#WIPWednesday, A Year in Review

 It's the week between Christmas and New Year's in our house, which means there isn't much getting done. Presents have been wrapped and unwrapped and strewn everywhere, there are remnants from the baking extravaganza littering the kitchen, we are all exhausted, and in the background is the ever-present sound of the 3D Printer. This means there isn't much in the way of any work-in-progress this week, so instead we're going to take a look at what happened over 2023.

Building

As I started to go through my photos, I didn't think I really got much done this year. Sure, a lot of stuff got printed, but after being out of state for approximately a month and a half, getting dragged to Origins Game Fair and Gen Con for work, and starting up Troxell's Trading Post, I really couldn't think of much I got done.

Then I started going through the photos.

Click to see photos of all finished projects

From the looks of it, I got nine separate projects taken care of this year. Eight of those were from Star Trek, one of the Star Trek ones was for a friend, and then there was a helmet I made for VoltCon. Everything was 3D printed, of course. First, there were the "pew pews." There were two Phaser Rifles, from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: First Contact, there were two "Type 2" Phasers, one from the early seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and one from Star Trek: Nemesis, and there was a "Type 1" Phaser from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I had the opportunity to mess with some 3D printed combadges from Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation's "All Good Things..." and one from Star Trek: Picard. Actually, make that three. One for me, two for the friend I made the Phaser Rifle for! Finally, I did a wearable Optimus Prime helmet/mask from Transformers that looks inspired by the G1 line. I say "wearable" because it will squeeze onto my head, but you can't actually see out of the lenses due to how quickly I had to throw it together. It does light up, though!

Everything except the First Contact rifle, two Picard combadges, and the Optimus Prime helmet were made in the first four months of the year, which is what led me to believe I didn't get much done. And looking at 2022, I technically only finished six projects, but one of those was a complete set of Bo-Katan armor for another friend, so I still feel like I got a lot done.

Equipment

2023 was the year when I got sick of fighting to make Creality 3D printers work, and decided to spend money on a printer that just works. Oh, and one that works most of the time. Upon my return from California this summer, I cleaned up and sold off both the CR-10 "Smart" and the CR-10 S4, and replaced them with an Elegoo Neptune 3 Max, which is the same size as the old S4. Then, this past fall, using some money from commissioned pieces, I was able to snag a Bambu Labs P1P from the new Micro Center here in Indianapolis.

First, some thoughts about the Elegoo Neptune 3 Max. It's one that some makers on social media who I trust to not be shills for free printers said was a printer that was supposed to just work. Honestly? It's the printer I got the Optimus Prime helmet off of, and the printer ran like a champ through the whole thing, even after a single 127-hour (over 5 days) print of the main helmet. It recently started coming up with some extrusion issues, though, and I haven't had the time to get those figured out. Do I need to level the bed again? Clear out the nozzle? Replace the nozzle? Replace the entire extruder and hot end? Only the Shadow knows...

Oh yeah, also got my HasLab proton pack. 
Just something random that didn't fit with the building and equipment.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Bambu Labs P1P. It's a smaller printer, but damn, y'all. Just... damn. I really don't want to jinx it (doing upkeep when I'm done with this laser rifle), but it's been running almost non-stop since I bought it at the beginning of September. Sure, there have been a few print failures, but 98% of those can be attributed to poor support placement, or lack of a brim on a smaller piece that couldn't hold up to the speed this thing lays down filament. I have been very happy with it, and I'm looking to get rid of my two Creality CR-6 SEs and my Anycubic Photon with Wash Station early next year so I can get the Bambu Labs A1 Mini with a .02 nozzle and use it for the tiny pieces that need more detail. This was the job of the Photon, but I'm just so tired of working with resin. So very, very tired.

The only other big deal on equipment in 2023 was received on Monday: A belt and disc sander. It's small, it's fairly inexpensive, and it's from Harbor Freight, but for the reasons I need it? It will work perfectly. Plus, I can easily fit it under my workbench, and bring it up when I need it, then dust it off and put it right back.

Troxell's Trading Post and Support

Finally, there's how I'm paying for all of this stuff. Especially with an extra person in the household blowing through our data plan, I don't have much spare cash. To help offset this, I have been accepting donations through Ko-fi, recommending items in an Amazon Store, and putting up Wish Lists. You can find all of these over on my Beacons page, which I'm also hoping to do more with in 2024. In addition, so we aren't asking for something for nothing, my son and I have started up Troxell's Trading Post, where we sell 3D-printed tchotchkes, Perler bead art, and (eventually) leather work and buttons. We're currently hosted on Square because, well, that's where we were set up for our first convention table at VoltCon, but I'm hoping to make it to a self-hosted site in 2024, but once again, that's a topic for next week.

All in all, 2023 was a really busy year, but I was able to still get some stuff taken care of. Next week, since I won't be able to do much due to wrapping up the year for work, for Troxell's Trading Post, and all that jazz, I'll talk about what I'm looking to do in 2024.

Until that time, take good care of yourselves and each other. Remember, the world kinda sucks right now. Try not to make it suck any more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck a little less.

Take care, everyone.
Tony Troxell
December 27, 2023

#WIPWednesday, December 20th, 2023

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

Tony here, with the weekly Work in Progress Wednesday post that has an 87% lower chance of getting flagged on Instagram than just posting the images up there.

Props for Cosplay - Lightsabers

So, after a week of printing (and waiting for more chrome filament to come in), I'm about 80% finished with the lightsabers I'm printing for the talk in Anderson next May. I brought them down to the Creepy Cellar Workshop earlier this week, and did some test fitting over the last few days. Some photos are in the album I'm linking to this post, and they aren't looking bad. I still have some metallic filaments to buy, and I think I might have skipped some parts on the Mace Windu and Count Dooku lightsabers so I have to go through those checklists, but they're ready for some minor clean-up before getting glued together. 

The mindset behind these sabers is showing the group what could be done on the cheap. Are these sabers going to be part of a costume approved by the Rebel Legion? Heck, no. Are they going to work well if you got an inexpensive Jedi costume off of Amazon/eBay and are just looking for something fun to run around the convention halls in? Sure! I mean, these sabers, when all is said and done, cost approximately $15 each, if not less.

Click for larger image, and to see the rest of the album.

Props for Cosplay - Fallout

Initially, the Anderson talk was going to be rescheduled for April 13th, the day after Fallout dropped on Amazon Prime. This lead me to start planning a batch of Fallout props, as well, especially since very few of them look like real-world firearms. Okay, at least as far as the lasers and plasma weapons are concerned, and since that's what I want to focus on, it works.

Side note: As this is being done in a public library, I'm doing my best to minimize the number of prop replicas that are based on actual firearms. I'm still going to have to bring in some stuff like a Blaster Pistol and Blaster Rifle from Star Wars, because of the date, but for the most part, I want to make sure everything has a low chance of triggering the filters on Instagram, if you get my meaning. 

Anyway, last week I had a picture showing bits of a laser pistol, and I'm reprinting a few bits and getting everything together to start building that. I'm also hoping to have a laser rifle and a Pip Boy from Fallout 3.

Click for larger image and to see the rest of the album

Everything Else

I'm going to try to get some work done this week, but let's face it. It's the week before Christmas, so I have a lot to take care of between now and Monday. In addition, I'm starting work on my 2023 wrap-up that I'll have out on Tuesday the 2nd. So next week's blog post will probably be pictures of a few cleaned-up and glued-together lightsabers, and if I got any shop gear for Christmas, I'll probably excitedly post that, as well. 

In the meantime, I'm going to go ahead and let y'all get back to your Wednesday. Please remember to take good care of yourselves, and each other. The world sucks out there, try not to make it suck any more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck a little less.

'Til next week,
Tony

#WIPWednesday, December 13th, 2023

 

As you know...

I've been putzing around, forgetting about, and then remembering to write on this blog for a while now. Just random thoughts, nothing big, but recently, I've started thinking about what the focus is going to be here, especially as I start focusing even more on Troxell Builds and Troxell's Trading Post.

For Troxell's Trading Post, I'm going to start putting blog posts up about different props I'm working on, especially if there's a kit in the shop for that prop. It won't be a full build diary, but it will list the techniques I used, the supplies used, and most importantly, the paints that I used. I figure the first post I'm going to work on is the Type 3 Phaser Rifle from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

For Troxell Builds, well, that's the real reason I'm starting this. You might know I post mainly over on Instagram, with some cross-posting over to Facebook, and completely different content over on BlueSky. Well, Meta has some vague policy about replica weapons that I still have yet to find, so every time I post a work-in-progress (#WIP) photo, especially of a phaser rifle, I get flagged, my content stops getting recommended to people that don't follow me, and I have to go in, find the items they flagged, and contest it. Within 24 hours, everything is normally straightened up, but it's so blasted frustrating. I've made it a point to check every few days to make sure I haven't upset the AI, and it's tiresome. I've been posting more over on BlueSky, but not all my friends are over there, nor do they want to be over there.

So, here I am. Wanna know what I've been working on over the past week?

Props for Cosplay Presentation

Last month, I was supposed to do a talk at the Anderson Public Library, covering building props for cosplay. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I contracted COVID the week before the talk, and even though I tested negative by Friday, I was still worn down all week and not able to wrap things up. I've rescheduled the talk for next year, and it just so happens I'll be doing the talk on May 4th. This means I'm switching the focus on some of my examples. One of the things I'm doing is showing how one can do a quick and inexpensive prop using 3D printing, and the examples are going to be lightsabers that I'll probably also give away during the presentation.

These lightsabers are still being printed, so I'll have more photos next week of what I'm doing, but that's just part of it. I'm also going through many of my older "kits" and finishing some of them up for the talk. The hope is to have a couple blasters (though I am trying to limit the number of replica firearms I'm bringing), a couple nice lightsabers, and a couple of Fallout props (the Amazon series drops just a few weeks before). So, I'm going to be pretty busy through the winter.

Click on image to view more pieces

Phasers and Phaser Rifles

Ah, the stuff that's been getting me flagged on Instagram. So, here's the deal. As I've said before, a lot of what I've been printing over the past few years has been printed for Teenage Tony the Trekkie who didn't have a ton of money to pick up those cool prop garage kits he saw at booths like Paraphernalia from Beyond Planet X at conventions. After doing the TNG Phaser Rifle, and then building a Star Trek First Contact phaser rifle for a friend for DragonCon, I've decided I need more phaser rifles in my collection.

Thanks to sales and credit on CGTrader, I have a few to work on now. So, when I'm not working on stuff for the Anderson talk, or trying to put something together to sell on Troxell's Trading Post, I'm going to be working on these. Photos are below, but right now I have mostly printed phaser rifles from Picard, First Contact, Voyager, and Discovery. These don't have a "due date" attached to them, because I want to take my time, focus on getting better at finishing, and maybe even figure out how to add electronics to a few of them. The pieces from Picard, First Contact, and Discovery are all from MakerLab on CGTrader, and they're set up for electronics and lights. The compression rifle from Voyager is from 3DTechDesign on CGTrader, and their pieces, while looking great and fitting together really damn well, are not set up for lighting. Lighting or not, though, I'm looking forward to getting these put together when I'm burned out on working with Star Wars stuff.

Click for larger view, as well as other photos

Ko-Fi

The last thing I want to talk about is my Ko-fi page. If you followed Geeking in Indiana back before the pandemic, you know I had this to help fund things like convention center parking and whatnot. I also had Patreon for monthly support to cover hosting fees and the like. Well, now I'm using Ko-fi. Over here, you can donate money towards equipment (current goal is a Bambu AMS) or supplies, and I'm back to doing "exclusive" items for supporters. The project I'm going to start with, that I guarantee I'll be taking time off from everything else and working on at least once a week so there will always be progress, is going to be Gimli's helmet from Lord of the Rings. 

There's a freebie for you. I don't even think I've posted that publicly over on my site.

You can get more information on that over there for just $3 a month. If you would like to help in other ways, there's always buying our 3D-printed stuff over at Troxell's Trading Post, or if you're shopping on Amazon you can use my Affiliate Link so I can earn a few extra pennies here and there. You can find the whole list of ways you can support me over on my Beacons page.

I'm going to go ahead and wrap this up. Next week, I'm hoping to at least have some lightsabers to show off to you all! In the meantime, though, take good care of yourselves and each other.

- T