Custom Mandalorian 3D Printing Mando Helmet

[lerxstrulz]

Taking a break from my first scratch build because we got a new 3D printer at work and I thought...."I wonder"

Sure enough, there was a plan for a Boba bucket on grabcad.com. I had to cut the dome off and print it separately because it was too tall for the printer. It's also a little angular, but that's ok because I will fiberglass and bondo it to strengthen and smooth it anyway.

The dome took 15 hours and the bottom part is still printing (20 hours in at this point) and has about 10 hours to go...so it's an exercise in patience

Anyway...here are some pics so far:


Dome (15 hrs to print)


face mask at 15 hours


face mask at 20 hours


Like I said...about 10 hours to go and then I'll test fit them together and go from there. First time doing this so keeping my fingers crossed

 

[higuerajoey]

Cant wait to see the results, I just downloaded that grabcad file and plan on printing when I get back to school

 

[GhostDarAvode]

duuuuuude!!!!!!
that is sick.....i want a 3d printer now!
keep it up!
-Ghost

 

[lerxstrulz]

Finally finished! The helmet had to be sliced off in the 3D file as mentioned above, so it needs to be reattached (it sits low in the pics) But all in all a great skeleton! Next is the fiberglass/bondo stage. Also tried printing the earcaps but they are not flat on the bottom and do not print well. Had one that might be passable, and would have been fine if they had been printed with the helmet, but it would not have fit on the bed with them on I'll probably make some or order some resin ones. Anyway...here is the final print...

 

[CastleFett]

Have you tried printing the ear caps in 2pc? So it it will fit the curvature of the helmet?

 

[lerxstrulz]

Hey sorry for the late reply. Yes I tried printing the ear caps but since they are curved they do not turn out well not matter how I try to rotate them in the modeler. In the market for some resin caps.

 

[Sni9er]

Hey sorry for the late reply. Yes I tried printing the ear caps but since they are curved they do not turn out well not matter how I try to rotate them in the modeler. In the market for some resin caps.

i think what he meant was have you tried running a slice through the center plane and printing them as 2 halves i.e outer and inner (which as a result would both have Flat Bottoms that could be glued together

 

[lerxstrulz]

i think what he meant was have you tried running a slice through the center plane and printing them as 2 halves i.e outer and inner (which as a result would both have Flat Bottoms that could be glued together

Ah...yes I did, but not it than way. The earcap with the stalk is the tricky one. Here are some pics of the first try of the left earcap...I printed it upside down since that was the flat surface, but the angle was a little rough. I will try slicing it along the lateral plane...that should work better...thanks for the idea!

 

[apollobsg]

How much filament did the entire helmet use?

 

[NovallTalon]

You shouldn't have that kind of trouble printing out a curved surface, what type of printer are you using? Alsoyou try printing it using supports and see if that helps, I've found that non-flat surfaces sometimes come out better when you add supports.

 

[lerxstrulz]

It was around 3/4 of a spool for everything... not sure of the entire length... that should be in the slicer files. I'll take a look when I'm back from vacation

- - - Updated - - -

Using a Lulzbot Taz printer... by no means an expert at this yet, but starting to figure out different ways to get stuff done Thanks for the tip! Haven't had a chance to touch this project in a week so anxious to get back at it!

 

[Narcil]

So jealous, 3D printers keep getting more reasonable in price, I cannot wait to get one.

 

[Neuromancer]

How much does the printed helmet weigh?

 

[lerxstrulz]

So jealous, 3D printers keep getting more reasonable in price, I cannot wait to get one.

Yeah the Taz 4 we are using now comes as a kit, which will save you a lot...still not cheap but one of the better mid-range printers IMO: https://www.lulzbot.com/

- - - Updated - - -

How much does the printed helmet weigh?

It's actually pretty light...MAYBE a US pound? I used PLA plastic which is a little more rigid. About to start the fiberglassing process but will see if I can get a weight beforehand. I have a scratch build going as well using 2mm cardboard and I would say that weights more than the 3D print so far.

 

[PreVizslaUT]

This is awesome! I would love to have a 3D printer!

 

[lerxstrulz]

In my search for "the" helmet, I ordered one from Headshot Props to work on in conjunction with the 3D printed one. When I opened the box I thought it was a child's helmet lol. Then I realized that the 3D helmet is too big. The HSP helmet actually could stand a couple more cm, but it fits pretty well and I think I can get my electronics in there. I took a side-by-side shot of the two helmets and you can see that the 3D printed helmet is much larger. Around 33cm across (ear-to-ear) when from what I can tell the "official" measurement at that spot should be 26cm. I'm going to finish out the helmet because I love the project, but I will resize the 3D files to get closer to original. That's the great thing about 3D printing

 

[Sudsy]

So, what GrabCAD model did you use? I'm a GrabCAD (and Thingiverse, Pinshape, MyMiniFactory...) member as well.

I've printed my ear for the RF stalk. I've found .100mm to .150mm to be the best settings as well as using ABS plastic (because I can smooth it with acetone and not worry about Ethyl Acetate and other harsher solvents PLA requires).

 

[MONR]

Head Shot has great products. I have one of their buckets. I found one model on Thingyverse and started the printing process myself a while back before I found out about the Mando Merc sizing requirements. Still the files had the thing cut into 30 pieces for the smaller sized print beds and a small scaled complete bucket. Has me inspired again well done on your efforts

 

[pthalken]

what methods are you going to use to smooth out your 3D print and get it more 'rounded'?