This is weird. I checked on my phone and I can see them all, as well as on my PC. I guess I will try and repost
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let's see if this works....
So the next logical step is to see if I can 3D print the entire panel, rivets and all....
It would need to be done on the resin printer because of the poor surface finish of the larger FDM printer, which means it will have to be individual separate panels because of the small build volume.
I made one and printed it flat on the bed but that didn’t come out well at all. I’ve always said that you need to be a tinkerer to get on with 3D printing and this is certainly the case here. After a couple more failures I set up the panel to print upright-i.e. Portrait, and it was going to take 17 hours....
That wasn’t a problem in itself, but the bonus of this type of printer is that no matter how much volume of subject matter is in the build chamber it’s the height of the build that defines the time taken, so I decided to print multiple panels to fit together.
The unfortunate thing about these kind of printers is that they are brilliant for complicated organic forms but not so good at flat surfaces and straight lines, so I know I am taking a risk. And everyone knows about the build layers in 3D printing but I am hoping I can beat them by building absolutely vertically.
Well there are build lines visible and some unexplained weird ‘coral growth’ on one of the panels but let’s put it together with some weld seams and see how it looks under paint. I had such trouble with the solder not sticking that I thought about other methods to represent the weld seams. I have tried green stuff already and found it difficult, but what I want is something similar but more easily controlled. I have some blunt syringe needles (and their syringes) that I bought for sculpting, so I squirted some Perfect Plastic Putty into one and then carefully squidged it into the grooves between the panels like a miniature b version of a silicone sealant gun
I had no idea whether it would work but actually it came out better than I could have hoped
So how does it look painted?
I like the fine detail of the rivets but the build lines are just too evident and eliminating them will be too painful. And ,of course I would have to create each panel in CAD, which will take a while.
But I am very pleased with the weld seams.
So I think the conclusion is that I'm probably going to use a single sheet of plastic with weld seams made with the syringe technique, and experiment further with ways of doing the rivets. I’m not going to use metal as I’ve decided against too much denting.The references I am using are of a ship that is 80 years old, whereas she would be very new on D-Day. I’ve ordered some small pins and insect pins although I'm not optimistic I can get anything smaller than a 1.42mm diameter head. But maybe I can refine the 3D printed method?
Fingers crossed you can all see the pictures now?
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Nice progress Neil, I can understand the long printing time better now! CheersComment
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That looks great NeilComment
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VERYwell done Neil just looked through your thread an am most impressed keep it comin
chrisbComment
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Let’s leave rivet counting for now and look at the re-alignment of the whole diorama...
Thanks to a suggestion on another forum I have re-oriented the base slightly to offset it from the totally orthogonal , as much as I can without affecting the walls I printed earlier.
I used the CAD model to plot the difference between the old position and the new, and I set to with the scalpel
I will need to add a small triangle a the left hand side (top), which gives me a horrible polygonal block to work with.
I didn’t mention it earlier but I have made my life even more difficult by angling the back surface backwards so that I can eventually tilt the whole thing to the front a bit.
So now the only right-angles are the back two corners and the vertical plane-
Thank God for CAD!
I had by this time detailed the two feature walls
Although I managed not to change the detailed walls I did have to change the blank back and side walls, and thanks to CAD I was able to 3D print some braces to the correct angles(they are the blue bits)
That’s all for now folks
Thanks for watching
Neil
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BRILLIANT WORK Neil im likein this
mr BComment
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Neil, cracking work mate.Comment
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Brilliant execution and very interesting to follow.
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That's lookin' good Neil, but where's the cat? If I tried summat that size, it'd be full of cat before the glue dried!Comment
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Looking good to date!
SteveComment
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Fantastic Neil, I step out for a while and you come up with building a Dio that's going to be great. It may have been hatching for ten years but seeing it being done with 3D printing thrown in is something else. Worth the wait.
Pour it on...eh I mean build it up. Apologiess for coming in so late.
Cheers,
WabbleComment
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