FoxtrotZero
Jr Member
I thought a post like this might be better suited for the New Recruits forum, but apparently I'm no longer able to create new threads there. The actual content of this post pertains, primarily, to 3D printing, so I figured this is a good secondary choice.
If you don't know me, don't worry, there's no real reason you should. I showed up a few months back and was active for a while before my studies at University consumed my life once more (I've been buried under 19 units this semester, plus a schedule that has me waking up at 6:30 most days to catch the bus). If you're one of the few people that does recognize me, I'm "back" - I can't guarantee I'll maintain a strong presence, but I'm going to try to maintain a constant one, not least of which because seeing the great work around here is my largest motivator (that, and the guilt trip imposed by my workbench).
If you want to know more about me, I wrote one hell of a text wall when I first showed up on this site, which you can find here. I can't honestly recommend reading all of that unless you're a bit of a masochist. Most of it pertains to my proposed build for a set of ODST armour, which I've since refined a bit, but not actually gotten far on.
Since posting that, I acquired some materials and started on a pepakura build. The first thing I did was the low-poly tester helmet, which I'm glad I did, because it did a lot to help me understand sizing (read: was a good several cm too small). That's still sitting, somewhat ravaged, on the shelf over my workbench. Then I got into it proper with one of the shin pieces. "It'll be good experience", I thought. "It's got a little bit of everything", I thought. "I can **** it up a bit and nobody will notice", I thought. God how I was naieve.
See, the shin pieces have a few things going for them that make them absolute hell. First, they're probably the largest or second largest piece of the set (the other being the thigh piece). Second, the entire front of them is a mess of small ridges and indentures. Third, every piece that isn't some tiny intricate bit involves these large, natural, calf-like curves, which are terrible to do in pepakura. And fourth, it's a closed, tubular structure (as opposed to a flat chest piece), which makes final assembly and test fitting a bitch. I still haven't finished that shin piece.
For the impatient or time-pressed among you, this is where I start discussing 3D printing
I'm terrible at segues so I'm going to jump right into it: It would be a whole **** of a lot simpler if I could just 3D print these pieces. It would be easier, probably faster (as far as man-hours is concerned), and probably more lightweight (since the primary material becomes plastic, not fiberglass). But I don't own a 3D printer, or have the files. Plus, some of these pieces would need to be broken up, and I don't know if the plastic (ABS, right?) is sturdy enough for what I want to do. Let us address these problems in order:
Access to a 3D printer: This one turns out not to be a problem. I have access to a fair few facilities through my university. As a freshman, they're not yet willing to let me into the Engineering department's fabrication center, but I happened to discover that the library has a 3D printer. They allow you to upload files and have them inserted into the queue for printing. The upside is that, best I can tell, they offer this service completely free. The downside is that, because they've only got a single Makerbot Replicator, it can take up to two weeks to have your part processed. Aside from the restrictions on size, the part has to print within 3 hours, and if it's over 40MB, you have to turn it in physically, with a flash drive. I really don't know how long it takes to print any size/amount of item, and thus, I don't know if this 3 hour limit would be a significant restriction.
Access to 3D files: I don't really expect this one to be a problem. Obviously 3D files of ODST armour exist, and I can imagine it's only so hard to turn these into 3D printer-acceptable formats. It also might not be a walk in the park. If anyone knows where I can get these resources, I'd appreciate the knowledge. To get a feel for the 3D printer, I've been thinking about having them print up the mask of an NCR Veteran Ranger from Fallout: New Vegas. The caveat is that I've never found a file for it, but since I have three different autoCAD programs on my computer, I think it might be worthwhile to exercise those skills. It is, after all, the printer I'm testing, not my own abilities.
Breaking up the pieces: Obviously this isn't inherently difficult, and might even work to my advantage with pieces such as the shinguards and vambraces (which I probably can't snake my way through, but will instead have to fasten together somehow), but there are two snags. The first is breaking them up in a clean manner, and the second is joining them back together. I'm not certain what sorts of glues or other harsh chemicals it takes to join two pieces of plastic like that, so that's knowledge I'd appreciate recieveing.
Structural stability of parts: I mean, I'm not expecting them to fall apart. But I expect they're going to get dinged around a bit, and it would be nice if they wouldn't crack. I assume the outside only needs sanding smooth, not a whole lot of bondo like a pepakura build needs. I don't know if bondo or fiberglass will adhere to the plastic (or, more importantly, if things like fiberglass resin will cause unpleasant reactions and/or gaseous products), but if one will do so (agreeably), then perhaps putting a thin layer of that through the inside would help with give it some sturdiness. If this is an option, it might actually be important, because thinner pieces would make it easier to avoid running up against the 3 hour time limit.
So, I don't know a whole lot about 3D printing other than the theory, but it's definitely something I'd like to learn about, and this is a great opportunity. If anyone can tell me whether this is a feasible project and, if so, help me answer some of these questions or at least point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it.
If you don't know me, don't worry, there's no real reason you should. I showed up a few months back and was active for a while before my studies at University consumed my life once more (I've been buried under 19 units this semester, plus a schedule that has me waking up at 6:30 most days to catch the bus). If you're one of the few people that does recognize me, I'm "back" - I can't guarantee I'll maintain a strong presence, but I'm going to try to maintain a constant one, not least of which because seeing the great work around here is my largest motivator (that, and the guilt trip imposed by my workbench).
If you want to know more about me, I wrote one hell of a text wall when I first showed up on this site, which you can find here. I can't honestly recommend reading all of that unless you're a bit of a masochist. Most of it pertains to my proposed build for a set of ODST armour, which I've since refined a bit, but not actually gotten far on.
Since posting that, I acquired some materials and started on a pepakura build. The first thing I did was the low-poly tester helmet, which I'm glad I did, because it did a lot to help me understand sizing (read: was a good several cm too small). That's still sitting, somewhat ravaged, on the shelf over my workbench. Then I got into it proper with one of the shin pieces. "It'll be good experience", I thought. "It's got a little bit of everything", I thought. "I can **** it up a bit and nobody will notice", I thought. God how I was naieve.
See, the shin pieces have a few things going for them that make them absolute hell. First, they're probably the largest or second largest piece of the set (the other being the thigh piece). Second, the entire front of them is a mess of small ridges and indentures. Third, every piece that isn't some tiny intricate bit involves these large, natural, calf-like curves, which are terrible to do in pepakura. And fourth, it's a closed, tubular structure (as opposed to a flat chest piece), which makes final assembly and test fitting a bitch. I still haven't finished that shin piece.
For the impatient or time-pressed among you, this is where I start discussing 3D printing
I'm terrible at segues so I'm going to jump right into it: It would be a whole **** of a lot simpler if I could just 3D print these pieces. It would be easier, probably faster (as far as man-hours is concerned), and probably more lightweight (since the primary material becomes plastic, not fiberglass). But I don't own a 3D printer, or have the files. Plus, some of these pieces would need to be broken up, and I don't know if the plastic (ABS, right?) is sturdy enough for what I want to do. Let us address these problems in order:
Access to a 3D printer: This one turns out not to be a problem. I have access to a fair few facilities through my university. As a freshman, they're not yet willing to let me into the Engineering department's fabrication center, but I happened to discover that the library has a 3D printer. They allow you to upload files and have them inserted into the queue for printing. The upside is that, best I can tell, they offer this service completely free. The downside is that, because they've only got a single Makerbot Replicator, it can take up to two weeks to have your part processed. Aside from the restrictions on size, the part has to print within 3 hours, and if it's over 40MB, you have to turn it in physically, with a flash drive. I really don't know how long it takes to print any size/amount of item, and thus, I don't know if this 3 hour limit would be a significant restriction.
Access to 3D files: I don't really expect this one to be a problem. Obviously 3D files of ODST armour exist, and I can imagine it's only so hard to turn these into 3D printer-acceptable formats. It also might not be a walk in the park. If anyone knows where I can get these resources, I'd appreciate the knowledge. To get a feel for the 3D printer, I've been thinking about having them print up the mask of an NCR Veteran Ranger from Fallout: New Vegas. The caveat is that I've never found a file for it, but since I have three different autoCAD programs on my computer, I think it might be worthwhile to exercise those skills. It is, after all, the printer I'm testing, not my own abilities.
Breaking up the pieces: Obviously this isn't inherently difficult, and might even work to my advantage with pieces such as the shinguards and vambraces (which I probably can't snake my way through, but will instead have to fasten together somehow), but there are two snags. The first is breaking them up in a clean manner, and the second is joining them back together. I'm not certain what sorts of glues or other harsh chemicals it takes to join two pieces of plastic like that, so that's knowledge I'd appreciate recieveing.
Structural stability of parts: I mean, I'm not expecting them to fall apart. But I expect they're going to get dinged around a bit, and it would be nice if they wouldn't crack. I assume the outside only needs sanding smooth, not a whole lot of bondo like a pepakura build needs. I don't know if bondo or fiberglass will adhere to the plastic (or, more importantly, if things like fiberglass resin will cause unpleasant reactions and/or gaseous products), but if one will do so (agreeably), then perhaps putting a thin layer of that through the inside would help with give it some sturdiness. If this is an option, it might actually be important, because thinner pieces would make it easier to avoid running up against the 3 hour time limit.
So, I don't know a whole lot about 3D printing other than the theory, but it's definitely something I'd like to learn about, and this is a great opportunity. If anyone can tell me whether this is a feasible project and, if so, help me answer some of these questions or at least point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it.