Shoretrooper - Droid Built!

[FarEast]

So it's been a while since I've built anything - I got hit by a car while riding home from work and sadly my left hand was pretty badly broken, crushed little finger, 4 out of 5 metacarple broken! the hand was in a pretty bad way and I was sporting more metal in my left hand than a Skywalker!

 

So i'm well on the mend now with 4 sessions a week of physiotherapy and to get my mojo back I bought a Prusa i3 MK2s kit with the full intention of putting it to good use! The original plan was to build either a 1st Order Stormtrooper or a Death Trooper but having seen Sean Feild's amazing 3D files I decided to build this.

 

So first of all, Thank you Sean for these files, utterly utterly beautiful!

 

So first the 3-D Printer - this is an official Prusa i3 Mk2s kit build, yes I know there are clones for cheaper but as I was new to this I wanted and needed any support from a dedicated community. Obviously I got the black edition - it's an imperial droid after all!

 

 

So I decided that I would print off the small detail parts first to get a feel for the printer - after reading several forums and talking to a few people that 3D print for a profession I decided to use PETG for the build.

 

 

The greeblie came out perfectly so I then decided to move on to the more complex snout.

 

 

 

So far so good! (everything dry fitted nothing bonded)

[FarEast]

The next run was on the central helmet dome - this was a pretty long print and so I set up the printer to start early Friday morning and finish Saturday at some point - I still hadn't found out there was a stealth mode (Silent) and the wife was getting a bit annoyed with its constant whirling and chirping - the vibration noise was the main issue though!

 

 

 

Sean's files are something else and this printed without any support structures -however the next print which was the cap dome sides would need some support structures in place.

 

Using the Prusa Control software it was just a simple button click away! I decided to print both sides at the same time as this would save time but risky if it misprinted!

 

 

A very long wait later!

 

 

As you can see the support structures were needed.

 

 

 

These just tear off leaving a very clean finish.

 

 

 

Some more dry fitting to make sure there was no warping.

 

 

 

[FarEast]

Next up was the Blast shield mount and the shield itself - I got my first misprint after my mother in-law decided to touch it while it was running! So I stopped the run, cleaned it all off tossed the PETG waste in the recycle bin and started again!

 

 

 

 

I also got some chemical bond that welds PETG together - much stronger than a glue.

 

 

 

Sunday 28th I had a marathon in Shonan City near Yokohama and just before I headed out the door I put another print on - this time the back section of the helmet and the back rim. This is another nice technical part that required some support structure.

 

 

These again are dry fitted to see if they meet up correctly and then bonded.

[FarEast]

So that brings us up to today.

 

I'm currently printing both the left and right sidewalls - here it has just at 6% and laying the foundations and the supporting structure.

 

 

when I left the house this morning they were 96% complete

 

 

Once I get home I'll start the cheek pieces, i'm not sure if I should do these separately or double up again.

[FarEast]

So last night I got home from work to find the base side walls complete. Nice clean prints however they are going to need some post production work - so I’ll be making so PETG putty later this week to hide the join lines and a few of the gaps, nothing major and to be expected on a large curved surface that’s broken in to parts.

 

 

 

 

As soon as the print bed was cleaned off and prepared I set the printer off again to build the left and right cheek parts.

 

At 5:00am this morning it was at 30% complete so it might be finished tonight when i get home. From there it will be on to the mask which will test the Z-Axis to

its limits I think.

 

[BikerScout007]

Amazing progress!

[FarEast]

Many thanks - its seriously good mental rehabilitation after my accident although building the printer was rather amusing for my wife to watch.

 

I've noted others have mentioned that Sean released the 3D print files for an E22 blaster but I've search for them but can't find them anywhere.

 

Do you or anyone else know where they can be obtained???

 

Opps! I guess in my excitement I overlooked that folder!

 

Hi James. There should be a folder with the rest of the parts titled “Shoretrooper blasterâ€, I believe. Those are the files. www.dropbox.com/sh/imzv4ozzy2kp7nj/AAB10VAQLbe9F6Is2G0JV8N6a?dl=0

Edited January 31, 2018 by FarEast

[Retrofire]

Looking forward to seeing your build progress to completion! Which ST version are you going to paint it in?

[FarEast]

So the left and right cheek parts failed, due to my wife trying to move it for some reason. So I decided that it was best to print them separately as it would be faster and safer.

 

I used the downtime to check the recalibration of the XYZ axis, unfortunately it seems that she twisted it when she picked up so and slightly twisted the axis - that was easily solved by loosening the Y-axis putting it on a perfect flat surface and retightening everything.

 

so with all the recalibration done it was back to printing!

 

 

 

 

Dry fitting - the tolerances are very

 

 

So with it bonded it was time to see how it was looking!!

 

 

[FarEast]

So this weekend I had big plans on getting the build of the helmet finished - sadly the printer had other ideas!

 

So first thing was to chemically weld the parts of the lower helmet together using PETG putty - using the support structure and the nasty chemical stuff I melted down the PETG in a glass Tamiya bottle - I know the plastic they use doesn't seem to react to anything nasty so I knew I was safe with them.

 

 

This I painted all over the joins making sure that it went in between the cracks and that it had a pretty good coat height ready for it to be sanded down.

 

 

I left it for a few hours outside to let the vapors vent off and then went at it with the electric sander.

 

 

A few areas that will need filling are gloss black but with a few coats of primer and sanding back they won't be visible.

 

 

I'm tempted to paint the chemical over the top of the sanded area to bring back the black gloss, however as this will be primed there is little point.

[FarEast]

So while I was letting the putty cure I was back on the printer making the face plate and this is where things started to get tricky!

 

This file my printer REALLY didn't like !After 5 attempts with different speeds- support material setups I decided to stop and see if it was the printer or the file.

 

With standard pillar support

 

With Sean's modified file

 

Both resulting in either a misprint or the actual print snapping off due to a weak support frame! This is going to need more research and I'd be interested to know what settings others used to print this part.

 

[FarEast]

So with these fails I decided to clean and check the print nozzle as I was getting irregular filament flow and heavy stringing. With that done I went about printing the upper side walls.

 

I started at a 30% print speed to lay the foundation and first few layers and then sped up the print by 10% increments after each 10% of the file was complete and checked on the progress for misprinting or other issues - Once It had reached 100% speed I decided to see if it could handle a bigger work load and increased it to 110% which it obliged happily although after the failures of the morning I brought it back to 100%.

 

 

No printing problems so far!

 

 

DONE! All of the supporting structure happily peeled away revealing the first of the upper side walls!

 

 

 

A bit of dry fitting to see how it looks and if there is any warping of the materials - PETG is really good at retaining its shape and one of the reasons why its widely used by Cosplayers here in Japan.

 

 

 

So my little Imperial Printer Droid seemed eager to get on so I fired up the opposite side and set it to work - again at a 30% print speed for the foundations and then once the first few layers of the main structure were down I brought the settings straight up to 100%

 

[FarEast]

o I came home from work to a completed left side so after cleaning off all of the supporting materials I first bonded them together and then once it had cured filled in the seam line.

 

 

 

 

 

Again once this was done I used the electric sander to smooth down the weld and then switched to a sanding block.

 

 

There was only one job left to do and which was to clean up the print bed and set the printer into motion again - During the early stages of the print the left corner of the brow started to peel off the bed, this was saved by pausing the print and then using some Pritt Stick glue under the print using a tooth pick and then rebonding it to the print bed.

 

 

So this morning a quick tidy up of the new parts and then everything bonded.

 

 

Time for a little dry fitting to make sure the build is properly aligned and no warping has taken place.

 

 

 

Ohhhhhh yes!

 

 

So with everything looking like it sits perfectly I've set the printer going on 2 of the last of 3 parts - Those should be ready when I get home tonight.

[FarEast]

So Wednesday night I get home to a print that I doubled up on, The eyebags and the brow - very clean print for the brow but the eye bags needed a little post work to get them nice and smooth.

 

 

Maybe a little more work needs doing but I'll address that once the helmet is built.

 

Now it was time to return to the front face plate that had been giving me some grief, more misprints than I can remember so I changed the print detail from ultra detail (0.05mm) to Optimal (0.15mm) layer height and a print speed of 30% This seemed to do the job and when I got home I was very pleased with the results.

 

No misprints or problems so I decided to up the print speed to 50% - BAD MOVE

you can actually see where it goes wrong, however it does not seem to have effected the overall build, yes there will be a lot more post production work required but if the nose and nose bridge are ok then I think the rest will be just a case of sanding smooth. I will see once I get home today!

 

If not then it will be a long drag at 30% print speed.

 

 

 

I'm hoping its usable as that will be the helmet complete and I can start bonding and preparing for paint this weekend!

[FarEast]

So I came home with some trepidation today knowing that there was a high possibility that the print had failed - so I went and walked the dog before checking on the print.

 

Thankfully there wasn't a hot mess of PETG on the floor or a burning crater where the printer once lived but what looked like a part that could actually be used!

 

 

With a bit of clean up using a sander, snips, and files I had a very usable part indeed!

 

 

Time for some fun!

 

 

 

 

 

So I had to get a bit creative with how to clamp the dome on to the lower section of the helmet.

 

 

[FarEast]

Morning all - Well fabrication of parts is complete and they are bonded together.

 

What I would like is some peer review at this point to see where I need to work on the helmet to bring it up to spec for the 501st. Then I can make those changes and then paint. There are gaps and seem lines that need attention however those will be addressed once any changes that need doing are dealt with,

 

All critique is welcome!

 

 

 

 

[FarEast]

So far the job list is as follows.

• Respirator disk needs to have some of the holes cleaned up and drilled again.
  
• Major seam lines and defects in the print need filling and sanding back.
  

[ScaryGuy]

So far the job list is as follows.

• Respirator disk needs to have some of the holes cleaned up and drilled again.
  
• Major seam lines and defects in the print need filling and sanding back.
  

 

Helmets looks good, I see no issues here other then filling and sanding/cleaning. With 3D printed pieces it is important that when finished it should not be visible that it is 3D printed, so no visible print lines etc.

[wannabeuk]

Try printing the vo-coder using Cura 3.0 with an ultra-fine setting 0.06mm layer height and a 0.4mm max nozzle. Will achieve the resolution you're looking for ...

 

[FarEast]

Try printing the vo-coder using Cura 3.0 with an ultra-fine setting 0.06mm layer height and a 0.4mm max nozzle. Will achieve the resolution you're looking for ...

 

 

Many thanks for that!

 

I'll have another go at printing the parts to see what I get!

[Retrofire]

Reading through this thread is making me want to get a 3D printer! This is amazing. Now I just got to convince Grand Moff Wifey.😃

[FarEast]

Another busy weekend - both on the build and also making stuff for work and the kids!

 

The first task was to give the helmet a coat of primer - this is more as an indicator for areas that need sanding or filler

 

 

After a very dusty 2 hours I applied the filler and left to cure.

 

 

 

The next morning I was back at it and happy with the results.

 

 

Also another shipment of filament and some nice hardened steel nozzles arrived. The printer was also set to task on the chest plate.

 

 

 

With the grey primer down again I decided to add some black - instantly some of the other imperfections and notable areas jumped out at me - I think I will buy black primer in future as it solves a lot of time!

 

 

 

 

So again it was back to sanding and filling!

 

 

 

With all this going on the Chest Plate completed its run and a small nightmare occurred.

 

 

 

The wires to the heating element had come away! A Quick message session with Prusa sorted everything out and I also took the time to buy a few spare for future hardware failures.

 

[wannabeuk]

Good job your fault occurred. It looks like you started to print the V1 chest plate rather than the newer V2.

[FarEast]

Good job your fault occurred. It looks like you started to print the V1 chest plate rather than the newer V2.

 

There’s a V2

 

Nooooooooo!!!!

 

Is there a link to the V2 or is it in the Dropbox download with everything else?

[wannabeuk]

There’s a V2

 

Nooooooooo!!!!

 

Is there a link to the V2 or is it in the Dropbox download with everything else?

 

You will find it in the dropbox with the other files.