Hasta La Gadget!

Artist and cosplayer Casy Kovach chose to go as Nightmare from SoulCalibur 5 for this year’s Dragon Con. Short of hiring Tony Swatton, Kovach went to great lengths to create a Soul Edge replica worthy of its videogame counterpart.

The base of the sword’s blade was carved from a board of insulating foam. Casy carved the board to match the shape of Soul Edge’s blade then added fiberglass to its outer edge. Then he used lots of Model Magic as well as hot glue to replicate the muscles and flesh covering the blade. He used a plastic sphere from a toy for Soul Edge’s eyes. Finally he painstakingly painted and buffed the blade. He worked on it on and off over 7 months, but the result is worth it.

Casy estimates that the blade alone weighs about 15lbs, but it sure looks like it weighs more than that. He used plumbing pipes as the sword’s handle but eventually he had to add a few ankle weights as well to give the sword a more sensible center of gravity. This is just the sword; imagine when he’s wearing Nightmare’s armor. He’s going to be a statue at Dragon Con.

[via For All Intense Porpoises via Obvious Winner]

As I scour the internet looking for wonderful creations to share with you, I occasionally come across something so magical that I think it needs to be made into a product you can buy. This is one of those times. What you’re looking at here is the world’s most awesome LEGO panda bear.

It was created by Jumpei Mitsui, who knows a thing or two about LEGO bricks. You see, Jumpei is one of a handful of LEGO Certified Professionals, and if this jolly panda bear is any indication, it’s clear why he’s been honored with that distinction.

Jumpei, you should submit this design to LEGO Cuusoo, so there’s a chance that they’d actually turn it into a kit so we could all make one for ourselves. Heck, I could see a whole family of LEGO pandas in a variety of sizes.

Man, I just want to walk up to LEGO panda and rub his roly-poly belly. For some reason, I think that would be good luck.

We’ve already seen a couple of 3D printed headphones, but they were mostly proofs of concept, not for daily use. Designer Julian Goulding hopes to incorporate the revolutionary technology into consumer-grade earphones with his Accord concept.

In theory, the Accord headphones present a variety of advantages. The first one is personalization. You can either go to a professional audiologist make molds of your ears or get a DIY molding kit from Goulding. Either way, you’ll send your molds to Goulding’s company to be scanned and turned into 3D files. This ensures that your earphones will fit snugly in your ears. They’ll also keep your files so you can order replacement parts in the future.

Another benefit of Accord’s 3D printing process is that they’re more sustainable: the earphones are printed on demand and not mass-produced. But as some you may know, custom and made-to-order earphones are nothing new. Companies like Ultimate Ears have been offering the service for years now. The problem with these existing personalized earphones is that they’re very expensive.

The picture above shows a mockup of the Android app for Accord. You can download a test version of the app here. The app lets you order your custom earphones and will let you choose its material and color, as well as track your order when it’s shipped. I wouldn’t be surprised if the price shown above is just a placeholder, but I’d even be more surprised if Accord earphones end up costing as much as its high-end counterparts. Besides, the fact that you can choose the material means you have some control over how expensive your order will be.

Goulding also mentioned on his website that the Accord can be localized by 3D printing firms to further drive down its printing costs. I wonder if that means you can specify a 3D printing shop near your location, or perhaps even let you print the Accord if you have your own 3D printer.

They actually look decent; now all we need to know is how they sound. Head to Goulding’s website to see a few more images of the Accord.

[via Damn Geeky]

Instructables member kevinmakes wanted to have a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 on his wall. The problem? That’s the comic book that introduced Spider-Man to the world, making it an extremely rare and expensive comic. So kevinmakes decided to do something nearly as amazing: make a layered wood replica of the comic’s cover.

To make his awesome yet affordable piece, kevinmakes looked for a large image of the Amazing Fantasy #15 cover online, then converted it into black and white. Then he separated the parts of the image that he’ll cut into different parts or layers. He then used a laser cutter to cut and engrave the images on balsa wood and assorted veneers. Finally he sprayed it with a semi-gloss polyurethane finish.

Swing over to Instructables to get the full instructions. Hey kevinmakes, wanna know how you can buy your own laser cutter? Make more of these then open up an Etsy shop. Maybe you can even sell cheaper 3D printed copies in full color. Excelsior!

Flickr member/Artist/Legologist Carl Merriam loves making functional sculptures out of his favorite medium. Take this microscope for instance. It’s not high tech enough for CSI: Legoland, but it does have a magnifying glass inside and working focus knobs.

Merriam thought of making a microscope when he realized that his X-Pod looked like a Petri dish.

He didn’t provide a detailed breakdown or how-to, but he did say, “I used a planetary gear system to allow both coarse and fine adjustment of the objective “lens”. A little more tinkering and I connected the focus to a magnifying glass and fiber optic light in the eyepiece, so adjusting the focus knobs would actually bring the writing on a LEGO stud in and out of focus.”

I guess this is an Imperial microscope. Check out Merriam’s Flickr page or his blog for more of his builds. And yes, someone’s already built a working LEGO telescope.

[via Doobybrain]