OK so I am a guy who likes to keep things simple & easy. An example being 3d printing. Is there a single profile that will solve all your issues? No....or at least not that I've learned as every print will have its own needs. Sure some of your settings will work but each job will require tweaks.
A couple examples follow, where I took a file from Duncan Shadow, of a bear to print. I am using my FDM printer until such time as the basement is warm enough to dabble with the Resin one some more.
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| Photo from Duncan Shadows MM page |
Assumption 1: All files made by people are scaled for 28mm. So printing it at 100% will be easy & simple. So here he is at 100%
Now I place a 28mm miniature from Frostgrave beside him.
Hmm....ok perhaps if he was a Cave Bear? So time to scale it down a bit. So the lesson learned here is stop to take a look at the size of the model & maybe measure something to base that size on. The other ones I did were scaled to 50%
During this time I was also watching some videos on using supports. This leads to assumption2
Assumption 2: Supports are simply use em for angles greater than say 50%. By default the setting will likely be grid or line. Well as I learned from the videos, the type of support you use will determine its strength to support the model & that there are a lot of things to know about their use. Also there is an experimental system called Tree Supports which are great for models with lots of details & angles....this allows much easier removal. It seems there are a lot of support material visible, thats mainly due to printing several bear models at once & the supports sort of merged between them.
Now a couple things I further learned after the fact was about Support x/y difference & Support Z difference. This determines the space between the support & model that doesn't print to allow easier removal.
My last lesson learned during this project was that even removing tree supports, one must be careful not to get overzealous...or else
Oops his foot broke off.
Luckily I found the piece & will glue it back on. So what fun did you have on your recent projects?
Thanks for visiting.
Holy giant bear!
ReplyDeleteI know...not to fear he has found a home. A spouse who is learning to paint will receive him as a project
DeleteFinal product looks great Terry but seemed quite the journey to get there. So with all the trail and error on this particular project, what was the total time involved for everything? This is always a bit of a fear for me with getting a 3D printer, the learning curve and the time involved to get yourself finally sorted.
ReplyDeleteHi Ivor, yes there is learning involved & patience. I guess from my own 'git er done' mentality, its my own worse enenmy here. The plethora of stuff out there for stl files, be it My mini factory, or Patreons/kiskstarters...there is truly amazing stuff! Just go slow & don't be like me, trying to fill a printbed before I've successfully printed a single ite. A 1kg spool of PLA goes a long way & really when you think what you pay for some GW plastic miniatures these days....is cheaper. It just needs time to print. There are a lot of great Youtubers doing 3d printing help & the Facebook groups are quite helpful too. my initial fear was the price, but lower end models (afffordable by the masses) & Black Friday sales are what finally made me bite. Of course you can continue to enjoy by victories & failures here too!
DeleteVery cool. This is what I struggled with on some large prints is the damage caused when moving supports. I think with creatures you can get away with it some what with repair. But on big vehicle with smooth surfaces not so much.
ReplyDeleteThe large prints I've done thus far have been fairly good, as they didn't require supports (a definite bonus) Have you been posting your 3d stuff on your blog? Still haven't tried any vehicles yet, but I've got stls for quite a few
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