Prop artist uses 3D printer to create a full size wearable Avengers Ultron helmet
With the release of the latest Avengers Movie – Avengers: Age of Ultron – in theaters today, there’s likely to be quite a few participants of the cosplay community who will either be coming out with their latest Avengers-inspired costumes or, after seeing the movie, will be inspired to go home and start on their next cosplay costume project.
Among those who have already gotten a head start on developing their Avengers-themed cosplay costumes is Michael Ruddy, a popular cosplay artist who uses additive manufacturing technologies to bring his costume ideas to life. Recently, Ruddy used his new gMax 1.5 XT 3D to print a full size, wearable Ultron helmet for a special client.
The gMax 1.5 XT, which is manufactured by gCreate, features 4,608 cubic inches of build volume – which is the best price-to-volume ratio for a 3D printer currently available on the market. Although he could have printed the entire helmet in a single pass thanks to the gMax 1.5 XT 16” x 16” X 18” print volume capabilities, Michael elected to divide the helmet into four separate prints – jaw, main face, top, and ears. The jaw was printed at 0.15mm layer height and took roughly 13 hours. The main face portion was printed at 0.2mm layer height and took about 30 hours, with the ears at 0.15mm layer height for an additional 10 hours. Finally, the top half was printed at 0.3mm layer height and also took around 30 hours due to placing supports in the middle.
After Ruddy’s client – Sean Shaw of Shawshank Cosplay Props – received his 3D printed Ultron helmet, he immediately assembled the jaw, face, top and ear parts into a final assembly with glue.
Once it was determined that everything fit as intended and was the proper scale, Shaw used car bondon to fill the part lines of the assembly before sanding down the entire assembled mask. Once he had reached a more finished stage, he followed the bondo with XTC-3D by Smooth On to further fill and smooth any remaining imperfections on the mask’s surfaces.
Once all of the mask’s surfaces were finished, the mask was molded using Smooth On silicone (Rebound 25 and Smooth Cast 300) to create a high-resolution mold from the original 3D print.
Finally, after casting the mask, the result was a wearable Ultron helmet that’s perfect for any Avengers fan – thanks in no small part, of course, to the ease of desktop and affordable 3D printing.
References:
3ders.org
by Simon | May 2, 2015
Malta 3D Printing 