Since 2001, it’s hard to argue that that any video game franchise has been quite as popular and successful for Xbox as that of Halo. The first-person, science fiction shooter by Bungie, has brought in over $3.5 billion in revenue, with well over 65 million copies selling worldwide.
This coming October, Halo fans everywhere have something significant to look forward to, as developer 343 Industries, will be releasing the much anticipated ‘Halo 5: Guardians’ video game for the Xbox One.
This weekend, Microsoft and 343 Industries will be on hand at gamescom in Germany, and at their exhibit booth will be quite the incredible 3D printed creation — a fully 3D printed Halo 5 assault rifle and a 3D printed ODST suit to go along with it. Both of these are the creation of a man named Jeffrey Tabben, and his company, Dutch Props.
“I’m a big fan of the Halo series, and about half of the props i make and sell and cast are Halo related,” Tabben tells 3DPrint.com. “I wanted to be the first one to make [the Halo 5 assault rifle], since every other assault rifle from each installment of the game has been created by a prop maker already. With Halo 5 coming out really soon i wanted to be the first to do it properly. “
The assault rifle was designed by Tabben using Solidworks — a process which took him about two weeks to complete — and then 3D printed on his Wanhao DS5 and Ultimaker 3D printers. His friend and colleague, Michael Flanagan created the working parts for the rifle, such as the trigger, knobs, removable magazine, and more. The main part of it was 3D printed in two separate portions, each taking between 50 and 70 hours to print out.
When completely assembled, the rifle measures about 1 meter in length, and looks almost identical to the assault rifle you will see in the game.
“I designed it by doing research, getting screenshots from newly released Microsoft material, and through the Halo 5 online beta,” Tabben tells us. “It’s all printed in gold PLA filament from Dutch filaments/Prometheus filament. Everything is 3D printed, down to the pens that hold in place the stock and the switches.”
To ensure the rifle looked as realistic as possible, Tabben used medical grade filling primer, which helped fill in all of the striations on the surface. It was then wet-sanded, before he airbrushed it using special paints, which included gunmetal paint to ensure it actually took on a metallic look. Next in line for Tabben is a full master chief suit from Halo as well.
