Exhibitor Highlight: Coz3D - GalaxyCon St. Louis
Kyle of Coz3D took some time to chat about how his 3D Printing and Cosplay business came together at GalaxyCon St. Louis
Galaxy Con took over St. Louis for the first time in the convention’s history on October 10th, 11th, and 12th. The convention overtook the America’s Center Convention Complex in downtown St. Louis for a three-day celebration of all things gaming, comics, wrestling, anime, cosplay, and more. One of the vendors that was set up on the vast convention floor was Coz3D. With a life-size B-Series Battle Droid on display, and a table full of helmets, thermal detonators, and other Star Wars weapons, the display stood out from the show floor.
Kyle, the owner of Coz3D took a few minutes away from the busy show floor to chat with me about his craft.
Coz3D Talks All Things 3D Printing at GalaxyCon St. Louis
The company is based in Indiana and operates a three-man shop where the team creates 3D models and prints props and armor for cosplay. Kyle began modeling and printing as a hobby in 2017, before launching the business in 2018. The first printer the team used was a Wanhao Duplicator i3 before moving to a Davinci printer. Although Kyle admitted he was not a fan of the printer, it taught him a lot about the art form. From there, the shop moved into the Creality brand with a purchase of three CR10 units to ramp up production. The team operates on Creality K1 Max and K2 Pros. The K1 Max is Kyle’s go-to printer and one that he recommends.
“Anyone who walks up to the table and asks what printer they should buy, I immediatly tell them the K1 Max.”
Building Items From a Galaxy Far Far Away
With the table being covered in Beskar bricks, imperial credits, Mandalorian helmets, thermal detonators, communicators, and more, it is obvious that Star Wars is a core inspiration to Kyle and team.
“I was two months old when the original Star Wars came out. I grew up with the movies. I had the toys growing up, and The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite movie ever.”
Kyle’s love for Star Wars started at an early age, and so did his love for cosplay. In 1996, he built his first Darth Vader cosplay, making the chest box out of wood. He also hand-fabricated two Mandalorian jet packs out of materials he found at the local Hobby Lobby craft store. With the advancements made in cosplay technology, the days of rummaging through craft store shelves are long gone.
The jetpack would become the signature item of the team’s Etsy shop. To Kyle’s knowledge, Coz3D had the first available Mandalorian jetpack for purchase on Etsy. After comparing the jetpack that Coz3D printed, the team got their hands on a screen-used prop to compare their print with. After measuring both props, their print was within millimeters of the on-screen prop, proving that with enough patience, time, and research, any 3D modeling is possible.
What’s Next?
Although the world of Star Wars is vast, and there is no shortage of source material to take inspiration from to design, there are plenty of other properties to print from. Fallout and Halo are two specific properties the team has looked into to design from.
Coz3D can be found on Etsy, YouTube, and Instagram.
More GalaxyCon St. Louis content can be found here.
Did you attend Galaxy Con St. Louis? Have you visited any other GalaxyCon shows? Sound off in the comments below.
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