FDM PLA 3D printing - with a model making inclination

[Dave Ward]

I'm trying to see how far I can take the FDM printing. I'm not one for wargaming figures, but I picked two to experiment - both around 35mm high, printed at a layer height of 0.1mm - each took over two hours to print
Troll, with supports still attached

The other is a Knightm with a slightly overscale sword


Well, I suppose, painted up, they'd be OK for wargaming! The only way I can improve on this is by changing the print nozzle size from 0.4mm to 0.3mm dia. This involves all sorts of things, like flow rates, which I don't want to get into!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Miserable few days here, hardly daylight & cold, but only frosts . no snow........
My hand is slowly getting better, but I'm not giving it a chance to flare up again by using it too aoon.
As further to my pushing the printer, I found this model of a 1/48 Morane Saulnier 'L'. I was extremely doubtful of being successful on this print, it seemed too fragile, and too tall to survive. I sliced this at 0.15mm layer height. The slicer predicted a time of 12 hours, so I left this to print overnight.................

More than pleased to see that it had printed - just under 13 hours. Still on the build plate. Since using the spring steel PEI plate I have stopped using glue to assist on the print sticking - To remove the print, I just have to take the plate & flex it gently, and the print comes off cleanly.........

It looks like a snakes' wedding! It took me about an hour to remove the supports - there are still a few nubs to remove, but not bad for one handed

It's pretty fragile - those struts are pretty thin, and I think rigging will add some strength!

Separate bits printing out now, at a 0.10mm layer height, engine, cowling, propellor & a seat - although I can't see how that fits.
I was originally going to print this at 1/32, but it's too big to fit on my build plate, and cutting it into pieces would be problematical!, not the cutting, but joining it together afterwards. Eduard did a model of this in 1995, but it seems to be long out of production.
Dave

[wotan]

Dave

Those ship models look very nice.

John

[Dave Ward]

I found a 1/72 model of the Curtiss P1 Hawk............................

Amazingly, despite over 90 being made, it has only seemingly been covered by short run/resin/vacform so I'm going to give this a go in 1/48. Three large parts are a construction jig - PLA is rather heavier than polystyrene ( it sinks ), so supporting that top wing may be tricky. Anyone remember Strutz? - extruded brass alloy airofoil strut material - would be ideal for this
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Dragons' Teeth - the release by Gecko of a set of Dragons teeth made me look for a set of files to 3D print - these weren't free, they cost me 0.93 Euros! - ideal for FDM printing - a cast concrete item...............

These were said to be 1/16, and I scaled them to 1/35, but can be scaled to any size.
I was doubtful about the tooth on the right - but I found it was an Italian version used on the Alpine Wall

Also included in the tooth pack was one of these

I've had several attempts tp print this, but all failed
Couldn't resist putting the 3D printed Churchill in for scale.........................

This also illustrates on of the disadvantages of FDM printing - the four teeth took about 1/2 hour each to print - a SLA printer could print as many as could fit on the build plate, in the same time as the FDM makes one!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Westland P.12 'Wendover' A Lysander modified to take a Delanne style tail/rear wing. It was designed to carry a power operated 4 gun turret for ground attack. I found a 1/100 model...........
The plane actually flew ( quite well apparantly ), but only ever carried a dummy turret.
I considered trying this in 1/48, using an Eduard model for the fuselage, wings etc BUT when I saw how much this model now goes for, I dialled back a bit to 1/72 and found an Ebay sale of an unboxed Airfix model, without decals or instructions, ideal for a lot of surgery and for a reasonable price - so I printed out the tail in 1/72

Lucky the turret was a dummy, as I don't think I have anything in the spares box. The 1/100 model is a bit rough, but with a bit of tlc, the 1/72 blown up tail will be grafted onto the chopped Airfix fuselage ( with a bit of filler, I expect )
Almost back to the bench, but I have quite a few other things to catch up on, things that I couldn't do with only one hand!
Dave

[Neil Merryweather]

It will be good to see the two types of model making combined, Dave, can't wait!

[Dave Ward]

The quality of prints had declined on my Sunlu printer, so I've given it an overhaul - new drive belts, new nozzle & I've replaced some wheels on the X & Y axis & a general clean up ( where does all this dust come from? ). Levelled the bed, spending quite a while on this - much longer than normal. I decided to do a 'torture test' print to really push the printer.
After 17 hours 50 minutes, PLA, 0.2mm layer height 220C nozzle, 55C build plate - raft only, no supports:
Difficult to describe, but it's a series of framework cubes, standing on one corner & rotated! It's 120mm high & 120 wide. It would have looked much better if I had some fancy filament, but black is what I have! I fully expected to find a ball of plastic wool this morning, after an all night print run, but more than pleased to see it coped.
Sadly, my small Kingroon printer is proving to be rather unreliable, it seems to clog very easily. I suspect it's something to do with the heating element in the hot end. It also shuts down for no apparant reason, although you can resume a print when you power it up again - I've ordered some bits for a new all metal hot end, thermistor etc, I hope that these will cure it......................
Dave

[adt70hk]

Hi Dave

Sorry missed a load of updates Dave. You've clearly been busy and have printed some interesting stuff there.

I'd not heard of the Wendover.... An odd looking aircraft.

ATB.

Andrew

[Jim R]

That "torture test" print looks complex but certainly shows what can be achieved. Hope your hand is now much better.

[Dave Ward]

I found a basic early pilot, so printed some out in 1/72 & 1/48

Supports come off easily....................
I decided that I would try a wet palette for the first time - I found this on Thingiverse

You can print out 2/4/8 windows for the frame.
Adding kitchen towel & parchment paper over the top

The cover is a pretty snug fit - it shows that the printer can hold reasobably tight tolerances

Now, all I need is an opportunity to use it!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Experiments: I'm trying to print mesh - like radiator guards etc, and so far the results are promising!

The micro SD card was the only thing I could find that most people would be famliar with!
These are pretty thin, <0.8mm, and I have found that the print begins to warp, and the mesh becomes distorted at the edges, due to it lifting. I can increase the brim size, but it may be that glue is needed.
The bottom picture is as small as I can get the mesh - each strand is 0.4mm wide - the printer nozzle is 0.4mm dia, which is the limiting factor. I have ordered some 0.2mm & 0.3mm nozzles to see how they work. At the moment, I'm printing some honeycomb mesh, taking a long time, as there aren't any straight lines!
In case you're wondering where this is going, I'm trying to see if it's possible to print ratline rigging for sailing ships..................
I don't know is this possible with resin printing?
Dave

[Dave Ward]

After 2 hours - honeycomb mesh....................

No idea of why there are errors - it could be that there was a bit of dirt/dust on the build plate, although it seemed to be clean. This was just a test, to see how the printer handled this, honeyconb mesh is very much a modern thing.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Been under the weather. haven't had any benchtime. I did find this

PT-76 Swimming - blown up from either 1/76 or 1/72 to 1/35 took the best part of 10 hours to print the base/hull & another 3 hours to print the turret.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

A bad start to the year - I've been laid up for the last few weeks & have no inclination to return to the bench at the moment - my laptop has had more use in the last month, than in the previous 4 years I've had it.
Still finding subjects for the 3D printer, and I found an interesting subject - it has taken me 3 attempts to print it - I had to alter the orientation, and tweak a few settings - and this is the result - 24 hours and 30 minutes

Looks like nothing, but I'll be stripping the supports off - then like a butterfly emerging from its' chrysalis everything will be revealed!
Any guesses on what it may be?...........................
Dave