I recently acquired a 3D printer (Flashforge Creator Pro) and wanted to try building something from scratch for a change rather than relying on models I’d downloaded. Thought I’d have a crack at the Crown of Bethmoora from Hellboy 2 because… well, because Hellboy
First job was screengrabbing a load of reference from the DVD. From what I can tell there appear to be a couple of versions of the crown, an animated CG one used in closeups and a less symmetrical physical version worn by Prince Nuada as he’s jumping about.
I’ve worked with 3DS Max in the past but these days have to make do with Sketchup. Bit frustrating adapting to the new workflow but I got it to where I wanted in the end.
The print was done in ABS. Simplify3D provided the best slicing results.
Sanding and filling… I think every 3D printer should come with a phone book sized wedge of sandpaper. I also dremelled some extra texture into the front of the crown.
My initial plan was to weld the joints together with acetone, but then I had this bright idea about using wire so it was flexible… which went really badly and I ended up having to print the whole thing out again. After sanding all the pieces for the second time I went back to plan A and pinned the joints with ABS filament and acetone. Used a grid to help get it all symmetrical.
Let myself down a bit with the painting didn’t do a great job. The paint went on great, really bright and shiny… but it highlighted everywhere the finishing wasn’t perfect. I should have put a lot more time into filling holes and sanding. I think if I ever do this again acetone vapour smoothing would be a good idea.
Anyway, there you go. It’s been an interesting experiment and I’ve certainly got a better understanding of the limitations of 3D print. I’ve made the STL files available to download >>HERE<< if anyone else wants to take a crack at this, and there's a more thorough breakdown of the build on >>my blog<<. Thanks for looking.
