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3D Printing Can Let Your Imagination Run Wild

Logan

Here we are again with the topic of designing airsoft guns using 3D Printing technology. As we have said before, just some creativity, proficiency at 3D design software, and of course an affordable 3D printer, can make someone become a design rockstar in the airsoft world, provided of course that his or her designs is very much welcome by the airsoft community. Then if such prototype works, the designer just needs to send it to a company that can do CNC work, and from there you can get to build a new and complete airsoft gun.

The topic that I want to emphasize here is that with the increasing use of 3D printers for industrial/product design, and couple with 3D design software, a designer is only limited by his or her imagination. Some designers let themselves be confined by the inspiration of existing designs, especially the AR and AK platforms, but some do think outside of the box, designing guns that no one would think can be designed. As I said, you're only limited by your imagination, so designs might not exactly be attractive to most, but still it's a design that you can all your own.

To give you an example is Warfairy, who designed his Charon family of 3D-printer ready AR lower designs that can be downloaded by anyone.  These are AR lowers that are inspired by the FN-Herstal P90 which is a very ergonomic, and since these are lowered AR lowers, you have a franken-AR-15  once you mate it to an AR-upper and add the rest to come up with a unique AR that people can have mixed feelings about its look. Please take note that these designs are for the real steel AR.

I downloaded the files to check them out, but I will need the 3D software to fully open the files. For those who want to check these out, they can find various 3D software, from free to paid, by clicking this link. The easiest to use seem to be Google Sketchup. If you want to "port" these to airsoft, then you should think of the scale and dimensions of the AEGs or GBBs that you want these designs to be compatible with.

One Taiwanese company is already pushing the boundaries of such 3D printing design for airsoft. Strike Recon Union which designs such sleek and futuristic designs for the Glock GBB pistols, are very much into 3D printing to make their own prototypes as shown by the images below:

Things are going to be pretty much as barriers to designing airsoft guns go down with the capability to do rapid prototyping with the design of 3D Software and 3D Printers. Some reverse engineering will be required if compatibility with existing products are needed, but with laser scan products also getting lower in costs, then everything will be doable.  And from here an industry of budding airsoft gun designers, who are not just content with just using Dr. Noob's Pimp My Gun website, and dead set on making their own unique designs that can be used by airsoft players and who knows, the firearms industry?

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