A lot goes into the design of even a simple replica prop device. There’s always some small detail that just doesn’t get noticed, or couldn’t have been notice, in the last version. As a result, I printed quite a few iterations of the various parts.
Rapid prototyping with 3D-printing has spoiled me. I frequently felt annoyed at having to wait (gasp!) overnight for my next version of a part…
Once the final versions *) were printed, they were finished with the usual process of spraying on filler primer, sanding, and repeating ad nauseatum. An olive drab top coat was then applied, and the small details coloured in with a small brush and a steady hand.
It turned out that some things are a lot easier to assemble in Blender than in real life. Some of the nuts and bolts connecting the various components were in rather hard to reach places. Nonetheless, I managed to wiggle everything in place.
*) Not really the final-final versions. A few small tweaks are still needed, but for my build I managed to do them without printing another version.