CAPS!

[Maethius]

I am curious if there are ways to order caps for Zoid kits (individual sprues?) whether plastic HMM parts or rubber parts, or even hardware that can be used as caps (I even looked at the caps for car tires). I haven't seen anyone producing 3D printed or cast-copy parts, either. I find that a lack of caps is a truly limiting factor in my customs and designs for future ones. I know I can learn to cast my own, or even order 3D printed caps, but I was wondering if there are other sources out there.

Thoughts?

[Fulano]

On the Zoids discord channel (linked to and moderated by the same people of the Zoids subreddit), there are a few members who make 3D-printed caps of various sizes and colors.

That's really all I can add to this conversation, though. I haven't ever seen Tomy or Koto-branded caps for sale by themselves.

[Snowflake]

Surely you need something with good friction and flexibility, which 3d printing is... the opposite of, isn't it?

[Maethius]

3D prints really vary a lot, depending on how they are done. Resin printers tend to get higher detail and durability compared to plastic filament. I really appreciate the point toward the Discord; I need to check it out. Ultimately I hope to get my own 3D printer and get busy creating my own parts, but I need to be able to justify the expense, first!

[dchan]

Are you specifically looking for something that will bend and flex? I've used a bunch of different resins and so far have found nothing as pliable as Tomy caps (or Gundam polycap parts), but it certainly might exist out there. Or maybe you just want them to complete the look of your customs, the way Koto's caps are just hard ABS plastic.

[Fontana]

This is a very annoying problem for ZOIDS modders. I understand the feeling very well.

In Japan, some people make their own ZOIDS with 3d printers, while others make molds and replicate them with resin.

In addition, in Japan, rubber caps are sometimes sold by themselves on flea market sites.

[Charlie]

I do wish to own a 3D printer one day and at least get some replacement part that have broken down. Perhaps caps can be printed with a soft plastic.

[Maethius]

Sept 28, 2021 16:35:43 GMT -5 dchan said:

Are you specifically looking for something that will bend and flex? I've used a bunch of different resins and so far have found nothing as pliable as Tomy caps (or Gundam polycap parts), but it certainly might exist out there. Or maybe you just want them to complete the look of your customs, the way Koto's caps are just hard ABS plastic.

Oh, I don't need anything really pliabe... my biggest concerns are size (reasonably close to existing caps) and how well they take paint. Well, and cost. They can be of any design, in fact, even unique sculpts... I just want to be able to create a new custom and throw 20-30-500 caps at it and make it look more officially Zoidy.

[Hanyoutai]

StaticClaws over on Etsy plans to start listing caps soon. Their designs are currently based on Wild kits, but others are planned in the future. The caps would be 3D printed. If you'd rather contact them immediately, you can send an E-mail to: [e-mail]

Here's a photo of the Wild caps they've got so far. They can print in a heaping ton of colors, and are looking at adding more designs over time.



Here's a rough example of what colors they can print in:

[Maethius]

Fantastic! Thanks for the post!

[dchan]

Oct 6, 2021 15:26:36 GMT -5 Maethius said:

Oh, I don't need anything really pliabe... my biggest concerns are size (reasonably close to existing caps) and how well they take paint. Well, and cost. They can be of any design, in fact, even unique sculpts... I just want to be able to create a new custom and throw 20-30-500 caps at it and make it look more officially Zoidy.

Well in that case I think a resin printer would really serve you well-- Zoids caps are sort of the perfect shape for printing, I think you could just place them flat on the build plate and wouldn't even need to add supports. You could probably knock out dozens of caps in a single ~30 min print I'm guessing. I'm still new to it, with about 1 yr under my belt, but feel free to ask if you had any firsthand-type questions.

Of course Hanyoutai's suggestion is probably much easier and cheaper too

[Maethius]

I've been looking at the Form Labs Form3. It is very pricy, but so far it is unrivaled for detail.

[bill]

Sept 24, 2021 9:57:24 GMT -5 Maethius said:

I am curious if there are ways to order caps for Zoid kits (individual sprues?) whether plastic HMM parts or rubber parts, or even hardware that can be used as caps (I even looked at the caps for car tires). I haven't seen anyone producing 3D printed or cast-copy parts, either. I find that a lack of caps is a truly limiting factor in my customs and designs for future ones. I know I can learn to cast my own, or even order 3D printed caps, but I was wondering if there are other sources out there.

Thoughts?

There are 3d models for caps. I have all the stl files for them. The issue is finding a very rubbery, flexible 3d printer resin. I purchased some 3d resin that was considered flexible. From what I've printed with it I don't think it is flexible enough to suit our needs. There are several brands and I've only tried the 1 thus far. If I find a good brand that will do I'd be more than happy to inform all others of my success with it. The other issue is a very very limited color selection for the flexible 3d resins. I've only seen black, gray and clear as choices. However on the clear the is companies that sell pigments for custom coloring, largely translucent but a few opaque ones. This is all I know thus far. Oh one more final thought. The stl files seem to only cover 2 size ranges but several of the patterns. Since I've yet to print any of these up I don't know how well of a size match they are. The only covered large and small no medium. I could adjust sizes with my software in the 3 directions just a lot of experimentation to do before I get a handle on this 3d wise. But yes 3d resin printers can and will tackle this issue for you. As said before my 1st 3d resin printer was only 60 bucks. What I didn't mention was it's exact model match purchased, my 3rd 3d resin printer, was only 25 bucks and about an hour of tinkering to fix it's issues and now runs fantastic!

[Maethius]

That's good news! Mostly! I wonder if you bumped up the print size by 5%-10% if they would be loose enough to mount without cracking?

[bill]

Oct 11, 2022 15:00:04 GMT -5 Maethius said:

That's good news! Mostly! I wonder if you bumped up the print size by 5%-10% if they would be loose enough to mount without cracking?

i don't know. I just may have to make a layout with some caps and do some variations in sizes. My 3d printers' software besides percentages I can bump up numbers fractions of a mm in the 100ths. So 5 to 10 percent would be huge differences. I was thinking more in the line of 10ths of mm. I can fit quite a few of these on a build plate. I've only measured the medium twist bolt stud of the Gungyrados for the wing rebuild idea thus far. My software only measures outside diameter,length, height and width. So finding out the id is a measure with caliper after built. Unless i build it myself with my build software on my phone.