TekWar Pulse Gun w/Plates, Orientations, Adjustments

Hats off to Steven Hackett on an excellent build and file recovery! I just wanted to make some adjustments to make printing easier. Here's what I did:

Filamental, my dear Watson.

First off, I placed all the like colored parts on separate plates with the orientation and supports for best print results (you might need to separate the silver parts onto multiple plates). Based on my extensive review of the prop in the movies, online hero prop video and others, I colored the pieces according to my best estimations. Giant Arm Silk Silver PLA and Overture Black PLA parts are pretty obvious, I used Overture Silk Gold PLA for the Body Middle Rail, Main Body Emitter, Top Back Knobs, and Sight Pin Knob, Hatchbox Bronze PLA for the Lower Pinion Connector Back, bronze and black PLA for the trigger (Note: it is two colors in the show but you can make it all one or the other if you want, though I think bronze is the better choice). The Body Butt is shown on the show to be all silver, though I could make a case for it being a continuance of the pulse coil (and have seen other print it that way), therefore black and silver (but it takes forever to print, though you could paint it).

Parts is parts.

I resized the Main Body Clip (would have loved to see the part as shown in the exploded view) because it wouldn't fit in the barrel. The Large Control Knob didn't fit all the way down to the main body hole, so I had to shim the bottom with a previously printed piece of support. I also flattened the bottom of the Large Control Slider which was oddly rounded for some reason. I decreased the height on the Connecting Pins for that slider, mine seemed too tall and I had to cut them down a bit for the slider to be flush with the body. I didn't reprint them to confirm, so you might need to adjust them further. I had to fix the mesh of two of the parts the Main Barrel Grip and the Grip. On the Body Frame Back, the pin is the weak point here and I would recommend either printing with a greater infill or using stronger filament or both. I basically drilled a small hole at the end of the pin and screwed in a domed-head screw that went slightly into the Body Butt. Ok, last thing, the Main Body Frame Front. Again, based on my review and research, there seems to be ridges around the edge of the circular portion. Gives it a little more character. I included this and kept the original on the side. You pick.

A note on the Pulse Coils.

As best as I can see, the coils from the actual prop appear to be bluish, semi transparent tubes with silver metallic bands wrapped around it. I found a nice color filament that might serve, but I would still need to paint the bands to give it the same look. I am wondering whether it might be just as easy to paint the entire part. Or leave them black. Or leave them black and paint the bands silver. As for printing, I had a tough time at first printing the pulse coils, and then in the end had to use glue stick on my Bambu Lab textured PEI plate in order for the parts to stay in place. Then they printed fine. Note: Well, I went ahead and did it. Using Giant Arm Silver PETG and Amolen Light Blue Transparent PETG. Took a number of tries to keep it on the bed, but finally got it to print. Results? Well, though it might be more accurate, not sure if it really stands out enough to be able to see the transparent sections because they are kind of small.

The missing pieces.

So here's an interesting tidbit. On the left side of the Main Body there is a rectangular space with a groove in it. I immediately thought, "Where's the slider that fits in there"? But Steven hadn't included one. Many, if not all of the versions I've seen don't have one, but when I went back to the actual movies, yep, there was a black slider. If I can get a decent enough image of it I may attempt a reconstruction. Also, there was no stop on the Lower Pinon Connector Front that prevents the front half of the gun from just sliding off the coil. I designed a rudimentary one (Lower Pinion Stop) that you can screw into the end of the connector that can slide up and down. When down, you can slip it into the barrel, then slide it up and tighten it down so it acts as a stop.

Finishing up.

My last comment is just an observation, I would have greatly appreciated some connectors where appropriate to make the assembly easier and a guide as to which parts to glue and when. Maybe I will attempt to create some kind of assembly guide. Thanks again for the great piece, Steven!