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kman

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About kman

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  • Name
    Kalani
  • Location
    Tarzana, CA

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  • 501st ID
    91423
  • Garrison
    SoCal

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  1. Looks like they actually added the scope inserts already, which is awesome! My Hyperfirm didn't have them either (under the scope), but it turns out it's pretty simple to cut out. I left the area immediately under the scope since the counter is on the other side anyway, which gives support to the heavy part. But it adds considerably to the look, I think, to allow light to show through under there. I agree I probably wouldn't want to cut out inside fill in the front sights of the Hyperfirm. I don't think the material is robust enough to handle that. I was wondering if this rubber might be better, though. And I'd rather have them experiment (and possibly ruin an already bad cast as an experiment) to see if it's a feasible mode, than me risk ruining my personal blaster. LOL
  2. Wow, those look great! The only details I would nitpick are: 1) What's the rectangular block on top of the scope? 2) The area under the scope rail is not cut out. Is that possible to cut out? Or perhaps replace the rail with aluminum, if that would make it too floppy? 3) Similarly, the front sights aren't cut out, inside. Otherwise, that looks amazing! Is there any way to add glass (plastic) lenses to the scopes? Functional or not, something other than black rubber there goes a long way towards increasing the realism, I've seen.
  3. I put my biceps and forearms on last, as well. Just slide them both on as one, very simple. Easy to remove them both in one shot when extra mobility is needed (backstage), too.
  4. Most people I've seen tend to use either 2" elastic or 1" webbing. I use 2" elastic. I'd guess the strap is about 6" long? I don't have any great shots of the arm connections for mine, because there wasn't much drama in setting it up, but you can see it a bit in this shot: I do recall that for determining positioning during my build, this video was very helpful:
  5. Agreed. A private FB group is a good resource (lots of garrisons and detachments use them), and the name change makes everything clear. Not to mention being an exceptionally appropriate name anyway.
  6. Interesting printer, Michael. That's an impressively large build space for $1k (or less). I'll have to look into it!
  7. Heck yeah! I love my printer. I can't imagine printing an entire set of armor, though. That's some masochism, right there. LOL
  8. Yeah, armor is certainly possible, I didn't mean to imply it's not. It's just not as ideal and simple as some people seem to think: 3D printing is not really the magoc solution to all problems that some people imagine it is. Just in terms of time alone, think about how much more you've spent 3D printing to save $450-650, and then how much extra finishing work was needed compared to a "normal" kit. If you have LOTS of free time, I suppose it could be worth it, but for me, 3D printing is much better suited to the smaller tasks: Props, blasters, parts, just like we both said. You can do a LOT with even a small printer like mine (6x6x6) so the nearly 8x8" platform seems pretty luxurious to me.
  9. IMO it's not actually off topic, since these printers would be getting used to print armor and Star Wars props (like blasters, binoculars, pack parts, etc.), but since it it actually could go in any number of subforums governing any of those, I guess it really doesn't matter where it ends up. You da boss!
  10. I would debate whether most Star Wars armor is well suited to 3D printing... I don't think it is, really. Otherwise, the main determiner is build plate size: How big a part you can actually print. The biggest measurement is around 8" on the both, Ultimate is 7.9" x 7.9" x 6.9", a hair less than on the Select Plus (7.9" x 7.9" x 7.1") due to the enclosed design. That's pretty normal in this range... the printers with substantially larger print areas get stupid expensive really fast. So if you think about a helmet or chest plate, you would need to slice your model into many pieces that fit in that print area, and then sand the edges and bond the pieces together to make the whole section complete. THEN you get to start sanding and finishing them. Same applies with larger props like larger blasters (esp rifles) and such, but that's pretty normal, and it's simpler to stack pieces of a long tube than the complex curves of armor. Small parts are simple with either. You CAN print armor, I just don't think it's an especially good application for it. The amount of filament to print a full set of armor gets pretty expensive, and it's heavy compared to vacuformed ABS sheets, and less durable. All that said, they're both good printers that are pretty well regarded. Either would likely do well for you. There are some nicer features that the extra money gets you, which are pretty much laid out in the product website. But they're not really NECESSARY features. There's nothing you "can't print" with the Select Plus that owning the Ultimate would enable, unless perhaps you want to print insanely detailed miniature figures (Warhammer and the like). Both have the critical features that you really need. Both have heated build plates, both print PLA or ABS or most other normal 3D printing materials. Both have similar size build platforms and similar resolutions and capabilities. The Ultimate might print faster? A bit quieter? The Ultimate is higher resolution (100 microns (0.1mm) vs. 20 microns (0.02mm)) but for most Star Wars props it's rare that you would use the extra resolution. The Ultimate's enclosed frame design is more rigid than the open design of the Select, which helps reduce shake while printing and theoretically produces a bit cleaner prints as a result, but I suspect the real world difference is not substantial, especially since your average SW props aren't going to use anything approaching the highest resolutions the Ultimate is capable of. (most common resolutions tend to be 100-200 microns for average props like blasters, blaster parts, and various greeblies, which is well within the capability of either) Hackaday has a pretty good review of the Ultimate: https://hackaday.com/2016/08/30/review-monoprice-maker-ultimate-3d-printer/
  11. I have a PrintrBot which I love, but buying today, I'd second the recommendation for the MonoPrice printers. Avoid the bottom one if you can, but if that's all you can do, even that can do some amazing things, for the price.
  12. Until you drop it... *eek*
  13. I was working on my bucket during the dry spell, after Echo stopped making fan brackets and before Ukswrath picked up the mantle. So I replicated Echo's setup as well as I could, in terms of bracket shape, working from photos in his sales thread. I made a few cardboard mockups before I dialed in the size I liked for the bracket. Then I took a cheap black plastic bin from Walmart and sacrificed it to the scrap plastic gods, cutting my bracket out of it. Covered it in Gaffers tape to soften the sharp edges. Simple 5v blower fans (squirrel fans) from Amazon, a couple of switches from Radio Shack, a 5V lipstick-style cellphone charging battery (3000 mAh) and some quick disconnects for the wiring completed the setup. I chopped up some old USB cords (an old keyboard and mouse that didn't work very well anymore sacrificed their USB connectors) to connect the fan wiring to the battery packs. Clean side, all mounted up: Under-side, hidden behind the bracker while wearing: Here it in, in place: (I was still toying with wire routing at the time this was taken) I loved the toggled switches I used, but they proved to be a bit fragile on the underside, as they're a little deep. I toyed with 3D printing a housing for them, but ultimately decided to give Ukswrath's brackets a try, once he started selling Echo's original design (with permission). His switches aren't as easy to actuate as my toggle switches, but the form factor is better and they're more durable, so that's what I've been trooping with since. I still use those same phone charger batteries to power it, though. They're velcro'd in place with industrial Velcro. Works great! I get 8+ hours of runtime off of a charge.
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