Star Trek TOS Offensive/Defensive Ray Gun - Think Jedi's next work in progress

[Think Jedi]

I have a pocket built into the inside of the body to accommodate the switch, so I don't think rotocasting is the best option. Plus I don't have a rotational caster. I know, I could make one but...

Oh, I see you suggest that I do it by hand. Yes, that could be done, but again, because of the relief on the inside of the body, that may not work.

tJ

 

[robn1]

I can see a problem for casting in one piece, but it's doable if it's in two halves. Instead of roto or slush casting, do each half in male/female molds.

 

[Think Jedi]

My point in doing this in CAD is to get out of the old-skool (and messy) business of mold making/casting. Several of the projects I'm working on are perfect for 3D printing in resin on an SLA printer. This is the only one that isn't practical to do in resin due to the cost. I am looking into ABS for this. Rugged, looks decent, and will hold up. My second prototype is in PLA but from the initial sanding efforts, I can see that this will look good. I've got a couple of balls up in the air right now (troubleshooting the SLA printer, producing 2-3 other projects which I haven't posted about yet, etc). Will update you all soon.

tJ

 

[Think Jedi]

Here are pics of the body and cap produced in PLA. The nozzle is still produced in resin. No sanding on the body yet....this is how it came off the printer bed. I'll post pics of sanded and finished soon.

tJ

 

[Think Jedi]

Sorry it's been taking me awhile to do the finishing work on the raygun. I've had a couple of balls up in the air, but I'm close to finishing this.

tJ

 

[Think Jedi]

Skim coat of body filler, sanded and ready for primer.

tJ

 

[Think Jedi]

OK, here are two pics of with 2 ray gun bodies side by side. One is printed in PLA and the other in resin. Guess which is resin and which is PLA.

tJ

 

[BrooklynGuy]

I'm going with resin on the right

 

[Think Jedi]

I'm going with resin on the right

Nope, the one on the right is PLA, printed on my Makerbot Rep2 at .1mm layer height. Body spot filler does amazing things.
That said, the PLA version took a bit more effort than the resin version to get it to look this way.

tJ