#expendable project

[pastel-widow]

The next piece to tackle was the back attachment.

In the actual game files there's at least two things that don't make much sense- Why the antenna is floating, and how the hell is it attached to the characters.

We started testing out shapes.

And from there we started incorporating hardware and webbing straps. The idea was to have it be held up mostly like a backpack. The antenna was easily moved into being part of the actual model, a slot made and a print mocked up. It would be printed in half, much like the handles and other large symmetrical pieces.

Finding clearances for the strap bars and antenna was one issue, the next? Printing it.

It would fit in the Bambu printer diagonally... with zero clearance. It had to be split up.

Weis Rabbit went ahead and designed an interlocking connection; now the back panel could be printed in two pieces.

There was a lot more behind the scenes for how this all came to be. There was a lot of errors and reiterating for pieces that simply would not fit or work.

Instead of Urbanshade's horizontal bars connecting the two diving tanks, we went ahead and used vertical bars to support the pieces together. The back pieces were printed to be close-fitting to the tanks, with no extra room for wiggling or bending.

The side tube intake was sized for the tube we had gathered. The buttons and side slides were modeled and also printed off.

To connect the tanks and the back however... took a little more thinking. And more hardware.

They were bolted together with locking nuts, which were hidden by both the insides of the tanks and my back once I would be wearing it.

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First up... Crystal Container!

It got broken into... a lot of pieces. The handles were printed in three different parts for extra support and proper fit. Many of the faces had awkward angles due to the shape of the container itself.

The main body was broken into three pieces and then the caps- one of which Weis Rabbit had the ingenious idea to add a thread into. Hollowed out and with a screw in cap on one side; it now held the possibility of actually storing things while I was at the con!

The grey and black colours, albeit a little lighter than the game model, were incorporated into the printing process and minimized the amount of touch ups or any painting needed afterwards.

All of the prints were fairly tight fits, but clear epoxy was utilized for the extra strength in holding it all together. Indents and inserts were used in between the pieces for alignment.

Before printing was that one big concern though... How would I attach it?

I have a bit of a background in sewing, so I decided to make use of some of my skills. We cut in four slots along the top of the canister, which would then be used for webbing to slot in and loop back up to the diving gear.

Luckily, Weis Rabbit was also able to acquire a perfect circular cut out of clear acrylic for the window in the Crystal Container.

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Testing out the next pieces... was a lot more work.

How would all of these fit in the printer? What shape would work against my back? How would it all be put together?

... Diagonally is a good start. And all the small bits that weren't needing extra time or support.

We started with modeling and printing the top of the diving gear, keeping note of the areas that tubing would have to attach and testing our clearances between the halves. The dial was made with the actual ability to spin it in mind.

Another protrusion was used for alignment purposes.

Then the tanks themselves were being modeled.

Enough wall space to support it's own weight and then some. Areas for everything to slot in an attach. Hollowed out to save on printing time- and offer more storage again.

We decided to have the caps loose- they could be lifted out at will and the inside could be accessed. They would be held in place by the top air regulator piece- which would now act as a handle.

The tanks had to be broken up- they were simply too large. We decided on a foot across as the standard for the diving gear as a whole, as it fit my proportions the best.

The middle section was the largest. And the top domes were soon to come. But what about the bottom? The webbing from the Crystal Container needed a spot to slot in, and it needed to hold it's own weight.

... More bars! And hardware was added to help the dial spin!

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I'm still learning 3D modeling; but I needed those STL files fleshed out and made possible before the convention. It was fast approaching.

I went ahead and reached out to Weis Rabbit Precision Replicas Ltd.

WeisRabbit on Instagram.

It's a small business just starting out and targeting cosplay weapons and props; Replications. Using 3D Prints, Fusion 360 software, and CNC Machining. Just what I needed for this cosplay, and a bit of overkill.

Where to start?

Tiny models.

Weis Rabbit was immediately on the job and feeling out the possibilities of this project. We broke it down right away into the Prisoner Diving Gear and the Crystal Container.

First was the modeling with it's own challenges, working from a low detail example; and at the same time other concerns started popping up.

How do we print this? What will the size be?

How am I planning on attaching it to my person? How will these two be attached to each other?

How do we save on material and how do we make it durable? How much will this cost?

And... a lot of other concerns and nitpick to work out.

No other place than to start!

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Turns out!~ You can use different plugins in Roblox Studio in order to upload items from the Roblox Marketplace. It took a little bit of trial and error, and remembering to isolate the codes and objects.

After deleting the world floor and the spawn square the file was then able to be saved as an STL.

But...

These STL files had some issues, and were extremely low quality for what I wanted to do. Amazing for running a game smoothly (maintaining the shape and look with the least amount of data) but not for 3D printing.

So, this is the point where I commissioned some assistance.

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So! I'm planning on going as an Expendable for the upcoming Convention nearby!

So to do this I've partly commissioned a friend to help, in order to make use of 3D printing. I originally wanted to tackle foam but... We decided this would look nicer.

So I had to change my character model in order to size the Diving gear correctly, and took these reference shots. But I decided that wasn't enough. I had to get the actual files. Same with the Crystal container. Resizing my character to try and get a clear shot just wasn't working.

But good news! You can find them at the Roblox marketplace! Bad news- how do you actually get them?

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