Introduction
In this Assembly Guide, I’ll be offering help and advice to get the most out of your Print It Yourself or Raw Build Kit for the Final version of General Olivier Armstrong’s sword from Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood (FMAB).
As the differences between the two swords are aesthetic, this guide also covers details for King Bradley/Wrath’s sword. I will prioritize General Armstrong’s name in this guide for ease of communication.
Check out the links below for the available versions of General Armstrong’s Sword:
Check out the links below for the available versions of King Bradley’s Sword:
- Print It Yourself
- Raw Build (Coming Soonish…)
This guide is here to offer technical help to you in a build, if you would like to see more of this item check out the Overview.
Whether you’re building this unofficial replica for decoration, or if you’re looking to use this as a cosplay prop, the information in this guide should assist you in making the best-finished product you can!
Difficulty
- Easy – An exceptionally easy project, most or all of the parts assemble in a very obvious manner. You’ll have difficulty going wrong on this project. Accessible to all build enthusiasts!
- Normal – This will mostly be a straightforward project. Some of the finer details may need to be checked against this Assembly Guide, but most build enthusiasts should have no issue creating a great-looking finished model.
- Heroic – This will have a fair few tricky moments. It will need more care and attention to get the best out of it when compared to easier models. I would not recommend this for a first project as the difficulty could be frustrating.
- Legendary – I do not recommend purchasing a piece of work that I have deemed as Legendary Difficulty unless you are an experienced builder or maker. Projects of this nature will need a lot of work, time and patience to complete. Technical knowledge about the material used will help, as will a versatile toolkit.
Package Contents
Raw Build
The only differences present between the two swords are the engravings down the side of the blade, and the separate stud. On King Bradley’s sword, the stud is built into the handle (as it was intended to be all gold).
All components are printed in PLA on an FDM Printer and when fully assembled, the approximate specifications are as follows:
- Height: 987mm
- Width: 105mm
- Depth: 38mm
- Weight: 274g
Breakdown of each component:
- Handle
- Blade Base
- Blade Tip
- Studs * 3
- Handle
- Infill: 40%
- Weight: 140g
- Blade Base
- Infill: 15%
- Weight: 61g
- Blade Tip
- Infill: 15%
- Weight: 69g
- Studs
- Infill: 100%
- Weight: 4g
Raw Build Support Rods
The support rods recommended for the Raw Build versions are:
- One Purple: 6mm * 800mm
- Two Yellow: 4mm * 100mm
Print It Yourself
A single purchase of the Print It Yourself version of General Armstrong’s sword will grant you files to print the design, and you’ll also receive a BY-NC-ND 4.0 license for the files.
The following components with their respective [FILE_NAME] will be instantly available for download upon purchase:
- Handle [AS_PIY_HANDLE]
- Stud [AS_PIY_STUD] (File not present on KBS)
- First Blade Section [AS_PIY_BLADE_1]
- Second Blade Section [AS_PIY_BLADE_2]
- Third Blade Section [AS_PIY_BLADE_3]
- Final Blade Section [AS_PIY_BLADE_4]
- Master [AS_MASTER]
- BY-NC-ND- 4.0 Licence [AS_PIY_BY-NC-ND 4.0]
Print It Yourself Support Rods
The support rods recommended for the Print It Yourself version are:
- One Purple: 6mm * 900mm
- Four Green: 3mm * 100mm
Licence Type:
With my 3D files, you will also receive a non-transferable Creative Commons Licence. As standard, this will be the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, although other types are available upon request.
The “human-readable” version of the license type can be found here.
I would like to highlight the NonCommercial part. “NonCommercial means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.” If you are using any designs of mine as part of your work (such as a cosplayer) then this is absolutely fine, and actively encouraged! Or perhaps you made an item a while back and now want to sell it on? You didn’t buy the item for the primary purpose of selling it on, again this is absolutely fine!
However, if you are purchasing the STL files with a view in mind to sell the output, raw or finished? This will require a commercial license.
Assembly
Unique Build Infomation:
As I fit together every model to ensure there are no surprises, some areas will have been lightly sanded. First, the bottom of the blade is likely to have been worked on to check the fit together with the rods.
Secondly, the notches will show signs of being worked on. The small areas I sand should be invisible on the final model.
Support Removal:
I remove the majority of support material to check the part has printed properly and looks good. While I do remove the bulk of the support, I do not remove every part; areas highlighted below will definitely need attending where the support was attached:
Handle
Blade
General Information:
- Small hand tools are used in the support removal and some small marks may be present
- Ensure you wear eye protection when removing support material as it takes just the smallest amount of force to ding a shred of plastic into an eye
- Material colour is subject to change
- Take more care when sanding any resin products, both in terms of waste material and the ease of accidentally ruining the finish
- I make all the holes for the support rod with an additional 0.5mm tolerance on the diameter, and 2mm on the length
- If the metal rods you have are quite shiny, I’d recommend a gentle sanding with low grit sandpaper to help glue adhesion
- All support rod holes on Raw Build Kits are drilled and checked with the correctly sized rod to ensure a good fit
- All support rods displayed are not essential and are only included if explicitly stated
- Consider lighter support materials, such as tubing or wooden dowel, if weight is a consideration. On a shelf? No issue. After eight hours of carrying it around? Every gram makes a difference
- For the Print It Yourself versions, I try and ensure that no single part is longer than 250mm
- If you have a larger printer and would rather have the files used in the Raw Build, feel free to message me before or after purchase
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed this, perhaps you would like to see another Project?
Love what you saw? Got a project in mind? Feel free to reach out and let me know!
