Mass Effect M8-Avenger Assault Rifle Has Been 3D Printed

Mass Effect is a popular action and role-playing shooter video game series. It was developed by the Canadian company BioWare, and released for play on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows. A third installment was also released on the Wii U.

The original trilogy revolves around a soldier – Commander Shepard – tasked with saving the galaxy from a race of brutal, mechanical beings known as Reapers and their agents.

In the first game, Shepard investigates Saren Arterius, an agent of the Reapers and discovers the link between him and Sovereign, a Reaper left behind in the Milky Way. In the second game, and two years later, Shepard battles the Collectors, an alien race abducting entire human colonies. It’s all part of their plan to aid the Reapers return to the Milky Way to start a new cycle of genocide, and the final game of the Shepard trilogy features him waging war against the Reapers.

To take on his foes, Shepard often employs the M8-Avenger assault weapon.

Jeff Lagant, also know as StarJeff or Jeffideo, is a French 3D designer with a solid background in mechanical engineering and a passion for video games, movies, music and 3D printing.

“I own an Ultimaker 2 and I use a wide variety of materials. PLA, ABS, PET, Laywood, Laybrick,” Lagant says. “I also paint my creations to make them look exactly the way I want.”

Lagant is open to taking submissions of any design ideas people might like to see him take on, though he says he’s particularly fond of ideas taken from video games or movie-related items like weapons, vehicles and other accessories.

He say this is his take on “the most famous rifle from the Mass Effect trilogy: the M8-Avenger assault rifle,” and adds that it’s made up of some 30 parts – without counting the pins and the stencil for painting.

“You’ll need around 25 pins to assemble the full gun,” Lagant explains. “I strongly recommend using hardglue with the pins as the design of this rifle is not particularly stable with the pins only (big overhang of the top part). Each part fits on a regular Ultimaker 2 platform.”

Once the M8 is printed and assembled, the designer notes, it might be a good idea to “contact Commander Shepard on the SSV Normandy SR2 and let him know you’re reporting for duty.” You can find all the necessary files and some tips from Legant on printing out your own replica M8-Avenger here on MyMiniFactory.

Launched in June 2013, MyMiniFactory is the world’s largest curated, 3D object download platform and it features a thriving community and free access to thousands of 3D printable files created by designers from around the world. The 3D files have all been test printed by their team, and “every object is guaranteed 3D printable.”

What do you think about this 3D printed replica weapon from the Mass Effect video game series by designer Jeff Lagant? Let us know in the Mass Effect 3D Printed M8 Weapon forum thread on 3DPB.com.