Bolto / Akbolto Prime (Warframe)
Bolto / Akbolto Prime (Warframe)
3D
Published 2019-01-11T10:56:26+00:00
Origin
The Bolto Prime comes from Warframe, a sci-fi third-person shooter game developed by Digital Extremes. It's a semi-automatic sidearm which rapidly fires piercing bolts capable of pinning large objects to various surfaces. In-game, players can't actually use a singular Bolto Prime, since the only blueprints that can be acquired are for the akimbo-only variant, the Akbolto Prime. Printing two of these oversized handguns in real life is overkill though, since this version is only meant to be a decorative piece.
All credit for the original design goes to the artists at Digital Extremes for creating such a beautiful weapon.
Scaling and Size
Going off Warframe's in-game models, the Bolto Prime is supposed to be around 470 mm (1.5') long if Nova's height is assumed to be 6'1/2'' tall*. This felt a bit too big for me, so the printable model was scaled down until it's overall barrel length (not including the wings and large spike) matched that of Smith & Wesson Model 500 Magnum, which is around 15'' (381 mm).
Not including the stand, the scaled down Bolto Prime is 423 mm long, 119 mm wide, and 283 mm tall. If you want the final product to be as large as it is in game, simply scale every part up by 11.11%.
Tolerances and Joining Parts
Parts in the model are meant to be joined together with the adhesive of your choice. Every surface and plane on the model where different pieces come into contact with one another should have a 0.25 mm gap. This should allow pieces to fit very loosely in place, assuming your printer is at least decently calibrated.
Durability
This model should be strong enough to be carried around, but not strong enough to be waved around or played with in imaginary gunfights (if you're into that sort of thing). The area joining the grip to both the top-rear decorations and the base are relatively small compared to most of the other surfaces joining major components together. Additionally, the long and front-heavy barrel shifts the gun's center of gravity further away from where one would normally hold it, making the grip the 2nd most likely part to be torn off from the model, after the wings.
The wings also deserve a special mention here. The sockets which join the 4 left and right wing pieces together don't have that much surface area. Use the strongest adhesives you can find.
Design Process
In case anyone's curious about how this was designed, I'll be summarizing the steps I took in this section.
- The in-game model and its corresponding normal map was ripped from the game using a tool called Ninja Ripper and subsequently imported into Blender.
- Screenshots from the game, the normal map, and the in-game model's orthographic views were used as reference images in SolidWorks (or 'Sketch Pictures').
- The primary dimensions (bounding box, barrel length, spike height, etc.) were derived from the in-game model and all the small details were based off the normal map and in game screenshots.
- All components were jointly designed in a multi-body part and exported for use in an assembly later on. The entire 3D printed version of the Bolto Prime took around 205 hours to fully model, with the stand taking another 10 hours.
- All the views in this assembly manual generated by SolidWorks Composer and touched up with Adobe Illustrator.
Print Settings
This model was printed at 0.1 mm layer height and 10% infill for everything except the stand, which was printed at 0.2 mm. Use rafts and/or brims if you have trouble making the parts stick to the bed.
Recommended Print Bed Dimensions
All parts have been designed to fit a rectangular print bed with dimensions of at least 200 mm x 200 mm. Assuming you decide to print the spike vertically, the tallest part should only be 80 mm.
| Date published | 11/01/2019 |
| Dimensions | 423mm x 119mm x 283mm |
| Technology | FDM |
| Complexity | Easy |
This was a helluva thing to print; while I appreciate the creator leaving space for glue in the joints, I would have preferred a slightly tighter fitting tolerance in places like the wings/branches. Also, despite having L and R file name headers, half of the parts are not correctly oriented for printing, which granted is a minor gripe, but still, it's time wasted that doesn't need to be. Also, the assembly was a bit of a stab in the dark because, despite most of the part groups being reasonably evident in their orientation, it's entirely possible to screw yourself on the assembly order since most of the top frame pieces don't seem structural but are, ( they hold the barrel assembly and grip together) I would suggest instructions.