@Massey - Has your resin turned up yet? The frustrating part of 3d printing - working out why your prints failed. Printed these off yesterday. New resin that I haven't tried before so went with a guess with the settings. Not sure 100% exactly what the issue is. Was it the resin (maybe I didn't shake it well enough) or the settings I used (0.2micron layer, 20s base exposure and 2s per layer) or was it the actual 3d images that have a problem? Two of the cars came out fine, the Jeep Cherokee and the Fiat 500 on the right, but the others all had slightly different issues. Looking closely at some of the prints that failed, I think it is a support issue, so I've beefed them up a bit and will print again using the same print settings and see what comes out! On a side note - time to drag out the old canon camera with the macro lens. Maybe then I'll be able to get some good pictures of the prints to show some of the detail that they have- even the JEEP badge on the bonnet!
Am I seeing right? It looks like the failed prints had interiors? If so, I suspect the 3d models were not actually meant to be 3d printed. The wall thickness would be too thin in places, not to mention the unsupported parts inside the car interior. Maybe you got these off 3d warehouse? Lots of good looking vehicle models there, but most need a massive amount of work to be printable... Fixing inverted polygons, non manifold parts, thickening walls, etc. I've done it in the past with Mesh mixer, and it's kinda fun actually.
Nearly. The cars were solid (apart from the caterham 7 which had seats and a steering wheel) but I hollowed them out with internal support. Turns out the the fail point was on the wheels. Some of them had quite fancy wheel with spokes and stuff, almost too fine for the printer at 1:160. Each fail point was where a wheel had not developed properly. I added a solid part inside the wheel whilst still keeping the spoke pattern visible and thickened up the axles along with some further support between the wheel and body. The last print effort has just finished and they all came out, which is always a win!
Still no resin, and I have not even opened the cleaner yet. I have been too busy working on my new Avalanche, and getting a friends Suburban up and running. I have a bad habit of buying junk trucks and fixing them up into normal working order.
That sucks, nothing worse than waiting for stuff before you can play with a new toy, although playing with trucks is always fun. Had I a big enough garage here I would be building something and probably wouldn't have gone back into railroading. In NZ I've got a large shed and had a 1962 Fiat 500 and a Kubota tractor that I was rebuilding. Tractor was great fun to work on, simple and could almost be fixed with just a large hammer and vise grips.
OK I ordered some water washable resin, and while I was at it I also picked up an Ender 3 V2 for some PLA type printing as well. What is good software for doing the bracing, cutting and stands?
Nice! I've been toying with the idea of an Ender 3 V2 as well for the larger prints. Software wise - I just use Chitubox, which is the software supported by the Elegoo and I think Anycubic. Works well with the hollowing and repairing of the files, Adding supports is relatively straightforward and the slicing function is good, just don't forget to check for island after you have done the slicing. There's plenty of other slicing software out there -, BalinaEtcher, Slic3r, Prusa Slicer is one I also have used, but I prefer Chitubox for ease of use and it has my printer setup in the default settings, but I guess its up to you which one you prefer. Other software that I have used is MeshMixer to help fix STL's that have too many triangles prior to importing it into Tinkercad to make changes. Jimmy has just done another video regarding Resin printing (not affiliated with his channel or trying to drum up views!) He goes through the process really quickly but it does give some good tips for beginners, especially around extra supports for corners on buildings, containers etc. His other 3D printing videos are worth a watch too.
Well I got Baby Yoda (Grogu) printing on the AnyCubic, and from what I can see it's going well. I wont be able to stay awake to see it finished, I will have to wash and cure it in the morning. I am trying the Creality Cat file on the Ender 3, and something fell over, but aside from that it's going good. I'm not sure if what fell over was a stand or a leg of the cat. There is no detail to it at all just an odd shape to the right of the main body. So far so good all and all.
Success! Grogu turned out pretty good, I had to grind off the stands on the bottom of the body, but it turned out ok. Primer and paint here soon! I also got a Lucky Cat then 2 dead ones... So the first Lucky Cat I printed did fine, the part that fell was a stand for the upper paw and it still worked out. So I got requests to make a couple more cats so I put the printer to work. I got about 1/4 of an inch up and the cat came off the bed... then I tried again and it popped off after layer 2. I didn’t catch it right away so it made this weird scorpion tail looking thing. I figured the bed may need to be cleaned before I tried again, so I did. When I tried again I watched closely and found the PLA was not sticking. I found out that with the hold down clips being fore and aft didn’t hold the blade down evenly. I moved them to the sides and releveled the platter and now it seems to be working just fine. I have about 1/2” of Kitty #3.
I use the Creality Flexible Removable Magnetic bed cove and love them..... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X3WBNPX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 One lasts months before it gets to screwed up and needs replacing. Very easy to remove prints from. Peel it back just to the point the print starts to separate from it and then use the print removal tool to finish separating the print from the surface. For delicate items that don't have much bed contact I take a minute to run a bed leveling program to make sure the bed is level. For items that are tall but have very little contact with the bed I'll use the 'raft' option in Cura. The prints separate easily from the raft when done, Sumner
Everything???? There is a lot there, I have over 100 items just myself . If you don't have it get a printer and start printing , Sumner
If you can - get one (or better get a FDM and SLA!) - you won't regret it. I have made plenty of items for the layout and not just models. I've made clamps, brackets, base plate, cars, power poles, rubbish bins etc plus all the stuff that is not MR related. If I was to start again I would probably go with an FDM printer first as the build plate size vs a SLA (resin) printer is much bigger and gives you better options, and then get the SLA for finer prints.
Agreed, started with the FDM and a lot of projects wouldn't of printed with the SLA. Also at normal viewing distances the ... FDM prints fine enough detail for me. Since there is no smell I have the printer next to the computer in the living area whereas the SLA is out in the shop. When the FDM print is done it comes off the build plate and I can paint right off the build plate if I want. No cleaning. Not saying someone shouldn't start with a SLA printer but unless you want to print loco or car bodies to start with the FDL might prove to be more versatile for you. It has for myself. Sumner
I've never owned an FDM printer, but I'm now on my second resin printer. I now have the mono x, which can print objects up to 90 x 53 x 125 scale feet in n scale (not printing to the very edge of the screen). My original anycubic printer now sits completely unused on a shelf. It's more expensive, but I highly recommend a midsize resin printer!
I was able to print a Star Trek Starship last night and today... I now own an Akira class starship! tonight I’m going to try and tackle some shipping containers, and maybe some other railroad themed prints. They will be printed with the Ender 3 first.
