My 3D printing adventures so far...

[Wolf Star]

5 or 6 weeks ago, I bought an AnyCubic Photon 3D printer and have been experimenting with various objects. A few missteps and boo-boo's here and there, but things have been progressing fairly well. It's a learning process for sure. I've been 3D modeling for well over 20 years, and do it as part of my profession as an industrial designer. I bought this machine though specifically for model parts and will probably offer a couple of sets for sale on ebay or something.

I have this old HobbyBoss AAV that I'm morphing into a post-apocalyptic thing. Sort of Mad Max meets The Walking Dead meets The Road... I have drawn these parts in Sketchup, and exported them as STL files.

The more interesting one here is the space shuttle main engine or SSME and OMS engine nozzle. These I actually drew in 3DS Max some years ago and have modified the file to make it suitable for printing. There was some trial and error, but the end result is quite nice, and the detail I could never capture in purely scratchbuilding. These are for the Monogram 1/72 shuttle, I have 2 full shuttle stacks buried in the stash. These I may offer for sale as a set of 3 SSMEs with the 2 OMS nozzles. I've created them using NASA documentation, so they are pretty accurate. There is space between the nozzle and the piping just like the real engines.

 

[rastanz]

I was thinking of investing in a small 3D printer to aid in my hobby, if I owned one my mediocre scratch building would most probably take a backseat lol.

Is yours a resin printer? I read somewhere that resin prints smoother with higher details than the filament printers but I don't know if it's true or not.

I've been looking at local sellers here in NZ but there are so many to choose from I don't know which to get.

That's a nice looking engine bell, it's the look I tried to achieve on my Saturn V build with the booster rockets.

 

[Quaralane]

Nice stuff there.

@rastanz, the resin printers do seem to print a little more smoothly, likely due to not having to deal with the filament diameters
My Anycubic is set to use .05 mm thick layers as a default. VERY high resolution there.
Smaller build plates than in some filament printers, though

 

[Wolf Star]

I was thinking of investing in a small 3D printer to aid in my hobby, if I owned one my mediocre scratch building would most probably take a backseat lol.

Is yours a resin printer? I read somewhere that resin prints smoother with higher details than the filament printers but I don't know if it's true or not.

I've been looking at local sellers here in NZ but there are so many to choose from I don't know which to get.

That's a nice looking engine bell, it's the look I tried to achieve on my Saturn V build with the booster rockets.

Yeah, this is a resin printer. It will do finer detail than the filament type. I paid about $180 USD.

 

[Jim62]

Yeah, this is a resin printer. It will do finer detail than the filament type. I paid about $180 USD.

Not a bad price, my curiosity is what do materials cost since that is a continued expenditure.

 

[Wolf Star]

Not a bad price, my curiosity is what do materials cost since that is a continued expenditure.

You bet. So the resins I've used so far have been the water washable types rather than the more normal one in which you'd have to use rubbing alcohol to clean your parts, as a gallon of IPA is like $50 because of the Wu Flu. A 500mg bottle of resin can be had on ebay for about $26-$27 on a good day. Prices on resin can vary greatly, it's always good to shop around.
The the other consumable part is the FEP plastic films that you have to stretch acoss the bottom of the resin vat, like a drum head. you can get those on ebay as well, I paid I think $18 for 5. They eventually wear out and will need to be changed.

My AnyCubic came with the slicing software, but I've been using Chitubox which is free. You will need a 3D modeling program that can export STL files. I have Sketchup and 3DS Max, but a lot of peope use Blender which is also free.

 

[Jim62]

You bet. So the resins I've used so far have been the water washable types rather than the more normal one in which you'd have to use rubbing alcohol to clean your parts, as a gallon of IPA is like $50 because of the Wu Flu. A 500mg bottle of resin can be had on ebay for about $26-$27 on a good day. Prices on resin can vary greatly, it's always good to shop around.
The the other consumable part is the FEP plastic films that you have to stretch acoss the bottom of the resin vat, like a drum head. you can get those on ebay as well, I paid I think $18 for 5. They eventually wear out and will need to be changed.

My AnyCubic came with the slicing software, but I've been using Chitubox which is free. You will need a 3D modeling program that can export STL files. I have Sketchup and 3DS Max, but a lot of peope use Blender which is also free.

Thanks for the info.

 

[JonW]

You've done well, but your background helps. I've been into 3D printing for a year and am just now getting to the point where I consider myself proficient. It's a very addictive hobby, but can be useful. My first project (and one that was way over my head at the time) was making a fire extinguisher bracket for my '63 LeSabre wagon.

Currently, I'm making light bars and other parts to turn muscle cars into police cars. I'm at a standstill until I can find a rattle can or brush paint that looks like chrome that will accept a clear coat.

I've considered a resin printer, but really don't have a place to put it. I do like the flexibility with filaments that FDM printing provides, however.

 

[Hagoth]

Resin printers do an excellent job for surface details and smoothness. I have found that FDM printers do a great job for larger strong structure parts that are still light weight. If you have the room, combining the two printing technologies is a great way to go. I built my own FDM printers and can go down from 0.4mm to 0.2mm nozzles at 0.05mm thick layers and get really good detail and surface smoothness. Those have ended up being my work horses.

 

[iandrewmartin]

You've done well, but your background helps. I've been into 3D printing for a year and am just now getting to the point where I consider myself proficient. It's a very addictive hobby, but can be useful. My first project (and one that was way over my head at the time) was making a fire extinguisher bracket for my '63 LeSabre wagon.

Currently, I'm making light bars and other parts to turn muscle cars into police cars. I'm at a standstill until I can find a rattle can or brush paint that looks like chrome that will accept a clear coat.

I've considered a resin printer, but really don't have a place to put it. I do like the flexibility with filaments that FDM printing provides, however.

Humbrol, in the UK, makes a spray can paint that supposedly does the job: Humbrol Metal Cote. This is a buffable aluminium, and steel, paint that buffs up nicely.

See more here: .

I'll be using both on my Cylon Warrior.

 

[CY343491]

Great, i have a semi-hoarder room, no place to put 3D printer, wish i have one.