Last summer when Bethesda Game Studios announced the next installment of their post-apocalyptic video game series Fallout they also announced a pretty amazing pre-orderable collector’s edition. In addition to an exclusive game case and a poster, the Fallout 4: Pip-Boy Edition included a replica of the wrist-worn Pip-Boy device that was designed to hold the player’s smartphone. If the user downloads the free Pip-Boy app available on iOS, Android, and Windows Phones they would be able to control the in-game version of the Pip-Boy 3000 worn by the player character in the game.
The Pip-Boy replica included in the Fallout 4 Pip-Boy edition.
Naturally the Pip-Boy Edition of the game sold out really fast, even with the $120 price tag, and if you weren’t one of the lucky few who got one then they were gone forever. According to Bethesda, the shortage of the Pip-Boy edition of Fallout 4 wasn’t due to an intentional scarcity, but the factories that were fabricating them were simply incapable of producing any more. Bethesda’s Marketing VP Pete Hines told Gamespot that in fact they produced more of the Pip-Boy Edition than any other special collections edition of their games ever before.
Thankfully for all of us nerds late to the party we live in a wonderful future where we don’t need manufacturers to make cool things for us, we can 3D print them ourselves. A 23-year-old mechanical engineer named Yvo de Haas, famous for his 3D printable Fallout laser rifle, from Ytec3D decided to make his own version of the Pip-Boy smartphone holder using SolidWorks and came up with a custom 3D printable version of the Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV. He was also kind enough to freely share the 3D models and posted detailed printing and assembly instructions up on his website.
The 3D printed version of the Pip-Boy smartphone holder.
The design is top notch and, if I do say so myself, painted correctly it even looks better than the one included in the collector’s edition. The files include 38 individual parts that de Haas has optimized for FDM 3D printing. The models are customizable for several different sizes of wrists and various models of smartphones like the iPhone, including the latest 6S model, as well as various Android and Windows phones. But if you’re looking for a more realistic Pip-Boy project, de Haas also created an Accurate Pip-Boy that doesn’t hold a smartphone but includes a miniature independent onboard computer.
“Designing the Pip-Boy was the natural thing to do after Fallout 4 was announced. There were (and still are) many people designing it, but I was one of the first to come with a fully finished design,” de Haas recently told 3D Hubs.
Here is some video of de Hass showing off his 3D printed Pip-Boy smartphone holder:
But what if you want one of these and don’t have a 3D printer? Well, 3D Hubs has decided to make it as easy as possible for anyone to get their own 3D printed Pip-Boy smartphone holder. They have pre-loaded all of the required 3D printing files in several ‘3D Hubs Print-Ready Kits’ created specifically for small, medium, or large-sized smartphones. The kits include all of the original design files optimized for different sized phones, making it easy to simply order all of the 3D parts directly from any of 3D Hubs’ 24,000 strong network of 3D printers all over the world. Just start by clicking on one of these pre-loaded kits:
Small Kit: 70 x 141 mm – Galaxy S4, iPhone 5 etc.
Medium Kit: 75.6 x 153.3 mm – LG G3, Galaxy S5, S6 etc.
Large Kit: 80.5 x 162.2 mm – iPhone 6, 6s, 6+, 6+s, Nexus 6p etc.
Just a few of the 38 individual 3D printed parts in this project.
Just scroll down past the 3D models in the kit to step 2 to search for local 3D Hubs and select the material that you want your parts printed in. Based on the selected material you can pick a Hub near you and either pick the parts up when they are done or pay a little more and have them shipped to you. Each Hub includes the time frame that you will need to wait, usually within 2-4 days, as well as the estimated cost for the entire print.
It really couldn’t be easier to order 3D printed parts, especially if you’re new to the world of 3D printing. And if you know anyone who is a Fallout fan who may want their own Pip-Boy case then send this over to them because 3D Hubs is offering a special 20% discount off of all orders for the Pip-Boy Kits through Friday, November 13th. You can find out more information here.
And once you get all of your 3D printed parts make sure that you pop back over to Yvo de Haas’ website and follow the super detailed assembly instructions. You can download the official Pip-Boy app for your smartphone on iTunes or Google Play here. Today, November 10, is the official Fallout 4 release day for PC, Xbox and Playstation. Let us know your thoughts on this design in the Pip-Boy forum thread on 3DPB.com.
