themaninthesuitcase

It can but the import costs and the size limits don't really make it worth it.

is that in ABS? I can only do PLA which won't be as tough.

They won't as it goes against their core beliefs, its explicitly listed on the ideas site. "i. Large or human-scale weapons or weapon replicas of any kind, including swords, knives, guns, sci-fi or fantasy blasters, etc." - https://ideas.lego.com/guidelines

I fall in to one of those labeled categories people throw around with out understanding what they mean, but yes I am very introverted by nature though there's a whole heap of asterisks after that. In the past I have been unable to talk even to a waiter or similar unless the interaction was initiated by them. Think they asked me what I want, but I couldn't ask them for a refill for example. Essentially a lot of social interactions people have by nature are learned behaviour for me and requires conscious thought to not mess up. Over the years I've taught myself ways to be able to interact more with people, and the internet has been a great enabler for me. The TK armour has taken this to new levels, not only am I meeting more new people I am able to interact with strangers that would have been impossible before. A lot is probably the anonymous nature of the bucket, some might be "I'm an imperial troop in the Galactic Empire" but with each troop I am getting better at being the trooper and not a mannequin. I guess this a long winded way to say I have a lot to thank the 501st, UKG and FISD for.

I can't see a downloadable file on there, I take it I need to approach the designer directly?

Over the last few days I've had a bunch of emails saying all the v1.1 cylinders have successfully printed in a couple of colours. If once you start receiving them you could let me know what you think that would be lovely.

Thanks for the tutorial on the lenses. I want to pick up a new casting (or 2) at some point and do this mod.

fair enough, though I'd ask.

Would you be willing to make the files available at all for those with their own printers?

Running a single fan (I've got mine individually switched) I got well over 5 hours. I do need to do a full test and see what I can get out of them.

If you prefer a sharper bend in the aluminium strip you can do it. If you just try bend it that sharp then the strip will snap. However if you cut a groove about 2mm wide half way through the strip it will bend easily and cleanly to a nice sharp bend. Thought I'd mention it as I can see this thread becoming a sort of defacto tutorial. Edit: The wider the slot the further you can bend. This is a 2-3mm slot: This is the width of a hack saw, so around 1mm:

I'm wondering if it would come out better stood on its end front pointing up. The support would be pretty cleanable but the cylinders which are the most noticeable bit would print far cleaner.

That came out better than I expected on an FDM machine. I've got one coming at the end of the month. Will have to see what it will look like on max detail.

Prime, sand, fill, repeat. On the flash guards I sanded them, primed by hand with acrylic, sanded again. When I primed them with auto primer I was "heavy handed" and it gave quite a nice finish. Auto-primer direct onto them gives an aweful finish, I assume due to the porous surface messing with things. You could get a mirror finish if you wanted but it's down to how much effort you want to put in. For a trooping blaster (like on my current one) I didn't see it worth spending hours and hours on it but for a display piece I would.

It's not as a big deal for you in the US but I'll mention it anyway that shipping can be brutal for a single part, especially in Europe. I can order one of everything and postage is about 1/3rd of the cost.

I have also just published the v1.1 power cylinders based on feed back from T-Jay who was able to compare them with some playfulwolfcub replicas. These change a few dimensions, the biggest being the rear length of capacitors. I've also added a few details and tweaked a number of small dimensions. Other changes include a simulated bend on the plate, increased bore for the 10BA screws, shorter end caps and smaller vents. The biggest change is that I now have Profiles A, B and C: These are on the shapeways store but in a BETA mode. There's no real difference but it it just marks there may be issues as they're yet to be proved. For this reason the v1.0 people have already had are still in the store. Once the new versions are proved I'll discontinue the v1.0 part. It's also worth mentioning the new parts are a tiny bit cheaper than the old ones in the same material.

I've had these available for a while in my build thread and many of you have ordered some but I figured I'd start a new thread so they aren't buried. Introducing Suitcase Props 3D Printed E-11 parts As part of my ANH E-11 build I designed and had printed a number of parts to compliment my DoopyDoo resin kit and T-Jay completion kit. These came out of me not liking the quality of some of the resin parts and feeling that a better option was available. Parts Front sight with pin, use a M4 x5mm cone point grub screw to secure the pin. Flash guards x 2 Stock cube, sized to fit the tube in the T-Jay kit. End cap clip, sized to fit the channel in the T-Jay kit. Power cylinders (shown assembled ready for paint) Ordering I make these parts available via a shapeways store. They handle all the ordering, manufacture and shipping. For my time I take a cut of exactly £0.00, the price you see is the same as what I'd pay cost. The reason for this is to give back to those who have gone before and done all the hard work to research and produce the kits we are building upon. I'm adding a small, margin to each part today ( <$0.50 ). Nothing massive but a few $ in my Paypal once in a while wouldn't go amis at the moment. If you really don't want to pay see Open Source below. The parts can be ordered here https://www.shapeways.com/shops/suitcaseprops Open Source I also have made the design files and stl files available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. So feel free to have a look at them and mess with them if you want something different. The files can be found on github https://github.com/themaninthesuitcase/e-11-3d The design files are for Autodesk 123D Design which is a free program and is available on Windows and Mac. These were originally designed in Autodesk 123D Design, which has now been sunset. These should be openable in Fusion 360, also available for free for hobbyists, students and small businesses (read their terms)

I've not updated the live files yet as I wanted the feed back. I also need to increase the hole sizes and then make it all 1 part again.

I just adjusted the model a bit, fortunately I was able to cut and shut the capacitors and the "bend" has been added too using an extra piece and fillet. Much more than this might have meant a re-design but seeing as it's so close these small changes were reasonably simple to do. It's taught me a bit about leaving bits so that I can edit them again in future. Anyway some images: The curve of the bend has been added to replace bent metal. The inside curve is 0.25mm radius and the out side is 1mm, the "metal" is 1mm thick. I think this looks pretty close to realistic. The resistors have been shortened by 2mm. It's hard to see how much you removed but this looks about right. I could also make the holes a bit larger in both the main cylinder and capacitors which might help reduce the amount of finishing too. I'll need to measure things first before I add these. Then all that's left is a willing guinea pig to order the v1.1 part. Any thoughts on the changes would be appreciated.

On my 3D printer flash guards mine are as smooth as the resin just from sanding and paint so it's perfectly doable you just need to put more effort in than the resin ones.

There's a Stanley one but it's £88 ($128+- exchange changes).

The mattress topper is a good idea. I'm going to have to get a better bin, mines fine for short trips but I've got a long walk this weekend so have had to bodge up a trolly for it.

I struggled with the resistors too. I can shorten them down for a mk2 version. Roughly how much needs to come off? Looks about 1mm based on that's how thick the plates are? But if that's all that's wrong I'll call that a win. Also for finishing: on some parts I primed them with Tamiya then used a heavy coat of auto primer and they are almost as good as the doopy Doo resin they are glued too. I think for the cylinders the best bet is to sand, seal, prime and then maybe sand again if you want a really good finish. Edit: I just noticed the rounding off of the right angle, I can do that too.

Size can be worked around for some stuff by scaling or by cutting up bits further. Autocad have a whole raft of free tools. 123D Design is good for geometric stuff as is Fusion 360 which is a bit more full featured (and free for enthusiasts). Meshmixer is also useful for tweaking, cutting up and fixing models. I also have blender which is very high end capability wise but I've not started down that way as the auto desk stuff is better for what I've been doing. Steep learning curve though.

I'm waiting on one too. Reys blaster is high on my list for my daughter. They're a good one on my mini factory. https://www.myminifactory.com/object/star-wars-nl-44-reys-blaster-17422 The AT-AT is amazing too but need to see that will fit my printer. https://www.myminifactory.com/object/detailed-at-at-17606