Preparing to paint antique guns

[Guest]

Hi
Wasn't to sure where to start so I'll dive off here. I bought a 3D printer to print antique guns (Pirates & Highway Men) and place them in display cases.

Once printed I'll spray paint the parts separately and then construct the guns from then on.

But I'm unsure if I should lay down a base or under coat to start with. I wanted to use a grey coloured filament which would make things easier to apply a first coat, but unsure what colour to start with. The stock would be brown while the rest of the base would be a dark silver or grey.

The other bits of fancy decor these guns seem to be adorned with will be gold.

That for the moment is just a summarise in general as a lot of these fire arms differ greatly from one weapon to the next.

I'll post again in a couple of days with more detail.

Thanks for now.

Fabian.

[Mr Bowcat]

I would probably prime with grey. I'm currently using Stynylrez primer (also branded as Badger and UMP) which I find bites well to most surfaces.

[Guest]

Thanks a lot Mr B

I found the Badger brand on eBay. I'll try it.

Fabian.

[Guest]

Are you going to paint them right after printing?
I've tinkered a bit with 3D-printing and it involved a lot of putty and sanding, or acetone vapour polishing - which isn't 100% controllable...
Right off the print bed the printed object has a rough surface from all those layers of filament. Only way to get smoother finish is to use an SLA printer, but they are silly expensive.

Fun project though!

[Guest]

To be honest, this isn't working out as I hoped. I was looking for a project that I could print out on my machine, paint, frame and sell on line or off it, but things are never that simple are they.

I'll have to re-think this through before I go any further.

Thanks for your help guy's.

Fabian.

[Guest]

Taking a 3D-printed model from the print bed to finished product is A LOT of work. I've done it and today I will refuse to print anything unless with a industrial DLP/SLA printer, and those still need sanding and detailing.
There is no money in printing and selling unless you've got access to a professional printer, although the consumer ones are getting much better today.

The only "print & sell" production I can think of that will earn you money right now is if you buy a CNC plasma cutter and make to order. It will require that you know materials, CAD (and CAM) and have the ability to get the customers, but those who do are making money on this. They all were in the metal industry prior and knew both materials and CAD, which helped, and they had some sort of customer base to begin with, but it's the only "print & sell" manufacturing I can think of that works.

Good luck anyway!