I'm using PETG for the joints and for the T fork connecting the top disc to the lower part. I'm tempted to print the joints using ABS and I have eSun ABS that matches the color of the eSun PLA used for many of the smaller parts (and it's only slightly lighter than the HK Silver PLA used for the larger parts). The problem with PETG is that while it's slightly flexible and quite strong, it will crack if bent too far, whereas ABS would break quite as catastrophically. I one of the PETG joints already cracked before the convention, but I haven't had any failures since. The cracked part was fixed with superglue (it was just a tiny crack) and I'll probably use it for one of the legs and just hope it lasts.
Almost everything is straight out of the printer. PETG tends to string a bit, but the strings come off quite easily. The clear PETG is lightly spray-painted with silver paint from a can.
The shoulder pieces have each one edge that isn't perfect. I did a bit of sanding and used 220°C soldering iron to smooth one of them, but neither side is currently perfect. I don't have a good work space for sanding and painting, so I'm trying to keep that to a minimum. I'm quite pleased with the surface finish of most of the parts and don't mind showing that they are prints as the print quality is quite decent. I mostly use 0.2mm layer height, but some parts are 0.1mm and others are 0.2mm/0.1mm hybrid. I think the most important thing in terms of print quality is that all the parts are designed to be 3D printed and there's a good print orientation for every part. In many cases, this means that I print quite a few smaller parts that twist-lock, screw, clip or snap together. No glue is needed in the armor build (the sword has epoxy glue in one spot), but there's a whole bunch of 5mm screws (ranging from 6mm to 25mm in length) and a couple of smaller non-machine thread screws and washers in the back piece. One of the pieces (the battery terminals in the smaller pistons) are designed so that they can be welded together in one spot.
Not using glue means I can diassemble and reassemble the armor quite easily and replace individual parts with upgrades (or replace broken parts, if that happens).
Almost everything is straight out of the printer. PETG tends to string a bit, but the strings come off quite easily. The clear PETG is lightly spray-painted with silver paint from a can.
The shoulder pieces have each one edge that isn't perfect. I did a bit of sanding and used 220°C soldering iron to smooth one of them, but neither side is currently perfect. I don't have a good work space for sanding and painting, so I'm trying to keep that to a minimum. I'm quite pleased with the surface finish of most of the parts and don't mind showing that they are prints as the print quality is quite decent. I mostly use 0.2mm layer height, but some parts are 0.1mm and others are 0.2mm/0.1mm hybrid. I think the most important thing in terms of print quality is that all the parts are designed to be 3D printed and there's a good print orientation for every part. In many cases, this means that I print quite a few smaller parts that twist-lock, screw, clip or snap together. No glue is needed in the armor build (the sword has epoxy glue in one spot), but there's a whole bunch of 5mm screws (ranging from 6mm to 25mm in length) and a couple of smaller non-machine thread screws and washers in the back piece. One of the pieces (the battery terminals in the smaller pistons) are designed so that they can be welded together in one spot.
Not using glue means I can diassemble and reassemble the armor quite easily and replace individual parts with upgrades (or replace broken parts, if that happens).