Welcome to Prometheus Rising Studios, the home of Ben Mininberg, aka Prometheum5’s custom made toys, painted models, and other various works. Here you’ll find the latest on my homegrown, original mecha toys, as well as replacement and upgrade parts for vintage toys. I produce most of my work using 3D printing, both done at home on Afinia printers, as well as through Shapeways. You can purchase a whole assortment of fun things right now from the Promethus Rising Heavy Industries Shapeways Shop, or head to the PRHI Monster Kolor Shop for original figures and custom painted toys. I also use this space to display some of my other works, including toy restorations, model kit builds, and miniature paint jobs. Drop me a line using the Contact Me link or leave a comment with questions. I am always happy to help out a fellow hobbyist, and one of my goals with this site is to make 3D printing accessible by demonstrating what can be done with a little ingenuity and a lot of creativity!
For more info about Prometheus Rising Heavy Industries and my 3D printing efforts, click this post to check out this interview I did with CollectionDX!
This project has been in the works for a while now and I’m super excited to start showing it off!
A while back after my big run of Knights of the Slice customs, Jesse reached out and offered me the opportunity to design my own character for an official production run. It was such an incredible opportunity and I tried to dig deep through my 80s mecha influences, resulting in the Simulant Stalker, a cyber-enhanced bounty hunter who stalks renegade robots in Harbor Noir. The standard version of the figure will be up for sale tomorrow night at 7:30PM EST from @toypizza
After that, I’ll be debuting a 3D printed accessory set available though the Prometheus Rising Heavy Industries Shapeways store. Then after that I’ll be releasing a custom run of Deluxe figures including the accessories and additional paint work. More details to come, for now make sure you grab a Simulant Stalker (aka the Miniborg) from Toy Pizza tomorrow night! Follow my Instagram for the most up to date news, there will be lots of news this week and goodies to buy!
I was asked by a friend to build and paint a 3D printed kit of the Millennium Falcon cockpit for 6″ Star Wars Black figures he had purchased. The kit is huge and features some key interior elements, but I found the overall detail and finish of the kit left room for improvement. Cut to eight months later and I’d completed the longest and largest project I’ve undertaken since the printed Warlord Titan (which I’ve apparently never posted on here?). Click below for a walk through of the build process, the additional 3D printed parts that I made, and the painting process!
I’ve put together an assortment of weapons for the Bandai SH Figuarts Warhammer 40k Space Marine figure, available now through Shapeways. There are kits for a modular Bolt Rifle with multiple options, pistols, and melee weapons. Each is a kit consisting of multiple items, so please ready all descriptions fully as they contain links to everything you need. If you grab some and kit out your Marine, please send me pics!
It’s been a while since I put up a post here, but anyone who follows me on Instagram knows I’ve been plenty busy making cool new stuff! The 3D printed GI Joe replacement limb game is going strong. I’ve teamed up with Cotswold Collectibles to bring Prometheus Rising Heavy Industries 3D printed goodies to more collectors, starting with the Solid Arm and Solid Leg, redesigned for easier printing and more color, and a movable thumb! (shown above). Keep an eye on IG and the Cotswold Facebook Page for news about the upcoming first release. While I was updating the Solid Limbs I took the opportunity to finish another project I’ve been working on for a few years now, a full 1/6 scale robot figure. I debuted the PRHI 1/6 scale Machine Heart action figure on IG a few weeks back, and now have photo spreads of the first three prototypes.
There’s a new product up on the PRHI Shapeways Shop for customizing your GI Joe 12″ figures! Following on from the PRHI Solid Arm bionic arm kit is the PRHI Solid Leg for getting your wounded Joes back up on their feet! The kit will fit on vintage GI Joes as well as reissues and Costwold Elite Brigade bodies. The Solid Leg consists of a shin, foot, and ankle (the ankle and wrist are the same part). You can order a Solid Leg using the listings in the PRHI Shapeways Shop here. You can also pick up a PRHI Solid Arm using the listings here.
More new 3D printed blasters for your 6″ action figures are up on the PRHI Shapeways Shop! First up is big mac-daddy blaster for the recent Marvel Legends Cable. He comes with a decent over-sized impractical gun already, but mine matches up with the classic Toybiz figure’s ridiculous weapon.
Next up by request are some classic toy blasters. First is the iconic vintage Lazer Tag pistol, which fits larger figures like Cable really well. The grip on this one is real chunky, so I’ll be offering a smaller version for more regular-proportioned 6″ figures soon.
Last is a weapon that needs no introduction. Pick up a Zapper so your figures can light up whatever enemies they face!
I recently picked up the incredible vintage Masudaya Robot YM-3/B-9 1/5 scale talking vinyl kit from Lost in Space at a local comic show. It’s a gorgeous kit that I quickly build up, but the claws that come with the kit are a letdown in accuracy compared to the rest of the kit. I designed a simple, drop-in replacement part that is more screen accurate and fits your robot without any modification, available in red (and other colors) plastic now from the PRHI Shapeways Shop. You could potentially cut the claws apart at the middle and make them articulated the same way the stock kit parts work, or leave them as-is for a no-effort upgrade to your trusty bot.
Things have been busy lately at the PRHI factory, and I have been dying to show off what I’ve been working on. I didn’t want to start revealing these too early, but now everything is ready and the PRHI Shapeways Shop has been updated so you can dig in! Astromech droids are one of the most iconic aspects of the Star Wars franchise and Kenner clearly recognized this early on, releasing more versions of the venerable little R2-D2 figure than almost any other character. Astute viewers of the original films will be able to spot loads of different Astromechs, and the modern Hasbro line is rotten with obscure variants. For vintage Kenner collectors, the options are a little more limited. There are plenty of beat up old Kenner R2s and R5s out there that could be customized, but they have a certain charm in their well-loved, beater form. Now you can whip up any custom Astromech you can think of with the PRHI Astromech Kit available from Shapeways. This kit mimics the original Kenner R2/R5 toy design, but with modern COO markings for easy identification. PRHI Astromech Kit parts are even compatible with vintage parts for repairs, and the PRHI droid’s head clicks when turned just like the original. Grab a kit in any color you like and whip up a sticker to complete the look. Thanks to all the options Shapeways has, you can make a whole slew of different colors droids, and even make a clear-domed R3 model using the R2 head printed in Frosted Ultra Detail. You can get your R2’s head printed in Stainless Steel for a more rugged look that I’m rather partial to.
Also available are some options not made by Kenner, specifically the R4 head, the R5-D4 Prototype sculpt head from the same early catalog as the PRHI Power Droid Prototype Kit, and now you can finally complete your Jabba’s Palace scenes with a 3D printed R2 Drink Tray! The Drink Tray is an especially fun project, and is compatible with vintage toys and the PRHI Astromech Kit. The Drink Tray fits on without any modification to your toy, and looks great with a quick paint job. Not too detailed, just the way Kenner would have done it. All of these goodies are available now through Shapeways!
To build a complete PRHI Astromech Kit you will need the following:
For all Astromechs:
Body Leg Sprue Head Peg (or you can use a 6-32 5/16″ screw for Strong Flexible heads)
I’ve been whipping up custom Astromechs like mad using some custom stickers I got off ebay. These are going to be all over my vintage display once it’s set up.
I’ve got a whole spread of new offerings up on the PRHI Shapeways Shop today! There’s a little bit of everything here, replacement parts (marked for easy identification), upgrade parts, and even an entire new PRHI toy kit!
First up is something I’m really excited about, a complete toy kit to enhance your vintage Kenner Star Wars collection. This complete vintage-style Power (Gonk) Droid kit is based on an early prototype sculpt shown in a German catalog (pic on SWCA). The prototype is in the hands of a collector, so there is plenty of reference to make a kit version. The PRHI Proto Gonk kit is supplied in two parts (Body and Leg Sprue), and is available in any color you like. I recommend a nice bright color for the body and black for the legs and antenna. The kit can be assembled without glue, but I would recommend using some on the little antenna for security. You will need to provide your own sticker for the face, and paint up the feet. The finished figure is articulated at the legs.
Next up are two highly requested accessories for your Star Wars Black 6″ figures, the DLT-19D heavy blaster rifle and DLT-19X Sniper model. These are perfect for outfitting your specialist Imperial troops or Battlefront-inspired customs. Both are available in Black Strong Flexible and Premium Black Strong Flexible. I recommend the Premium finish, pictured above. It’s a bit more expensive but makes a huge difference on the finished blaster.
Another new blaster available is this pistol for your vintage Boba Fett. This pistol is accurate to the early version of the costume used to design the Kenner figures, and matches the blaster included with the Kenner large sized Boba Fett. Again, available in Black Strong Flexible and Premium Black Strong Flexible, and I recommend the Premium finish.
After that are some new replacement parts for your vintage toys. All of these are clearly marked with a PRS logo on each part for easy identification. First up are accessories for Sy Snootles and the Max Reebo Band, performing exclusively for Jabba the Hutt! Both the skinny and thick microphone stands and the flute are available separately, each in Premium Black and metallic finishes.
Last, some accessories for your Kenner large sized Darth Vader and Stormtrooper. You can order a lightsaber hilt for your Darth Vader 15″ figure, sized to fit a 0.187″ diameter acrylic rod for the blade. Also up are two styles of Stormtrooper blaster, both as a solid sculpt and the toy-accurate version with lightening holes to save on material. The Kenner large size figures are terrific toys, available for quite cheaply. These accessories are perfect to complete those well-loved Vaders and Stormtroopers you see at every toy show.
Thanks to everyone for your continued support of these projects! If you order something and take a pic, tag me on Instagram!
Prometheus Rising Studios 