1st Build New to Prop Making

[Torek Vainer]

This is my first time doing any sort of actual cosplay, with 3D prints (The printer is a very small plate 4'' by 5''). Or really anything serious in regards to complete ground up cosplays. Im in the works of a mix of EVA foam and resin printed armor pieces for an ODST outfit. Mixing Reach armor an ODST. The point of the this post, sorry for the weird intro, was to get the opinion on my first prop of the M7S SMG. This is resin printed, it was morphed and had issues printed, but short story short I just forced and sanded the pieces to fit. The printing took a little over a week, of continuous printing. Obviously printed in separated pieces, 8 pieces total. This is more or a less a prototype/test paint build. But I wanted the communities opinion on it, is it a decent first attempt? What should I do to add to it? What looks glaringly wrong? Any and all feedback is highly appreciated.

Also Im new here, and its been a pleasure and honor to read and see everyone's work and the amazing recourses of the community, so thank you. All of you.

 

[SgtSaint]

1. Clearly a ton of effort and a lot of good workmanship/skills - no doubt
2. Terrific metallic painting skills!
3. Seams. They're all visible. It doesn't look like you tried to fill them at all. Since you've got UV resin that should be pretty easy: Drip in the groove and light it up with UV. {repeat as needed}
4. I think your skill at weathered/corroded is amazing! But I question if this gun should have been corroded: Is that proper for this weapon?
   1. I don't know any soldier that would let his weapon get like this. You said active-duty ODST, right? Even rebels understand that you take care of your weapon and it will take care of you.
      
      
   2. Seems like a lot of brass for a gun body. Gun bodies generally aren't brass: Its not a good metal for firearms.
   3. As much as today's weapon have considerable polymer in them outside of the actual chamber, barrel and firing mechanism I would expect a weapon from 2550's to be even more polymer.

 

[Torek Vainer]

-I never even 'thought' for a second to think of your 3rd point. At all. I am instantly going to do this for my other props and armor, thank you! That really does make a lot of sense now. I feel like an idiot for not realizing. I actually really tried with just sanding and putting a few layers of gesso sealant over the cracks. And yeah you can see that didnt work even mildly.
- As for the weapon condition, I had the same exact thought after finishing and looking it over, ODSTs are usually the spec ops branch and most often then not, even in really horrible-long term missions, gear is typically highest on priority. My armor is going for a very tattered, worn heavy aesthetic, over a realistic weathering. The 'story' behind the idea of the armor Im making is an ODST that was basically just left for dead and had to find/repair gear among debris and old corpses.
-Regarding the brass, the metal texture for the silver was meant to be a polymer metal just with a silver coloring that was 'rusted' which doesnt 'really' make sense for the gun especially considering the technically of the time. But just a a thought process of 'rusted, busted, worn looking gun' but yeah it really doesn't make sense when you think about it. I agree.
-I do appreciate every point though completely and agree. For my next prop I am going to try and go with a much more grounded approach with some light chipping and metal wearing, but not too heavy on the rusted look. I realize now this honestly just looks like something you'd find buried in an old battle field decades later instead of a weathered, heavily used firearm.
-I do find it really funny you used the Halo Show ref of a rebel using a mp7 in what is 500+ years in the future. Nothing about the post, just thought that scene is still funny. Muskets man. Basically muskets.
But yeah thank you so much for delving into critiquing. I really genuinely appreciate it and will put this to use, thank you so much!


Also edit: You can see the prints (at my own fault) did not print well and sanding and filling were rather poor.

1. Clearly a ton of effort and a lot of good workmanship/skills - no doubt
2. Terrific metallic painting skills!
3. Seams. They're all visible. It doesn't look like you tried to fill them at all. Since you've got UV resin that should be pretty easy: Drip in the groove and light it up with UV. {repeat as needed}
4. I think your skill at weathered/corroded is amazing! But I question if this gun should have beencorroded: Is that proper for this weapon?
   1. I don't know any soldier that would let his weapon get like this. You said active-duty ODST, right? Even rebels understand that you take care of your weapon and it will take care of you.
      View attachment 351361
   2. Seems like a lot of brass for a gun body. Gun bodies generally aren't brass: Its not a good metal for firearms.
   3. As much as today's weapon have considerable polymer in them outside of the actual chamber, barrel and firing mechanism I would expect a weapon from 2550's to be even more polymer.

 

[SgtSaint]

putting a few layers of gesso sealant over the cracks.

For filling cracks a couple common techniques are

• UV resin and UV flashlight
• Automotive body filler or spot putty

My armor is going for a very tattered, worn heavy aesthetic, over a realistic weathering. The 'story' behind the idea of the armor Im making is an ODST that was basically just left for dead and had to find/repair gear among debris and old corpses.

Then it sounds like the overall look should fit right in. It sounds like the weapon will be very 'in theme' with the costume.

You can see the prints (at my own fault) did not print well and sanding and filling were rather poor.

I think it turned out quite well looking at the end result. (I wasn't there to see all the work to 'convince' the parts to go together).
I know resin isn't cheap. Smaller props might be a good way to dial in printer dimensional accuracy and practice gluing/seaming techniques - without breaking the bank. I personally like printing a nut and bolt as a test of accuracy: When they thread properly together you know you're pretty close. A couple small test parts just to practice assembly might save some money. For example: Print a speed shape in two halves then assemble, seam and paint to the point where you'd never know it was two part. Speed Shape for paint tests by PandaProps

 

[mrc0369]

I like the weathering effects!