One of my co-workers decided to buy a 3D printer and has been more than willing to make things for us. So I decided to model some new feet designs for Menasor and Superion. They still have a way to go before I can call them done, but here's where I am so far. The pink ones are the most recent. Feel free to share any ideas for improvements or sketches if you want to see them printed.
maybe try to balljoint it, but other than that, i find them amazing!!! edit: also, make a sharp claw version to go with sky reign, predacus, and the rumored liokaiser....
The feet look great! Can't go wrong with unique designs for each of the combiners. If you're going with ball joints, you'll need really tight tolerances though. The 3P Perfect Effect feet have trouble supporting the combiner weight with ball joints. The ball joints on them are also small, try going bigger. Ratcheted joints would be ideal but will require a more complex design.
the only suggestion i'd make is to some how give them articulated ankles.. but i'm sure that'll be much more difficult to achieve.. but even without them, the pink ones look fantastic, especially on superion. much better looking than the third party versions i've seen.
Yeah ankles was something I wanted to incorporate, but hadn't quite worked it out yet. After a little thought tho, I think I've come up with a decent option for them. I'll need to model a new foot with a cavity and some holes for the components, but I think I can get some Lego joints to work.
Those are nice! I like my 3rd party kit feet on Superion because it makes him a bit taller and a team of jets should be at least as tall as the other combiners, but I didnt get them for my others because then Superion would be short again. These dont look as huge as the 3rd party feet and they look really good.
ooohhhh!!!! i like that improvising!!! i actually have tons of classic bionicle pieces that would work!!! so,is your friend willing to let us buy these feet?
Make replications of those Bionicle pieces so the feet can function as intended, as well, I'd give 'em shot.
How much articulation should I attempt with these? Side to side movement is a given, but do we want to see any front to back movement as well? I'd hate for the joint to lossen and then the figure won't stand at all.
As others have posted, if you do movement make sure the tolerences are really tight and the post thick. The PE feet are beyond useless unless you coat the hell out of the balljoint with future polish. Even after that mine has issues standing up when i use them. The default feet make him stand rock solid however.
So proof of concept has been completed and so far things look promising. [/URL][/IMG] I did, of course, break one. Which has me down a path for reinforcing the socket joint. [/URL][/IMG] All in all tho, they seem to stand fine, however I will make the next prototype so that the leg doesn't sit so far away from the foot itself. I'll also add in some physical stops to limit the amount of swivel so they don't face plant. [/URL][/IMG] [/URL][/IMG] [/URL][/IMG] [/URL][/IMG] [/URL][/IMG]
Finally got the next round of feet printed and tested out. There are still a few minor tolerance tweeks to make, but over all I like how they've turned out. It's still a little loose for all the weight, but it's very close. Just need to design the pegs to fit each of the combined ports.