scratch build Robocop ED-209 by RandomDesign

[RandomDesign]

Next up, is the top part of the leg piece.

 

 

The inner part that will hold everything together was 3D printed in filament.

 

 

The other parts will also be molded in silicone and the cast in resin. But first, all parts were printed in PLA or Resin and made a test if everything would fit.

 

 

 

The side panels are needed 4 time, also in a metal tone, so I was going to use the same technique as for the other parts.
So I started with the basic post processing.

 

 

 

After I was happy with the result, I again made a two part mold.

 

 

 

Then, I the 4 parts that I needed were cast, polished and weathered with metal wax again.

 

 

 

[RandomDesign]

As its shown in the 3D model, on the side will also be a detail flap part be attached.
So I resin printed the template.

 

 

It was also made in the cold cast technique. Cast, polished and weathered.

 

 

 

 

Finished again with some cylinder head screws for even more details.

 

 

The part for the back section, I first printed in PLA. But, I didnt wanted to spend so much time with sanding, so I just resin printed the part again.

 

 

Some slight sanging and spray filler, and this part was already done and ready for the paint job.

 

[RandomDesign]

For the long rails that will hold the last part of the legs, I made a resin printed template first.
This was then slightly sanded and prepared for mold making.

 

 

Cause of the size, I opted again for a two part mold. So, I started with a clay up of the first half.

 

 

This time, I went with a stronger silicone. Mold Star 30 from Smooth On to be exact.

 

 

Those parts also should be in the same metalic look like all the other metal parts. Cast and polish.

 

 

 

The most upper part is a mixture of resin casts and PLA prints.

 

 

The PLA parts were sanded, filled and prepared for painting.

 

 

 

The rings were cast, in the cold cast technique. For the mold box, I used a cheap yoghurt container.

 

 

 

Like the rails all parts were cast and then polished.

 

Edited September 17 by RandomDesign

[RandomDesign]

And now lets go for the last section of the leg part.

 

 

The middel section was printed in PLA. Sanded, wet sanded and prepared for painting.

 

 

 

I needed the cylinders 8 times in total. So I also went with a silicone mold and resin casting.
First, I printed the template and processed it until I was happy with the result.

 

 

To save silicone, and for a better handling later, I 3D printed a moldbox. That way I only needed a small amount of silicone between the template and the mold box.

 

 

Saving weight, I roto cast all the cylinders. So, I just poured resin into the mold and rotated it until it was cured.
That way, I ended u with a very light weight cast. The inside was filled with some expanding foam to give the cylinder a little more structure.

 

 

 

After cutting down the excess material, all cylinders were polished and weathered. 

 

 

[RandomDesign]

To mount the cylinders I made cold castings for all the needed components.

 

 

 

Then it was time to move to the head section. I started by building the weapon arms.

 

 

The main part was printed in PLA. Luckily my printer was big enough to make hte entire piece on one go.

 

 

 

Couple of areas needed a little more processing. I used body filler to make everything smooth. The normal sanding was then followed by
a round of wet sanding.

 

 

 

 

After a couple layers of spray filler, there were still some small spots to be fixed.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21 by RandomDesign

[RandomDesign]

The guns itself were printed in resin.

 

 

After assembly they were painted black. For a more metallic look, I dry brushed them with a silver tone.

 

 

The weapon arm on the left side has a rocket laucher. The base for that was printed in a mixture of PLA and resin.

 

 

 

Most of the rockets will be invisible, so I printed them in two halves. That made the post processing way easier.




After assembly, I gave them a "standart" rocket color scheme.

 

 

 

Both arms have some kind of magazines for the weapons on the bottom. I printed a template in resin and prepared it for mold making.

 

 

 

After the mold was done, I roto cast the three magazines. Making them hollow really saved a lot of material here.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 22 by RandomDesign

[RandomDesign]

The next section, I called the "ellbow". which will connet the weapon arm to the head.
 

 

 

All parts in this section should be in a metallic look, so I again used the cold cast technique to fabricate them.
Was a lot of mold making and casting. I started with the part that is fitted to the head section later.


 

 

After polishing, a couple more details were added.

 

 

 

The ellbow itself consists of three different parts. All were first resin printed and then used for mold making and casting.

 

 

To make things easier, I used a simple cut mold technique. That way, I just needed to make a simple mold, that I cut open with
an exacto blade.

 

 

 

 

All the other parts were done in the same way.

 

 

 

To clean out some of the holds, I used my drill press. This also allowed me to preare the parts for more detail work later.

 

 

[RandomDesign]

The middle part also used a cut mold.

 

 

 

All the small holes needed to be cleaned. Also drilling a little deeper into the holes gave the entire part a little more depth.

 

 

 

 

The part that is mounted to the head section and connetcs the "ellbow" was finally the last part that needed to be cast in resin.
Same technique as for almost all the other parts. Cold Casting.

 

 

 

 

Then I got to see how everything turned out.
So, I made a first test fitt of all the parts. Final weathering and details are still missing.
They will get added later.

 

[RandomDesign]

Really, a lot of molds were used for the ED-209. In total, I used over 8 kg of silicone
So I needed to take a picture with all of them at once.

 

 

Before moving to the head section, here is a before weathering and after of all the metallic looking cold cast pieces.

 

 

 

Then ist was time to print the head. I only needed to split it onto 4 parts.

 

 

 

 

 

Before gluing the parts together, I already gave all every thing a good sanding. I also started to fill in some rough areas.

 

 

 

 

To help aligning the parts while gluing, I already inserted holes in the 3D model for some metal pins.
 

 

[RandomDesign]

Cause the head will be quite heavy at the end with all the hardware and water cooling, I stabilized and strenghten the entire construction.
First, I glued in aluminum profiles. The profiles already have threaded holes in them. That way, I can attach loops for the cable management later.

 

 

 

I followed up with a layer of EpoxAcoat from Smooth On. This epoxy layer really strengthen the entire construction.
This should be more then enough to safely hold all the hardware.

 

 

After that cured, I used body filler to close all the gaps on the outsite and smoothend out all the rough surfaces.

 

 

 

Some spot putty was still needed after a layer of spray filler.

 

 

During the project, my workshop got quite crowded with all the 3D printed parts

 

 

Now everything got the final coat of spray filler and one final round of wet sanding.

 

 

After that it was time for priming the parts.