is it to late to order one?
My kits came in today and I did a quick test fitting with some tape and WOW these are nice
Considering the quality of the kit and the rarity of the prop combined with an amazing price this is probably the best prop purchase I’ve ever made
To say I’m pleased is an understatement
I’m so mad I drug my feet on this. I’m def in for round 2.
Thanks, man! I’m glad to have you so happy, especially in light of the whole pack fiasco you’ve gone through recently.
As far as the second run goes, I’m currently on the fence about either 3D printing them (time-consuming) or making a “master” print off of which I would make molds and cast the parts. I’ll have to take a look at mold materials and availability before making a decision. :-/
I’m in for a second run of which ever way you go. Would you clean up a master print before makings the molds?
Of course. I’d make sure the buck is of highest quality before making any molds.
These look awesome. I am keeping my eye on it for 2nd run.
Yep, definitely doing casts for the next run.
This may or may not have something to do with the fact that I sliced the ever-living hell out of my thumb with an Xacto while removing supporting material from a print…
Yeeowch! Maybe you should start telling people to trim their own.
If you offer the crossbrace for the dome, I’d be down for one.
Do you have any suggestions on how to smooth these? I was thinking of some simple bondo filler putty.
And do you have a lead where to find the best LED counter for the faceplate?
The parts are printed using ABS filament, so you can just take a cheap foam brush, soak the tip in acetone (not the whole thing, as most are held to the stick with glue, which the acetone will eat), and lightly brush the surface until it’s smooth enough for your tastes. At the very least, this method can get you close enough to use a body filler/primer spray mix which will fill in any remaining cracks.
Crossbraces will be available with the 2.0 kits and I’ll happily provide them to any of the original list members. Sorry I didn’t get it out for the first run.
The LED counter I used as basis you can find on Jameco. Not sure the exact part number, but it’s a 3-digit 7-segment red LED display with a red faceplate (which is, near as I can tell, the same that went in the original prop). I’m still working on an electronics kit that will hopefully be ready for the 2.0 run and will be backwards compatible with the original kits.
And I would tell folks to trim their own, but my pride won’t let me send out anything that looks so unfinished, regardless of how low the original price was. 
I appreciate the dedication you have to putting out a good product for us. I would be in for the crossbars and electronics as well.
As for smoothing the print out I’ve been watching YouTube videos on how to give prints a acetone vapor bath. Have you tried that out or do you have any idea how well it works?
Received my giga kit today! This thing is amazing. Can’t wait to get to work…just where to begin 
Thank you again for offering this!!!
I know vapor baths work great when they work great, but things can easily go south (e.g. totally-melted prints). The brush method gives some control over the process and gets the shell “close enough” that most GBFans members should have no problem using methods from building other props.
I’m going to give this a go:
You paint it on and it can be sanded afterwards or painted over. It’s about $30 on Amazon.
That stuff ain’t bad, though I still recommend the brush method. I’ve got this Smooth-On stuff at home and it isn’t the easiest to work with when it comes to small spaces like in the battery box. Best of luck with it!
By the way, I’m going to start including the crossbrace in shipments, along with a slightly-modified battery box (shortened the middle 2 fins to give the crossbrace space). I’ll send crossbraces out to folks who already have their meters, too.
Of course, pretty much everyone who’s got one so far is from the same franchise, so I might just ship them all in one box.
EDIT: Also, the fins weren’t consistently printing to the battery box in one piece like I wanted, so I adjusted the models to have the fins separate, with the battery box grooved where they originally went. Order should be obvious (smallest in the middle, biggest on the outside). Fins will, from this point on, be separate from the battery box and included in a small plastic baggie.
Between kits, I’ve made a few upgrades to the printer. The door and hood are for keeping heat in as the ABS I print with will curl or separate layers if subjected to inconsistent heating or cooling. The cable chain inside that leads to the print bed just looks good and prevents any cable binding (unlikely, but I’m paranoid). The cover for the SD card slot is because I have a toddler who LOVES to eject the card mid-print. Damn kids.
By the by, I finally figured out how to put holes in the curved surface of the inner dome, so domes from here on out will have those included in the print.
Pm sent
Just got my parts, they look amazing.