All done painting the 3D printed components that go on the PVC frame!

Now I just need to glue the components on the PVC—does anyone have a recommendation for a adhesive to stick PLA to PVC? Something less-than-permanent would be ideal, in case I ever need to repair it.

And after the gluing, I’ve got a couple foam panels to put on it, and various wires and greebles. DragonCon here I come!

  • @cozy_chameleon
    OPEnglish
    1•11 months ago

    Here’s an image of Chai with his guitar, for reference

    Huge thanks to Tango Gameworks for adding in a photo mode. Without that, I’m sure the modeling and painting would’ve taken much longer and ended up so much less accurate

    (and this is all a repost from my post on another fediverse cosplay community… I still don’t understand if/how crossposting works lol)

    • @cozy_chameleon
      OPEnglish
      1•11 months ago

      I did end up going with hot glue… It seems strong enough to hold up to con wear and tear, it gave me enough time to wiggle everything into just the right position, and lowest priority, but I I thiiiink I’d be able to muscle some of the pieces off if I ever need to repair/rebuild the guitar. Success! probably lol

      • @cozy_chameleon
        OPEnglish
        1•5 months ago

        In case anyone comes across this later…

        Hot glue for the PLA-PVC connections was plenty. I haven’t tried to muscle any of the pieces off, but they’ve held up to two days of walkin around at con with no noticeable shifting

    • @cozy_chameleon
      OPEnglish
      1•11 months ago

      Tried a couple glues with test PLA rings and scrap PVC.

      Just for context, each of the 3D printed PLA pieces has a “ring” or two that’s just barely big enough to fit on the PVC pipe. They’re tight enough that they stay in place on the PVC as long as I don’t swing/shake the guitar too much. But for sure the insides of the PLA rings aren’t perfectly smooth, which I’m sure isn’t helping the glues.

      For all of these, I’m only applying the glue to the pipe in the final location of the PLA ring. Can’t put the glue directly on the ring, because I need to slide the ring up/down the PVC to get it into place.

      Barge contact cement doesn’t seem to “catch”. I didn’t let it dry too much (like I do with EVA foam) because I need at least a couple seconds of adjustability while sliding the PLA into its spot and into the right orientation.

      Super glue (cyanoacrylate), in a small amount in a small area, seemed to work. But the working time is just a couple seconds, which scares the hell out of me with these PLA parts that took at least a dozen hours each (print, filler, sand, primer, hand paint). With the small amount, I was able to crack the bond with a little muscle. More glue would probably hold well enough, but then I think I’d have even less working time.

      Hot glue is promising. A little more working time than CA glue, and it seems to slowly bond. Once it’s set, it takes a lot of muscle to move the piece, but even then it’s still snug (unlike CA).

      Gonna try different amounts and patterns of hot glue, but I think that’ll be my winner. Plus unlike with the Barge, it’ll be nice to be able to glue it all indoors in the air conditioning 🥵