3D Printed Bow Gekkōin-Seraph of the End

In this instructable I will be showing you how to make the bow Gekkōin from seraph of the end (owari no seraph). This project can be made 100% 3D printed but can be painted and finished if wanted. I decided to do this as a project as it is a large prop (largest I’ve made) and would allow me to form a whole product from multiple parts (plus i really like the anime :P). The project was really fun to do and I hope you enjoy.

Step 1: Tools and Materials

Tools and materials required

.3d printer (I used a prusa i3)

.cura

.filament (I used hatchbox blue and white PLA)

.Adhesive (super glue)

.Sandpaper (60-240 grit)

.Blue tape

.Dust mask

.Spray mask

Optional tools and materials (if you paint and finish the bow)

.Rotary tool

.Spray paint (black, white and green)

.Primer/filler primer

.Filler

.Protective gloves

.Spray varnish

Step 2: 3D Models (STL)

For this project I used solid works and tinkercad to design my bow. I made the overall shapes in solid works and separated them into printable parts in tinkercad. The overall size of the bow is around 125cm in height (my shoulder) but can be scaled down if need be.

Step 3: Setting Up the Models to Print

Now that the 3d models are done you need to put them into a 3d slicing software such as cura but you can use any slicer you want to. Here are some pictures of my settings for some quick prints ( my printer can’t really handle long prints) but you can change them to suit your printer. Almost all of my prints were done in halves to allow for short bursts of printing. The overall time it actually took me to print all the parts was under 30 hours at 40mm/s.

The pictures above show my print settings for the halves and the handle which was printed whole. To print the other side all you do is rotate the model 180 degrees and your good to go.

Step 4: Grouping the Parts

The prints are finished and now need to be grouped into the top and bottom sections. To make this easier I have split the parts asymmetrically so the parts will only fit to their sides correctly. This makes it easier for sanding as you can test fit the pieces without looking around for the correct parts :)

Step 5: Gluing and Sanding

For the initial sanding I started at 60 grit and worked my way up to 240 grit. I used an up and down motion as well as circular motion to smooth out the layer marks. Since I used wet and dry I also wet sanded the pieces to get them extra smooth. Places that are harder to sand you can use a rotary tool to speed it up or reach into small areas.

Once happy with the sanding you can glue the halves together. For this I used bostik all purpose glue , this allowed me to easily connect the parts and it has a good stick to the PLA. When gluing make sure to do it in a well ventilated area as the fumes aren’t good for you or wear a mask. Once dry you can sand the seams flush and test fit the parts.

For my bow I paired the parts up so that I had 2 pairs on each end and a handle to fill. This allows me to cover more ground but still be easy to move and work with.

Step 6: Filling, Sanding, Filling Sanding…

Now onto the most thrilling step of all filling and sanding.

This step is only required if you aren’t happy with your surface finish on the printed parts. I used ordinary wall filler (but you could use putty, bondo…) and watered it down a little so that it was smoother to apply to the print. You need to lightly add filler to the outer faces (not the mortise and Tenon) and leave to dry before sanding. For sanding the filler I used 240 grit wet and dry and repeated filling and sanding until happy with the finish.

Once the pairs are well filled and sanded you can glue all of the pieces together and fill in those seams to make one solid product.

Step 7: Setting Up for Paint (primer)

Now that the filling is done you can apply a filler primer to coat the bow fore paint to stick. The reason I used filler primer is that filler has a gritty texture that I wanted to eliminate as the bow is smooth. I applied one coat, let it dry for 24 hours and sanded it down and applied a second coat and sanded that before moving on.

Step 8: Masking Sections for Paint

In order to paint the sections with spray paint I had to mask off the green section hen spraying black and vice versa. To do this I used the blue tape that I use on my 3d printers bed and a scalpel (craft knife) to block off the sections from paint.

I was going to start off with green but the filler primer I used was an orange/brown which is darker so I had to coat the green areas in white first then apply the green. I applied 2 coats of green to get the desired look. Once done I peeled the tape off of the bow and began masking off the green so that I could paint the black on.

Once the green was masked off I began spraying the black. For this project I decided to give it two coats to get good coverage. Once this was dry I coated it with a matte varnish spray to seal the paint so it can be transported and held.

Step 9: Show It Off

Now that the bow is complete you could hang it up on a set of hooks or use it for a convention as cosplay.

I hope you enjoyed the build and hope to see some people build it themselves. Thank you :)