By Eightcell
#4820386
A friend of mine is lending me her 3D printer for awhile so I've been jumping in head first. Previously I'd only made myself a new bellows and some other random parts for my pack. I have been looking for projects and remembered this post from awhile back.

Extrapolating Kingpin's measurements into CAD was easy enough, I am planning to finish this weekend since I have time off, then I will print next week.

Here's the progress so far:

Image

The knobs should be able to turn when I'm done. I am also working out a solution for one of them to control the indicator wings, but i may have to wait until version 2. Further down the line I'm looking at dropping an arduino in with a tiny LCD so the screen will actually work.
Kingpin, pmcbryde, jackdoud and 1 others liked this
By Eightcell
#4820662
Almost done. Here is a full render:

Image

I'll be printing it in at least 9 pieces (2 wings, antennae, body, 4 knobs, and handle) though I could break it apart further to make painting/finish easier. As I mentioned before the knobs will turn, and the wings will go up and down manually (they are geared to always stay symmetrical).
Kingpin, SPJ liked this
By Eightcell
#4820829
Just an update:

I ran into the first snag, I printed the handle and I can barely get my hand around it, it is like the iPhone 6 Plus version of the PKE meter. I think the measurements being based off an RCA cable overscaled it? In any case I am reprinting scaled down a bit.

Functionality wise I have also dropped in a a mechanism to keep the antennae from coming out all the way when you pull them out and to keep it straight in the shaft. I may try to add a way for the front face knob to click when turned (similar to the kenner toy).

Tomorrow I'll print the antennae, wings, and if I have time some of the knobs. I am aiming to have the thing fully printed by the end of the week, then painted by the end of the next.

I was also thinking that the Kenner PKE is actually pretty close to the show's PKE, the major difference being the antennae/wings. I might try to adapt the one I modeled into a mod for the Kenner PKE that would replace the original tri-antennae thing. I recently picked up a Kenner PKE in a sad state and have been modding it, so I'll see how it looks there.

(Fun fact: the Sears Craftsman measuring tape holster that is about $7 that everyone uses for their Matty PKE meter's actually fits the Kenner PKE quite nicely as well!)
SPJ liked this
By Eightcell
#4820843
SPJ wrote:You could "print" the parts and sell it as a do it yourself kit. All of this looks really cool.
Thanks. The thought occurred to me but let's see how it turns out first, what the print times end up being etc.

Also once it's worked out I'd happily print one for Kingpin for free since he came up with the initial plans.
By SPJ
#4821046
Eightcell wrote:Ok, here is the unfinished prototype:

Image

Image

Still needs some work, but the wings go up and down symmetrically and things generally went together without much more fuss than i imagined. Still need to work on some things but not bad at all for a first pass if I do say so myself.
This is by far the best representation of the RGBPKE meter I can recall ever seeing.

The only possible improvement would be to have a functional screen but this thing is still super awesome!
By Eightcell
#4821049
rashielx wrote:If it were a lady, I'd marry her
Thank you but I would advise against it. She has so far spurned all my advances.
SPJ wrote:
This is by far the best representation of the RGBPKE meter I can recall ever seeing.

The only possible improvement would be to have a functional screen but this thing is still super awesome!
Thanks, and yes a buddy of mine and I have already started talking about a version with a working screen :-D

I'm particularly fond of the wings, they glide really smoothly. I have a few tweaks I want to make but this is basically the PKE Meter I've wanted since i was little.

Version 2 will also be actually "finished". I'll sand and paint it etc. I'd like to get it to a point where it looks like a real functional thing but it is also obviously the RGB version (maybe a metallic blue?). I kinda like that this one is just primary plastic so I'm going to leave it for now (it reminds me of the Kenner one). I'll likely add the red hose/wire that goes down the right and around the back at some point though.
By Cole Funstuff
#4841541
Any updates?

I ended up 3D printed a prototype not too long ago based upon your measurements and found the body to be a bit oversized for my liking. I scaled it down to about 70% and it seemed to be sized closely to an Iona PKE at that point. Thoughts?
By carzar252
#4868775
I know this Is an old thread but I have been building props for my own and my friends indie films, any chance at getting a copy of the plans for the RGB PKE? I love this design!
By Eightcell
#4873131
I hit a speed bump in my 3D build when my printer went down, now I'm back up and running but I see Cole is putting a a very promising version together (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=41013) so I'm shelving mine to move onto the next thing.

The last thing I had done was split the main bit to allow for guts. I added a track for the antennae to move up and down.

Image
Kingpin, robandliv, Bhockzer liked this
User avatar
By Zeke
#4880381
Eightcell wrote:I hit a speed bump in my 3D build when my printer went down, now I'm back up and running but I see Cole is putting a a very promising version together (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=41013) so I'm shelving mine to move onto the next thing.

The last thing I had done was split the main bit to allow for guts. I added a track for the antennae to move up and down.

Image
An awesome build. Shame to hear that it's come to end prematurely. :(
User avatar
By Kingpin
#4915358
8bitGamer1984 wrote: March 7th, 2019, 6:10 pm HI kingpin, it seems that the measurement picture link is not working. Can you repost the image with correct link ?
Thanks in advance!
Unfortunately Imageshack deleted everything after they went pay-only. I'll try post a link to the image at some point when I get a chance.
By Cole Funstuff
#4915372
Kingpin wrote: March 8th, 2019, 1:26 am
8bitGamer1984 wrote: March 7th, 2019, 6:10 pm HI kingpin, it seems that the measurement picture link is not working. Can you repost the image with correct link ?
Thanks in advance!
Unfortunately Imageshack deleted everything after they went pay-only. I'll try post a link to the image at some point when I get a chance.
I also have a backup copy if you end up not finding yours. I don't want to re-host it unless I have your permission though.
By Xandman99
#4915560
I know this is a long shot however would you release the STL files provided it was made for personanal use (EX.made for cosplay not for sale)? There is another RGB PKE meter online thats about the same quality but the plans are sold per download .

Someone ID'd them on Facebook first, there w[…]

Two specific ideas I have are basically holiday sp[…]

While waiting impatiently for Frozen Empire to rel[…]

Make it that pack, sell it for $599. (While I […]