I started building a Working Stargate Mk2 with Working DHD and SFX, designed by Glitch. I’m slowly working my way through the Arduino and stepper motor configuration. The documentation for this project is not spectacular, but the framework is there and it was a fun puzzle to figure out. It’s definitely not perfect, but still workable.
I got an opportunity to participate in the Punished Props Secret Santa Exchange for the first time in 2019, and I put together a 3D printed M6G Magnum from Halo. It featured a working slide and trigger, as well as a removable clip. It was a great pleasure to join in on the prop making fun and deliver not one, but two completed pistols to the awesome @tim_makes. My friend, Tom, helped me with the second model. Painting is not my strong suit since I have red-green colorblindness and it makes color matching difficult.
Model 1 (Printed on my Ender 3) – Material: 3D Solutech Silver PLA (Print #1), Filament Friday Black PLA (Print #2) Paint: Poly-Props SEAL Prime – Black, Poly-Props HEX-ART Metallics – Steel, Poly-Props Valour Clear Coat Filler: Smooth-On XTC-3D, Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty Other Materials: Hand-made springs from spring steel wire, Bob Smith CA Glue
Model 2 (Printed on Tom’s Ender 3) – Material: Inland Blue PLA Paint: Rustoleum Black Primer, Angelus Acrylic Paints, Angelus Clear Coat Filler: Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty Other Materials: Hand-made springs from spring steel wire, Gorilla CA Glue
Build Details
Punished Props Secret Santa 2019 Halo M6D Magnum Replicas, prepared for shipment to @tim_makes
This was my first major 3D printed project, despite having my Ender 3 for some time. I ran into a lot of issues with my printer not being calibrated correctly and the angles were not true. Along with a bit of vibration in the printer and cable management issues, printing was fraught with problems. However, most of my problems were solved and minor defects could be covered during finishing.
First Prototype (Failed)
This one had a number of issues, not the least of which was jitters in the surface and curling issues which caused assembly issues. I believe most parts were discarded. Technically, this was the second model I printed. My original plan involved a stationary M6D that I printed hollow to install electronics, but it didn’t pay off. The model was structurally weak and I didn’t know enough about layering back then.
Test Assembly of the 3D Printed Parts, First Printing Attempt
This was (part of) the first-first prototype model I printed.
Preparing model for priming. Bondo Spot Putty was used to even out the uneven surfaces left by the XTC-3D resin. I can’t seem to find any photos I took with just the XTC-3D layer applied.
The slide was assembled after the main body was primed. You can see the layer of spot putty on the slide handle.
Primed main M6D body.
The HexArt Metallics “Steel” paint sputtered while spraying, which actually left a cool texture behind. Everything was sealed up later with the Valour Clear Coat.
Helmet: EVA Foam, Foam Clay, Styrene, Leather Chest Armor: EVA Foam, Leather, Buckles Cape: Fleece Sword: EVA Foam with a 3/8″ Metal Core, Leather
General Kael’s Helmet & Facemask
EVA Foam – 4mm & 6mm, TNT Cosplay Supply Foam Clay – C4 Foam Clay, TNT Cosplay Supply Styrene Plastic Sheet – TNT Cosplay Supply Aluminum Chainmail Coif – Split for Kael’s Helmet and Sorsha’s Collar Faux Fur – Part of my winter coat that I didn’t need. It was removable. Leather, Gun Metal Colored Rivets, Stainless Steel Screws
The helmet was built as a combination of two templates. The facemask I had already built with no purpose in mind. A little bit of trimming and adjustment and I was able to fit a pivot point for the mask to flip. Hardware was later changed to stainess steel since I have a metal allergy.
I used auction photos, as well as other reference photos to sculpt the facemask. The base is Kamui’s Villain Mask with a foam block added at the bottom to fill out the jawline. My understanding is that the mask is a Troll skull, like the ones crawling all over the Castle at Tir Asleen.
General Kael – Facemask Sculpting with Foam Clay
It took several applications to sculpt the mask fully. I went a little thick and it took a while to dry. This part was really a lot of fun and easy to carried away on. In this case, the sculpt was a little less symmetrical but pretty close. I think this added to the organic look of the skull.
I used TNT’s C4 Foam Clay for this mask. The texture is softer and is more pliable. I think they use some sort of flexible PVA in the formulation. I really like it. Pixiss has a similar formula to TNT’s and is sold on Amazon, if that’s easier to get.
The density of the Foam Clay sold by Foam-Mo and SKS Props didn’t feel right for this kind of sculpt. The formulation of these two brands are very similar, if not the same. I used this foam to make the spikes for my shoulder armor. This foam can get brittle.
General Kael – The Troll Teeth
I can’t tell you how much fun it was to sculpt Troll teeth with the foam. I ended up making a generic upper and lower jawline before added the teeth. I rolled the teeth out individual and smoothed them into the upper and lower sections. It was fun making the broken and impacted teeth as well.
I had less than stellar results with the original fins. I used a thermoplastic sheet that had a lot of flex.
I later changed this to a Styrene sheet, also from TNT Cosplay Supply. I curled it using can of some kind, if I remember correctly, and a heat gun.
General Kael – Helmet Features
The details were fun to put together. I think the leather strip along the center line could have turned out a little better. I used scrap brown leather for this part. After this, I added tassels of hair, made from a cheap, black wig and bead crimp loops.
The strip under the leather weave and along the bottom is 2mm EVA Foam, folded over on both sides of the lip of the helmet. There’s a section of clothes hanger wire inside to prevent the chainmail rings from tearing through.
General Kael – Helmet Features
This poorly smudged out photo (I’m definitely not a great graphics person), features the helmet flipped up. You can see that I’ve fully commited to the part, replicating Kael’s shaved moustache center and I let my beard and hair grow wild.
General Kael’s Armor
Front Chest Plate – 6mm EVA-50 High Density Foam, TNT Cosplay Supply Chest Armor – 6mm EVA-38 Foam, TNT Cosplay Supply Back Armor – 10mm EVA-38 Foam, TNT Cosplay Supply Chest Armor Scales – 4mm EVA-38, TNT Cosplay Supply Shoulder Spikes & Fan Symbol on Upper Chest – Foam-Mo Foam Clay Faux Rivets – Metal Sewing Buttons, Square Pyramid Rivets 3/4 Length Fleece Cape from Etsy Leather Sword Gloves Scrap Leather and Buckles
Chest Armor, In-Progress
The chest armor base is another one of Evil Ted’s patterns, resized to my dimensions and modified to fit the cut-out of the armor in the movie. The back of the armor is 10mm Foam so the armor would have a similar weight and feel in the front and back.
General Kael’s armor in the movie is leather with metal shoulders, shin guards, and a gauntlet cover on his sword hand.
Base – Evil Ted’s Basic Male Body Armor Facemask – Kamui Cosplay’s Villian Mask (with adjustments descrbe below) Gauntlet – Freehand cut from 4mm TNT EVA Foam with scrap leater buckles. Shin Guards – Freehand cut from 6mm SKS HD Foam
Chest Armor, “Leather” Scales
The scales were cut from 4mm EVA Foam. I used one foam scale as a template and used scissors to cut them out. I sanded the edges lightly with finer grit sandpaper to give it an organic, worn look. The leather look was achieved by crumpling and flattening a piece of aluminum foil and pressing it lightly with a hot iron.
I had to scale the size of each piece to match the number of rows and colums of the movie version. Each one was glue at about 1/3 of the base and overlapped with each row.
Tom usually paints my stuff because I have a color deficiency issue along with red-green colorblindness. He wasn’t too thrilled about having to paint the scales after they were assembled. I tend to get overzealous with the build portion.
The Chest Plate Border
I used half-round foam to create a border for the chest plate. I would’ve liked to use something thinner, in maybe a 1/4 round version but… Con Crunch was on at this point.
The Chest Isignia
I learned a couple of lessons working with vegetable tanned leather. This applies only to me though, so if you find a method that works for you, go for it. I have a friend that teaches leather tooling classes and I’m tempted to take a class or buy one of his guides.
1. You really only need a few tools to accomplish this kind of work. I got really overzealous and bought a large kit with too many things to store. The metal tools get really heavy in a single organizing case.
2. Get a leather scribe. Using a gel ink pen was a terrible idea. It’s especially bad if you’re planning to dye the leather when you’re finished. Luckily, might was painted with Angelus Acrylic Paints.
3. Don’t use too much water. It makes it too soft and hard to keep a print. Too little is also a problem as well, if it dries out before you can get a pattern to set. It also took a really long time to dry. Use a spray bottle.
4. It’s way harder to do that it looks. I did a pretty terrible job, but it’s a passable specimen for a first attempt. (Actually second. I messed up the first one.)
Painted Chest Insignia
Painted with Angelus Acylic Paint. I believe it also got a clear top coat after the armor was fully painted.
The Fan Emblem
This took a few tries, but I made the Fan Emblem (above the chest insignia) from Foam-Mo Foam Clay. I rolled out several small lines of foam and curled them. I cut them in half to get the mirroring right.
Shoulder Armor
The shoulder armor was built from a should armor pattern, but I can’t recall which one. I believe it was a generic template. The spikes were made by pressing the Foam-Mo Foam Clay into Pyramid shaped silicone molds. I bought a set on Amazon. They took quite a while to dry. The base is made from SKS Props 6mm HD Foam. To be honest, not my favorite foam to use.
Tom finished up the assembly and got it ready for paint. He used hot glue to simulate the welding lines in the movie prop.
Gauntlet
The gauntlet is designed from a generic gauntlet pattern, with extra pieces added to make up the finger guard. I used half-round pearls from the craft store for the rivets. I didn’t want to deal with the sound of rattling googly eyes every time I moved.
This one is coated with DAP Kwik Seal thinned with water. We’ve been trying out different seal coating products for this purpose. Tom gave it the standard metal paint treatment.
The Final Shin-sult
Apparently, I didn’t take many photos of my shin armor. They’re in storage right now and a pain to get out, so this picture will have to suffice for the time being until I can update it. I know they’re sitting a little high. That’s why the rest of the picture is there to distract you.
The blade is made from two long strips of 6mm EVA Foam (TNT). The core of the sword is a 3/8″ steel rod. In retrospect, it would have been smarter to put in two rods and leave the center open because of the fuller. If you look at it up close, you can see the rod through the foam since the fuller is on both sides. We could’ve also just shaded it a different color, but I think at that point it was too late for that.
This is the same method used for Sorsha’s sword as well.
The Scalloped Edge
The design of the scalloping in the edge of the sword is actually offset like it is in the movie prop.
The Scalloped Edge – Transformed
You can see the scalloping on the edge looks really good here. Tom, was the main builder for both swords and had the patience to grind out each groove in the scallop with a rotary tool. I made the guard and rings and Tom made everything else.
The Fuller
Grinding in the fuller was a two-person undertaking, because of the types of tools we had at our disposal. Tom’s drill press needed some maintenance and was out of commission for this. I bought a plunge jig for a drill and after some careful measuring, we locked the plunge depth and ground out the fuller with a round sanding bit purchased at Ax-Man Surplus. This is when we discovered the metal rod was a problem.
The Finished Hilt
The finished hilt.
Scabbards / Holders
I bought 2 frogs for the swords. I kept the scabbard simple since I wanted the sword to be visible, even when it was in the holder.
Chainmail
I wasn’t sure if I could get a quality hauberk in my size that would stay together properly during extended wear, so I settled for a fabric version that was passable at a distance. This is the close-up pattern of the weave.
This is a replica of Worf’s Baldric from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I found some information on building this baldric on YouTube. I had been researching the project for quite a while. I was able to source the proper parts to make it.
Sources: – Aluminum Spacers: AluminumSpacers.com – Saddle Rings: PET Hardware in Prague, CZ – Black Cow Leather: Red Wing Shoes in Red Wing, MN (a gift from my sister)
The Baldric in Action: CVG2019 I wore the baldric during a Star Trek meetup at CONvergence 2019 in Minneapolis. Also, to the Star Trek Pub Crawl previously.
I built an IKEA LACK Enclosure for my Creality Ender 3.
This was my compromise instead of buying another 3D printer to collect dust in my craft corner while I neglected to even learn the basics. You got me… I wasn’t really going to buy another printer.
I also switched to using PETG Filament which is easy to work with at lower temperatures and less problematic than ABS. 3D printing works more reliably without a lot of temperature fluctuations, in general. I spent a lot of time researching so I could calibrate my prints. After fixing a problem with underextrusion, my prints have been coming out worlds better.
I built my enclosure from three IKEA LACK tables in black and a set of CAPITA legs. These bad boys set me back around $46 with tax. There were only 138 left in stock so of course I got there before they ran out! I did seriously consider the $10 delivery fee, but I would’ve missed out on the joy losing my car in the parking ramp and driving in sleet and ice.
I sandwiched the first 2 tables together with 7 out of the 8 legs, leaving the front open for storage. The last leg, I cut into 4 equal pieces to extend the next tier. My printer needed about 17″ for clearance and I wanted a little room overhead. I ended up with just a little under 20″ of height for the printer.
OK. I got a little lazy with this build log from here on out! Take a look through the images for build notes.
This double screw holds the legs onto the table. There is *just* enough wood there to be stable. The tables are mostly layered cardboard with more paper and a little bit of particle board for support. I wouldn’t stand on it to change a light bulb but it works pretty well for a printer stand. I attached cleats for the leg extensions. Yup, it’s a piece of leftover wood from my cat tower project.Round 1: Fight! This worked kinda OK a removable top but I wanted something more structurally sound. Also the quality of this (we’ll just call it wood) isn’t that spectacular so it react well to be taken apart.I opted for more cleats. It gave me something more substantial to attach the legs and corner supports to.I added lights. It’s a set of Patriot Lighting RGBW 12V lights I bought from Menards with no real purpose in mind. They are craptacular. Don’t buy them. Seriously. They soldered a whole bunch of small sections together. I spent more time desoldering than I care to admit.The lights aglow with a purple haze.Added 4 plexiglass panels including a door with 3D printed hinges/handle. Double magnets for the sides and back panels. The tops have M3 nut knobs for easier panel removal.I discovered I had one of the early Ender 3 models with bad XT60 connectors. The negative terminal was melted and fused together.Another shot of the XT60 ConnectorI found telltale signs that my extruder was underextruding. Tested and found it was short by 3mm with my PETG filament. I had similar problems with my PLA filament as well.Top-feeding filament spool. Still need to build a dry box around it. That’s my Octoprint server next to it. Raspberry Pi 3B+ with Octopi Stretch image.Printed Filament Spool base stand.Remote for my 12V Cabinet lighting system fitted with leftover badge magnets.
This is my mom’s recipe for egg rolls. It’s a combination of Northern and Southern Vietnamese variations from what I’ve learned. Made with pork, garlic, onions, carrots, black fungus, bean thread noodles, and a secret blend of spices.
After discovering the plans by Honus for an Animatronic Stargate Helmet last summer, I became obsessed with making my own Jaffa uniform. The helmet was by far the trickiest part of the build. Funny thing is, it’s the first thing I started and the last to get finished. We were even fixing it on the way down to the Hall Contest Table at CONvergence. There’s a fair amount of detail required. FYI, the electronics will be covered in its own post. I need to gather up the resources Tom used for the electronics.
This took a lot of rework. A lot of it was because I hadn’t worked on this type of project before and, frankly, it was pretty ambitious for a first project. Misery comes in three: I ended up having to make most of the parts 3 times. The base of the helmet was built twice in Pepakura and a third and final time in 8MM EVA Foam from TNT Cosplay Supply. This took most of the roll to complete. I was still new to Pepakura and it took a lot of manipulating to get the printouts to complete the template. I also made 2 Horus and 2 Anubis Guard headpieces out of paper from the Pepakura files, which I ended up destroying with expanding foam. I learned a lot of lessons that day. That was also how I destroyed the first Pepakura helmet. The second Pepakura helmet didn’t fare much better and became deformed because of the spray foam (the correct one this time) and the hard safety hat I had glued in. The EVA Foam helmet was a much better fit.
I should also point out that some of the carved designs are not screen accurate. Frankly, I fudged a lot of it. I didn’t have enough reference photos to work off of, so I replicated the larger artifacts and freehanded the rest of the pattern carving. At the time, there was a huge time crunch looming with CVG2018 approaching.
Build Images
Here’s a happy shot of me while we decided where to trim the foam extensions.Trimmed and fitted with the face covering. The cover is reinforced with aluminum bars to hold its shape. Without an eye screen, it actually makes a fairly sturdy handle for carrying.Initial carving, before hitting it with the heat gun to expand the gaps.Closer carving designs and feature detail. The unwanted gaps were filled with Kwik Seal. The lines were cut lightly, then hit with a heat gun to open the lines.Slightly out of focus rear carving, free-handed with EVA foam.The grey foam I used to make the accent pieces ended up being a lower density EVA foam so it shredded a little when sanding.EVA Foam detail from the top of the helmet.One more shot of detail on the tailpiece of the helmet. I’m particularly proud of the scarab at the bottom.Small detailed shot of the ear fan. There will be more detail in electronics post.Helmet after painting. This may have been an earlier iteration of the paint. Tom is my paint guy and went through a few versions until he was happy with the color.I used sketches like these to cut out the shapes needed. I cut out the pattern and transferred it to 2MM EVA Foam. The ‘scalloped’ portions helmet were hand sketched as well. I drew half of the pattern on a folded sheet of paper and then used a glass-top desk as a make-shift light table. I also learned that if you do it in pencil, you can transfer the pattern to foam by pressing the paper into it, sketch-side down.
My costume was built from plans provided by p00k1333 on theRPF. The template files can be found in this post. I suspect he’s much taller than I am, so it took a little trial an error, but these plans are beautiful.
