Resistance Pilot - Glie-44 Blaster Pistol - Finishing Guide

[shadow5606 (Cliff Snyder)]

Finishing a 3D printed Resistance glie-44 blaster pistol...

End result should look something like this:



No rocket science here but a basic DIY for those of you looking to finish a blaster for a resistance costume. Keep in mind that there are probably many other colors and primers you could use and many different weathering techniques you could employ but this is just to give a guideline, especially for those of you finishing 3D parts for the first time. Feel free to use substitutes if you have something that works on-hand!

I used the picture of Leia's Glie-44 from the visual dictionary as my primary reference as well as some shots of Poe's blaster from various exhibits. I realize the visual dictionary shows Poe's blaster as a darker grey but some of these exhibit photo's show it as a nickel or pewter also. Considering this sidearm wasn't even drawn in the film we're kind of pulling for details here.



- Getting the printed blaster: The blaster I used was the Cujo3131 file from Thingiverse - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1231915 There are others out there but I feel this has the most accurate scale to the Sig Sauer P226 airsoft pistol that many believe they used for the basis on this prop. At the date of this posting I think this is the most accurate freely available 3d print file available but it's not perfect. If you want the accurate grip details, width, etc. read below for more options. If you do use the the Cujo3131 file from Thingiverse to save money just ask around your local base to see if anyone prints 3d parts or use a service like www.shapeways.com to get this printed.

*UPDATE* - as of 4/7/16 there are a couple of worthwhile options to add. Here on the Legion boards you can find an interest thread forming for a much more accurate print of the blaster which can be purchased finished or unfinished here - http://www.forum.rebellegion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=73580

Another nice looking option with the right grip details is here -- https://www.etsy.com/listing/269990697/poe-dameron-glie-44-blaster-pistol-prop?ref=shop_home_active_1

This finishing guide would apply to either of these prints and you could skip the mesh material I used to add detail to the grip and ammo cartridge.



- Getting supplies: I used 2 spray paints, Rust-Oleum Metallic Matte Nickel (7277830) and Rust-Oleum Anodized Bronze (7754) and 2 shades of dark wash, Citadel Nuln Oil Shade and Agrax Earthshade Shade for weathering, plus some rub n buff for the tip. For finishing the 3d parts bondo glaze and spot putty plus some filler primer are really must haves. Some basic sandpaper including something coarse like 200 to 300 grit and something finer like 400 to 500 or higher is necessary and sanding sticks (about $20 on Amazon) are a very nice to have optional buy to get down into the details of this blaster. You'll likely want some disposable rubber gloves for working with the bondo and I like to use kabob skewers for scraping bondo out of fine details and for pressing masking tape into corners. Some automotive masking tape or any other quality masking tape will help when you need to mask things off for the 2nd color and some small art paint brushes will let you brush on the dark washes for weathering, any old paint brush will do. If you can find it some plastic mesh will add some nice details on the ammo cartridge and on the grip of the blaster, those details don't exist in the current 3D print files. If you're adding mesh I had good luck with plastic cement holding that in place well.









Prepping to paint:

- The blaster will most likely come raw and with print lines, this is normal. You may even start out in parts where you need to glue your blaster together or glue the tip on to the body. You can use e6000, krazy glue, acetone bonding (acetone with ABS parts only) or any number of adhesives to put everything together. Just be sure to get your seams fairly even so you don't have any obvious jumps in what should be a flat surface and be sure your adhesion method is appropriate for the type of medium used to print your part... ABS, PLA, etc.



- First step is to sand and clean up the blaster. Start with a coarse 200-250ish grit sandpaper to get the worst offenders and if you have the budget for it those sanding sticks will help you get into the fine details and recesses of this part. Don't worry about making the blaster smooth as we'll be using bondo and filler primer to get really smooth. This sanding step is really just to take off the worst print lines. Be aware these 3D parts are usually made in some kind of plastic and will melt if they are over-sanded, also, most of them are somewhat hollow with a sort of honeycomb interior and you can sand through if you over-do it.

- Next use bondo glaze and spot putty to fill in the remaining print lines. I used disposable rubber gloves and a little squeegee tool as well as a wooden kabob skewer to clean excess putty out of hard to reach details. You can always sand what gets in the recesses but it's easier to scrape it out before it dries. Spread the stuff on relatively thin, it dries faster that way and ultimately you'll sand off most of your bondo anyway, it's just meant to fill in the valleys, not entirely cover the surface. Give it an hour or so to dry and then sand again till fairly smooth (300 - 400 grit or higher should work) You could also apply more bondo if you see any glaring print lines and sand again till smooth.




- Next is the primer filler spray, brush off any dust first, this primer will help fill in any leftover print lines or hard to reach spots, spray this far enough back to get good coverage but not so close that you gunk up the details. The primer will also make it very obvious to the eye where your surface imperfections are as they become very visible with a coat of this. It dries quickly and can be sanded within an hour or so. Sand this primer and maybe even apply more bondo and sand again with a 600-800 grit paper if you want really nice surfaces. When you are midstream here you'll have an ugly looking part with various layers exposed, remember you're not making it pretty yet, just smooth. Here's a shot where I've got filler primer in grey, the 3d part in yellow, bondo in orange all showing at once. Ugly but smooth.



When you are happy with the smoothness of the surfaces move on to paint -- look all over or you'll forget some surface that's still rough, this print has lots of faces! Also be sure to wipe off all our bondo and sanding dust again before painting. Keep in mind that some imperfections are fine and your weathering will hide a lot too!

- Now we are ready to shoot everything with the Rustoleum Metallic Matte Nickel paint, no need to mask anything yet, we'll get the few details later. This stuff dries pretty quick, again shoot a light coat so you don't gunk up any details or have runs. Start further back if you're new to spray painting.

- Next we'll add some mesh to the ammo cartridge and over the grip of the pistol. I found some of this in my wife's crafting supplies which she had found a couple of years ago in a discount bin at a fabric store, I don't have the SKU or even a link to a similar product, you'll really have to wing it. If you find something then congrats! I cut mine to shape very carefully and then glued it in place with plastic cement. Be careful, I brushed mine on a bit thick and ended up blocking out some of the cells in the mesh, I think it would look better without those cells gunked up.



Here it is with the Matte Nickel paint and the mesh glued in place:



- Beware that although the Matte Nickel paint dries fast the next step involves masking and this tape can pull off your paint, it's best to let it sit overnight and even then that masking tape can pull off paint. You can always touch up spots but then you have to mask your other colors when you roll back over to the Matte Nickel. Once you're ready to begin we'll want to mask off things around the ammo cartridge, around the trigger and trigger guard as well as around the mesh on the grip. I wanted to leave some of the silver under the mesh showing so instead of spraying on the Anodized Bronze paint I actually sprayed it in a puddle and brushed it on by hand, that added to the overall grime and by going light over the mesh I left some silver to pop out. I'd recommend pulling your masking tape off sooner than later as I did have trouble with it pulling off some of my silver paint.

- When you're ready to weather you'll need a medium art brush and I like to use some paper towel to dab and smear. Keep in mind that weathering can be done many different ways, google prop weathering if this is your first go at it. The key points is that recesses that would be missed when cleaning are where you'll see the most grime. Things like corners and all the detailed lines and pockets on this blaster that would be hard to clean. You'll also want to spread on a thin coat of your washes across the flat surfaces. I like to spread it on thin and after it's sit for a few seconds/minutes I use a towel or rag to dab some off or smear it a bit.



I used 2 shades of wash on this blaster, starting with the Agrax Earthshade and after it dries with the Nuln Oil. Don't overdo your first coat if you plan to use both. Feel free to let some pool in the recesses across the top of the blaster, in a couple of corners and in the vents of the tip. When I moved on to the Nuln Oil I let it pool a solid black on the tip instead of masking, gravity keeps it down where it's supposed to be.

I also thinly coated the entire blaster in the Nuln Oil wash and smeared it a bit to keep it from getting too dark. Keep in mind this is easily reversible and if you feel you overdid it you can clean the dark washes off easily with windex on a towel.

If you want streaks in your weathering you could let these washes dry and come back to them in an hour or so before they are fully set up and then rub at them with a towel to "clean" off parts of the blaster like corners and wear edges.



- I came in last with Rub n Buff for highlighting a few corners (simulated wear) and for giving the tip a different metallic look. I used a shop towel and a Q-tip to get just a tiny bit of rub and buff on the the very peak of a few edges, then you take a dry Q-tip or dry section of the towel and smear it along the wear edge or spread it around the blaster tip. Let it sit a bit and then buff it quickly for a metallic shine.



Last I did use just a small amount of the Nuln Oil to knock down the shine of the tip.




- Feel free to leave the blaster as-is or spray on a bit of matte clear coat. If you use a clear coat make sure to spray it from a great distance because it can sometimes cause paint to peel off, especially metallic paint, I opted to not use a clear coat at all on this blaster.

Enjoy!

[FallenJedi ()]

Nice tutorial, Thanks for posting
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[CaptainTightpantsCosplay ()]

I had thought about using mesh! I'm glad it worked, I'll have to try it. Very nice article!

[FoxhoundTCF (Ashley Tyler)]

Very useful

[Jerrick Sunrunner (Mark Mulcaster)]

Great work, great tutorial buddy!
Thanks for this :-)
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Jerrick Sunrunner:
Elstree Base Commanding Officer -
1138th Krayt Squadron Leader
OT X-Wing Pilot Judge

[Master Jeff ()]

Awesome Cliff!

[Toda ()]

Very nice and full of detail. Thank you!
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Todd (Toda) - former RAID XO (2017-2019)
Endor Gunner, RFT, Rebel Technician, TFA officer, TFA Trooper, and A-Wing Pilot




"Any pilot who volunteers to fly an A-wing better be brave or crazy. Probably helps to be a little of both."
―General Han Solo

[Algae198 ()]

I don't know Shadow. Those look like Torx screws in the Visual Dictionary, and you clearly have Philips head screws in your blaster.

May have to pitch the whole thing and start over
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-Mandalorian Merc-
-TFA Pilot (In Progress)-

[shadow5606 (Cliff Snyder)]

Yeah, those resistance techs will use any hardware they can get their hands on!
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[shadow5606 (Cliff Snyder)]

**Image links broken because of photobucket, please use this link to visit the album where the images are hosted** -- http://s1060.photobucket.com/user/shadow5606/library/Resistance%20Pilot%20-%20Glie-44%20Blaster%20Pistol
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[Blue Banshee Leader (Alex Buirch)]

Is there any chance you might be able to upload the pictures to a different host? Even through the gallery I can't get the images to properly load, and the ton of ads is lagging my computer terribly...
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[JediXXL (Gil Guemes)]

Flickr.com may work for you...
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Proud U.S. Army Veteran
There is NO Orange Mafia

[shadow5606 (Cliff Snyder)]

Hey guys, finally updated the guide to imgur, all images are operational again!
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