OmniWrench Prop Build WIP Thread - Ratchet and Clank
#1
To help with adding to more build threads to the forums, I figured I may as well put a thread up here the in the "Non-501st" section of something I've been working on.

I grew up playing the Ratchet and Clank games on the Playstation so I decided to build one of the weapons from the games.
I'm already in the process of building Clank (the small robot you see below), so I may as well create Ratchet's OmniWrench as well to go with the display.

The OmniWrench is the blue/silver weapon Ratchet is holding on the right below. The weapon changes every few games, so I decided to settle on the current iteration which is dubbed the 'Millennium 12' OmniWrench.


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To build this I'm 3D using reference photos from the game to create 3D models in Autodesk Inventor.
I first started with modelling the handle and grip section as can be seen below. The Ratchet and Clank games are known for oversized fun weapons and gadgets, so I'm scaling my wrench to fit that category. From that, my OmniWrench will total 600mm/23.5 inches in length. 

Since it'll be a considerable size, I've designed my files to incorporate metal piping and steel tubing internally. This serves the dual purpose of reinforcing the prop as well as providing me hollow internals that I can run electronics and LED's through.


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Here's the work I've completed on the jaws, complete with cavities that I can slot in my LED assemblies

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The handle/grip section then transitions into this "central junction" type piece that branches off to each jaw of the wrench, each of which will be connected with steel tubing internally.

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April 9th, 2021

And then here's where I'm up to currently with my 3D Model, super please with how it's coming along.

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April 10th, 2021

With the exterior modelled, it was time to detail the interior so I could run electronics and wires.

To achieve this I sourced metal pipes/tubing and then modelled the opening to be a really nice tight friction fit.

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April 15th, 2021

With the 3D model pretty well complete I was able to start 3D printing.
For starters I printed the parts for the central junction area where that connects the handle to the wrench jaws.
I designed this so that the parts were a really snug friction fit over the steel piping. Tight enough that they won't come come off by accident, but I can take parts off for sanding or painting individually prior to final assembly.


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With the top junction area finished it was time to start printing the main handle/grip section. Thankfully I was able to fit this all in one print on my Zortrax M300 3D Printer. Here's some photos of it in progress:

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With the handle printed I was able to sleeve it onto the metal pipe I'd be using to house the bulk of the electronics.

I needed to fit a x4 AAA battery holder inside, so I was able to find a metal table leg at Bunnings that was the perfect size for electronics whilst fitting inside the printed parts. This photo was prior to the pipe being cut to length.

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April 15th, 2021

More updates! In the last few days I've printed a bunch more parts. I now have a cap for the pommel and also the jaws of the wrench printed.

Here you can see the junction point for the jaws being fitted to the handle/grip:

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Next up, I was able to do a test fit with the first jaw which when really well.
As for the gaps I designed it so that I can drop in a seperate part that contains the light up section.
I also popped in the large decorative flat head bolt caps onto the sides of the handle/grip.

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And then here's the wrench with both halves of the jaw fitted! It's really starting to look like the real deal now Smile 

You can also see one of the light panels for the blue LED's. For the lens I used an transparent blue arcade button to get the look I was after.

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April 17th, 2021

With nearly the entire wrench printed I was able to begin developing a prototype solution to lighting the jaws of the wrench.
Initially I was looking at LED strips, however the uneven distribution of the lighting would leave a lot to be desire for me.

So after some reach into alternatives, I settled on Electroluminescent Tape. The Electroluminescent Tape is great since it provides a nice consistent lighting source. It's really nice and flexible and I can bend it even up to 90 degrees, the only down side is it isn't as bright as LED strips.

This is the strip as it arrived:

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To mount it the LED strip in the jaw area I printed a thin profile that's a nice friction fit. I then used strong double sided tape attach the Electroluminescent tape.


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Here's how it looked in position within the jaw:

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With the tape mounted I needed to make an addition 'lens' to further add to the look.
My low tech solution was to go to the local office supply shop and purchase an opaque blue plastic folder.
I then chopped some strips on a guillotine. Once cut, I got my heat gun and heated a section at a time and then bent it to shape.

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Then the moment of truth! The first test with lighting it up!

Super stoked with how this is looking 

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April 18th, 2021

With the Electronics prototype sorted I needed to make the steel piece that connected the two jaws to the handle.

To achieve this I used the square steel tube I cut from earlier. Next I marked out which sections I needed to cut with the angle grinder.

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After the cutting with the grinder was complete, this was how the steel was looking.
The sections I had removed allow for my to run the electronics inside without obstruction.

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With the cutting complete I used my power file to quickly remove all the burrs and removing flashing so that the wiring wouldn't snag on anything.

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After a once over with the power file, this is the result:

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With the steel piece completed it was time to prep the jaws with threaded inserts.
Essentially what will happen is I will have holes in the steel that I just made that line up with threaded inserts in the jaws. Then when I sleeve the jaw onto the steel I can thread a bolt through securing the two parts together. This allows for a rock solid assembly that I can still disassembly If I need for working on electronics or painting. 

When I 3D modelled the jaws I allowed for a while that I could fit some M6 coupling cuts into. The tolerances were designed such that I needed to hammer them into the hole. There's no way they're going anywhere! I also measure to bump up the infill on the 3D print to make sure that nothing buckled when hammering.

Here's the coupling nuts:

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And then here's the coupling nut installed into the hole:

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With the coupling nuts installed I was able to drill the corresponding holes in the steel. Here's how it looks with the jaws bolted in place to the steel and the handle:

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This week I plan to get the electronics all soldered up properly and installed, so I'll have more photos to come soon!  Doppeldaumen1
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#2
Wow mate. That looks amazing. Well done.
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#3
Absolutely outstanding build , as if we’d expect anything else , looking forward to one day seeing this in the flesh .
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#4
(Saturday 10-Aug-2019, 11:04 PM)redpaint Wrote:   Wow mate. That looks amazing. Well done.

Thanks so much mate! Smile 


(Saturday 10-Aug-2019, 11:04 PM)Cyclops Wrote:   Absolutely outstanding build , as if we’d expect anything else , looking forward to one day seeing this in the flesh .


Thank you mate, that's very kind of you  Doppeldaumen1
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#5
Today I was able to make a huge amount of progress and pretty well knocked off all the of the electronics.
 
My setup consisted of 3 strips of Electroluminescent Tape, one for each jaw and then the light panel on the centre junction piece. The Electroluminescent tape is powered by x4 AA batteries, which runs into an inverter which then illuminated the Electroluminescent tape.
Then branching off from the wires before the inverter are my wires for the 4 blue 10mm LEDs. These 4 LEDs are used to light the circular light panels on the sides of the jaws. Each LED was also wired to have a resistor, so the battery voltage didn't blow the LED.


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After an afternoon of soldering and problem solving I had my finalised set up completed! 

I've since added the other two bits of EL Tape and removed any excess wire to help it hit nicer inside of the wrench.



I'm not super experienced with electronics so I'm super stoked with how this came out Smile 



As for the switch to turn the lights on, I've got a latching switch that's recessed into the base of the pommel. 

This way it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb!



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With the electronics all sorted I needed to create another jaw lighting rig and this time I remembered to take proper photos.

It starts with a 3D printed profile which I then run a strip of Tesa double sided tape along (Tesa is beyond brilliant for prop making, super reliable and durable for long term mounting). After peeling the protective film I carefully stuck the EL Tape down along the centre line.



The profile was designed so it was thin enough that it could flex, which was very helpful for fit it into the jaw as the printed part is a nice snug fiction fit. This way I can insert the lighting setup into the jaw and then move the sides of the profile up flush to the jaw to eliminate any gaps that spoil the look of the EL tape.



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With all the electronics soldered and assembled I was just about ready for the first full assembly.

First however, I needed to glue the two halves together. For this I'm using Z Poxy, which is a two part epoxy adhesive that goes off in 5 minutes.

I cannot recommend this stuff enough, it's deadset brilliant! Obviously if you use it you need to wear PPE with glasses, gloves and a respirator.



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To prep the parts to have a nice solid bond, I used my grinder to quickly cut some channels/grooves into the 3D print. These grooves allow the glue to sit inside and help increase the reliability of the bond between the two parts and the Z Poxy as it has more to grip onto.



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I then taped up the areas that would be affected by excess Z Poxy oozing out when the two parts are glued and fitted. 



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I then mixed and applied the Z Poxy to each piece. Following which I pressed them together, and once the excess glue stopped oozing from the join I wiped excess with a rag. Then after a minute to let it settle I peeling the tape off while the Z Poxy was still green (still going off). You can see below I already removed the tape from the bottom part.



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With the two halves glued together, it was time to start the process of installing all the wires inside!

First, I ran the wires fort through the central unction at the top, down through the prop to the batteries.

From there I was able to thread the LEDs and EL tape through the steel pipes into their respective jaws and neatly tuck everything inside.



I'll have some more WIP photos soon with the LEDs all going!



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#6
I redesigned the parts for the blue led windows on the side of the jaws today. They now allow for the 10mm blue led to be friction fit into the back hole/opening of the bezel.
The entire sub assembly can then be inserted into the side of the jaw with yet another friction fit.

I forgot to mention that the blue lens seen inside the bezel is from some cheap Arcade style buttons that I purchased and gutted to get the lens and diffuser as it was the first diameter for the prop.


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I also needed to install the EL Tape in the top window that sits between the two jaws.
The central junction piece on the prop has a lip that I designed in, so I have essentially designed another little 3D printed mounting plate that friction fits into that opening and that lip stops it from going too far.


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Again I used Tesa tape to mount the EL tape.

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Once the 3D print plate and EL tape were in place I was able to insert the blue diffuser.

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And then the final part I needed were the fake bolt/rivet heads that are seen on the prop in the game.
I designed these so that I could fit them after the fact to help make the sanding and painting process easier.

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#7
Looking brilliant .
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#8
Thanks mate Smile
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#9
And here it is! The prop has all the parts assembled and the electronics are all working as they should  Smile 
I'm seriously stoked with how this has come out and it's beyond satisfying seeing it light up properly for the first time.

Obviously there's still more to do with plenty of sanding, filling and painting however, I can't really do painting in the town house we're at so that will have to wait for another day.
I also plan to get some different diffusers for the side mounted round LED's to try bring the shade of blue more in line with the EL Tape lighting.

Speaking of the Omni-Wrench prop, I've already 3D modelled another version seen in one of the other games. So I'll be sure to document the 3D modelling and build progress here Smile 

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#10
Truly inspired build , love seeing in game visuals come to life .
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#11

Thank you mate, that’s very kind of you Smile
It’s been a fun design challenge to get the lighting as accurate as possible and balancing convenient design for the assembly.


More WIP progress photos coming shortly!
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#12
With the test fit completed I was able to start the process of preparing the parts for paint.

The most time-consuming aspect was sanding, filling, and applying a coat of primer to all the 3D printed parts. This process is one that is repeated multiple times for each part with the goal of sanding/smoothing out all the 3D print lines to produce a consistently smooth surface.

To help with this I used ‘filler primer,’ which is spray paint primer that has a filler additive mixed in. This quick drying filler primer helps with applying consistent coats to sand.

Here's some photos I took during the priming process.

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I also knocked off the bolt plant ons that go on the sides of the handle.
These were nice and easy to do quickly with filler primer.

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With the parts sanded and primed I could commence with applying the topcoats using acrylic based spray paints from Montana. These are paints typical used by graffiti artists however, they provide nice finishes considering they’re still spray paint. As I’m building this as a personal project in my home workshop, this is the only method of painting I have access to.

With the larger multicoloured pieces I applied a base coat of the main colour (for example the silver seen here) and once dry I masked up the bits which remain silver so I could apply the blue coats. You can also see how my plant on fake rivets can be inserted after the blue has been applied.


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I also designed my prop to be able to break down into smaller pieces to make the snading, priming and painting process simpler. Here you can see some examples of that in action.

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The final part requiring paint was the central handle/body of the prop. Painting occurred in a separate stages to help accommodate the three separate colours required.

First the dark grey base was applied for the grip and rim of the top central window. This was followed by masking off the grey and applying the dark blue seen on the top junction area.

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Finally, the blue and grey areas were masked up and the final coat of the matte silver was applied. Once a consistent coating was applied the part was left to dry, after which the masking tape was removed.

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#13
And here it is, the completed prop! To say I’m happy with the result would be an understatement Smile

This was my first time working with electroluminescent materials which was a fantastic excuse to teach myself a new aspect of electronics.
This was the most complex painting project I’ve undertaken thus far, so this was a worthy challenge in trying to improve my painting skills.


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#14
I'm also very excited to share that recently my OmniWrench was used in an official Sony PlayStation commercial! I’m humbled to have contributed to this brilliant commercial that is promoting the new Ratchet and Clank game coming to PlayStation 5. 

The crew in London were also kind enough to send me some cool photos of the prop on set and behind the scenes during filming for commercial and I've posted those below.

Here's the commercial:


And then here's some behind the scenes photos and close ups:

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#15
Because one wrench is never enough, I decided to 3D model and make another version of the wrench seen in the games.
This time it's the 'OmniWrench 12000' which is in the original PS2 games which has a neat rusty brown, orange and silver colour scheme.
Here's a couple screenshots for context:

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First things first, I hunted down some reference images of the in game 3D model/asset which I could use as an underlay at 1:1 scale.
Essentially this helped with getting my general proportions and sizes bang on straight away. You can see an example of that below with roughing out the 2D sketch for the left jaw of the wrench.

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Some progress on roughing out the general geometry of the handle and hand guard:

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The model for the jaws have actually ended up being the most complex single piece part that I've modelled for 3D printing. I've included a stack of different things which allow me to have removable sides and hollow internals that I can mount lighting inside of. I'll expand on tap when I have the printed part completed.

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Next I worked out the best way to run hollow internals through the entire prop so I can run electronics for lighting.

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I also needed to be able to run lighting into the windows in the hand guard.
So I hollowed that out and allowed for an access panel.

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The orange circular window at the top centre of the wrench also needed to be removable so I could insert lens/diffuser and the LED.
My solution was to design the whole panel to be removable using what the reference image had as decorative bolt heads. I have nutserts that mount into the part underneath which the outer panel simply bolts onto.

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Some section view photos showing the internals of the CAD model:

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And then here we have the finalised 3D model! I made sure to do up some nice 3D renders.
I'm stoked with with the quality I was able to get for the render below.

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