surface against the build plate up and the silk one down? On a smooth build plate, wouldn't the surface against the plate be the better looking surface for both?

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

MJF, I'm curious as I'm 3 months into 3d printing. On the silk one I see the print lines but not on the painted. On the painted one, is the surface against the build plate up and the silk one down? On a smooth build plate, wouldn't the surface against the plate be the better looking surface for both?

I’m sort of in the same boat. I used to use an Ender 3. I printed for about a couple years and then had some issues. I was not printing for about 18 months and then my family got me a Prusa mk4 for Christmas. It’s so much better but in many ways, I have to figure out the best settings to get results I want.

Luckily these ranks are simple. No supports, small, and quick. I have experimented with different printing techniques with both the buttons and the backing to get the smoothest and most flawless surfaces. I printed face up, face down, finer layers, and ironing. For the backs, I’m not sure if I have a preference, usually look at both sides and make a choice.

The silk prints have been problematic as I get lots of clogs. However in both the silk and painted backings as well as the pips, I did a little bit of fine grit sanding, 600 wet sanding, 2000 wet sanding, and Meguiar's Ultimate Compound - Pro-Grade Car Scratch Remover to polish for luster.

So any lines you see is not in texture but in the plastic itself. I might experiment with a solid print just to see if there is a difference.

But honestly, when you are looking at these in person, even in direct light, you are not seeing these lines. The digital images are very unforgiving.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

MJF, I'm curious as I'm 3 months into 3d printing. On the silk one I see the print lines but not on the painted. On the painted one, is the surface against the build plate up and the silk one down? On a smooth build plate, wouldn't the surface against the plate be the better looking surface for both?

Follow up…

I did a print where I set the layers for 0.1 with ironing of the top layer which I have done prior. This time I set the infill for 100%. I only did 1mm think backing this time because on the infill but they have been 2mm in the past.

Up side with ironing.

Bottom side (bed side)

I think the ironing look a little uneven in this sample. So I think I will sand and polish the bedside. What I am hoping is with the 100% infill, any filament lines will be hard to detect when polished.

 

[Darthmagpie]

Follow up…

I did a print where I set the layers for 0.1 with ironing of the top layer which I have done prior. This time I set the infill for 100%. I only did 1mm think backing this time because on the infill but they have been 2mm in the past.

Up side with ironing.
View attachment 1907916

Bottom side (bed side)
View attachment 1907917

I think the ironing look a little uneven in this sample. So I think I will sand and polish the bedside. What I am hoping is with the 100% infill, any filament lines will be hard to detect when polished.

Thanks for the feedback and trying it.

 

[ID10T]

With 100% fill why does it look so different around the holes and the edges?

I have a resin printer I've not used in a couple years but I'm curious as I don't work with filament.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Thanks for the feedback and trying it.

Here is the same piece wet sanded and polished. It looks pretty good I. Person but it does have the weird discoloration (for a lack of a better term) from the printing around the edges . This was present on both sides

I will probably end up painting this piece for my own purposes. I should note that my painted backings are simply rattle can Rustolium aluminum. If someone desired, they could get more metallic look from a chrome type spray (can or airbrush) if they desired. Once again my point of these experiments is to show that a builder has options should they wish to pursue.

I have found that I like the pips printed face down on the bed. The surface is easy to finish and you don’t need supports. Although have had really good results with right side up printing with circular infill, fine detail ironing. But I don’t like the roughness of the underside of where the supports were even though they don’t show.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

With 100% fill why does it look so different around the holes and the edges?

I have a resin printer I've not used in a couple years but I'm curious as I don't work with filament.

I don’t really know. I do not know if it is because these are thin or if I had better luck with a some other settings.

 

[Vagabond Elf]

With 100% fill why does it look so different around the holes and the edges?

I have a resin printer I've not used in a couple years but I'm curious as I don't work with filament.

Because you're not seeing the infill, you're seeing the top/bottom layers, which appear to be set to rectilinear. The outer walls (which include the walls around the holes) are concentric. The nozzle is moving in a different pattern and on a part this thin, that difference is obvious.

If the top/bottom layers were set to concentric, the difference would be much less apparent. Probably not invisible, but less noticable.

Mara Jade's Father besides changing the top/bottom pattern, you might try boosting the flow rate on the ironing, or reducing the spacing. As with all experiments, only change one parameter at a time. I'd also suggest making both the backers and the layer heights some multiple of 0.04. Whilst modern printers don't care as much as those from a few years ago, the stepper motors are still happiest in zed increments that are multiples of 0.04. So 0.08 or 0.12 is likely to give slightly more consistent results.

Darthmagpie : don't forget that paint occupies volume. Since the lines here are so, so, so close - the silk looks really good, honestly - I suspect the reason they're disappearing on the painted one is because the paint is filling in the lines. Also, it sounds like MJF is sanding before painting.