Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Star Wars Prequels Build

Utah Man Builds Bulletproof Stormtrooper Suit With 3-D Printer (wtop.com) 76

schwit1 quotes CNN's report on a software engineer who really loves Star Wars costumes:
"I kind of incorporated all of the things that I've learned in 3-D printing and DIY into this project," said Nils Rasmusson. Over the course of nine months, he printed the suit and put it together. "I had to figure out — how do you put all of these pieces together? There's no tutorial or instructions on this," he said.

The helmet alone is made up of 19 different pieces fabricated on the printer. Rasmusson said he used five printers, humming for about 400 to 600 hours, to fabricate the suit out of plastic filament.

It's even bulletproof. His friend works for a company that bulletproofs cars...

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Utah Man Builds Bulletproof Stormtrooper Suit With 3-D Printer

Comments Filter:
  • And I suppose a light sabre would cut through it like it was made of butter.

  • Not (Score:5, Informative)

    by kqc7011 ( 525426 ) on Saturday January 25, 2020 @05:49PM (#59656176)
    As always, bullet resistant not bulletproof.
    • Adam Savage, of 'Mythbusters' and 'Tested' fame, did something similar. 3D-printed an Iron Man suit from powdered titanium.

      Well, a company helped him with the actual printing. In his show the suit was also tested to see if it was bullet proof.

      Only a .45 was able to dent it a little bit. Smaller rounds left discoloration, nothing else. Different weapons, different distances...just a small dent in the end as the test went from smallest caliber to end up at .45.

      3D-prints with powdered titanium can be considere

      • by AK Marc ( 707885 )
        Sure a company "helped", the high quality titanium printers are hella expensive, and require extensive machining after printing, most of which is hidden from the public to increase the "value" of the service. It's magical. The "cheap" $10k printers don't do exotic metals. Pay $250k for a printer, and $20k per suit made from materials cost and finishing. So a "I saw it on TV" doesn't mean it's accessible for the rest of us. A TV show with a $500k per episode can afford one suit per show, as a one-off, b
  • Shouldn't it be LASER proof?
  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday January 25, 2020 @06:14PM (#59656244)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Of course, it's probably illegal in a lot of places to buy or sell bulletproof anything for the obvious reasons, so...

      Yes obviously, just like encryption, if it protects against non-government bad guys it'll protect against government bad guys and that cannot be allowed. /s

      Strat

    • Literally bulletproof or only metaphorically?

      Well anyone with a tenth of a second to spare could have seen he actually tested it with real bullets (not while wearing) and then did a cross section to see how it fared (pretty well).

      Note the whole suit is not bulletproof. I leave it as a surprise for the reader as to what parts are.

  • by TigerPlish ( 174064 ) on Saturday January 25, 2020 @06:22PM (#59656264)

    The real deal was pretty rough.

    I'm not gonna sit down and do a a comparo, but at first glance it already looks wrong for an original trilogy suit.

    S'cool that he's doing it.

    As for the bulletproofness, just test.. and lots, with all sorts of kit.

    Wouldn't surprise me if an effect similar to chain-mail is at work. I imagine tha'ts also what silk was, and silk was the first "bulletproof" anything.

    'til the .357 came out in the late 30s and in the words of Smith and Wesson's ad men, "takes the 'proof' out of 'bulletproof'."

  • No quotes from his supermodel girlfriend? No pictures of him partying at the Playboy club? A guy this cool has to be swimming in chicks.

    • A guy this cool has to be swimming in chicks.

      You're thinking of that guy who killed all those women, puréed their bodies, and dumped the purée into his swimming pool.

      • No, that guy was different.

              Had he created a text-based computer game where that was the goal, that would be right up his alley.

    • ... are girls ever attracted to the pathetic wannabe tough nerd with the fantasy movie fetish?

      Where I'm from, they want a strong man, not a tough guy who stopped developing at puberty.

    • His next project will be to 3d print a girlfriend.

    • No quotes from his supermodel girlfriend? No pictures of him partying at the Playboy club? A guy this cool has to be swimming in chicks.

      Going full jock style "nerds suck" on slashdot it kind of ironic. And given your UID, you've been an officially registered nerd for about 15 years. Attacking others like yourself wont change anything about you.

      Nerdiness is fun. Enjoy it.

  • He should be selling those to the new Space Force, defender of Freedom, Gods of the Heaven, able to walk faster than a speeding locomotive, jumps over toy building, and who, disguised as a geek with a printer, ready to fight for Truth, Justice and the American Way. Now where do we keep the contracts.

  • Stormtroopers get shot by the thousands.

    • by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Most nations do not have the money and "fit" "healthy" "smart" and mil educated special forces to try and use by the "by the thousands."
      Nations invest in all methods they can to keep their best police and troops safe every mission.
      Police with skills and the most well educated special forces take years to work with and cant be replaced when lost per year "by the thousands.".
      No advanced nation has that many smart, fit, mil ready troops per generation.
      Too many are not very smart, too many are not fit... s
      • Most nations do not have the money and "fit" "healthy" "smart" and mil educated special forces to try and use by the "by the thousands."

        Yeah but the Empire / First Order isn't really a nation clearly don't have a problem with finding an endless supply of cannon fodder. Not to mention it has the most outstanding logistics and manufacturing capacity.

        Police with skills and the most well educated special forces take years to work with and cant be replaced when lost per year "by the thousands.".
        No advanced natio

        • by AHuxley ( 892839 )
          Oh so its not the shock troops :) The other "stormtroopers" that inspired UK and US mil thinking for decades :)
  • The Rise of Skywalker is the Star Wars equivalent of the last season of Game of Thrones. I only watched it because I wanted some level of closure. Fortunately I went in with very low expectations, but even then I felt like walking out during the first 15 minutes.

  • If shoots south a Stormtrooper, dead people in the north you'll find.

  • by Dunbal ( 464142 ) *
    What's the use of bullet-proof if the rebel alliance uses lasers? Pew pew.
  • Apparently he felt this was necessary. Is he looking for COS chicks?
  • by gosand ( 234100 ) on Sunday January 26, 2020 @10:57AM (#59657614)

    Got the guy's name from the short article, and it even mentions he has a DIY channel.
    Why not watch the f'ing video of it [youtube.com] before commenting? It's actually pretty cool.

  • This brings up a good point about Storm Troopers in the movie. Not only can they not hit anything (except Jawas), the armor they wear seems to be easily beat by hand held blasters. Makes me wonder what the point of the armor was other than looking cool.

    • by Agripa ( 139780 )

      Makes me wonder what the point of the armor was other than looking cool.

      The armor is proof against a higher MPAA rating.

  • Who cares about bulletproof, stormtroopers need to be blaster-proof.

  • When a single shot from any tiny hand weapon throws them through the air and kills them without cracking the armour - in all 11 movies.

Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them. - Oscar Wilde

Working...