The Great Experiment-Or, How To Build Armor Without Really Trying...(Much)

[hobbitdude13]

The progress so far...



After a quick commission job, I'll be moving right on to the chest/back pieces.

 

[hobbitdude13]

Formatted this post wrong.

 

[hobbitdude13]

First chest pieces done:




Came up with a new technique for "dicing" 3D models for 3D printing. I first create a lattice of micron-thin cubes like this:




And if I place my model in the center, and Boolean-difference the lattice, it removes micron-thin sections in all 3 dimensions.

Then, once I go into edit mode, I can "L select" each section and separate it from the model. If anyone is interested, I'll gladly write a full tut for it.

But that's why there is a lot of visible seams on the chest piece, which are visible but running my finger over it I can't even feel them.
Filler primer will take care of them, and if not glazing putty will. Beats having huge pieces curling up off the print bed and having 1/4 inch gaps because of it.
I also tried hairspray on my print bed for the first time and it works BEAUTIFULLY. Idk why I ever screwed around with masking tape and glue sticks.

 

[peterthethinker]

Oh! for dicing that needs even parts that should work !

Cool!

OH and Yea HS is The go to fix for peeling prints .. do you raft?
HS and rafting is a gamechanger./

 

[hobbitdude13]

Oh! for dicing that needs even parts that should work !

Cool!

OH and Yea HS is The go to fix for peeling prints .. do you raft?
HS and rafting is a gamechanger./

Yes I started rafting with this build and its a huge improvement.

 

[hobbitdude13]

The chest piece continues to grow. This new method of super-small pieces is actually going faster in my mind.
I can stack multiple pieces on the bed at the same time easier.

 

[hobbitdude13]

Had to use up the rest of one of my red reels-kind of patchwork, but it'll all be primed over and painted anyway.

 

[KingRahl]

The chest piece continues to grow. This new method of super-small pieces is actually going faster in my mind.
I can stack multiple pieces on the bed at the same time easier.

I'm sure this is saving on the possibility of failed prints that would waste sooooo much time and plastic. The longer it's on the printer the greater the chance of failure. This is part of the reason I never went through with building a larger 3D printer. Although it still would be cool to print a full sized helmet without having to stitch it back together.

Had to use up the rest of one of my red reels-kind of patchwork, but it'll all be primed over and painted anyway.

I like it. Kind of like the silver shin on C3PO. I had an idea like that after playing Reach. Make a suit of armor that is very obvious I scavenged multiple suits to make one.

 

[hobbitdude13]

I'm sure this is saving on the possibility of failed prints that would waste sooooo much time and plastic. The longer it's on the printer the greater the chance of failure. This is part of the reason I never went through with building a larger 3D printer. Although it still would be cool to print a full sized helmet without having to stitch it back together.






I like it. Kind of like the silver shin on C3PO. I had an idea like that after playing Reach. Make a suit of armor that is very obvious I scavenged multiple suits to make one.

That'd actually be a really cool build, a post-glassing wasteland scavenger MJOLNIR armor.

 

[Reclaimara]

Damn you're so lucky. xD
The armor's lookins so good so far
Jelly of you having 3D printer haha

 

[hobbitdude13]

Got the front chest done-



And have started on the many back pieces for the torso.



I'm going to stick with the large side-button buckles I used on my old chest piece,
but I'm going to (fittingly) print my own so I know they'll be of the right size.

 

[hobbitdude13]

Turns out "print my own buckles" was a mistake.
ABS is far too brittle for this application, so I turned to an old rifle strap from when I was in the Marines for buckles.





It slightly increases the distance between the front and back pieces, but I can fill that in with foam padding.
I had to at least print an "adapter" so the male part of the buckle would be firmly attached to the back piece.

 

[hobbitdude13]

It's at this stage-as many of you know-that it really starts to FEEL like armor, and not just pieces of plastic or cardstock.



I've gotten to the point where I can wear the chest piece without having to hold it on. By the end of the week, I should, filament willing, be done with the back piece as a whole.

 

[peterthethinker]

Feels magical Eh!

 

[hobbitdude13]

Got the left arm wraparound done-



I've already begun conceptualizing where the padding will have to go for fit and comfort.



I'm printing the upper center piece right now, which will unite the back pieces into one.
I've got some alignment concept pins in mind for the lower connection as well.


(I have no idea why the forum keeps posting my pictures sideways.)

 

[hobbitdude13]

Did a quick test fit-rather comfortable, even without padding.
I don't have the back shoulder blade pieces printed yet, hence why it looks undersized.
And I DO realize hoodies aren't UNSC approved undersuiting for MJOLNIR

 

[peterthethinker]

Heck YES !!!!!!

Looking Really good !

 

[Ulfhedinn073]

This is friggin' kick ass. It's really cool to see the suit just slowly build.
If I had a printer I might try it this way, but the only one I have access to is in the local library, and it's probably got a 4 inch build space... And I'm not sure I want to sit in the library for the rest of my life to have a suit of armor. Can't wait to see how yours turns out though!

 

[Ckesner]

With all of the block slicing, are you having any problems getting the pieces to fit because of warping?

 

[hobbitdude13]

With all of the block slicing, are you having any problems getting the pieces to fit because of warping?

Sometimes. The biggest issue was some of the pieces I printed before I started using hairspray on the print bed did curl and causes some gaps. I'll fix those with Bondo. Otherwise since I'm using superglue I can just hold them in place until it sets and I'm good to go.