UPDATED: 12/10/2017 6:40 AM
So I've been working for 2 months on trying to get a Laser Axe designed and built and I'm calling version 2 done. I've spent countless hours trying to discern fuzzy details from promotional materials and I think this is close enough for Phase 1. I know there are some issues that I'd like to correct, both in accuracy and in the mesh, but due to time I'm capping it off so that you guys can hopefully print and assemble before the movie opening. I will likely do a version 3 early in the year to clean things up and tweak the shape of the "hinges". All that this means for now that I just Netfabbed some areas of concern to get it printable quickly so I've got some "interesting" meshes in the files that are now a pain to edit. I will redo those later. It will work for now and it will look great as we've already had them out in the wild.
I did attempt to make assembly as simply as I could while retaining strength. I've also separated parts that get painted differently to virtually eliminate the need to mask. In the end though, this was my first 3D project so it's far from perfect.
Here are a few things to note.
Here are the files! Enjoy and please post pics of your builds or any questions/issues you have.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx3hhQ2CwEKabmRGVktoWWN0dDg
ASSEMBLY
I hope to post some simple instructions soon, but for now I can say that all you need hardware-wise are the items listed below.
1" x 1/8" aluminum bar (2 feet, cut to fit)
This should fit neatly in the slots of all the end parts and give the whole top end strength. You can see a bit of it here.
Here is where I drilled the lower hole.
1" wooden dowel (3 feet)
This should fit very neatly in the handle parts. You will need to bondo the joins on it and possibly add some glue filler to get it to fit just right. The reason for slicing it this way is because it prints really nice with no supports. It's worked really well for me on three of these now.
1" very thin black washers (4 of them)
These should just be as thin as you can find (like 1/16" inch) and they go in between the claw hinges. They greatly aid in the friction that keeps the claws open, but you don't want them taking up much space. This is a bit experimental, but is probably the way to go.
UPDATE: I was unable to find the exact washers in a quick hurry as I wrap up two builds of these, but simply cutting a little piece off of them and gluing the to one of the hinges has added a whole lot of friction so this will work for now.
Paint Prep
I highly recommend Rustoleum spray filler primer. Bondo makes one too - and in black - but it's harder to find and it takes twice as much paint to fill. Does a great job with 3D print lines. I also highly recommend using Bondo Glaze on the blades because that silvery sheen really shows the print lines.
Paint
I used the following paints for this. I highly recommend them both for the colors and the results.
So I've been working for 2 months on trying to get a Laser Axe designed and built and I'm calling version 2 done. I've spent countless hours trying to discern fuzzy details from promotional materials and I think this is close enough for Phase 1. I know there are some issues that I'd like to correct, both in accuracy and in the mesh, but due to time I'm capping it off so that you guys can hopefully print and assemble before the movie opening. I will likely do a version 3 early in the year to clean things up and tweak the shape of the "hinges". All that this means for now that I just Netfabbed some areas of concern to get it printable quickly so I've got some "interesting" meshes in the files that are now a pain to edit. I will redo those later. It will work for now and it will look great as we've already had them out in the wild.
Here are a few things to note.
- The files are free to use for printing your own set. The only caveat is that they aren't to be shared on another hosting service (either use the Drive link or this thread) and I don't want them to be used for casting and molding. Printing sets for sale is perfectly fine.
- A prop maker I'm working with might be ordered casted versions of these with a charity component to it, but we're still working out the details.
- I know the tab slots for the claws are a tad too precise as the tabs don't easily fit, but it's an easy fix and I have to stop tweaking this stuff if I ever want to make it usable soon.
- Some credit goes to Germain (The5thHorseman) as I used a slightly tweaked version of his Hengstler and End Cap files for this.
Here are the files! Enjoy and please post pics of your builds or any questions/issues you have.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx3hhQ2CwEKabmRGVktoWWN0dDg
ASSEMBLY
I hope to post some simple instructions soon, but for now I can say that all you need hardware-wise are the items listed below.
1" x 1/8" aluminum bar (2 feet, cut to fit)
This should fit neatly in the slots of all the end parts and give the whole top end strength. You can see a bit of it here.
Here is where I drilled the lower hole.
1" wooden dowel (3 feet)
This should fit very neatly in the handle parts. You will need to bondo the joins on it and possibly add some glue filler to get it to fit just right. The reason for slicing it this way is because it prints really nice with no supports. It's worked really well for me on three of these now.
1" very thin black washers (4 of them)
These should just be as thin as you can find (like 1/16" inch) and they go in between the claw hinges. They greatly aid in the friction that keeps the claws open, but you don't want them taking up much space. This is a bit experimental, but is probably the way to go.
UPDATE: I was unable to find the exact washers in a quick hurry as I wrap up two builds of these, but simply cutting a little piece off of them and gluing the to one of the hinges has added a whole lot of friction so this will work for now.
Paint Prep
I highly recommend Rustoleum spray filler primer. Bondo makes one too - and in black - but it's harder to find and it takes twice as much paint to fill. Does a great job with 3D print lines. I also highly recommend using Bondo Glaze on the blades because that silvery sheen really shows the print lines.
Paint
I used the following paints for this. I highly recommend them both for the colors and the results.
- Black - Montana Gold Shock Black. You can tape it less than 2 hours later!
- Silver - Montana Gold Chrome. Same cure time as above.
- White - Rustoleum x2 Ultra Paint + Primer. This is the same as most FOTK armor and I wanted mine to match. I also love the glossy sheen, though the cure time sucks.
- Clear - I used Montana Gold flat/satin clear coat on all but the glossy white parts, after weathering with an airbrush.
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