Power Rangers Ninja Storm Thunder Staff

Print Settings

• Global Settings

  • Wall loops: 2

  • Layer Height: 0.2mm

  • Infill: 3%

    • Keep the print light since all the weight can end up on specific points

  • Sparse infill pattern: Gyroid

    • No particular reason. You can change this if you want.

  • Support: Tree

    • No particular reason. You can change this if you want.

    • You'll want to put blocker inside of the holes in the handle.

  • Brim Type: Outer Brim Only

• Gold Accents

  • Support: Normal

• Gold Buttons

  • Disable supports for this object. You should only need the outer brim

• Hook

  • Wall loops: 4

• Handle Pin

  • Wall loops: 4

Printing Instructions

For the handle parts. They should all fit on one plate, and the best orientation will be flat on their long sides. Given how the weight of the prop is distributed, it should be the best orientation for strength. You sacrifice some quality, but it makes the prints more reliable given the length. Variable layer height may help with this. Once you have them set, create a copy of each and mirror them across the X axis. You'll print 2 sets of each for the top and bottom halves of the staff. 

The hook should have 4 wall loops. It will help hold the staff together and make it a little easier to manage when in the different configurations. Make sure you have 4 wall loops on the handle_pin too, as it's expected to take some of the weight of the prop. There is clearance for a 5/16 inch dowel to help as well. It has to be wooden to reduce the weight on stress points.

The gold_button should be a press fit, if not then you may be able to adjust the size a little. There's clearance in it for a bolt and nut, so changing the size may make it more difficult to get on a bolt.

Assembly

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Parts list:

• 1 - 5/16 inch wooden dowel

  • Always bevel the edges, sand, and check to make sure it doesn't get stuck

  • For top_handle the dowel needs to be ~355.6 mm (~14 inches) long

  • For bottom_handle the dowel needs to be ~406.4 mm (~16 inches) long

• 8 - M3x25 screws button head screws

• 4 - M3x16 button head screws

• 24 - M3 washers

  • Place 1 under the head of the screw, and 1 under the nut

• 12 - M3 or M4 lock nut screw

  • It's important that you use a lock nut screw, otherwise the nut will work itself free and you'll need to tighten it more often

• 24 -  gold_button

• 8 - gold_accent_stepped

• 4 - gold_accent_round

• 8 - handle_pin

• 4 - hook

When putting the accent pieces on, the gold_accent_stepped should cover the seam lines. When screwing the parts together, use the hook to keep the handle parts from moving around too much. Should help with alignment, and make the part easier to manage. Otherwise you'll have to deal with them trying to rotate. On the note of it rotating, this thing has 12 points of articulation. The hook is to hold them together, but also tighten the screws down as much as you can to mitigate the movement when moving it around.

Don't glue any of the the gold_buttons in place, they're supposed to be able to come off so the screws can be tightened if needed. I've added two profiles for the buttons. Both versions should work with the hardware listed here, but if you want to use something else then the non-flat button gives a little bit more height to work with.

Remember to always hold it just under the center spikes

Doing so will mitigate chances of it breaking because of the weight. You can move your hand back a little further for extending it out, but it may not be able to bear it own weight.

Length of large staff: ~1778 mm (~70 in)

Length of small staff: ~1009 mm (~40 in)

Tips for Post-processing

Just be mindful of the amount of buildup you get around the opening for the hook, gold_button, and the accent pieces.