Hung Jury SR4

So I decided to give something back to my beloved game and began to collect data and pictures with the help of some friends. Fortunately there is a website which helps you download the 3d-data-files for every weapon of the game. This was the opportunity I was waiting for...

Some of the pictures I took of my screen, while a friend of mine is holding the weapon.

So the first thing I did was downloading the 3d files. The site I am talking about is www.destinystlgenerator.com. It offers you every 3d model file of guns, armor and ships from Destiny you can imagine. The files are .stl format, which is very common for 3d files.

When I opened the files the first time I realized the crux I mentioned. It is kind of hard to explain but think of some kind of "hull" every model is based of. You won't recognize that when you play the game, but if you hold the weapon in your hands in reality it will just be a shell with no inner support. So that was one problem to fix. 

This is what you get when you download a .stl file from www.destinystlgenerator.com

The second problem was the fact, that a lot of parts are overlapping with each other or are kind of inserted into another part. That is a problem for the printing process later. I had to separate each individual part and connect others to get a clean, printable model file.

Speaking of which, there were also problems with details. This is a common problem with game files I stumbled upon quite a few times. Game models often have textures which help them to look smooth. In reality the files often have a lot of sharp edges. So I decided to fix those in advance, so I won't have that much work with sanding the edges later.

You can see the difference between left (old) and right (new and detailed) 

What I mean with the headline are all those hours I spend to get the perfect 3d model file of the gun. I had to think about where to split the model (because my printer can only print 15x15cm parts).

Some parts fit just right on the printbed.  

I also thought about where to put the electronics and how the wires would lead through the different parts. There also was a problem with stability.

Did i forget anything?... Well yeah as I mentioned above the details weren't perfect so I deleted some parts completely and drew them myself in a more rounded shape. I don't want to overplay here but I think all this took me about 60-80 hours.

It helped me a lot to reward myself while I worked on the model files. When a part was correspondent with my wishes I sent the files to my 3d printer and printed it out. This gave me some happy moments because it is always cool to see how something from your computer becomes reality.

It also helps a lot to hold a part in your hands. I had more than three runs for a few parts until it was perfect for me. Sometimes the detail is not perfect, or you realize that the next part won't fit right. It is a great learning curve that you experience.

Sometimes you have to start all over again to get the details right.

... you realize it just started. I spend a lot of time to edit the 3d files for Hung Jury SR4. It was both frustrating and entertaining. But the big deal was to get all the printed parts together and a smooth outcome. Most of the parts still where edgy and needed a lot of sanding. After sanding came primer..and sanding again. 

I was thinking about how to beat the challenge to get everything smooth and decided to glue most of the parts together first. Otherwise there would have been gaps between glued parts after sanding. So I bought two-compound epoxy glue and assembled the whole gun.

The wires had to be assembled in this step, too. You can see some of them sticking out of the holes which get stuffed with electronic parts later.

These are all the pictures i took after the assembly was completed. There are some parts which got magnets. With this feature I will be able to attach or disassemble them to put batteries in or repair broken LEDs. 

After I sanded the whole weapon with the lowest grid sandpaper I could find (which was about 200 I guess) the first layer of primer was applied. I used half of a 400ml spray can for the whole piece. And there still where lines and crates visible. Time for a second sanding...

After two months the project finally comes to an end. I am more than happy to show you the final reveal of Hung Jury SR4.

 The filmlet shows a few steps of my work process and the final prop with activated lights.