Heya!
Story time! About two years ago, I decided to make myself a stormtrooper blaster. At first I wanted to made the E-11 but the hype for the new films made me choose the new F-11D variant as I found it slightly cooler. A few weeks later, I was done with this little beauty (that I was quite proud of, except for the awfull gravel background)
A few days later, someone asked me if I could make them the commander version, with the extended cross. And so I did:
Now fastforward to 3 weeks ago. Someone asked me if I could make the same version, but with LEDs? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.JPG
I also took this as an opportunity to update the model with new tips and tricks I learnt in between versions. Basically, I got rid of lot of pegs and chose to make parts interlock in one another. It avoids showing gaps and it makes the whole prop way more sturdy. I made holes all the way from the tip to the black box that include the red glowing part to make room for wires. I also added a small clip for the front handle so that it can be opened at will. I never saw it on screen but I assume this part is to be used as a front handle for better aim?
A few days of printing on my Ultimakers and I was able to start the cleaning and pre-assembly and see if the new system worked and… it worked wonderfully well. All the changes helped me drastically cut down on cleaning/assembly/painting. I probably saved about 3 hours of manual work.
After some Sanding No Jutsu™, I was able to lay down the base coat of paint (black or white) and I could start the proper wiring. I had to remember not to glue anything before making sure the wires were set and LED was working. I originally planned on using two AAA batteries but the ease of access of the battery was questionable so I went with a simple coin cell battery store directly inside the small box.
Now that I made sure that everything worked as intended, I glued everything that needed glueing, soldered the electronics and did some paint touch-ups. As you can see below, I put the on/off switch on the back the black box. It’s easily accessible and discreet.
So… What’s next after that? Well it made me wanna play Battlefront 2 again and that made me wanna resume the SE-44c blaster I started a few month ago but weird thing: I can’t find the 3D model on my hard drives. I spent hours searching for it and it vanished from its folder… So I decided to vent of my frustration with HALO 3 M6G Magnum instead. And if that goes well, I’ll finally resume the 3D modeling of the R201 from Titanfall2.
Starjeff3DWorkshop 