by madebyrice | Jun 27, 2023
Caij Vanda Blaster as seen in Jedi Survivor
This blaster was an absolute blast (pun intended) to build. Not only is this a super cool model design, this was going to the incredibly talented Verona Blue. Verona is the voice of Caij Vanda in the Jedi Survivor game. She has also been in hits such as Bosch and the hit V/H/S/99.
Caij Vanda was a Nautolan who resided on the planet Koboh. She presented herself as a former bounty hunter, and gave Cal Kestis information on Haxion Brood bounty hunters and also sold him various upgrades and blaster parts. The bounty on Kestis’ head grew with each elimination. Once they were all eliminated, she revealed that she was the one who alerted the Brood to his presence on Koboh, and attempted to capture Kestis in order to cash in on the increased bounty. However, she was captured by Boba Fett, who was hunting her at the time.
All the PLA parts were sanded, resin coated and then sanded again. Thin filler primer coat to top it all off, then one final sand before color is added. The wood PLA pieces are lightly sanded and stained using an oil based wood stain.
Here is the awesome unboxing video that Verona Blue put together.
by madebyrice | Jun 27, 2023
Stormbreaker – Thor: Love and Thunder
Stormbreaker is able to focus and enhance Thor‘s powers. Due to it being composed of Uru, the weapon is nigh-indestructible and able to withstand energy blasts created by the Infinity Stones. It is also able to channel dimensional energy and summon the Bifrost Bridge, which enabled Thor to teleport himself, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot to Wakanda. Like Mjølnir before it, Stormbreaker will return to Thor’s hand when summoned and strikes his opponents with massive force.
“A king’s weapon. Meant to be the greatest in Asgard. In theory, it could even summon the Bifrost.”
“Does it have a name?”
“Stormbreaker.”
―Eitri and Thor
This was a commission project that was part of matching set for Thor: Love and Thunder, including a Mjolnir and rock stands. The handle of Stormbreaker is made with nuMakers wood PLA and is printed using a 0.6mm nozzle slowly to get the smoothest layers possible at 0.16mm layer height.
The head of Stormbreaker was also printed with a 0.6mm nozzle, thick walls and lots of top and bottom layers. This provides a durable and heavy feel.
The head of the Stormbreaker is held in place with a 10mm steel rod and several 10mm wooden rods for additional support. The wood PLA is finished with an oil based wood stain.
by madebyrice | Oct 3, 2022
Type II Phaser – Star Trek Discovery
Ever since I was a kid, I have been watching Star Trek. As I got older I always wanted to have a replica of a the old style phasers they had in TOS. Sadly I was never able to get one, and years went by with no new Star Trek. In comes Discovery, and boom! that nostalgia was there. I wanted one of those phasers. Now I can build my own. Here are some images from that build.
This was a fairly simplstic build and there are several things I would do a bit differently now. It’s a great build that I am happy is in my collection.
This printed in two larger pieces for the main body, and several smaller pieces for knobs and accessories. The larger pieces were glued together using acrylic glue and prior to painting, I applied a couple layers of resin to hide the layer lines.
The smaller pieces all got a filler primer instead of the resin coating. The inner past of the phaser tips I used some photo-resin to add some depth and shine to the parts that may have a glow to them in a real version.
I wanted to do something a bit different with the bottom of the phaser, so I used some photo-resin is add some depth and shine to what would have a glow in a real version.
