Today on our weekly live 3D Hangouts, as the season winds towards Halloween, we are celebrating the replica prop community (and movie props professionals themselves) by sharing our own Dune replica project. Here’s a quick roundup of a few other 3DxReplica projects that caught our interest to whet your appetite!
While this article doesn’t spend much time with 3D printing, it is an excellent introduction to The RPF – the Replica Prop Forum, the epicenter of all that crazy passion and obsession that sometimes drives replica hobbyists on their own private self-education through the history of manufacturing and prop making on their way to getting the dents and the surface finish of that Indiana Jones “Gobler” Idol (golden fertility idol) or the fabric speaker mesh from Dick Tracy’s Watch.
These days, as 3D printers are now more plentiful, you see these called into action frequently, along with all other manner of craft and fabrication tools.
From The RPF Site:
Founded in 1997, we are the internet’s oldest and most well-known source for information on the latest props, costumes and models seen in movies, television, video games and other entertainment media.
Our community is a launching platform for fans from all over the world to take their passion for franchises, characters or props and express that fandom in a physical way by building their own replicas. Along the way they learn valuable skills and discover latent artistic talents which can lead to a life-long passion for the creative arts.
With over half a million unique monthly visitors, the RPF’s audience includes artists, movie industry insiders, collectors, costumers, modelers, sculptors, and avid movie fans….(read more)
An Introduction to the RPF: How Obsessive Fans Built a Better Han Solo Blaster, from Tested:
It’s on The RPF that Case and Matera–who go by the handles Deadbolt and KPax, respectively–indulge their obsession. Their investigation began in June 2011 over the topic of the DL-44 baster’s gun barrel. It had been a long-agreed upon fact among prop replicators that the barrel of the prop blaster–the part between the receiver and muzzle–was fully cylindrical. Case proposed that not only did the barrel have a small tapered chamfer on its underside, but that the entire bottom of the barrel was actually milled flat. Earth-shattering, right? That may seem like an inconsequential detail, but it’s exactly the kind of minutia that excites replica prop makers and launches a 68-page forum thread spanning 18 months re-examining every known facet about Han Solo’s blaster. Cold case reopened.
For the uninitiated, the Replica Prop Forum is the epicenter of the replica prop community–a place where prop makers of all skill levels converge to share their projects, discuss prop details, and even sell limited runs of their finished replicas. Community members make props from all forms of media–movies, tv shows, videogames, and comics. There are people building their own batmobiles, pulse rifles from Aliens, and just about every iteration of Iron Man armor that has graced the silver screen (by my count, currently 10). It’s a subset of the maker movement completely unabashed with their love for popular culture, and as Adam puts it, who make things they can’t not make…..
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! We also offer the LulzBot TAZ – Open source 3D Printer and the Printrbot Simple Metal 3D Printer in our store. If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!
