Johnny Silverhand Costume (Advanced CAD Design)

This costume is build using the fictional character Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves) from the game Cyberpunk 2077 as reference. There were few reference models available, and the actor featured a build very different to my own, therefore significant modification was made to the design for practicality and comfort.

The design process involved taking 5 to 7 even measurements of the cross diameters of my arm, which where then used to construct a rough model of my arm shape within Autodesk fusion. The silhouette was outlined at significant points across the length of a model and the sketch at each point of the model was adjusted to include cutouts, curved details, and inset shapes. Extrusions from the base shape were modeled separately and attached then filleted to fit to the existing model.

The hand piece made use of an emerging wearables modelling technique where a dot matrix 3D scan is converted into an STL file, which is imported in to CAD software and used as a digital reference for close fitting models. THis technique resulted in a hand piece that fit within 1cm from my hand in all locations.

The models were then 3D printed using a Elegoo Centauri Carbon printer and SLIC3D PETG filament in base grey, as this color is the easiest to paint over with primer. As this was the first time I had handled PETG, the print bed temperature, retraction speed and nozzle temperature required careful calibration before the carbon could produce consistent strong PETG prints. This led to many interim support failures that require re-orientation or redesign. Such as the elbow piece, which could not print in any orientation without slicing, requiring a 3 part print and glue up before sanding and painting.

The paint job consisted of ~15 hours of manual sanding from 120 grit to 1200 grit including a final wet sand to remove layer lines. The color coat layering was tested on spare printing scraps (also grey PETG) and the combination of a gloss white primer with a metallic silver color coat, topped with a gloss clear coat looked the closest to the reference materials while still providing durability for light wear.