The future is now! 3d printing armor

[Drazuam]

Hello all. Long time lurker here wanting to start a project.

I've decided that I'm going to [very] gradually print out a full set of Halo 4 style mkVI armor. That seems crazy, right? Maybe not so much actually.
In this thread I will:

• Talk about my reasoning to 3d print, and pros/cons as I go through the process
• Show off my build as I piece it together
• Take a bunch of feedback from you guys (hopefully)
• Give how-to's on finishing 3d-printed pieces
• Provide .stl files of what I am printing so that others may join in

PROS OF 3D PRINTING

• Not that expensive anymore - Cheap filament costs around $7/pound (Inland ABS from microcenter)
• Lightweight - Due to the nature of 3d printing, armor should come out lighter than fiberglass
  • Because of this, a full set would be cheaper than you think...
• STRONG - Using the right settings and a tuned printer, 3d printing can make very strong pieces.
  • ABS (material they make legos from) will bend a little bit before giving way, very rarely cracks
  • PLA will be more brittle, closer to fiberglass over cardstock.
• Gets the figure juuuust right - including symmetry and minor details that might warp with a pepakura approach
• Not limited to 2D geometry (in a 3d plane)
• Set and forget - not much work goes into forming the basic shape of the armor

CONS OF 3D PRINTING

• Not very accessible - a good printer to use with abs (and have a large enough build volume) will run around $400-500
• Long hours for printing. VERY long.
• Still have to finish with sanding/bondo
• Has to be a little thicker than pepakura builds

Q. But it still must be expensive, right?
A. Well, if you factor in the savings on fiberglass, fiberglass mat, and a good amount of bondo, the cost of forming the parts for a full suit are only slightly more expensive via 3D printing (maybe 1.5x). Looking forward, I'm estimating $150 to $200 spent on filament (which of course is probably underestimating).

anyway

ON TO THE BUILD!

First of all, this right here is my girl:


I've got an xyz Davinci 1.0 flashed with repetier. It's got a 20x20x20 cm build volume, a heated bed for abs, full enclosure, and a pretty large amount of sensors. I've had to fiddle with it a lot to get it to print just right, but It's tuned in very well. In addition, I've had to perform several maintenance tasks and upgrades to some of the hardware (cheap chinese parts), but overall it's a pretty good printer for $400-500 if you're a tinkerer.

Using said printer I gradually fabricated the parts from this helmet on thingiverse. I was mostly using it to test/calibrate my printer, but then I had a full set so I just had to put it together. I finished it with bondo and a good bit of sanding, installed a visor, and painted it a dark blue for the following result:



I'm not too happy about the paint job... I think I went a little overboard on the distressing/battle-scarring. Overall it turned out fairly well, which convinced me to make an attempt at a whole set. I'm just enjoying the ride, so I don't mind that it's going to take forever. I'll just have my printer running in the background while I do other things for a semester or so. (or so I tell myself) After all, it's not like it's doing anything when it's just sitting there collecting dust.

While looking for a set of complete stl's, I found either horrible ones, incomplete sets, non-sliced parts, or people unwilling to share the stl's that they've made. In response I got a few 3D modelling programs and picked up a copy of pepakura. Using pepakura I can export any pdo as an obj, and from there I can thicken it however much I need in various suites. Using that workflow I can basically print any pdo, and make adjustments when necessary. The first piece I'm trying this on is a shoulder. Below you can see the result of thickening the obj, then cutting the pieces up and the product of the first piece I printed:



The print turned out detailed, lightweight, and pretty damn strong. I'll attach the stl's to this post, but keep in mind you'll need a 20x20x20 bed to get the full use out of them unless you split them down yourself. I'm now printing the second piece:




When it finishes printing I'll update this post or post again in this thread with some tips and tricks to combine the pieces, finish them, etc. I'm looking forward to sharing this project with you guys, should be pretty fun. All feedback is appreciated!

Edit: removed shoulder stl's for now. Master Builder doesn't want people modifying his file and redistributing it. Going to send him a message asking for permission to convert to stl and release.

 

[Lazarus215]

Nice! I've been 3D printring things too. I tried to do an Anubis helm from H5 (see below)


Unfortunately, there was a discrepancy in my steps/mm setting on my Z axis, and it threw a good bit of stuff off. it also needed a metric ton of support material, and it was WAY too small (even though I thought I scaled it right.). So I mostly stick to printing weapons. I'm working on a Railgun now. should be done in about a week.... printing.... maybe more than that....
So far (front end of barrel. Print time ~14 hours)
Printing now (Next 2 sections of top and bottom barrel. (~ 10 hours into the print.) also, my set up (Folgertech Prussa i3. going to be switching the hot end out for an E3D chimera soon (hopefully) with a 250x250x175mm build platform.)

 

[MoeSizzlac]

Subscribed! Thank you for going through these steps. I've been thinking about taking the 3d plunge for too long. Your work looks awesome.

 

[Reclaimara]

Damn, that helmet looks nice so far! I hope to see more from you... also I envy all people who can afford and have a 3D printer. XD

 

[Lazarus215]

Marawuff,
if you check out the Folgertech i3 DIY kits, theyre fairly cheap (about $300 all said and done) the only issue would be then assembling and coding. I wouldn't be opposed to sharing my config files if someone were to get into this and needed some help. unfortunately my knowledge isn't all that great on the coding, so I wouldn't be able to fully help with much of anything else.

 

[peterthethinker]

Welcome to the print club.

Be for warned . Its addictive!. I did a Halo 4 MC and I am just starting a Clovi elite.

Looks lke you are off to a good start .

My MC took 600 hours and close to 500 bucks .
You Will want to re enforce it with glass inside on major parts!. I fallen in my suit and 200Lbs of dude falling 5 feet on to concrete Will shatter parts.
Peter

 

[Deleted member 19386]

how didnyou buff out the layer lines?

 

[Lazarus215]

how didnyou buff out the layer lines?

to get rid of lines, you can do a number of things.
1. There is a wonderful product called XTC-3D. Its a 2 part mixture that, when applied, makes the printed object have a nice, smooth- self levelled finish, it works GREAT and I highly recommend it.

2. Sand... a lot.... If you get your pieces to be printed with more perimeters, you've got some leeway to have at your piece with a sander/sanding block. Unfortunately, if you get a little overzealous, you can ruin the print.

3. Use a primer to try and do what the XTC-3D would do, but this can lead to uneven spots, a loss of detail, and the need to sand the majority of it down.


Overall, XTC-3D is the way to go IMO. It still requires some sanding, but very minimal compared to other means.

 

[Rahksi]

to get rid of lines, you can do a number of things.
1. There is a wonderful product called XTC-3D. Its a 2 part mixture that, when applied, makes the printed object have a nice, smooth- self levelled finish, it works GREAT and I highly recommend it.

2. Sand... a lot.... If you get your pieces to be printed with more perimeters, you've got some leeway to have at your piece with a sander/sanding block. Unfortunately, if you get a little overzealous, you can ruin the print.

3. Use a primer to try and do what the XTC-3D would do, but this can lead to uneven spots, a loss of detail, and the need to sand the majority of it down.


Overall, XTC-3D is the way to go IMO. It still requires some sanding, but very minimal compared to other means.

Look into Acetone vapor bathing. There is a cold vapor method that is relatively safe (safer than working with fiberglass resin, I do it without a respirator), and has fantastic results in smoothing prints and glossing it. You basically just leave your piece in a container with Acetone and let it evaporate inside the container.

 

[peterthethinker]

ILl 2nd the Acetone wash . I use a gloved hand.
But ya cant use it with PLA..............

 

[Drazuam]

Of course as soon as I start a thread on here my printer jams up. I got about 60% through the 2nd shoulder piece and it clogged pretty badly (hasn't happened in months). It might be a while before I post here again. Still waiting on word back from Master Builder before I release the stl's

You Will want to re enforce it with glass inside on major parts!. I fallen in my suit and 200Lbs of dude falling 5 feet on to concrete Will shatter parts.
Peter

Yeah I suppose I could see that. What settings do you print with? I could see a durable, malleable abs outer shell with a supportive fiberglass backing as a pretty strong material

how didnyou buff out the layer lines?

On the helmet I used filler primer, sanding, and bondo. Overall it came out well, but there are still a spots where you can tell it's 3d printed.

to get rid of lines, you can do a number of things.
1. There is a wonderful product called XTC-3D. Its a 2 part mixture that, when applied, makes the printed object have a nice, smooth- self levelled finish, it works GREAT and I highly recommend it.

Overall, XTC-3D is the way to go IMO. It still requires some sanding, but very minimal compared to other means.

I've heard of XTC-3D but have never used it. I'll have to order some and give it a shot in this thread later.

 

[peterthethinker]

I run about 3-5 mm prints 100% infill for my MC.
The full scale elite armor I just started today is a mix of fills. I learned a TON from the MC armor.

So some parts are 4 perms and 0 infill . Ill use some holes and back feed with Foam.
Some are 3 mm and are 100% fill and are gonna be glass backed .. * remember to use 2 part epoxy , Not poly resin as the latter won't stick!*

Elites are organic in shape. So smooth armor is a Must.
Ive added in blender some more smoothing but I know I wanna do it in post too.
I was gonna do thinner walls but the advantage to a thick wall is that I can in post remove some of the polygons via sanding .
Then acetone wash..