Apr 30, 2016 | By Benedict
Amateur maker and game-lover Lael Lee has built a 3D printed Black Spindle sniper rifle, as found in The Taken King, the latest expansion pack for Bungie’s popular Destiny video game. The maker has entered the 5-foot-long 3D print into MyMiniFactory’s Playstation design contest.
When the first installment of Bungie’s legendary Halo series of games was released back in 2001, the maker scene was much quieter than it is today. 3D printing design platform Thingiverse would not launch until seven years later, and household 3D printers were few and far between. That, however, did not stop hordes of Master Chief wannabes from giving the 3D printing treatment to their favorite Halo weapons, outfits, and props, especially toward the end of the franchise’s lifecycle. To this day, many makers continue to pay homage to the game with high-quality 3D printed replica gear.
Although it has fared slightly worse with the critics than its predecessor did, Destiny—Bungie’s highly anticipated follow-up to the Halo franchise—came at exactly the right moment for amateur 3D printing connoisseurs. Since its release in 2014, the game has had scores of its in-game objects recreated on desktop 3D printers around the globe; check out Fabbdea’s 3D printed Arcus rifle or maker-gamer legend Kirby Downey’s 3D printed Gjallahorn for some fine examples of such.
The latest addition to the 3D printed Destiny arsenal is the exotic Black Spindle sniper rifle, designed by maker Lael Lee. A cousin of the legendary Black Hammer sniper rifle from Year 1, the Black Spindle boasts a deadly attack rating of 290 and became available through the 2015 expansion pack The Taken King. Want to get your hands on a solid, 1:1 replica of the Black Spindle? Of course you do—that’s why Lee has uploaded his design to MyMiniFactory, where every download of the 3D printable weapon will contribute to the maker’s quest to win the MMF Playstation design contest.
At over five feet long and weighing between seven and eight pounds, the 3D printed Black Spindle sniper rifle is, as its designer claims, “a BEAST”. It features a removable magazine and LED illumination, and has been designed to accommodate several 4.8mm reinforcement rods—not a a bad idea, given the sheer size of the thing. Lee printed his model in Hatchbox PLA (around 2.1kg of it) on a ROBO 3D R1 +PLUS 3D printer, at a 0.2mm layer thickness, with supports. For those looking to build the Black Spindle themselves, only a few extra components are required: 30 LEDs, electrical wire, a battery connector, and an SPST slide switch. Good luck, gamers!
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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Can anyone make me a black spindle at this size? Been looking everywhere for one and no place I can find will make one.
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