While I'm working away on my metal coyle blaster I decided to work on the force badge as a side project.
Original force badge picture from worldcon by Karl Tate
I started by bringing the original image into rhino, my preferred modeling software, to pull measurements and allow me to print templates accurately to scale. I started with dimensions given over on propsummit by Buch which are Height 4 1/8" H (10,5 cm) x Width 3 1/8" W (7,9 cm).
After scaling the picture in rhino I decided to make the walls 1.5mm thick and 6mm high. The 6mm high was a total guess because the available reference pics don't show the badge from the side to get a accurate dimension. I contemplated sending the frame out to print but decided that it would be easy enough to make it out of styrene. I printed out some templates from the model to use for cutting out the styrene pieces.
The badge shape piece was cut out from 1mm styrene and served as the base shape to bend the 1.5mm sides around. I used a heat gun to soften up the 1.5mm styrene then bent it around the base and welded together with plastruct plastic weld. I did the short sides first making the strips much longer than they needed to be then trimmed them down after welding. Then I added the long sides and finished up with some sanding to blend the sides together.
Also I got the center bezel. It is a found piece, a coin bezel meant for holding silver dollars onto belt buckles. The source I used only had gold at the time but I have since found the silver version that I will use on the finished pieces.
Original force badge picture from worldcon by Karl Tate
I started by bringing the original image into rhino, my preferred modeling software, to pull measurements and allow me to print templates accurately to scale. I started with dimensions given over on propsummit by Buch which are Height 4 1/8" H (10,5 cm) x Width 3 1/8" W (7,9 cm).
After scaling the picture in rhino I decided to make the walls 1.5mm thick and 6mm high. The 6mm high was a total guess because the available reference pics don't show the badge from the side to get a accurate dimension. I contemplated sending the frame out to print but decided that it would be easy enough to make it out of styrene. I printed out some templates from the model to use for cutting out the styrene pieces.
The badge shape piece was cut out from 1mm styrene and served as the base shape to bend the 1.5mm sides around. I used a heat gun to soften up the 1.5mm styrene then bent it around the base and welded together with plastruct plastic weld. I did the short sides first making the strips much longer than they needed to be then trimmed them down after welding. Then I added the long sides and finished up with some sanding to blend the sides together.
Also I got the center bezel. It is a found piece, a coin bezel meant for holding silver dollars onto belt buckles. The source I used only had gold at the time but I have since found the silver version that I will use on the finished pieces.
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