hestonkent

The blaster ya ordered from me comes with one.

I was way too tempted to take a pic of the latest batch of etsy 501st blasters that shipped out today. Try not to get too aroused...

Very nice paint job, awesome work!

Haha, you guys are so antsy I take it. It's a bit difficult to compile since there were several methods people went about paying for their blasters, both on my site, through etsy and paypal etc. I will say that most of the 20 orders will be fulfilled within a good 3 week span of each other - focusing on getting all the etsy ones out first since they were placed before this run started. I actually had to delay quite a few recently since there's a serious shortage going on with the filament provider I used to get my filament from. I have since switched providers and production is ramping up, though, which is good. If there are any delays I will definitely let you guys know in advance, so far the 6-8 week window from order date is still looking good.

20 orders total for any of the blasters. Any orders placed after yesterday will have an estimated 12 week turnaround time from the date of order.

You are one of the last, but you made it in the 20! This is where I should announce that we have hit 20 orders now, so any orders placed after this reply will have the later fulfillment date. Thanks everyone!

Yup! Check the original post.

Yup, you're in!

Yup!

I use a dremel frequently when sanding the plastic after cleaning supports off of the prints. If you aren't careful you can hit infill and have a bad time, for sure. Friction heat is no joke.

Hmm, google isn't helping me much there. A thin sheet of PLA will start to bend at 80C, and the filament melts at about 180-200C depending on the type you use. I think it's safe to say you would probably have to leave it in a hot car in the middle of an arizona summer for a very long time, at peak sunlight hours, to get the parts to bend even a little bit considering how thick and large most of them are. As an example: I ride motorcycles and routinely use a gopro mount that I 3D printed in PLA, and this is in the hot Texas summer sun too, and have never had any issues with the durability or having it melt at all. This is a tiny gopro mount, vs a full size stormtrooper blaster. Would take a lot of sun to melt something like that.

Not sure what "thermalset plastic" is, it is printed in PLA plastic. Thanks a bunch!

XTC-3D is really useless, to be honest. Tried some of it back when it first came out, it doesn't do anything but make the print glossy and won't do anything to mitigate the layer lines, horizontal solid infill lines or Z axis layer artifacts. It merely provides a glossy coat, which is something you can do with a can of krylon crystal clear for a tenth of the price, after sanding the part down. That XTC stuff is just a gimmick. If you want the real effect, print with ABS and give the parts an acetone vapor bath. It's dangerous and time consuming, but that's the only way to get the look you're going for since it melts the layers together on the outside to form a true solid outer shell. Printing with ABS for me is not an option, unfortunately, since the smell triggers headaches and is a major health hazard without expensive HEPA filter setups. This is especially the case when you have to frequently walk in an office with 7 or more printers running at once... The pictures up above are really close up to the part so I could get the shots of the revisions made on the scope, which is why you noticed the layers - those lines really aren't visible if you're just holding it at arms level or viewing it from someone else holding it. There's just some things you can't change about 3D printing, and that's definitely one of them.

That's just your invoice number, I don't use my website for many transactions (pretty much all of them are done on etsy) so the invoice numbers are low. You made it in the first 20!

Update as of 1/30/15: Made some revisions on the blaster, much thanks to 375adam and others for suggesting revisions that made it on this iteration. List of changes: Blaster shortened to proper proportions (details on this one down below), silver paint changed to a much better and reflective/chrome looking paint, scope and scope mount moved back to the proper area, rear of scope rail changed to grey/chrome, black added to the scope caps, and metal side holster panel changed to the new paint. Here's some pics! 375Adam pointed out that the scope in the prior iteration was far too long, and sent me an image comparing that to a screen prop: I am not sure if Germain updated this scope to the proper length, but I went ahead and did it myself. It should now be proportional to that of the screen-used blaster. Feedback appreciated! There are two 501st/FISD members that will be getting their blasters shipped monday with this iteration (edit: they are etsy customers). If Germain has no objections, the blaster seen in the photos is his and I will be shipping that one Monday as well! I should have some nicer pictures taken tomorrow, sun went down by the time I got things finalized so the lighting is terrible outside.

I greatly appreciate the offer Germain! I however am custom fitting this for an arduino Uno plus several other electronic (and possibly mechanical?) components, so the files I currently have work just fine.

I can't believe It totally slipped my mind to mention the functioning grip! It absolutely does swivel back and forth and has a locking lip. Attaching a pic - The clip could certainly be modified, but not the henslinger necessarily since it isn't hollow by design. If you attempt to drill into the henslinger, you will hit the infill on the print and things will likely end up very messy... I am working on a version that includes electronics for a special person here, no word on the price or anything just yet. Hopefully I'll have some pics to share of that soon

Man and my lighting theory was so convincing to me. I'm glad we have a clear photo of that now! Off to make amends...

Not necessarily, since if any updates occur to the blaster then they will be added onto yours before it ships. This is what I have been doing with all the orders, including the etsy ones. Waiting only makes your spot further back in line, which we are quickly approaching the first 20 orders...

I can already feel myself becoming one of the 501st.... losing my human qualities and only paying attention to every single detail....

OK this bugged me way too much, admittedly. I had the blaster around so I said frack it, I'll conduct a little experiment. Got all the lights turned off in my room, and put the blaster underneath the only directional lighting in my room - my desk lamp. This would simulate the directional spotlights that are present on stages, in conventions etc. Sure enough, the results point to it: And for the smoking gun: I am now 100% sure it is white, and this is the case we are seeing.

Should also mention specifically for this one------------------- Wasn't that taken on-stage at E3 or something? There's a few things to note about the lighting. Stage lighting has huge racks of lights, the purpose is to cover most of the stage in consistent amounts of light. If a shadow is cast over an object in front of one light, chances are another light, perhaps further down the rack and not pointed directly at the subject, will make-up for that shadow. This can often times cause color distortion, especially if there is a gel being used over the light - not that i think this is the case in this situation. Took a theater class in school, know a thing or two about stage lighting. I think that is the case in this image, we're seeing it being lit up less and that's causing it to look grey, since the rest of the blaster that doesn't have a shadow cast over it appears to be ice white. That part of the blaster has several objects around it that could cause a shadow to be cast as well, so it seems only in situations with permitting lighting do we see clearly that the blaster is white in that area. I think it's white. I'm almost positive it's white. Someone get JJ abrams on the phone, this is bugging me.

Those pictures look like lighting differences in that area, not necessarily color differences. Hmm. I think that may be part of the confusion, since we have such limited documentation, the lighting where the guys show up with them as well isn't perfect causing some distortion and obvious imbalances on the color. Notice the shadow cast from the black part on the end in this pic: http://i68.servimg.com/u/f68/12/31/04/96/star-w11.jpg The rear part of the scope is directly over that area, as well, so that could be a huge contributor to the shadow cast over the area, especially in this one: http://i68.servimg.com/u/f68/12/31/04/96/blaste10.jpg I am inclined to think it's gray, though, since that's what others say here. It just makes sense for it to be white, especially since that whole part seems to be connected with the other upper white parts, and the only grey/silver parts seem to be on major details of the gun like the scope, flashlight, rear end cap, and slide. Wouldn't make sense for just a part of the frame to be grey in that area. I think I will leave it white for now, given the evidence that points to it being white, unless someone has a very clear shot of it being grey/silver. Even if there is a clear shot, with the obvious inconsistency that still makes me unsure of what to do. Perhaps I need to go see the movie once more and focus on the blaster a bit to get a good idea for myself.

Ya know, I'm on the edge on whether to change that or not. Griffin-X mentioned it in his feedback, but i've seen versions without it floating around the net. Not sure if there was a lack of consistency amongst the prop designers over at lucasfilm in that area. Here's an example: from wookienet. Of course, that version has some insane chrome paint going on too

Blaster Update! Changes made: All silver paint changed to a more accurate silver paint - much more reflective and glossy than the previous aluminum paint, trigger moved forward in the proper place, black large trigger piece added behind trigger, stickers updated on front left side and right mid side (thanks Germain!), white "pill" details added to rear left side to match rear right side, and the inner front sight was changed to silver from the white that it was before. As far as I know, this is as accurate as it gets without electronics. No changes were made to the stock, however pictures of the blaster with/without the stock uncompressed can be seen here: http://imgur.com/a/9wymt Everyone whose order has not yet been fulfilled, including painted etsy version orders for 501st members, will be receiving this updated version. As well as everyone who orders in the future. Production schedule is looking good, no delays anticipated so far! If you are just now reading this and would like to order one, check the original post in this thread. I appreciate any/all feedback if you guys have any!