Dishrack's Triple Zero

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Fitment is probably going to feel A LOT better now!

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Anything new on this front?  

[Dishrack[501st]]

1 hour ago, IcyTrooper said:

Anything new on this front?  

Why yes, there is! Good timing ...a month since my last update and a bit has happened. 

Printed the shorts in a number of pieces and glued together. I'll keep these as front and back pieces and attach them with elastic to allow the two halves to stretch apart during donning and doffing. These fit surprisingly comfortably and provide support in, uh, all the right places. They were tricky to glue/tack together because of their size and shape. Traditional clamps didn't provide enough three dimensional support so I employed the use of straps from my roof racks to provide cross-axis tension. 

Next came the dreaded thighs. I've been following a lot of protocol droid builds and the legs seem to be  consistently regarded as the hardest bit to fit correctly. The issue being that unlike most armoured costumes, the knees on this are hinged together so if the thigh is too long, the knee isn't in the right spot to bend. Accordingly, this is the first piece I've had to skew to fit. It's about 4% shorter than it is wide. Not a huge different to look at but certainly a huge improvement to wear. 

It's also a really big piece so again, split it into three pieces. As you can see, it's pushing the bed size of my Ender 3 to the absolute limit but we got there. 

Here's the final thing which is huge. This alone has around 100 hours of print time in it. 

Those of you with sharp eyes might notice that even though I said I printed it in three pieces, it's actually in four pieces. Well, that's what happens when your bed is held down by a handful of rare earth magnets and the print catches on the extruder causing the bed to slip, 25 hours into a 30 hour print...No way was I letting that go to waste so reprinted just the top bit and attached it, thus four parts all up. 

And here he is so far! Triple Zero taking shape as the months tick by. I couldn't be happier

I've also replaced the screws that held the head together with the now spare rare earth magnets. This means that I can just snap the bucket on/off as needed without having to awkwardly unscrew the toggles (before and after pics below)

Next we keep pushing on with the legs. Phew!

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

holy cow.  Wow what a process.  I love your magnets, like the clone faceplates.  

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

How's it going @Dishrack?!

[Dishrack[501st]]

On 5/30/2021 at 4:37 AM, IcyTrooper said:

How's it going @Dishrack?!

Oh no, you've caught me! I don't have much of an update, I'm afraid. Things have stalled slightly due to life circumstances. 

That said, I have sanded and prepped some parts. Reprinted others. Essentially I got stumped by the shins which are going to need heavy modification.

Rest assured, I'm still very much committed to finishing this and will be back on track as soon as I can. Sorry for being a slowpoke! 

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

3 hours ago, Dishrack said:

Oh no, you've caught me! I don't have much of an update, I'm afraid. Things have stalled slightly due to life circumstances. 

That said, I have sanded and prepped some parts. Reprinted others. Essentially I got stumped by the shins which are going to need heavy modification.

Rest assured, I'm still very much committed to finishing this and will be back on track as soon as I can. Sorry for being a slowpoke! 

No worries! Life comes first as well all know  ...at your own pace is absolutely ok!

I look forward to the updates in the future  

[Dishrack[501st]]

After a few months away from it, I've finally found my way back. I had been sanding parts in my lunch breaks but once winter hit here, being outdoors wasn't viable. That also hampered resin, fiberglass and painting efforts.

I have had a chance to process a few parts this week due to a brief break in rain. I've also tweaked the legs and started the long journey of reprinting them, as I wasn't happy with the fit previously. All things considered, I should be done printing all large parts by the end of next week with only some small greeblies to go after that. 

I had accidentally printed two left shoulder bells (or was it two right shoulder bells? I get them confused all the time) so I used one of them as a test piece for paint. Overall, fairly happy with the outcome. Hopefully there will be a more steady stream of updates from here. 

[nanotek[CMD-DWM]]

That looks very nice! Really digging the quality of your workmanship. Winter will come and go quickly and you'll be cranking again in no time! So excited to see another 000

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

I'd say that turned out well on the paint! It has a metal look to it, I like it.

[Allan1313[MBO-CMD]]

Keep on rocking! Looking good.

[Dishrack[501st]]

Unsure whether to go with C3PO's "That’s funny, the damage doesn’t look as bad from out here", or Han Solo's "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid". Either way, I'm happy to report that all major printing is complete with only a handful of pistons/greeblies to go.

Parts are at various stages, with some untouched, others sanded/primed, some have been fiberglassed on the inside for strength and others have been completely painted (not that you can tell here; the black paint looks just like the raw print). Fair to say if you can see a print line or glue seam, that part hasn't been sanded yet as I plan to leave no trace that this was 3D printed.

Honestly, I'm happy to be moving to the next phase of bringing everything to life. Heaps of preparatory work to go and still waiting on some specialty hardware to arrive over the next couple of weeks but it's coming together. Next will be the full test fit for mobility. I plan to cast the feet in flexible urethane eventually too.

[Allan1313[MBO-CMD]]

Lol mobility test...there is none

 

Looking good, keep it up.

[nanotek[CMD-DWM]]

Looking great, weather will start to get better here in Victoria soon too

[Dishrack[501st]]

We've had some nice weather in my part of the universe and I got some painting done.

Quick question about the CRL: Should the vertical eye slat coverings be black or silver? The text doesn't specify the colour other than a general statement of "armor parts are gloss black", however the photo displays silver coverings. Is this correct and/or a requirement? Not invested either way, just want to get it right. 

 

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

I have just recently started following your build, I like the anomalous characters of the Empire so Triple 000 fits that description to a "T". After doing some comic book research of photos etc., it looks like in almost all the drawings, that the eye pieces themselves are glowing red with unlit or darker stripes/bars running vertically.  I wonder if the eye pieces could be printed in a "clear" filament with the vertical ridges/stripes and then back lit. The thinner flat areas would be brighter with the thicker vertical raised bars a lesser lit contrast? Maybe even make the flat areas out of red Electroluminescent Tape EL Panels and cover with the vertical stripes/bar?

I know 000 follows the C3PO model and C3P0's eyes have the triple light detail but in most of the comics, 000's eyes are solid red or single center pin point lit. Possibly a CRL change?

By the way your build is going to be epic! 

[IcyTrooper[CMD-DL]]

Both posts above have good points on this and with the infamous comic book drawings (always have different stuff on each panel)! Personally, I believe the only reason it appears a different color is to accentuate the brightness of the red thus "washing out" the lines, but they are black as that one pic. That is my take on it, at least. 

[Allan1313[MBO-CMD]]

On 9/2/2021 at 11:26 PM, Dishrack said:

We've had some nice weather in my part of the universe and I got some painting done.

Quick question about the CRL: Should the vertical eye slat coverings be black or silver? The text doesn't specify the colour other than a general statement of "armor parts are gloss black", however the photo displays silver coverings. Is this correct and/or a requirement? Not invested either way, just want to get it right. 

 

Well as has been pointed out I have seen it both ways. I choose to go silver just to break up the all black...

 

I have seen it all black which looks good too. As far as I know you are good either way. Try both and see what you like better lol

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

@Allan1313 the silver does accentuate the eyes, I am impressed with your build.

[Allan1313[MBO-CMD]]

20 hours ago, Chaos said:

@Allan1313 the silver does accentuate the eyes, I am impressed with your build.

Thanks! Yours is coming along great. 

[BigJasoni[TX]]

On 10/13/2020 at 10:05 PM, Allan1313 said:

I printed my entire 000 on a Prusa MK3 (bit over 8x8x8 print bed). Its a labor of love but well worth it.

That's pretty impressive. Lol. I love seeing these 000 builds come together. Maybe if I lose another 30lbs I can do one that looks somewhat presentable.

This is an awesome costume I can't wait to see it finished. The paint looks phenomenal.

[Dishrack[501st]]

Nicer weather has given me a couple of opportunities to progress with painting.

"You probably didn't recognise me because of the red arm" ... or lack of arms.

I enjoy that the metallic base under the gloss layer gives a slightly grey tone in certain light, consistent with how Triple Zero changed between grey and black in different frames of the comic.

The perfectionists will see the orange peel; I just see my reflection and I couldn't be happier given this was 3D printed.

Overall, very happy with how the paint turned out. Definitely some inconsistencies between cans/batches though but overall everything matches closely enough. Next focus will be the arms.

[Allan1313[MBO-CMD]]

Looks awesome! Keep it up. I like the slight grey tone too. Mine is just jet black haha

[Dishrack[501st]]

With concern about how I was possibly going to fit my foot inside the rigid print, let alone walk without it flexing and snapping, I decided to slush cast the feet in flexible urethane. 

I'd never worked with urethane or silicone before so a bit of YouTube watching set me on my way. I know there are more experienced builders here, so some of my mistakes will be glaringly obvious to you, but I'll explain my process all the same. 

Starting with the sanded print, primed and painted in cheap gloss paint (that was actually a dream to work with compared to the top coats I've been using on the other parts), I glued the foot to some scrap melamine board and built a wall around it with my childhood LEGO bricks, hot glued in place (Oh no, not the kragle!). 

I knew I wanted to create a reservoir for the excess urethane to pool in during casting, so I sealed the ankle with a balloon. My rationale was that it could be inflated to the exact size to create an airtight seal, whilst its dome shape would create a bowl in the inversed-mould to catch the surplus urethane. 

Next, I covered it in plaster bandage and gypsum for strength, and let it set. When I pulled the silicone mould out of the plaster however, something wasn't right.

What I didn't account for was a chemical reaction between the rubber of the balloon and the silicone I used for the mould. Where the silicone contacted the balloon, it didn't cure, instead turning into a gluggy paste that spoiled the end result and was still tacky to the touch. Fortunately all the areas that are affected will be covered by the shin piece, so I decided to proceed. 

For the tint, I made up some test swatches using a combination of metallic powder and opaque gel to get a colour close to the paint on the other parts. Using a small silicone cupcake mould, I tried the following combinations:

1. Just metallic powder mixed in urethane
2. Just opaque gel mixed in urethane
3. A mixture of powder and gel mixed in urethane
4. Brushing the powder into the mould first and pouring in untinted urethane
5. Brushing the powder into the mould first and pouring in gel tinted urethane

#3 gave a result closest to the paint, and so I proceeded.

To avoid the urethane spilling out during the slush process, I applied some orange Playdough around the edge to create a lip on what was otherwise just a flat area. This gave a watertight seal and was easy to remove after the urethane had set.

Tonight, I pulled it out of the mould. It's black, it's glossy and it's flexible. For a material I'd never worked with, I'm pretty happy with the results. 

I imagine I'll still need to slice the urethane down the back of the shoe to be able to get my foot in, with the urethane ultimately glued onto a flat deck shoe. 

Alright, now that you've all seen my mould technique, what should I do differently for the other foot?

[Chaos[CMD-DCA]]

Holy Cow! That's AWESOME! 

I'm thinking I might need to make silicone joints and a waist area when I start my Dark Trooper Gen 3 build, the screen suits were CGI'd at those spots so I'm going to have to be creative. I might hit you up for your color ratios. Your's turned out perfect!