Constraction custom parts

[Lyichir]

The main issue I see with that lower armor piece is that it'd be a more complex mold than the majority of CCBS shells due to needing sliders. The only comparable shell I can think of would be the torso shell from Drilldozer, and I think the mold for this would need even more sliders than that due to the way the shell folds inward near the top.

[TheDesuComplex]

The main issue I see with that lower armor piece is that it'd be a more complex mold than the majority of CCBS shells due to needing sliders. The only comparable shell I can think of would be the torso shell from Drilldozer, and I think the mold for this would need even more sliders than that due to the way the shell folds inward near the top.

I've always wondered about the mold mechanics that you and Aanchir have mentioned quite a number of times. What necessitates a more complex mold than the regular front/back one and, although I can sort of guess the what they are and how they work, what is a slider and how does it make the mold more complex?

[GK733]

The lower piece seems like it would be bent if stepped on.

But I have more problems with the torso shell being so gappy from the sides.

[Leewan]

Though I think it would be better if it had pin connections on both sides rather than just the front

It's not really possible though, because I need the sides to be hollow to attach a bone.

The main issue I see with that lower armor piece is that it'd be a more complex mold than the majority of CCBS shells due to needing sliders. The only comparable shell I can think of would be the torso shell from Drilldozer, and I think the mold for this would need even more sliders than that due to the way the shell folds inward near the top.

Ah, yes, forgot to mention it. Actually, because of the many undercuts, it can't be molded at all (or if it can, it would require an extremely complex mold). It doesn't bother me that much because it was more designed with printing in mind than molding (with still keeping a Lego-like aesthetic), though.

The lower piece seems like it would be bent if stepped on.

Don't think it's more fragile than Lego parts.

But I have more problems with the torso shell being so gappy from the sides.

Again, it's not much different than Lego parts. Think I've already mentioned it before, but I based my design on the 2.0 torso armor, which is gappy from the sides.

[Lyichir]

I've always wondered about the mold mechanics that you and Aanchir have mentioned quite a number of times. What necessitates a more complex mold than the regular front/back one and, although I can sort of guess the what they are and how they work, what is a slider and how does it make the mold more complex?

I'm not a total expert on this myself, but I can go over the basics.

The simplest type of mold (and the most common type for Lego parts) is a simple two-piece mold. One steel mold for the front of the part, one for the back. They press together, the plastic is injected, and they separate, releasing a finished part.

However, there are some types of parts that don't work that way. A good, if old, example is the Toa Mata torso. Take a look at it and try to visualize how you might be able to mold a part like that using just a front and back mold. The tricky part is that you can't—it has Technic connections and other hollow sections oriented in five different directions. The neck connection, for instance, requires a mold be inserted from directly above, while the arm and leg connections require the mold to be joined from the right and left sides, while the chest connection (and gap between the leg connections) requires parts to be inserted from the front and back. To mold a part like that, Lego needs to utilize "sliders"—additional sections of the mold that slide together from multiple angles in order to properly mold all the different connection points and other details. The Toa Mata torso required at least five different sliders, which is probably a part of why later torso designs like the Inika and Piraka torsos were far simpler (note that they could be easily molded with a simple front and back section).

Most CCBS shells can also be molded with a simple two-section mold, with the front section shaping the exterior/anterior detail and the back section shaping the interior/posterior detail. A mold like Drilldozer's torso shell, on the other hand, needs at least one slider to add the front connection points and details in addition to all the necessary detail on the top and bottom. A shell like Leewan's proposed lower body shell would require even more sliders in order to shape the inside surface from the left and right, and it's possible that they couldn't even be at right angles to the other mold sections considering the way the topmost corners fold downward and inward. This is a case where something that could be 3D printed without too much difficulty would be exceptionally hard to mold with injection molding.

[Logan McOwen]

Fantastic work on the poseable torso Leewan! I've gone and ordered the four components for it on Shapeways - I got the armour in white, and the two bones in black. Should be fun to fiddle with it in person!

Also, I blogged about the custom torso on my Facebook page, Beardly Designs.

[ZetaBionic]

Just gunna leave this here for inspiration…

http://zetabionic.tumblr.com/post/130919690693/just-gunna-leave-this-here-for-inspiration

[Leewan]

A ballcup with a clip, basically ?

Some parts recently arrived :

(more on flickr)

-The bone is good, although the cross holes are still too tight.

-The armours are really thin and bend easily, I'll have to fix this. They also wobble on the balljoints.

-The pinholes have a very good amount on friction, but they might be too wide, it depends on the precision of the machine.

I'm not 100% satisfied with the shells, but I think it's a satisfying first step towards a proper articulated torso (which does not use a Technic-based swivel function like next year's sets, I mean ).

Also, the large hands need to be fixed, but I don't have much free time, so I'll do it as soon as I can, but I don't know when.

[YellowCorvette]

Nice custom parts. But I wonder is the joints will easily break like some Biomicle G1 sets?

Edited October 20, 2015 by ArmstrongYong

[Leewan]

Wow, it's been almost a year since my last update !

I've worked on a few parts in the meantime, mostly on solutions to eject G1 masks like the G2 masks.

In March, a Shapeways member called Slaifir sent me a message asking if I could make an adapter for G1 masks that works on G2 heads. Here's what I did :

(Note that I've made two versions, one that can be ejected, and one that can't)

Attached to a G2 head, they look like this :

The idea is good, but the mask is too far away from the head. To (partially) solve this, I've made a smaller adapter that works with the '01-'03 masks only (in green, here) :

I've also made a whole new head that works with the G2 brain piece :

The problem with this is that the eyes are a bit too high. I have to change this, and add some details, but at least it works. I've made a video to demonstrate how it works.

I've made other parts, that you can see in the flickr album, including what must be my favourite design so far :

A bow, that actually shoots Technic axles. I made it very quickly, a day or two after having seen the Men's individual finals in archery at the Olympic Games. It's really a fun part to play with.

[Antak]

I've seen those ball joint pieces on shapeways, nice work. I really want a mask of time for g2 that interlocks with the old one. weirdly, the only one anyone's made is designed for the old head.

[Lego Dino 500]

Those look real good Leewan. Any chance of designing an articulated foot piece, and some more armor shells? This has a lot of potential for stop motion, which is cool.

[Leewan]

Thank you guys. (:

I really want a mask of time for g2 that interlocks with the old one. weirdly, the only one anyone's made is designed for the old head.

I've seen this one, yeah, and I'm actually currently working on my own version. I plan on making two versions, the first one as a single part, and another one as two parts that can be attached together (so the upper half won't really be able to connect to the old one, I'll rather redesign the G1 Vahi). They will both be designed for the G2 head. I want to use it for a diorama of the Protectors summoning the Toa for an exhibition late November, so you can expect to see it in the next couple of months.

Any chance of designing an articulated foot piece, and some more armor shells?

Well, yeah, I guess, but it will take some time. I have to make the Vahi in priority, and then I'll work on some other parts, which include armour and add-on pieces (both requests and personal ideas). I have too many things to do and too little time.

[Antak]

Thank you guys. (:

I've seen this one, yeah, and I'm actually currently working on my own version. I plan on making two versions, the first one as a single part, and another one as two parts that can be attached together (so the upper half won't really be able to connect to the old one, I'll rather redesign the G1 Vahi). They will both be designed for the G2 head. I want to use it for a diorama of the Protectors summoning the Toa for an exhibition late November, so you can expect to see it in the next couple of months.

Well, yeah, I guess, but it will take some time. I have to make the Vahi in priority, and then I'll work on some other parts, which include armour and add-on pieces (both requests and personal ideas). I have too many things to do and too little time.

Oh, cool. I'll keep my eye out for it

[BubbaFit45531]

A bunch of these great looking parts look just like parts I've seen official Lego versions of like the constraction torso frames. Which came first, custom or official Lego?

Are there any custom constraction heads that fit with Design ID 47326?

Also, I've seen there's a company that'll custom 3D print your own head to fit a minifigure or big figure based on a front and side photo. Kinda neat.

[Mechbuilds]

That bow is actually pretty cool.

[Leewan]

9 hours ago, BubbaFit45531 said:

Which came first, custom or official Lego?

Official, the CCBS was introduced in 2011, and as you can see, I began making this in 2013.

9 hours ago, BubbaFit45531 said:

Are there any custom constraction heads that fit with Design ID 47326?

Not that I know of.

3 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

That bow is actually pretty cool.

Thanks. I'm really proud of it !

[TheOneVeyronian]

Your custom parts continue to impress me Leewan. I don't know how I managed to miss your last update here though!  But that bow has got to be the most original and coolest of all your parts. I'd buy that in a heartbeat... well when Shapeways next run a free shipping offer anyway 

I've been using Leewan's custom articulated hands on my custom action figures for a couple of years now and I don't know what I'd do without them anymore. They've become loose with age and quite frequent use but they've otherwise held up really well. They were a bit robotic for my action figures so I actually bothered to learn Sculptris and Blender and create some alternate clawed tips for the articulated hands. Here's one of my custom action figures sporting Leewan's articulated hands with my claw add-ons:

(urgh why is it so hard to insert non-Flickr pics into EB posts these days? Yes the head is also a 3D printed CCBS-compatible part complete with ballcup (credit to Leewan for letting me use his ballcup file for it)... but the focus is the hands  )

Actually, @Leewan, since I posted here about your custom hands, what happened to all your articulated hand options on Shapeways? I bought a pair from your store a couple of months ago, I had no problems with them and now I can't find any of them? All I can find is the individual parts which add up to something way way over the £15 I was paying for the complete five fingered large hand kit. Trouble is... as my custom action figure army grows, I will probably need more sets of these hands! (also will some of those parts you put in your last update be available in your Shapeways shop at some point? Just curious)

[Leewan]

On 01/06/2017 at 4:49 PM, TheOneVeyronian said:

(urgh why is it so hard to insert non-Flickr pics into EB posts these days?

Is it ? You just have to paste the link.of your image and ta-da, it magically appears in your post. :p

 

On 01/06/2017 at 4:49 PM, TheOneVeyronian said:

I actually bothered to learn Sculptris and Blender and create some alternate clawed tips for the articulated hands.

You could have used a combination of part 11090 and the claw of your choice, but perhaps that was too long ?

 

On 01/06/2017 at 4:49 PM, TheOneVeyronian said:

Actually, @Leewan, since I posted here about your custom hands, what happened to all your articulated hand options on Shapeways?

Some people have encountered printing issues, the cross holes weren't always well "formed", so while I work on a fix, they're unavailable.

 

On 01/06/2017 at 4:49 PM, TheOneVeyronian said:

also will some of those parts you put in your last update be available in your Shapeways shop at some point?

I don't know, I don't think so. It depend on which part(s) you're thinking about.

 

Oh, by the way, there are a few new-ish parts I haven't posted here :

The 2x2 Mixel plates aren't for sale, but the bones can be purchased.

[BubbaFit45531]

Did you design the 3D models from scratch? Export the model from some software? 3D scan? Use photogrammetry to make the 3D models?

I imagine making the cups for the balljoints is difficult.

[Leewan]

It depends. I mostly work from scratch, but I use photos when I need a very precise shape, like the mask adapters / head pieces I talked about in this post :

Or Tahu and Kopaka's swords :

(Which are just like the regular swords, but bigger)

[Mechbuilds]

I want those ball joint ball parts but without the axle piece, i want it to have a pin piece instead. 
The axle piece hole in the ball is not really sturdy. The axle will slide off when you play with the arm. 

Sure there are those flat end axles that go trough the ball but even those are just held on by one gear. Once you've used the ball joint once or twice, it'll slide off once you turn the figure sideways and the arm just drops off.


If you made one figure as a statue that'll remain like it is, you could get away with just gluing it. 

[Leewan]

I'm sorry, but I absolutely don't understand what you mean, @Mechbuilds. 

•  

Almost a year ago, I began working on an articulated Mata leg. I left it aside for several months, and finally completed it over the last few weeks :

I've also made an alternate version with two working pistons :

 

The range of motion is about 37°, but I'll try to improve that, so there will certainly be another update in the next few days.

[JekPorkchops]

Those Mata limbs are fantastic. I prefer the one with two pistons, as it looks more consistent than having one of the pistons be orange and immobile, and also because it is very reminiscent of actual arm and leg muscles, which suits the biomechanical feel.

[Aanchir]

17 hours ago, Leewan said:

I'm sorry, but I absolutely don't understand what you mean, @Mechbuilds. 

•  

Almost a year ago, I began working on an articulated Mata leg. I left it aside for several months, and finally completed it over the last few weeks .

I've also made an alternate version with two working pistons :

The range of motion is about 37°, but I'll try to improve that, so there will certainly be another update in the next few days.

This is amazing! I've been wanting to see somebody do this for years!  I hope it works well when printed.

It'd be cool to see a Toa Mata torso with the same sort of effect, but since that uses an implied accordion joint rather than a conventional hinge I feel like it'd be a lot tougher to pull off, and would almost certainly require changing the look of that center joint.