Lighting Up 3D Printed Cosplay

Our April Hacker of the Month is a tremendous cosplayer from Cambridge, Massachusetts who goes by the identify of Spoon Makes; Alina Granville.

As a younger lady rising up, Alina was given the Spoon moniker in grade faculty when mysteriously, a spoon flew out of her lunch field a lot to the amazement of her friends. As she grew older and started to create issues, particularly cosplay and props, she added the Makes because the second portion herself.

Alina’s first introduction to 3D printing was for an structure class undertaking again in 2009. She was in a position to print one part of her design on a powder-based, Z-Corp printer. After this, she continued to dabble in 3D printing for architectural design, broadening her efforts on Stratasys printers as nicely, however she actually didn’t begin getting severe about 3D printing cosplay till 2016.

“On the time, the prop I used to be making had a really difficult formed tail that wanted to be glued to a vacuum, so I printed my solely PLA prop ever on an Ultimaker2. The opposite half of the prop was carved from XPS foam sitting on my kitchen ground. My residence isn’t large enough for tons of hand constructing and the mess it generates, so 3D printing appeared like the way in which to go sooner or later.”

Presently, she prints with a customized Core-XY printer with a construct dimension of about 310x410x350mm – roughly primarily based on the D-Bot construct, it makes use of linear rails as a substitute of wheels and a direct drive BondTech v6.

“It is design was pushed primarily based off my printing preferences and my want for producing props and cosplays. On the time I used to be searching for a technique to 3D print some outsized clear versatile boots for my Torbjorn construct, so my fiance and I constructed it final spring/summer season to make the boots… it is our first private printer! We may have purchased one thing off the shelf, however nothing actually suited my wants in an affordable worth vary and it turned out to be a tremendous expertise and never too difficult. The method taught me how printers labored and since I understand how every part goes collectively it’s approach simpler to troubleshoot or make modifications. I additionally repeatedly borrow a Flashforge Creator Professional; it is nothing fancy but it surely reliably will get the job achieved. From time to time, components will probably be printed on a Markforged with nylon if an element must be a mechanically practical.”

Alina likes to make use of ABS primarily due to its power and skill to be welded. Final 12 months her focus turned to clear colour ABS, which was good for her Torbjorn cosplay as a result of there are few different supplies which might be structural, translucent, inexpensive and light-weight. She began to print with nylon for her cosplay, however she reviews that the ending choices are extra restricted than ABS, and rather more technically difficult for printing massive cosplay objects. Due to her affinity for translucent ABS, her preliminary prop was a glowing sword for a Saber Alter cosplay. She additionally used translucent ABS and TPU primarily for her Torbjorn cosplay with varied ending strategies for the totally different elements:

“Since I exploit ABS my ending strategies differ from most cosplayers that use PLA, in comparison with them I exploit so much fewer putties, fillers, and primers. My principal post-processing methodology entails a mix of sanding and bushing on acetone to clean and refine the prints. I’ve tried passive vapor sprucing, but it surely did not work that nicely for cosplay; there are points becoming bigger components within the contained vapor, the vapor would not evenly distribute on all faces, it takes a very long time to dry, and it simply blurs all of the element. Whereas labor intensive, brushing on acetone and permitting it to evaporate works nicely for me with out eroding the main points and the sanding mud appears to assist clean the print (additionally as a plus the acetone appears to bond the layers collectively higher). I will often end with 1-2 layers of sandable/filler/auto primer earlier than paint, nonetheless, I had positive outcomes skipping primer on my Torbjorn construct. I keep away from utilizing an excessive amount of primer, it erases particulars and too thick layers are simple to chip. For becoming a member of items collectively I additionally use an acetone ABS juice, it is my go to. I do know lots of people like to make use of a thicker slurry, however I work with a skinny consistency – it dries quick and would not get gummy; the hot button is to use sufficient layers of the skinny juice to soak/soften the components earlier than urgent them collectively. To repair gaps, cracks, and seams I’ve began utilizing a 3D printing pen, adopted by the brushed on acetone to weld it to the half, then sand it stage with the print. I will nonetheless use the filling putties if vital or to be faster, however there is not any must waste as a lot materials slathering it all around the print to sand it off. For components with glowing bits I discovered it’s best to keep away from putties and sanding layers of primer. Even opaque filaments can have gentle bleed so something with uneven layers may be seen beneath the paint. Ending TPU, alternatively, is a wholly totally different beast, which I have not found out any wonderful constant answer but, proper now I have been utilizing a soldering iron and totally different versatile coatings and paint. One other enjoyable approach I exploit on some items is dye! It is a great way to paint translucent items if you do not have an airbrush.”

Alina’s cosplay characters to this point have been picked from some glorious sources, a lot of which come from Blizzard Leisure; Nova from StarCraft/Heroes of the Storm, in addition to Mei and Torbjorn from Overwatch. She has additionally accomplished a cosplay for Saber Alter, an anime tackle the legend of King Arthur.

“In cosplay, there are such a lot of totally different strategies and supplies persons are utilizing. The primary motive I give attention to printing is that it’s comparatively compact. House dwelling is slightly tight, there is not any storage or yard, there is not any devoted messy area, there are not any additional tables for large molds to treatment. Printing, alternatively, takes up so much much less area, simpler to retailer filament spools than different supplies, is, for essentially the most half, an additive course of (versus carving foam with a knife or Dremel which make a giant mess), and as a plus produces light-weight, extremely clear and detailed outcomes.”

As to why 3D printing is such a big a part of her course of for producing cosplay props?

“By way of cosplay, it permits me to supply a clear product with excessive accuracy and element. The ultimate product is sturdy and may face up to the excessive stress touring, sitting in sizzling vehicles (do not strive that with PLA!), and the trials of conference accidents (had a prop take a 5’+ fall onto tough concrete and all of the epoxy joints broke however the print was solely evenly scuffed up), all whereas being comparatively light-weight. There are many different supplies utilized in cosplay like EVA and XPS foam, worbla, and thibra, and casting resins…however I see 3D printing as a center floor between all of them by way of worth, weight, power, and ease of use.”

“I additionally say the printer is like an additional set of fingers. It is nearly like I can double my work time since I can spend the time modeling, then whereas it is printing I can work on different issues! Nevertheless, I personally do not feel 3D printing accelerates the cosplaying course of considerably if something focusing solely on printing is slower than working by hand (as a consequence of lengthy print occasions and coping with print striations). Most individuals are utilizing private printers for printing very small and detailed issues, however cosplay is massive and detailed. I am prone to spend additional time perfecting my fashions from references after I’m working in CAD, then if I used to be strictly working by hand the place I could be extra forgiving if it is not as correct. However in the long run that pays off and may have some very skilled outcomes! If you happen to’re sensible about it and work with a number of supplies, 3D printing can actually velocity issues up if you happen to use it to print detailed tedious components and use clean flat inventory to make the remainder. Working by way of CAD and 3D printing may be actually useful at occasions for mockups, it is simple and fast to print off smaller variations of fashions to simply wrap your head round advanced designs or print small sections to verify match or joints. That is one thing cosplayers must do extra usually as 3D printing may be unforgiving with errors. Relying on the ‘anatomy’ of the print, you may’t simply minimize a mannequin shorter or warmth it into form to make it work like different supplies.”

3D printing has allowed Alina to supply wonderful cosplay on a good finances – one thing cosplayers are infamous for. She reviews that with out the entry and low-cost availability of translucent ABS filament, her Torbjorn costume wouldn’t have been potential.

Top-of-the-line issues about utilizing 3D printing in making her wonderful cosplays is the success of the costumes and props and the overwhelmingly constructive suggestions she has obtained – it retains her coming again to do it many times!

What cosplay is up subsequent for Alina? If her FaceBook web page is any indication, it appears to be like like she will probably be going for the most recent character to hitch the Overwatch line-up, a feminine engineer named Brigitte, who occurs to be the daughter of Torbjorn!

For the longer term, Alina is engaged on doing a little fee items, in addition to beginning a line of how-to movies on her manufacturing and ending strategies for her wildly profitable cosplay designs. We will’t wait to see what she desires up and creates subsequent, and we sit up for following up along with her sooner or later – good luck Alina!

Need to be our subsequent Hacker of the Month? E-mail chris.morgan@matterhackers.com, and inform us about your 3D printed creations – you possibly can be featured in our subsequent publication. Hacker of the Month wins 3 free spools of PRO Collection PLA or ABS filament to additional their pursuit of 3D printing greatness!

Hero picture courtesy of John Jiao