- October 17th, 2017, 1:55 pm#4899805
Finished this design just weeks before Halloween. My friend's kid really wants to be RGB Venkman after watching the series on Netflix with his dad. I volunteered to make him an RGB pack ever since he was born, and since I have lots of free time before I start grad school, now was the time to do it. I designed the pack using SolidWorks, which probably took longer than actually assembling it will take. I made as many things possible 3D printed, with attention on ease of printing (making things hollow, having sloped overhangs, having good thickness for walls, etc). Anything large and flat, like the motherboard, will be cut out of acrylic as I have some spare sheets lying around.
The parts are in the process of 3D printing as of today (10/17) so here's hoping I have time to finish it. I've already sacrificed the electronics in favor of upgrading it for Rhode Island Comic Con (11/20) instead, and I may just leave a few access panels open. I also was going to scale it as he is a child, and then I said "do you really want to build him ANOTHER pack for when he gets older? Just let him grow into it!" Also, it means anyone can use it as it is full scale. Being mostly hollow it will not be very heavy until the batteries are added.
Here is the entire assembly:
The proton thrower detail. I found it really hard to determine how exactly the thrower mounts. While there are plenty of images of a hook like device coming from the crankbox, there's very few of the bottom of the gun, and the ones there are look like a very basic hook that would not actually work in real life. I know Tiki Studios made one that uses the hook style, but ultimately I decided, given this is a child with limited dexterity, to just mold in and glue some rare Earth magnets to make a magnetized holder which quickly and easily latches onto and disconnects from the crankbox. I briefly thought about putting his name embedded in there, but in my experience thin things like fonts print like garbage and require cleaning. My thought process: this is already the only one like it in the world, it's unique enough. Plus he can sign it with sharpie. Kids love sharpies.
I made a Bill of Materials to help me keep track of what I need to make an STL file for, what I need to manufacture, and what I need to buy. My friend said the BOM looked cool and he even wants it framed, so I will post it here.
Note that 3D printers (low end ones, at least) do not print in color so the colors seen here are for reference in the model, only. In reality it will print whatever color the filament is, I will assemble it, prime it, and paint it. Any suggestions on the right shades of colors would be appreciated. I'll keep posting with updates.
The parts are in the process of 3D printing as of today (10/17) so here's hoping I have time to finish it. I've already sacrificed the electronics in favor of upgrading it for Rhode Island Comic Con (11/20) instead, and I may just leave a few access panels open. I also was going to scale it as he is a child, and then I said "do you really want to build him ANOTHER pack for when he gets older? Just let him grow into it!" Also, it means anyone can use it as it is full scale. Being mostly hollow it will not be very heavy until the batteries are added.
Here is the entire assembly:
The proton thrower detail. I found it really hard to determine how exactly the thrower mounts. While there are plenty of images of a hook like device coming from the crankbox, there's very few of the bottom of the gun, and the ones there are look like a very basic hook that would not actually work in real life. I know Tiki Studios made one that uses the hook style, but ultimately I decided, given this is a child with limited dexterity, to just mold in and glue some rare Earth magnets to make a magnetized holder which quickly and easily latches onto and disconnects from the crankbox. I briefly thought about putting his name embedded in there, but in my experience thin things like fonts print like garbage and require cleaning. My thought process: this is already the only one like it in the world, it's unique enough. Plus he can sign it with sharpie. Kids love sharpies.
I made a Bill of Materials to help me keep track of what I need to make an STL file for, what I need to manufacture, and what I need to buy. My friend said the BOM looked cool and he even wants it framed, so I will post it here.
Note that 3D printers (low end ones, at least) do not print in color so the colors seen here are for reference in the model, only. In reality it will print whatever color the filament is, I will assemble it, prime it, and paint it. Any suggestions on the right shades of colors would be appreciated. I'll keep posting with updates.