District 9 Assault Rifle Build - Finished! (Pic heavy)

tmax

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Hey guys. So I'm a huge Weta fan and love the D9 guns. I got halfway through @wondersquids Arc Gen resin kit when we decided to pack up and head overseas for a while.

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For a long time I've wanted the Assault Rifle and to this day kick myself sideways for not buying the last one Weta sold at Armagedon (NZ's lame version of Comicon) 8 or so years ago for $800 NZD. Which is like $35 USD! Lol. All that to say, the Assault Rifle has been a grail for me for a long time.

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Currently in Canada, I have some down-time, so I managed to pick up this 3D printed kit of the Assault Rifle. Arrived today.

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The print looks pretty good and definitely the most accurate 3D print of this gun I've seen.

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Will need some minor mods, including some small detail greeblies just above and back from the trigger.

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There are 2 or 3 flaws in the design, but pretty easy fixes. Here you can see half a divot printed in the wrong place (easily filled) and where the bottom tube is mounted to the gun is meant to be flat.

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Front upper tube is a little fatter than it's suppose to be, so might replace that.

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The best part of this thing is the size, almost 100% full scale.

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So before I begin, I have some decisions and I'd love your input...
1 - Adding moving trigger and electronics. This is an obvious mod and I seriously considered it. Things like a sound board that made the right sound and maybe LEDs on the tips of the 24 pointy thingies (yes, that IS the technical term), or at least a LED in the barrel that lights up when fired. However, watching the scenes with the rifle over a few times, there really isn't any part of the gun that lights up. Just the electricity that generates then bursts out. A little hard to replicate outside the CG world. Which is probably why Weta produced a static prop as the screen used prop was most likely static too.
2 - Adding weight. Bit of a catch 22 here. I LOVE the weight of a solid resin prop, as the Weta replica is. So I'm inclined to add weight to this thing. But then, try wield a full-size Weta D9 Rifle around for a while and see if your arms don't fall off! It's great to hold for a couple minutes, but would suck to walk around with at a convention. This being much lighter is perfect for cosplay, but as I'm not really into cosplay, it will spend most of it's time hanging on the wall. So I could go either way on this.

Feel free to share to your thoughts and opinions on both these topics, or anything else you wanna mention.

Cheers,
T.
 
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Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

I was always bummed I missed out on Weta's District 9 guns, I loved the designs of these. Are they available in kit form at many places? As far as your question I would honestly skip adding lights since the originals didn't have them, they look great without them anyway with the color scheme they used. Sounds might be cool but I personally would skip that too and just make sure they have some heft to them.
 
Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

As far as weight, you could made a second set of cylinders / parts, with weight added to them, which would then be swappable with the lighter set via some sturdy connectors.
 
Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

Sweet. What're ya doin in the Great White ? Your PKD collection is pretty much the inspiration for mine lol.
 
Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

look forward to seeing your finished work, that kit looks very detailed. It’ll make a hefty presence in the collection. Congrats. I have the Weta arc and rifle and absolutely love them.
 
Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

I was always bummed I missed out on Weta's District 9 guns, I loved the designs of these. Are they available in kit form at many places? As far as your question I would honestly skip adding lights since the originals didn't have them, they look great without them anyway with the color scheme they used. Sounds might be cool but I personally would skip that too and just make sure they have some heft to them.

Yeah, I tend to agree. Not worth modding it if it doesn’t actually make it a more accurate prop.

As far as availability, this is the only kit I’ve seen offered. I’ve only seen 1 other actually printed (not offered) and it’s way undersized and inaccurate. I’m very happy with this.


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Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

As far as weight, you could made a second set of cylinders / parts, with weight added to them, which would then be swappable with the lighter set via some sturdy connectors.

I like your thinking. This is something I could do at a later date when I have access to the right equipment. Currently in my in-laws basement I’m pretty limited with what I can achieve.

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Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

Sweet. What're ya doin in the Great White ? Your PKD collection is pretty much the inspiration for mine lol.

Thank you kind sir. Although I’m not sure if inspiring you deeper into a PKD addiction is a good or bad thing. Depends who you ask I guess, me or my wife! [emoji23]

Why we are here? To bask in your Atlantic Canadian winter of course. Sheesh! It’s snowing already. Lol.

Seriously though, here for a bit staying with my wife’s family until we move to the US (Texas) which will probably be next year after the movie I made comes out. Due for nationwide release in New Zealand in Feb next year...

https://youtu.be/Yhke8cgrarU


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District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

look forward to seeing your finished work, that kit looks very detailed. It’ll make a hefty presence in the collection. Congrats. I have the Weta arc and rifle and absolutely love them.

Well played! I think I’ll always want the Weta versions, just coz they’re by Weta. You go on the Weta Workshop Tour in Wellington and they have the molds of the rifle right there for you to touch and drool over. Then next to that is a Weta D9 Rifle literally chained to the workbench. The chain is there for guys like me that would surely try stuff that thing down their pants and bolt for the door yelling “You’ll never take me alive Peter Jackson!”

I could outrun Peter any day [emoji1360][emoji1363]


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Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

Very cool to here you’ve got to go to the Weta workshop, must’ve been a great experience. Lol, they must’ve had some metal cutters laying around in the workshop to quickly cut the chain for a chance of s free D9 ;)

Your movie trailer looks awesome!
 
Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

Very cool to here you’ve got to go to the Weta workshop, must’ve been a great experience. Lol, they must’ve had some metal cutters laying around in the workshop to quickly cut the chain for a chance of s free D9 ;)

Your movie trailer looks awesome!

Thanks mate, I appreciate your compliment. :)
 
Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

Small update. Glued main body parts together.

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I kept the main body in 2 parts for now for easier sanding.

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After an hour sanding one side of the main body, I gave it 3 layers of filler primer. This was more of a test than anything, to see how well the filler primer works. But it also highlights all the parts that need work (joins, filament flaws, etc).

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Will get far more progress next week.
 
Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

Spent 12 hours on it today. Too tired to post pics. Update to follow...


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Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

Ok, here we go...


Quite a few parts of the 3D print needed work...

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The end cylinder is too fat, or maybe the end of the rifle is too narrow. Either way the easiest fix was to mod the cylinder...

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Another cylinder sits here, but the body of the rifle is the wrong shape to accommodate the cylinder...

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First we make a hole...

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I need to shape the part that the cylinder sits in. Next to me was an empty tub of protein with scoop...

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Looks about the right size...

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Washed, cut and fit in place...

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Time to ice the cake...

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Nice curve...

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That'll work...

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Next mod, the large lower cylinder is meant to sit on a flat surface on the body of the gun, but the gun is curved...

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This leaves a gap which just won't do...

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This time we'll recruit a yogurt container lid...

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In place...

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Filled and sanded...

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Taking shape...

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The end ignition nozzle didn't print very well, especially the rings...

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Tried to tidy them up and they pretty much fell apart...

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Went on a hunt for replacement parts and found a machined aluminium part the exact size! Stoked.

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A few washes and a bolt...

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Discovered another weak part while sanding...

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Found a small part that inserted into the housing that I could glue the nib to...

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Between all this, more filler/primer followed by sanding...

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Did a test with the lower cylinder, no pre-sanding, just the raw print followed by filler/primer. 3 coats then sand. Another 3 coats, then sand. After 6 coats in total it was smooth enough to paint. This pick is after the first 3 coats before sanding...

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The gas jets (or so I believe they are called), appear black in a lot of pics, but they are actually a very dark metallic...

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Other parts painted...

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The jets also have silver tips, took me a while to get this right as I'm using rattle cans. Got there on about the 23rd jet. Lol.

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And this is where I am up to. Main gun body glued together. Then it fell over and broke in 3 places, so glued again. Then touched up with model putty. The repainted. Then sanded... on and on it goes...

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By tonight I'll have the white coat down on the main body. Another 12 hour day...
 
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Re: District 9 Assault Rifle Build (3D kit)

look forward to seeing your finished work, that kit looks very detailed. It’ll make a hefty presence in the collection. Congrats. I have the Weta arc and rifle and absolutely love them.

Hey Sewbacca can you please tell me what paint finish is on the rifle - gloss, satin or mat (flat). From what I can tell from the pics I’ve seen it’s either satin or mat, but hard to be sure. I’m using satin white, semi-gloss back and gloss orange but will then clear coat the body of the rifle in satin clear. Unless it’s meant to be flat?


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