Hugh Holder
Well-Known Member
I finally got to a point in this project that I thought was appropriate to start a build thread so here you go!
Most of this was just copied from my facebook art page. So if you're interested in the build you can follow me at AxiomUltra Designs
Back when Destiny released I knew that I would want to build a replica of "The Last Word" at some point. I know it's been done to death but I thought that I could add my own spin on the hand cannon by designing a replica that had a certain level of functionality. So I challenged myself to design not only a static base prop, but from that allow the trigger and hammer action to rotate (and lock) the cylinder into position. And because it needed to be extra difficult the "arm" that swings the cylinder had to drop down and telescope out like the in-game animation.
I'm happy to say that the preliminary design for these moving parts is finished and I am currently working on cleaning up the parts to prep for molding. The red parts are real world hardware that I have on hand. 2 compression springs, 2 ball bearings (to lock cylinder's primary rotation and arm into position), 4 cut acrylic rods, and 3 gold plated aluminum bolts. All moving parts were based off of a kid's cap gun toy which featured a double action setup. I know that TLW is supposed to be single action but I also want to be able to mod the kit to look like other hand cannons later. Based on my proportions (between head and hand size) to the reference provided by Bungie the overall length of the model will be 17.5" with creative liberty taken on the width of the pistol grips to help with handling.
There are some other things I need to sort out like the hardware caps, the main receiver registration keys for the hardware, and the pattern on the pistol grips but I feel like the bulk of the ditch digging work is over with.
As with all of my projects this one's probably going to go pretty slow when I find down time outside of work but I will update as it starts to come together.
Here is a photo of the printed revolving cylinder and ammo capsule. Now I don't typically like to show straight off the printer parts because it feels kind of like seeing an untextured model or a character in t-pose but I thought that this was pretty cool.
In order to allow the ammo capsule to fall out and also allow "reloading" I needed to give the revolving cylinder keys to grab onto while the pawl pushes the ammo capsule around.
I thought about hiding these keys way in the back to ensure game accuracy but I felt like it would just make casting it harder and I wanted to guarantee a snug fit. If these two parts couldn't work together then the entire action of the prop would fail.
The bottom right photo shows the 1/4" ball bearings that will be locking the cylinder into it's 60 degree rotation, because having it freely rotate could allow the part to settle in weird angles and I can't allow that kind of stupid stuff to go down.
Some of you skateboarders might recognize the 608 bearing sitting on the top there. The printer made the hole for the bearing just a tiny bit too small but that's an easy fix in the shop. I want to allow the owner of the prop to be able to spin that cylinder like a boss. I just wish the bearings were a bit nicer and gave off a nice click when you spin it.
I'll be working out the details for the rest of the moving parts next.
This was an assembly and test for the first action involving the trigger and hammer. I thought it worked out pretty well considering I did the initial design in ZBrush. Getting the trigger to clear the hammer's rotation point so it'll snap back is going to require some additional filing but I was pretty pleased with how everything is fitting together so far.
That white material sucks for the camera and sucks for my eyes so I had to mist it with a primer. No cleanup has been done yet. I need to make sure all of the moving parts don't need to be reworked first.
Finally got the trigger and hammer to work together properly. Next is fine tuning the pawl and cylinder action and then baby we got ourselves a stew goin'!
Forward barrel is probably the most challenging print I've done so far. I started right after I got back from San Francisco and it took 73 hours. Not bad terrible 3d printer, not bad.
What you see hasn't been cleaned up. Just filed a little bit to get everything to fit and hit with a coat of primer. So lots of ugly print lines that offend my eyes.
The next phase is the smoothing part that I know everyone loves. I'll be using spot putty and wet sanding for it just like the LMS armor. I don't want to use XTC and risk losing all of the engraved details. The safer path would be to just slowly work around them for the next few weeks...
The emblem for "Tex Mechanica" is going to be done separately since printing any engraved text takes a nice finessed orientation that the rest of the part couldn't do.
Thanks for following and stay tuned!
Most of this was just copied from my facebook art page. So if you're interested in the build you can follow me at AxiomUltra Designs
Back when Destiny released I knew that I would want to build a replica of "The Last Word" at some point. I know it's been done to death but I thought that I could add my own spin on the hand cannon by designing a replica that had a certain level of functionality. So I challenged myself to design not only a static base prop, but from that allow the trigger and hammer action to rotate (and lock) the cylinder into position. And because it needed to be extra difficult the "arm" that swings the cylinder had to drop down and telescope out like the in-game animation.
I'm happy to say that the preliminary design for these moving parts is finished and I am currently working on cleaning up the parts to prep for molding. The red parts are real world hardware that I have on hand. 2 compression springs, 2 ball bearings (to lock cylinder's primary rotation and arm into position), 4 cut acrylic rods, and 3 gold plated aluminum bolts. All moving parts were based off of a kid's cap gun toy which featured a double action setup. I know that TLW is supposed to be single action but I also want to be able to mod the kit to look like other hand cannons later. Based on my proportions (between head and hand size) to the reference provided by Bungie the overall length of the model will be 17.5" with creative liberty taken on the width of the pistol grips to help with handling.
There are some other things I need to sort out like the hardware caps, the main receiver registration keys for the hardware, and the pattern on the pistol grips but I feel like the bulk of the ditch digging work is over with.
As with all of my projects this one's probably going to go pretty slow when I find down time outside of work but I will update as it starts to come together.
Here is a photo of the printed revolving cylinder and ammo capsule. Now I don't typically like to show straight off the printer parts because it feels kind of like seeing an untextured model or a character in t-pose but I thought that this was pretty cool.
In order to allow the ammo capsule to fall out and also allow "reloading" I needed to give the revolving cylinder keys to grab onto while the pawl pushes the ammo capsule around.
I thought about hiding these keys way in the back to ensure game accuracy but I felt like it would just make casting it harder and I wanted to guarantee a snug fit. If these two parts couldn't work together then the entire action of the prop would fail.
The bottom right photo shows the 1/4" ball bearings that will be locking the cylinder into it's 60 degree rotation, because having it freely rotate could allow the part to settle in weird angles and I can't allow that kind of stupid stuff to go down.
Some of you skateboarders might recognize the 608 bearing sitting on the top there. The printer made the hole for the bearing just a tiny bit too small but that's an easy fix in the shop. I want to allow the owner of the prop to be able to spin that cylinder like a boss. I just wish the bearings were a bit nicer and gave off a nice click when you spin it.
I'll be working out the details for the rest of the moving parts next.
This was an assembly and test for the first action involving the trigger and hammer. I thought it worked out pretty well considering I did the initial design in ZBrush. Getting the trigger to clear the hammer's rotation point so it'll snap back is going to require some additional filing but I was pretty pleased with how everything is fitting together so far.
That white material sucks for the camera and sucks for my eyes so I had to mist it with a primer. No cleanup has been done yet. I need to make sure all of the moving parts don't need to be reworked first.
Finally got the trigger and hammer to work together properly. Next is fine tuning the pawl and cylinder action and then baby we got ourselves a stew goin'!
Forward barrel is probably the most challenging print I've done so far. I started right after I got back from San Francisco and it took 73 hours. Not bad terrible 3d printer, not bad.
What you see hasn't been cleaned up. Just filed a little bit to get everything to fit and hit with a coat of primer. So lots of ugly print lines that offend my eyes.
The next phase is the smoothing part that I know everyone loves. I'll be using spot putty and wet sanding for it just like the LMS armor. I don't want to use XTC and risk losing all of the engraved details. The safer path would be to just slowly work around them for the next few weeks...
The emblem for "Tex Mechanica" is going to be done separately since printing any engraved text takes a nice finessed orientation that the rest of the part couldn't do.
Thanks for following and stay tuned!
