First the back story. Every year I go to a fancy dress party, and next year's theme is Heaven and Hell. Since I usually don't leave myself enough time to make one myself I have to buy a costume on-line. Well, this time I am going to make as much as possible myself, and I have decided to go as Hellboy:

I decided to start with the gun. I managed to download a papercraft design, and made this:

It turned out really well, but as it is only made from thin card it is quite delicate and would probably not survive the rigours of a drunken party. So, I wondered if I could do one in SketchUp and have it 3D printed (in parts so it didn't resemble a gun). There was a SU model in the Warehouse, but it was pretty poor, and I thought I could do better. So ...
I have a feeling this could turn out to be quite expensive, and at the moment I am busy hollowing out the parts as much as possible. After being made, I could fill up the pieces with molding compound to give it a bit of weight. Or if my wife finds out about this ...

Why not fill up the card version with something?

I would have to use something quite thick so it didn't leak out of all the holes, and the card is quite absorbent so it may warp badly while the "stuff" cures. Or were you thinking of something else?

You can try plasti-dip on the interior.
http://www.therpf.com/f24/ironman-costu ... dex25.html

I know some people use this to make papercraft costumes. I have seen a great example recently. Something like a female Halo character, but that wasn't what it was called. Sorry I can't remember what it was.

That may have helped when I was constructing it, but now that it is all glued together ... I suppose I could start again from scratch, that would take time, but would be cheaper than 3D printing one I think? Mmm ... I wonder how much your "spare" time is worth? I consider my time away from work as more valuable than at work, so maybe it would be cheaper to get one 3D printed. Maybe this is a good argument for 3D printing as against hand work

Well, I decided to finish my model of the Samaritan. I split it into may parts so that they could be 3D printed and then dyed and assembled. The cylinder can rotate, the locking lever works and the gun can open to allow the bullets to be removed.Even though all of the parts have been hollowed as much as I can, I've calculated that the model would cost around £250 to print at Shapeways (even if they would allow me to print a gun, even a comic book one like this). I suppose I could split the parts up to be printed separately to disguise what it is

I've uploaded the model to the Trimble Warehouse if anyone is interested ...

You've set a trend....

And if those guys in the US are having problems, can you imagine what would happend here in the UK if the authorities found out I had printed a gun ...