FDM PLA 3D printing - with a model making inclination

[Neil Merryweather]

Dave , did you know you can lower the object 'through' the build plate by a certain amount so it only builds half?
then you could flip it and print the other half.
It would call for a bit of precision but nothing beyond the scope of an engineer like yourself, I'm sure

[Dave Ward]

Dave , did you know you can lower the object 'through' the build plate by a certain amount so it only builds half?
then you could flip it and print the other half.
It would call for a bit of precision but nothing beyond the scope of an engineer like yourself, I'm sure

Neil,
I've done that with ships - you orientate the model through the build plate & split the object - select 'keep top half' then save this as an .stl then hit the 'undo' button & this time select 'keep bottom half' & save that ( remembering to change the name! ). This uses the same splitting plane & model position, so you should get a perfect fit! This is using PrusaSlicer, but I imagine all slicers have this facility. It's OK on something with a smooth surface, where you can smooth the joint line, but on a textured surface that may be more difficult
Dave

[Dave Ward]

A high-relief model of a Roman Soldier ( high relief means he has a flat back! ) 95mm tall.

As he has a flat back, there was no problem getting him to stay on the build plate. I assume this is a model of an actual carving, but not attributed
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Another one of those days! Still one-handed, I decided to do a bit of printing. I'd previously tried to print some tracks for the1/35 M22 Locust - they did print, but proved impossible to clean up. I changed the slicer settings to see if I could improve on my earlier efforts. Stated OK, the Sunlu was purring away, the layers were going down nicely. I left it for an hour or so & when I came back - it had stopped extruding - the printer was going through the motions, but not laying anything down. A clogged nozzle! I find I can't do anything about it, you need two hands! I did try, but not possible :worried:
Oh well, it's not going anywhere - I'm turning to the Monoprice instead - never had any problems with that
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Hand is a bitter better - only a slight ache - but still stiff, fingers crossed ( if I could )
The Monoprice has been chuntering away - I printed the turret & tracks for the Tetrarch Mk.IV

The barrel is way overscale & needs replacing, this is scaled up from 1/56 & what may look OK in that scale doesn't in 1/35!

I'm printing the tracks for the M22 Locust. I've really gone into the settings, and thoroughly pushing the printer to it's limits - here's the first result

I have to say I'm happy with that ( the backside is rough, but I can live with that ). The holes in the idler wheel need clearing out & a few whiskers need trimming off, but streets ahead of my first effort. This print took a few minutes under 4 hours - I'd also slowed rhe print speed down. This is about as good as the Monoprice can do, the parts cooling fan isn't very efficient & that reduces definition. Obviously it isn't as refined as a resin print, but under a coat of primer, basecoat & weathering any differences would be minimal ( at least that's what I think! ). My hand isn't up to airbrushing at the moment - just as well it's 27C here - not spraying weather!
Dave

[stillp]

That track assembly does look good Dave. Shame you're one-handed.
Pete

[Dave Ward]

That track assembly does look good

It's all one piece - printed flat in its' back...............
Dave

[stillp]

Yes, I realised that. Maybe assembly was the wrong word. Sorry to hear about your rough backside too! :smiling5:
Pete

[Dave Ward]

rough backside too

Newspaper ain't wot it used to be!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Been printing some bases

The prints can be scaled upordown to suit any scale figure - it can be difficult to really visualise what a print will look like. Sometimes it can be a bit odd

Sandbag redoubt, good positioning of the bags, but they look more like cushions than sandbags! I was doubtful about this one, so it was printed at 0.2mm layer height - which is why they can be seen ( like contour lines )
Printing time varies from 2 up to 5 hours - depending on the speed & layer height. The top two were printed at 0.08mm layer hight & slower speed = longer times
Dave

[langy71]

very nice Dave, I like the first sandbags the best, they've got that natural 'flop' that they get when stacking them..those bases are cracking...(you might have come up with a cheeky sideline here mate).

[Dave Ward]

cheeky sideline here mate).

Ethically, that's not good. - The free models are sourced from the internet & are used on a basis of personal non-profit use. I don't think you'd be done for it, but it's the principle that really counts. If you painted them & added a little scatter/rubble, then that might be a different matter!, but it's hardly cost effective - printing a base in 3-4 hours & spending an hour or so painting it. With FDM printing it takes X hours to print one, then 2X hours for two, 3X hours for three etc. With resin printing it would take X hours, but in that time, you can print as many parts as you could fit on the build plate - although you still have that painting job!
Dave

[langy71]

Ethically, that's not good. - The free models are sourced from the internet & are used on a basis of personal non-profit use. I don't think you'd be done for it, but it's the principle that really counts. If you painted them & added a little scatter/rubble, then that might be a different matter!, but it's hardly cost effective - printing a base in 3-4 hours & spending an hour or so painting it. With FDM printing it takes X hours to print one, then 2X hours for two, 3X hours for three etc. With resin printing it would take X hours, but in that time, you can print as many parts as you could fit on the build plate - although you still have that painting job!
Dave

Not a problem Dave, just a random thought ...

[Dave Ward]

Another base - a little more ambitious this time

Took about 6 hours to print - Initally I thought about a German 20mm flak gun, but the sandbag protection looks a ittle over the top for a small gun. So, it might be just too small for a Flakvierling, but I have a Flak 37, or a 25mm Jaboschreck that may work..................
Dave

[Dave Ward]

As I feared, he above base is just too small for the Flakvierling, so I printed it again.

scaled up to fit the mount, about 5%......................

The previous print won't go to waste - any one of the three others will fit!

The Dragon Jaboschreck is a really weird kit - I bought it off Ebay as a model '+ extras' . The model itself ( small ) has a lot of PE, but also in the box was a Voyager detail set, which has similar PE bits, but about twice as much! - 90% of which comes into 'You're having a laff' category!
Unfortunately none of the above have crews, so I'll be lurking on ebay for suitable canddates
Dave