My progress on Gen 3 armor

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HydrolicToaster

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Update post!

I'm really excited to continue on this journey so I thought I'd share where I am with it and what I learned.
I'm hoping other newer people can grab some tips from this and the more experienced people can help guide me where to go next.
As always, shout out to the legend MoeSizzlac for the files

Quick overview of the process - I am 3D printing with PLA+ and plan on coating it with epoxy for extra protection and weight.

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Printer is an Ender Pro 3
So far I have successfully printed:
- Left forearm
- Right forearm
- Back right of the helmet
- Front bottom right of the helmet
- Top right of the helmet
- 2x Hand armor

Problems I've run into:
- I had some problems printing the backplate of the helmet. For some reason the print is just really messy. Could be a bed leveling issue or the angle I printed it at.
- Had some problems with bed adhesion. I print everything with a raft and supports now. It is a little messy but it is worth lessening the risk of the print failing.
- I scaled the forearm to be too long because I was afraid to make the scaling not uniform. After convincing myself that all bodies are different, I changed this thinking and made it shorter.
- The bicep armor seemed tiny so I made it larger. Mistake. Not only does it make movement more difficult but it also had a weird print error on the tips of the armor.
- Had some weird problems with the files. They would print with holes in them that weren't present when I viewed them on the computer. I used the repair tool and it solved this.
- I tried to epoxy one of the forearms but I didn't have a good sized work space, light, and I live in Iowa so it is really cold right now.

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Print error on bicep armor

20220106_123010.jpg

Pile of shame

I've learned a ton since my last post. In the interest of possibly learning more, I'll list out the big ones here.

- Test prints are your friends.
- Plastic welding can be nice if done right but requires a bunch of process work to get the surface flat/smooth.
- Even if it juuuuuust fits on your 3D print bed, consider slicing it and printing it in two. I've been hurt too many times by long prints ending up with a problem or two.
- Even if it is just an estimate, I've been recording estimates print time and filament usage in the file names.
- Use a putty spreader with bondo paste to get smooth surfaces.
- A little epoxy goes a long way.
- Besides obviously getting the right ratios, mix your epoxy well. If you still find that it is tacky a couple days later, you didn't mix it well enough.

20220106_122809.jpg

Got an enclosure because my printer has to be in my room. Moving filament + cat is asking for problems.

Questions
I'm still not 100% sure how I'm going to get the shin armor on. Does it need to be scaled so that I can fit my foot through it?
I have no idea how I'm going to make the boots. I'd rather not just do a loose covering.. might have to experiment.
Since I'm in the Midwest, is there anything I have to do to join their regiment? Maybe complete the armor first? :p

Feel free to leave any feedback, questions, comments, tips and tricks, etc.

Thanks for all the help so far!
 
For the shins I found printing small sections to test if a leg would fit to be very useful. Just a few millimeters of whatever opening might give you trouble will let you see if it fits without wasting time or material. I've not looked at the Gen 3 stuff in a slicer but for my MKV I did some tweeking until my foot would fit through the whole thing. Depending in the model it might be necessary to separate a section to allow for this and clamp everything back together as it's worn.
 
S225 makes a really good point.

I would like to also add that you can cut out a piece and reattached with stretchrite so that the piece can expand enough to let your foot/hand into the armor. See post #9 here:
 
Awesome work so far!
As for regiment requirements, there are 2: 50 (meaningful) posts, that means threads, comments on other threads, etc. and the account must be at least 90 days old. Yours certainly meets that req!
As for shins, they can be tough to get on. Mine are a struggle, but I'm just barely able to stretch them on (they're foam). Some people will cut it into 2 parts so they can open it then close it.
 
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