A replica of our favorite Bird Mom's drill spear from Steven Universe
This deceptively simple looking model comes out to well over 6 feet and really requires some serious elbow grease in order to produce the final prop but oh boy, once it was finally done, it really makes you want to put on some ballet clothes and fight aliens alongside your fellow lesbian space rocks.
Major Features
Spearhead
The spear head itself is split up into three pieces. Luckily no supports are required for any of these pieces, however make sure you have good print bed adhesion because that is going to be important if you don't want the end of the spear looking all wobbly and crooked. Similar to the blades on my swords, there is no avoiding visible seam so post processing will be a little more complicated if you want to hide those. There are two alignment pieces included so that glueing the spear straight is not an issue.
Pommel
I also split the pommel into three pieces. This was done to make it easier to paint them their individual colors. These also come with alignment pegs so that you can glue them together correctly after the painting is finished.
Wall Mounts
The wall mounts include with this piece are meant for a vertical mounting of the spear, with the bottom mount supporting all the weight and the top mount only meant to keep the spear from toppling over. The mounts were also designed to accommodate small dry wall screws.
Shaft
The shaft itself is not meant to be printed but to give you a knowledge of the dimensions so that you can find a compatible PVC pipe. If you are looking to resize the spear (the current spear comes out to well over 6 feet) then make sure to scale that the diameter of the shaft post-scaling, matches a diameter of PVC pipe that is available to you
Builds
Believe it or not, but this is one of the models I did actually get around to finishing and boy was it a pain in my rear. However, through the painful month long process, I made a lot of mistakes that refined the way assemble and paint my prints. Like I said, this is one long boi, so you can see even starting at the floor it almost reaches the roof. The shaft is indeed PVC pipe
CAUTION
Like I mentioned earlier, the spear head parts require good knowledge of print bed adhesion to print in a high quality. Similarly, the long pieces make it easy, especially during the sanding process, to bend the print along the glued seams. This may not cause it to come apart, but it can cause your paint to crack which looks horrible. The cracks in the paint are caused by the flexing of the spearhead due to low quality adhesives, i have so far found that super glue has so far been the best for preventing this from occurring. Epoxy and PVC cement has caused issues in the past as they flex or even delaminate from the print( due to the smooth finish on the first layer of many 3d prints). This is mostly an issue with thin prints, PVC cement can be more cost effective and sufficient for larger print that does not have any associated bending hazards.
Similarly, because the blue paint I use can not be found in my usual preferred Rust-Oleum Metallic brand, I had to use regular Rust-Oleum spray paint, which if applied incorrectly can cause major cracking in the paint, especially once clear coat is applied, which I emphasize
*** WILL REQUIRE YOU TO RESTART THE PAINT/SANDING PROCESS***
not to mention, stripping the paint off is VERY not fun. Especially since you've spent days, maybe weeks sanding the print and the primer now once you get to the end product you mess up the paint job on the last layer of clear coat because you didn't paint it properly. I was lucky enough to only mess up on two of the pommel pieces. Had I cracked the paint on the spearhead, I absolutely would've thrown this thing off a bridge and onto a very unfortunate fish.
Cracks or wrinkling in the paint is often caused by applying too much spray paint at once and not waiting long enough for paint to dry. Especially because i sanded the print up to 3000 grit before painting, you have to wait at least 5-7 days after painting on plastic for the paint to be fully dried. Only after then can you apply clear coat. In my experience most prints, if you sand them to 3000 grit, and properly apply a glossy spray paint, look just fine without clear coat, so you don't run the risk of destroying your hard work.
*update: I have since got an electric hand sander and it is a godsend
What Next?
If you are looking to create you own models like this one feel free to checkout all of my tutorials on 3D modeling and prop making techniques.
If you are looking to purchase the model so that you can print your own you can find it in the store.
Lastly, make sure to check back in every once in a while to see what I've been working on
Thank you for your time