Oct 27, 2015 | By Alec
Though we love hearing about 3D printing projects from all over the world, we particularly enjoy stories coming from beyond the classic 3D printing hotspots such as the US, Western Europe or Southeast Asia. After all, those people emphasize that 3D printing is truly international and transcends borders and cultures. And this particular project has come all the way from Iran, a country you rarely hear about except in political terms. Based in the country’s capital of Tehran, designer Armin Hesampour recently started a 3D printing service provider and was happy to share one of his most remarkable projects so far: a 27 cm tall mecha robot that not only looks amazing, but is also very complex with 129 different parts.
Of course, 3D printing isn’t an easy hobby, especially when you’re located outside of the traditional hotspots where it simply is a bit more difficult to get your hands on equipment. However, Armin Hesampour has come very far in quite a short period of time. As he explains to 3ders.org, he only learned about 3D printers about a year ago, but he had been making 3D designs before that, like his intricate 3D mecha model. ‘The spread of 3D printers has almost revived my career. I am currently running a 3D printing service provider named Nikano(Persian) to pursue a series of goals seriously. The advantage of 3D printing is that your specialties or interests do not matter. Whatever they are, you can use it accordingly. Then you will love it,’ he tells us.
But as you can imagine, this mecha robot wasn’t easy to build, though Armin put the bar very high for himself as this was one of the first projects that came to mind upon purchasing his 3D printer. ‘This was my first massive project. Since I was not experienced enough, it was very time-consuming,’ he tells us.
The design itself already existed, having been designed in 3ds Max software. He simply used Cura to get his hands on some GCode outputs. ‘I did not redesign the model. I only modified the pieces which had problems printing,’ he adds. And as is ever the case, the first serious project you undertake is time consuming, with the 3D printing in this case taking about two months. ‘This was somehow my first experience. I preferred to divide the pieces from joints. I printed some of the details separately so that the output would be more attractive. Details always make the simplest models beautiful,’ he tells us. Printing itself only took about 90 hours – spread out over the course of the two months – with most of the time in between being used to redefine the problematic parts.
But the result is well worth it; standing at 27 cm tall and including 129 separate pieces, it is a truly outstanding mecha creation. Most parts were 3D printed in PLA at 300 microns with a 30 percent infill, using a 4.0 mm nozzle head. Assembly itself took about a week, as he also needed to sand most pieces down to make their textures a little softer. Silver and red spray paint was used for this finishing look. All in all, Armin spent about three months on this first project from start to finish, which isn’t bad considering all the work that had to go into getting to grips with the 3D printer and dealing with that endless list of parts.
Fortunately, Armin didn’t give up on his 3D printer in frustration – as so many others have before him. He is currently already working on bigger and more ambitious projects, which we will doubtlessly share with you in the near future. If you’re in Iran and looking for 3D printing services, check out Armin’s 3D printing service Nikano (in Persian) here. Below you can find an epic assembly video.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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Advances in nuclear, satellite launches, drones and robotics, cyber space and now 3D printing. Iran on its way to the 21st century.