Has anyone modeled George Gomez's original grip design for 3D prints...?

[bobbyb13]

I ask because I have unwittingly stumbled onto a set.
Didn't realize that this was a thing until I read the following missive from George which I have peeled off the interwebs...

"On my game both left and right grips should each have a trigger and a thumb button, in addition to the center button (call weapons van). The shifter was a 2 position device, low and high. Of course there was the gas pedal and a series of dashboard weapons lights for machine guns, missiles, oil slick and smoke. After the first few thousand games the grips were retooled in plastic and they went on to be used in hundreds of different games. They were licensed to Happ controls in the late 80's and they have been on almost every manufacturer's games at one point or another.

The original sand cast aluminum grips(painted black) were actually molded directly from patterns that I carved and they had softer contours and were more comfortable but they were also very expensive. So to cost reduce them the company took the grips and retooled them to be injection molded plastic. However the patterns for the plastic grips were made off the engineering drawings and the drawings of that era were not as representative of the actual parts I carved, since they were made after my patterns instead of before.
"

A few days later I open the box I just got from a top notch guy in Canada via ebay auction and I'm looking at a pair of them.

George is obviously a man of numerous talents because these grips are FAR more comfy than any other I have had my hands on.

If they haven't been catalogued to print and it is possible to do so then they should be, but I have neither knowledge nor tools to make that happen.

Thoughts all of you printer gurus?

[PL1]

If they haven't been catalogued to print and it is possible to do so then they should be, but I have neither knowledge nor tools to make that happen.

I'm not sure if there is currently a 3d printable model of these metal handles anywhere online.   

The curves of the handle are way too complicated for simple OpenSCAD models like the ones I do.   

Someone might be able to get reasonably close with better CAD/CAM software, but accurately measuring and duplicating the curves will probably prove to be rather difficult.   

To do this right, you need someone with a 3d scanner and the editing software to clean up the scan.

The good news is that they only need to scan the inner half and outer half of either the right or the left handle.
- It's really easy to "mirror" the parts in the slicer software (Cura, etc.) so right handle part prints become left handle part prints.

Three observations based on the picture here of the inside of the metal Spy Hunter handles:

    1. The trigger has built-in pivot pins.  I recommend using a metal rollpin that passes through the trigger (see Star Wars yoke) in place of the built-in pins to make printing the trigger easier and stronger.

    2. There is a short arm roller microswitch behind the trigger -- search Amazon for "V-155-1C25".   


    3. You'll need to find a suitable switch for the thumb button and you might need a mounting bracket like the one in the pic.


Scott

[bobbyb13]

Thanks for chiming in Scott (hoped you would!)
Yeah, my understanding of the nuance of 3D printing is obviously minimal of course.
My thought was if the community wanted access to this kind of rare part that someone who knows printing tech could come up with a method to use mine in making a reproduction.

If there is the desire for it and anyone figures they could pull it off I'm happy to loan one of these grips out in pursuit of that goal.

I haven't pulled one apart yet to have a look but if pictures of the inside would be helpful in sorting that out I'm happy to take some and post them.

I have done some lost mold casting before but it was with styrofoam and sand and I'm not sure how viable that technique would be trying to do anything with these.

[Xiaou2]

Interesting.  I once had a Spyhunter  (Sadly, had to sell it).  It had the metal handgrips...
and that they were in fact much more comfy than the plastic handles that I had, from
the spare control panel.

 Not only were they more comfy on the hands... but the Metal made them feel much
"Colder" to the touch, which made the experience even more satisfying.


 As for the Weapons Van button... its ONLY used to Start the Game.

 It does not actually call the Van.  It does not even make it come faster.

 It merely Flashes, to let the player know... that the Van is on the Way.

 If memory serves correct.. the Triggers were Microswitches... where as the top buttons
were leafswitches.  The oil has a virtual tank... so you could control the precise amounts
that you would lay down.  A leafswtich is far more easy to toggle on/off, for that level of
precision control... compared to a microswitch.

 The micros were probably used on the triggers, for durability concerns.  The additional
leverage of the trigger mechanism itself, helped to reduce the micro-switches initial
activation hump.

[BadMouth]

Has anyone created a model of the plastic ones?

After seeing this thread, I dug out my big Wild Pilot gun to see if the grips were plastic or metal.
They are just plastic.

Modeling them in CAD is also above my skill level, but I've been wanting to try some of the phone based scanners again.
Last time around the software used to repair the mesh generated by the scanner was too big of a learning curve for me.
Maybe there is something easier out there now.