DLT-19X 3D Print

[Aradun]

Alight Scouts, I dove in with both feet into the wonderful world of 3D printing in December by treating myself to a CR10 V2 printer and have printing like crazy multiple projects and lovin it!

 

Here’s my take on the DLT-19X.

 

Supply List:

 

3D Print: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3940279

XTC-3D

Rust-Oleum Primer Filler: 2 Cans

Rust-Oleum Metallic Paint: 1 Can

Rust-Oleum Semi-Gloss Black: 1 Can

Rust-Oleum Flat Black: 2 Cans

Various Grades of Sandpaper 120 - 400 Grit

Graphite Powder (4oz should do the trick)

Maskol or Toothpaste (I went old school)

Paintable Wood Filler

1/2”x1/8” round earth magnets (4)

 

You’ll also need a wooden dowel and PVC pipe for the 3D Print, the former for rigidity and the latter for the inner barrel. Specs are in the files. This print is measured for metric which made finding US equivalents a bit challenging. The dowel is a slightly smaller diameter than what’s required but a little tape wrapped around it should tighten it up. For the barrel a 1/2 copper pipe is a perfect fit. Gives it a little weight too.

 

Surfinbird132’s model can be printed with or without the bipod. You want to go without the bipod as the bipod is only used on the heavy blaster version of the DLT-19 and not the 19X Sniper Version.

 

Here’s everything printed:

 

 

Print Parameters:

e-Sun PLA+

Nozzle: 210

Bed: 60

Fan: 100%

Standard Print Setting with Brim and Tree Supports

20% cubic pattern in-fill

 

Total Print Time: 6 days, 13 hours, 16 minutes

Total Material: 1263 grams

 

The grip was printed at dynamic setting with the same in-fill as above. I wanted a nice clean print with few print lines because of the grip pattern.

 

Of course you’ll need to tweak print settings if printing in PETG or ABS.

[Aradun]

Once printed I coated everything but the grip in XTC-3D. I didn’t want the resin to fill in the grip details.

 

I’m not sure I’m sold on this stuff, but it may be a lack of experience. I found it to get tacky way too quickly for my liking making it difficult to work with. Haven’t touched it since.

 

Sanded any “runs” from the XTC-3D and used Wood Filler to fill in those deeper print lines. After sanding that I gave everything 2 coats of Primer Filler allowing for a day or two cure time between coats.

 

Won’t bore you with photos of sanding, priming, filing, etc. We all know the drill here .

 

The main body prints in two halves for the model so there’s a seam line that needs attention and work. The back half of the body also needs to be seamed and filled once attached as well. No big deal.

 

Once everything was sanded, primed and ready to go, I gave all the pieces 2 - 3 coats of metallic paint as an undercoat.

 

The only parts that did not get painted metallic were the Bakelite portion of the grip, the stock, and the cooling fins for the barrel. They were painted with 2 coats of semi-gloss black.

 

Didn’t photo everything painted in this state but did get a pic of the barrel before hitting it with flat black.

 

 

The metallic undercoat is for weathering. You could skip this and go right to black and then just dry brush your weathering, but this makes for a nice effect because like ST armor, using a little Maskol or Toothpaste will create a nice chipping effect, and scratches and dinks that happen naturally will reveal the metallic finish underneath as well. You can use some 400 Grit sandpaper to remove paint here and there along edges to also reveal the silver undercoat.

[Aradun]

So here are some pics of weathering completed and partial assembly.

Scope:


Stock and Receiver:


Barrel Shroud:


As mentioned previously the 1/2 copper pipe is perfect for the barrel itself, but an American dowel is not comparable to the metric dowel needed for this build. I wrapped three pieces of duct tape around the dowel to get a nice snug fit.

Once my e6000 dries I plan to leave the barrel and barrel shroud unglued so the the DLT-19X can easily be disassembled for transport. The shroud has a really snug fit into the receiver so I don’t anticipate any issues trooping.

I’ll be posting up some pics later this week for feedback on the cooling fins. Using graphite on the prop makes the semi-gloss black fins really stand out and I’m not crazy about the look.

So I have four finished versions to see how best to get the fins to blend in better with the finish.



In order from left to right taken in full sun:

Semi-gloss black
Semi-gloss black with graphite
Flat Black
Flat Black with graphite

I’m leaning towards flat black because it looks like natural rubber and the original windshield wiper blades, but will post pics against the barrel shroud later this week once everything dries and sets for feedback and opinions.

[Aradun]

So I went with the flat black for the cooling fins as it provided the best overall look.

 

The bare metallic parts were a little too bright for my liking and too new looking, and adding graphite to it didn’t do much to the finish. So I hit it with Matt clear coat and then applied the graphite and that did the trick. It dulled the finish and gave it a more weathered look. I then hit it with another shot of matt clear coat to seal the graphite.

 

 

You can see the difference from the photo in the post above.

 

Mounting the scope presented a challenge because it sits slightly above the top of the receiver not leaving much surface for e6000 to provide a solid connection. I figured this would be a weak point during a troop with the scope knocking into things etc., so I went with rare earth magnets.

 

I put two 1/2” x 1/8” mags on top. Forgive the fudged paint around the magnets. After I had them set I nudged one and they snapped together dragging e6000 everywhere.

Won’t be seen so no big deal.

 

 

For the scope,the mags need to be flush mounted. So I took a 1/2” drill bit, and heated the flat side with a blow torch and then pressed the bit into the base of the scope to create the indent to recess the mags. Worked great.

 

 

In hindsight, I would have flush mounted the mags into the receiver and covered them so that they were completely hidden, then just surface mount the other mags onto the bottom of the scope. That way I could have just removed the scope and swapped out the barrel shroud to convert it to a DLT19 for my TK. Live and learn.

 

I might do it down the line, but I only intend to use this with my Scout for now.

 

Once the e6000 sets on the mags I’ll post up some photos of it complete.

[Aradun]

So it’s just about finished. I’m just waiting on delivery of some translucent red acrylic for the scope lenses and I forgot to make the disc on the left side of the grip silver, but here it is. For my first completed 3D printed prop, I’m quite pleased.





If anyone sees any issues that I may have missed or overlooked let me know.

[Aradun]

Lighting isn’t the best but here is the 1/8” red translucent lens inserted in the scope. I printed out the lenses in PLA+ and used them to trace the lenses on the acrylic. I then used a dremel mounted with a cutting disk to rough the lens out and replaced the cutting disk with a sanding tool to round off the lens.





It’s nice looking down the scope and seeing the reticle mounted in the scope. Cool effect that I think the little and “big” kids will dig.

And that my friends is a wrap! Now, on to my life size baby Grogu.

[Nathanzx10r]

Turned out great man! 

[OnkelPaschulke]

Great work! I got myself a 3D printer as present for my birthday a few month ago. I want to print at least the EC-17 and maybe later the DLT. Filling the printing lines is really a pain in the a**. But with a smaller layer heights it‘s better. I used liquid UV resin for smoothing but I think that it‘s not so good for round parts because you get a lot of drips and drops. Or I‘m just doing it wrong… :-D


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[Aradun]

Great work! I got myself a 3D printer as present for my birthday a few month ago. I want to print at least the EC-17 and maybe later the DLT. Filling the printing lines is really a pain in the a**. But with a smaller layer heights it‘s better. I used liquid UV resin for smoothing but I think that it‘s not so good for round parts because you get a lot of drips and drops. Or I‘m just doing it wrong… :-D


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Thanks! There’s a definite learning curve to using liquid resin. I’m still trying to get it down. Using a foam brush is waaay better than the standard chip brush and putting it on thinner is better in my opinion. Combined with smaller layer heights there wouldn’t be too much for the resin to fill. It is easier to sand down a few drops and runs than to remove all the print lines with the resin coating. I had very little sanding to do on my DLT-19X.

[OnkelPaschulke]

I might try the foam brushes next time. One important thing is to apply the resin with the printlines and not zig zag accross because it causes bubbles within the coat. But the resin is kind of hard to sand. I guess I'll get myself some XTC.

[TreeHuggerMatt]

Hey @AradunFF

 

Hope you dont mind me poking the thread but I was wondering if you happened to have a pic of yourself trooping with the blaster?

 

Thanks in advance

[Aradun]

[Mention]TreeHuggerMatt[/Mention] Here you go!

[TreeHuggerMatt]

dude. thats awesome.  cheers!!

[Hiker Scout]

Where are the files located?

The old ones on thingsverse are no longer available

[Aradun]

The owner pulled them from the site.  In fact, he pulled all of his stuff from the site.  They are now posted at https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/star-wars-dlt-19x-blaster-mg-34 for a nominal $4.28.  There was a new vendor on Etsy who was 3D printing and selling his model.  Not sure if that's why he pulled them down.  However, the vendor removed it once he was informed of the copyright violation, but I suspect the owner (Felix S. aka surfinbird132) has had issues with other vendors doing the same.  Thingiverse isn't very good at protecting IP.

[Hiker Scout]

Thanks. 
Now to get their website to load properly. Always spinning and now showing the images of the 3d files. 

[Hiker Scout]

Did you use the E6000 for the entire build to attached the pieces together?

[Aradun]

Yep, used E6000 with the following exceptions:

• I did not glue the box that covers the magazine port.  That slides in and out.  Left it unglued for storage, but don't really use it for such. 
• I did not glue the barrel to the main receiver so that I could split it in two for travel if necessary, which means the inner barrel and dowel are not glued to the received either.
• I used rare earth magnets to attached the scope to the receiver top so that it can be removed for transport/storage.  If you have plans down the line to use this with a Stormtrooper build, or as a plain old DLT19, then embed the magnets into the top of the receiver, fill, prime and paint,  and then glue the corresponding magnets directly to the bottom of the scope.  (I did mine the other way, which means my magnets are visible on the top of the DLT19 when the scope is removed...live and learn 😉).

[nateopotato]

Thanks for the awesome overview of your build.  I snagged the same STL's and started printing mine today!

[Aradun]

Thanks for the awesome overview of your build.  I snagged the same STL's and started printing mine today!

Glad it helped! Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions as you go along.