C3pO head - From 3D Print to Xmas gift

I was recently commissioned to make a C3PO droid head for a friend who wanted a cool Star Wars gift for their spouse. I had 2.5 weeks and set out to make something that was cool though not 100% screen accurate.

Using the files found here, which are based on the battlefront models I believe:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2351431

I printed the parts out on my 3d printer using PLA and ABS. Using smooth on XTC, I coated the head with 2 coats of resin and began the arduous task of sanding. Due to time constraints on the project, I could not get it completely smooth, though the goal was a weathered droid head anyways (gold paint looks toyish) so it worked out in the end. Hit it with primer next and gave it another bit of sanding.





Sprayed it with some rustoleum gold and weathered with black, burnt umber, and brown acrylics. Added a FX sound chip with a simple phrase and some star wars music for a "cool" effect and sent it onto the new owner's way to gift it off.






Total time in the build was approximately 4 hours, not including drying time. Total cost in supplies, approximately $50: $5 for the gold paint, $5 for the primer, $30 for the XTC, and just about $10 worth of filament, though again, not factoring in time, already owning the machine and elbow grease behind it. Added sound chip was $12 and a very cool feature the new owner greatly enjoyed when testing it out before packing it up.

Video and audio can be found here if interested: https://www.facebook.com/ironhammerprops/videos/534817920207522/

Very cool

thank you sir! it was a fun project and just a bit of an example of working out 3d print lines

Very nice job! It looks so cool! How did you print the big parts? Downward to reduce the supports? What level of resolution did you use? I am jumping on the same project. Thanks for the motivation!

FRJOEBLACK said:

Very nice job! It looks so cool! How did you print the big parts? Downward to reduce the supports? What level of resolution did you use? I am jumping on the same project. Thanks for the motivation!

Click to expand...

I printed all of the parts laying down. like the face and back plate laying down on the table in one of the photos I have posted up top. You will get some stringing on the inside but its minimal and easy to clean up, as long as your machine is tuned well. I tried printing the face in 2 seperate parts, with the eyes on the bed and in one big part, it was just easier to print the face in one big part. Resolution was .3 layer height, was not worried about using anything higher as I just covered it in wood filler, sanded it out (that's the yellow stuff in the picture of the gray face) and then covered it in xtc. Very fast project, one I'll put in a bit more time for with my own. It took 2.5 weeks but that was in the middle of rain, cold weather, busy end of the year work festivities and all of that so it was a pretty quick turnaround time overall.

shenphong said:

I printed all of the parts laying down. like the face and back plate laying down on the table in one of the photos I have posted up top. You will get some stringing on the inside but its minimal and easy to clean up, as long as your machine is tuned well. I tried printing the face in 2 seperate parts, with the eyes on the bed and in one big part, it was just easier to print the face in one big part. Resolution was .3 layer height, was not worried about using anything higher as I just covered it in wood filler, sanded it out (that's the yellow stuff in the picture of the gray face) and then covered it in xtc. Very fast project, one I'll put in a bit more time for with my own. It took 2.5 weeks but that was in the middle of rain, cold weather, busy end of the year work festivities and all of that so it was a pretty quick turnaround time overall.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick answer! I I will give a try just after this post. Never thought of wood filler, I usually use bondo.

Bondo works too, wood filler works in specific instances for me. On its own with primer, probably not, since its coated in resin, works just fine for me. YMMV

Work in progress! Next move is a sound card with a PIR detector for random C3PO's complaints.

:thumbsup