I’ve see guys just do the plumbing, so they don’t have to mess around with as many brackets in the inside. I didn’t.
…not sure which way is less work.
It amazing me how many people ask what this thing is going to shoot. my standard response, “Why, do you want your sofa ruined?”
I read about a new finishing technique for 3d printed parts; you mix air cure bondo putty with acetone an spray in on. Preferably with a $16 harbor freight junker spray gun.
This is the first part I tried it on, and it worked a treat.
Only downside is I can’t seem to find the air cure stuff in big bulk cans like you can with the 2 part.
Seeing that Dalek collar section really leaves me wanting to see a Proton Pack/Dalek or Slime Blower/Dalek mash-up.
Ask me in a year or so. I’ve been slowly printing Dalek parts whenever I don’t have something else going on in the machine.
I have the shoulders, dome, and half of the neck done.
Lot of Dalek left to go.
Glued the main tank together today, and I had my official photographer on hand to document the process
I decided to install the mounting bolds ahead of time. That way I’m sure they’re anchored right in the middle of a slat
If you try this at home: TAKE THE TIME TO BUILD A JIG.
It turned out a little heavy, but my primary objective was met: It’s bullet proof. I’ve dropped it once on the garage floor already.
Bonus: I had a half a can of spray foam left over to shoot with a shot gun. You know, so it didn’t end up wasted.
If anyone out there is interested in this technique I made the files available on Thingiverse.
Overall I think it went really well, as long as you have big enough print bed, and four spools of filament sitting around.
Another day, another stand for my slime blower main tank.
Thank goodness that’s the last cycle of “prime n sand prime n sand”… Cause each coat is almost a whole darn can.
Spent the last few evenings mounting tanks. There’s a lot of fussing and fiddling involved.
I added another crossmember to give myself another mounting point for the main tank. It’s not accurate, but no one will be able to see it once the vest is on. I also used bolts to mount the side tank. The real deal used pop rivets, but I wanted to be able to remove them if a repair is needed in the future.
And speaking of the vest, If you ever wondered if it was really necessary, the answer is YES. This hurt:
The center of gravity is way higher on this than it is on the pack. with just 2 straps it feels like being cut into 3rds.
I took a weekend or two off from the blower for a project in the woodshop; But I’m back to slowly working out details.
The electronics are mostly done on the pack. This was my solution for the power cell. In hind site, this approach made it tricky to screw the box on after everything was installed, but it works.
This was a small concession. It doesn’t look like the originals had a second set of quick disconnects on the back side of the pump box, the Zooka hoses were just attached directly to it. I decided to ignore that and added the disconnects anyway. I wanted to be able to disconnect the hoses at both ends just to make moving/displaying/ wearing this thing a little easier.
Details left to go:
*Still looking for that elbow for the spherical tank. It’s an elusive ■■■■■■. I might 3d print and electroplate it as a last resort.
*Trying to encourage my seamstress wife to get started on the vest. I think we found very close matches for all the fabrics
Has anyone out there tried that? I’m wondering how it will look. I have experience with epoxy dripping effects on accident, but I’ve never tried to do it on purpose
Beautiful! Now build me one lol.
Holy ■■■■.
When I see fans post amazing stuff like this I think “ gee I’m a lazy talentless hack” haha.
Wow. Great job.
Someone needs to document a build like this just like Adam Savage does & record it on camera. I’d love to see that.
I still have a lot of details to do on the vest. The real props had extra padding on the belt, and extra elastic straps on the middle and top to help distribute the weigh.
Take my word for it, you need that. I could only wear it all at the party for about 30 min in it’s current state. With the all metal zooka, this thing weighs in at 65lb.
Finally, somebody with a real lathe, not a sissy CNC. Any idiot can buy a car, cool people build them. Well done sir. I may follow along and do the same as I’m well equipped in the machinery area between work and home.
