Constraction custom parts

[Leewan]

Thanks !

4 hours ago, JekPorkchops said:

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.

You know, the piston doesn't have to be orange, you can still paint it afterwards. :p But it's true that it looks better and more "real" to have two functional pistons.

1 hour ago, Aanchir said:

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.

Cezium made one, but apparently the pistons were too small so they couldn't be properly printed. I think my pistons are bigger, so I'm not too worried about this.

For the middle joint, one solution could be to use Shapeways' Elasto Plastic. It's a "very flexible" material, so a part made out of it should be able to bend in every direction without a risk of breaking. However, this material isn't available to the public, so if I do it, I'll be the only one able to get it.   Anyways, I think it would be very interesting to have a "composite" Mata torso, with parts made of normal plastic (Strong and Flexible, Acrylic, or Acrylate) and a part made of Elasto Plastic. There would be one issue, though, the pistons would need to have a good amount of friction to keep a given pose and prevent the middle joint from going back to its original shape (you don't want it to act like a spring), and at this scale, it's very difficult. Or I could use normal Lego parts as pistons, that would solve the problem.

[Mechbuilds]

On 01/07/2017 at 9:26 PM, Leewan said:

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

 

I want this:



To go inside of this:






Because this:


Will only slide off and not hold. 

Edited July 3, 2017 by Leewan
Resized pics

[Leewan]

Ah, I see. With pictures, it's easier to understand what you mean.  Well, I don't know why you would attach a balljoint to a pinhole rather than a cross axle, but anyway, here's what you want : https://www.shapeways.com/product/9QAST9HNL/balljoint-with-round-hole

[BubbaFit45531]

I think he said the cross axle slides off too easily so prefers a ball to attach via snap instead of cross axle. They do make Mixel balls with cross axle end and with snap end.

Also, I'm wondering how effective it is to 3D print these intricate parts considering the obstacle from supports and rafts, as well as material shrinkage. I'm guessing there's quite a bit of post-printing sanding and cutting to do.

[Leewan]

8 hours ago, BubbaFit45531 said:

I think he said the cross axle slides off too easily so prefers a ball to attach via snap instead of cross axle. They do make Mixel balls with cross axle end and with snap end.

Yeah, I understood that, but in my remark, the hole of the balljoint is irrelevant, what I meant is that whether you use a pin / axle connector or a simple 2L pin, the balljoint is still attached to a part with a round hole, and this is what I find strange.

 

8 hours ago, BubbaFit45531 said:

Also, I'm wondering how effective it is to 3D print these intricate parts considering the obstacle from supports and rafts, as well as material shrinkage. I'm guessing there's quite a bit of post-printing sanding and cutting to do.

No, all that matters is the printing tolerances, so the hole isn't too tight or too loose. There are no supports involved, except with Frosted Detail Plastic, but it's a wax support, so it's (easily) separated from the part right after the printing, and the part alone is shipped, and perhaps with Acrylate too, but I'm not sure. You might need to drill the hole if it's too tight, but that's all.

[Mechbuilds]

On 7/4/2017 at 2:19 PM, Leewan said:

Yeah, I understood that, but in my remark, the hole of the balljoint is irrelevant, what I meant is that whether you use a pin / axle connector or a simple 2L pin, the balljoint is still attached to a part with a round hole, and this is what I find strange.

Using an axle will make the ball joint slide off. While a stud will have spring tension and snap it in place. Regardless of hole or not. But if you use a pin/axle but backwards, you can attach ball joints in places you couldn't before. 
Also having an ball joint with a round hole instead will have the option to be slid in an axle and it will spin freely. 

[Leewan]

Hi,

I've perfected my articulated Mata leg design :

The newer version can fully extend, as you can see on the animation. I've also made a variant with a double knee (video here), but it's a much less elegant design.

I've also made an articulated Mata torso, following what I've said to @Aanchir :

Here's how it looks like once printed :

I've made two videos demonstrating how it works : one with the pistons, and one without them. Elasto plastic is a very interesting material ! Perhaps @efferman could find a use of this material for Technic parts. (:

 

Here are the parts that make up an articulated Mata leg (V2) :

The leg fully flexed and fully extended :

You can see the videos I've made here and here.

As you can see, it works absolutely perfectly. That wasn't easy though. The piston bodies were almost completely filled with powder, so I had to remove it with a needle and a toothpick. Even with that, I couldn't fit the rods into the bodies, so I had to sand down the rods to make them fit.

Since I had ordered the parts to make four limbs (or almost, I forgot to order half the piston parts), I used them to revamp an old MOC of mine :

I didn't use the articulated torso on him because, unfortunately, the holes were too tight. I still have to find a satisfying design. 

Anyways, I'm really happy with the legs, they're super satisfying to play with, and even if the pistons need some adjustment, they work very well.

[Kamen Rider Kiva]

51 minutes ago, Leewan said:

Hi,

I've perfected my articulated Mata leg design :

 

The newer version can fully extend, as you can see on the animation. I've also made a variant with a double knee (video here), but it's a much less elegant design.

I've also made an articulated Mata torso, following what I've said to @Aanchir :

 

Here's how it looks like once printed :

 

 

I've made two videos demonstrating how it works : one with the pistons, and one without them. Elasto plastic is a very interesting material ! Perhaps @efferman could find a use of this material for Technic parts. (:

 

Here are the parts that make up an articulated Mata leg (V2) :

 

The leg fully flexed and fully extended :

 

 

You can see the videos I've made here and here.

As you can see, it works absolutely perfectly. That wasn't easy though. The piston bodies were almost completely filled with powder, so I had to remove it with a needle and a toothpick. Even with that, I couldn't fit the rods into the bodies, so I had to sand down the rods to make them fit.

Since I had ordered the parts to make four limbs (or almost, I forgot to order half the piston parts), I used them to revamp an old MOC of mine :

 

 

I didn't use the articulated torso on him because, unfortunately, the holes were too tight. I still have to find a satisfying design. 

Anyways, I'm really happy with the legs, they're super satisfying to play with, and even if the pistons need some adjustment, they work very well.

Oh my God. O.O Those are gorgeous!!!! I can't wait to see them perfected! c: Any plans on casting them in a resin or other plastic to sell? Also, seeing this makes me want to see articulated Inika torsos and Bionicle Heroes style pieces, I really need to learn 3D modelling, I want to do these ideas so badly. >< OH, ALSO, any plans for articulated feet?

Edited August 18, 2017 by Leewan
Please don't quote pictures

[Takanuinuva]

I feel like this should be brought up if we're talking about articulated Toa Mata parts (Not Mine)

 

[Kalhiki]

Oh my lord. Articulated limbs.

Its what I've always wanted.

Say... Any chance we could see some other articulated parts? AvToran limbs or 1.0 Hero Factory limbs would be stellar. Just something to keep in mind. ;)

Edited August 18, 2017 by Kalhiki

[Leewan]

Thank you. (:

5 hours ago, Kamen Rider Kiva said:

Oh my God. O.O Those are gorgeous!!!! I can't wait to see them perfected! c:

Hmm, beside the hole dimension issue, I don't think there's anything to change. Oh, the ballcups of the Mata torso are a bit tight too, so the pistons parts can pop off sometimes.

 

5 hours ago, Kamen Rider Kiva said:

Any plans on casting them in a resin or other plastic to sell?

No, that would be too much work, and I already sell the printed parts on Shapeways (there's a link in my signature), so right now it's not really my priority.

 

5 hours ago, Kamen Rider Kiva said:

OH, ALSO, any plans for articulated feet?

37 minutes ago, Kalhiki said:

Say... Any chance we could see some other articulated parts? AvToran limbs or 1.0 Hero Factory limbs would be stellar.

Not now, but maybe in the future. I'd like to try more things with Elasto Plastic, so I think I'll focus on that.

 

2 hours ago, Takanuinuva said:

I feel like this should be brought up if we're talking about articulated Toa Mata parts (Not Mine)

That's... crude. 

 

[SpiderSpaceman]

On 8/18/2017 at 4:39 PM, Leewan said:

 

That's... crude. 

 

I kinda wanted to try my hand at it but I am having a bit of trouble visualizing the function. I definitely always envisioned a shutter movement of the forearm plates with the wrist, but then there's this flywheel attached to an actuator that attaches at the axis of rotation. I might sleep on that one and think over what's a compelling mechanism to adapt there.

 

 

Got an original mask I'd designed in 2014, just did a quick and sloppy print of, figured I'd show it off here:

 

[Mechbuilds]

What i would like is a very simple piece which would add a little bit of width to the lower torso leg part of my mocs.. What part am i talking about?



This friction adder part. BUT for the socket part to be rotated 90 degrees. So i can attach the socket sideways to my moc and the ball to be pointing downward so i can attach a leg straight to it. 

Edited October 6, 2017 by Leewan
You can use smaller pictures. ;)

[Leewan]

On 04/09/2017 at 7:14 AM, SpiderSpaceman said:

I kinda wanted to try my hand at it but I am having a bit of trouble visualizing the function. I definitely always envisioned a shutter movement of the forearm plates with the wrist, but then there's this flywheel attached to an actuator that attaches at the axis of rotation. I might sleep on that one and think over what's a compelling mechanism to adapt there.

That sounds ambitious, I hope you can make it work. I began working on it, but it's a much simpler, with "only" articulation at the elbow and at the wrist, with static plates. I have also been working on something else recently, a brand new type of hand :

I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know how well it will perform once printed.

7 hours ago, Mechbuilds said:

This friction adder part. BUT for the socket part to be rotated 90 degrees. So i can attach the socket sideways to my moc and the ball to be pointing downward so i can attach a leg straight to it. 

I think I see what you mean. But I don't think it's feasible. It would be much easier for you to simply build your MOCs with wider hips.

[Takanuinuva]

Are those Mixel sized ball joints and sockets on that hand?

[Leewan]

Oh, no, otherwise the hands would be too big.

[ZORK64]

I think the little finger should have one more segment, it looks too short, but other than that, this design looks pretty sweet, and I'm looking forward to how well it will hold up once printed!

[Leewan]

I hope I didn't make you wait for too long, @ZORK64, but at last, I can show you how they look like. Also, I followed your suggestion to add one more segment to the little finger. (:

Here's how they arrived, along with a pair of connectors with round holes, which I had done for Hazash's Biowave Project.

Here are the 36 parts that make up the hands :

Yeah, that's a lot.

Once assembled, they look like this :

I had a small issue, though, the bars of the parts that hold the thumb and the little finger were too small, so I had to use some blu tack to make them fit. They've been fixed now. Because of that, it was difficult for the hands to hold weapons, although it was possible :

To facilitate that, I've added a 3.2mm hole in the palm (thanks to Marek and Du7734 for their input) :

This is the version (with the hole and the fixed parts) that's available on Shapeways.

[ZORK64]

That looks pretty amazing and was definitely worth the wait.

I have to admit that the finger at the bottom looks a bit odd due to standing out from the rest of the hand, but that's only a minor nitpick.

[Leewan]

I worked with Vahki6 to create a fully articulated Tahu Mata. He designed the feet (with some help from me ), the right arm and the left hand, and I made the body and legs, which can be seen near the top of this page. Here's a few pics he took, with more on flickr :

[Takanuinuva]

Interesting how does the right arm move at the elbow?

[Leewan]

I can't tell how much friction it has, because I haven't had the parts in hand myself yet, but they're connected with a balljoint / ballcup system (which is a bit different that what I've done for the legs, which are articulated through a bar / clip connection), and it seems to work pretty well :

 

PS : The neck joint seems to be made with a part @Mitch Henry mentioned on the Future Constraction Lines topic.

[Kalhiki]

Dude... What? That's crazy cool. Really neat to see all those pistons in action.

It looks like the mask was 3D printed as well. Was that just to keep the colors consistent?

 

[ZORK64]

Oh, that's some awesome custom there.

I wish TLG would revisit G1 Bonkles again just to add all those neat little details, so we could get all six Toa with this kind of stuff as official sets.

[Leewan]

21 hours ago, Kalhiki said:

It looks like the mask was 3D printed as well. Was that just to keep the colors consistent?

Absolutely. 

19 hours ago, ZORK64 said:

I wish TLG would revisit G1 Bonkles again just to add all those neat little details, so we could get all six Toa with this kind of stuff as official sets.

Like a 20th anniversary edition (okay, we'd have to wait a bit for that, but we're getting close), with loads of details and such ? Yeah, that'd be cool.

Also, I may try to mod the Mata torso to get rid of the elasto plastic part and allow everyone to order it.