Don’t get mad at me, but The Avengers was one of the few superhero movies that I’ve enjoyed since Prince’s Batman. So, I’ll definitely be hitting up Avengers: Age of Ultron this weekend. And, if I could, I might just 3D print a full-size, wearable Ultron helmet. This is what Jacob Morin, Michael Ruddy, and Sean Shaw did.
To pull of the job, first, 17-year-old 3D artist Jacob Morin designed the helmet in Blender, before handing it off to Rudder, 3D printing cosplay artist and founder of Hero Complex Props, who 3D printed the helmet Then, using on his gMax 1.5 XT 3D printer from gCreate. Due to the 1.5 XT’s 16” x 16” X 18” print volume, it may have been possible to 3D print the entire helmet in once piece, but Ruddy instead broke the design down into four parts. The jaw, printed at a layer height of .15mm, took 13 hours; while the ears, also printed at .15 mm required 10 hours; the main face portion, was printed at .2 mm and required 30 hours; and the top portion also required about 30 hours at .3 mm, due to the support structures needed.
Once printed, it was then passed to Rudder’s client, Shawshank Cosplay Props‘ Sean Shaw,who put the finishing touches on it to create a mold for the helmet. Shaw glued the pieces together to ensure that it fit properly, before filling in the glue seams with car bondo. The helmet was then sanded down and polished with XTC-3D’s Smooth On epoxy. Finally, the helmet was taken apart in order to create a silicone mold, using Rebound 25 and Smooth Cast 300.
The resulting helmet was assembled, spray painted, and outfitted with glowing red lights. And, with the mold, Shawshank Cosplay Props can now make copies of the helmet, all because of Jacob Morin’s design skills and Hero Complex Props’ gMax 1.5XT 3D printer. Just in time for the movie’s big release! Awesome job, everyone!
