3D Printing Weapons/Accessories for Action Figures and Model Kits

In this instructable, the tools and the how-to of using a 3D printer to make a weapon for a Gundam Model Kit will be shown. This can also be used for many other things, either other types of model kits, or accessories for an action figure.

To print off a 3D weapon/accessory, you will need the following things:
- 3D printer
- Model Kit/Action Figure you intend to print a weapon.accessory for
- Paper
- Ruler
- Pencil

Before you design your 3D model of the weapon/accessory in the 3D modeling program of choice, you must first draw it out. When drawing it out, make sure to take measurements of what will fit in the model/action figure's hand, as well as measurements of weapons/accessories to keep your newly designed item in scale.

For this tutorial, I used Rhino to create my model. Start off by selecting "small object - inches" which will bring you to where you can create your model.

Next, you want to set your grid size and grip snapping to something appropriate to the model you are creating. For this tutorial, I had grid lines every 1/8 inch, with major gird lines every inch. The line snapping has every 1/16 inch.

Once your 3D model is done, you will want to save it in the default file format first, in case you need to change the design for a second attempt at printing. Most 3D printers require the use of .stl, so only save in .stl when you want to print the model you created.

Now that you have the .stl file, you can use the software your 3D printer uses to print!

Now, if you choose, you can paint your newly printed 3D model, to make it look better.