[MattBryce]

Hi All new to the forums and thought I would finally sign up and actually start posting. started on a 3D printed proton pack about a year ago but had to put it on hold for a long time, recently due to being in lockdown found myself with time to work on it some more.

Already did some work on the neutrona wand but planning on picking that up futher down the line for now trying to make some progress on the pack its-self.

The pack is based on a CAD model sourced from Thingyverse, the original creator said they had scaled it to 80% so i scaled it back up and started changing it as I printed, found a few inaccuracies and decided to correct them to best of my ability (my cad skills suck but i get by)

will post pictures as I progress

Be gentle I'm a noob and it's still early days doing this on a badly restricted budget

Thingiverse files are here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4687648 (always subject to change as i work on it)


Printed Parts



Filled





Primer Coat




First Paint Coat





Clippard Valve




Top coat and some weathering

[l3w1sb159]

From one noob to another, it's looking good.

Plus kudos for 3d printing it from scratch, that's an extra level!

[Snooker]

I assume this is CountDeMonet's pack from thingivers, i used several parts out of his package

If you plan to build his Arduino electronics from GitHub and struggle with it, just let me know. I built three packs after his plans

[MattBryce]

The original pack i downloaded was by MileyORiley, but I changed so much of it since downloading it that there's very little of the original left. hadn't actually come across CountDeMonet's pack but will look him up for his electronics for sure should be fine doing all that but if I need help your offer is definatly appreciated and i'll keep it in mind.

[MattBryce]

Added pictures of my Clippard Valve. made this from the cad model available on the clippard website and filled in the internal structure as well as flatterning the base and removing the screws and cutting out the screw holes. used a Satin Black paint from Rustoleum for the body and Platikoat chrome silver for the top.

[Jdizzle66]

How sturdy is this? Im hoping to get a 3D printer for christmas, and was thinking of doing this.

[MattBryce]

so far proving to be very sturdy

I've uploaded my model to thingiverse if you wanted to take a look it's here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4687648

[Jdizzle66]

so far proving to be very sturdy

I've uploaded my model to thingiverse if you wanted to take a look it's here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4687648

I will fo sure check this out, as its exactly what I want to do.

Couple of questions;

#1 How sturdy is it? Does it feel like it could break easily?
#2 How much filament should I plan on using?
#3 What quality settings did you use for it?
#4 What do you use to fill in all the gaps, and smooth it out?

Thanks in advance!

[Jdizzle66]

Sorry about #1. Didnt see that you answered it already!

[MattBryce]

#1 How sturdy is it? Does it feel like it could break easily{/b]
ANSWER: If gluing/filling and painting well and treat it with respect I can't imagin it breaking easily.

#2 How much filament should I plan on using{/b]
ANSWER: I'm unsure since i've been printed parts over a long period of time and used some older spools with unknown amounts remaining on them, that being said I would estimage I've used about 2-3kg of fillament.

#3 What quality settings did you use for it?
ANSWER: Depends on the part, parts with a larger top suriface or with alot of detail/curves were printed with a smaller layer height and at lower speeds, for parts with less detail or with less curves and such I used lo larger layer hights and could get away with higher print speeds.

#4 What do you use to fill in all the gaps, and smooth it out?
ANSWER: Wood Filler and a set of clay sculping tools, send sanding it down with 100 grit sand paper and repeat. but i could have gone further with that.

[MattBryce]

Added some more pictures of my progress.

not totally happy with the results so far on the body of the pack, the print lines are more visible than I would like, honestly I could have spent more time sanding and working on the surface before the top coast. but I feel the weathering has worked well to "hide my crimes" as it were.

[Scuba Steve]

Coming along pretty well. If you ever decide to work on a new pack, there are better 3d plans available: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d ... rop-108758

I built a pack out of the 1.0 variant of these plans and it turned out great. You'll get truly cylindrical parts without the angles and the benefit of improved assembly design.

[MattBryce]

that's awesome thanks for the link, I've actually remodelled most of the parts that turned out less than cylindrical for when I build a second pack but will take a close look at the one you linked too

[jonogunn]

Nice pack! All the sanding turned me off from doing 3D printing.