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Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






About a year ago I bought my first 3d printer, a FMD Anycubic i3 Mega. It is a very nice machine that requires very little assembly, so it was kinda perfect for a total novice. I liked it so much that about half a year later I splurged some cash and got a DLP Anycubic Photon. Since then, I've been mostly fething around with stuff, and I'll use this thread to post some of it.

I'l start with one of my forst forays with the i3 Mega: Some walls for Newcromunda!

This message was edited 13 times. Last update was at 2023/01/28 13:54:41


 
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







They look really good. Did you model them yourself or pick them up online?

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






 Flinty wrote:
They look really good. Did you model them yourself or pick them up online?


I downloaded them from Thingiverse, and yeah, they look really cool . These are the ones I'm using:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2742746
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2799190
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2800358
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2803044
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2799472


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Some other early tests, trying to print minis with the FDM printer:

MWO Wolverine:




Goblin warrior from Thingiverse:




MWO Thunderbolt:



This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/07/16 07:43:04


 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

The quality possible on the FDM printer surprises me (in a good way!). I always think of those as only really being usable for the larger scenery.

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






 warboss wrote:
The quality possible on the FDM printer surprises me (in a good way!). I always think of those as only really being usable for the larger scenery.

If you print slowly and the printer is well calibrated, you can do very minute stuff... and if you use a smaller printing head (which I haven't, I'm using a regular 0.4mm one) you can do stuff that compares very well with low def DLP printing.

Still, each printing tech has its best case uses, TBH, and fdm cleaning is much, much harder IMHO, at least when talking about minis.

Some more FDM tests:

Map scale Leopards (low quality [meaning, high layer size for fast print] prints):




Macross Q-Rau:




Macross Gnerl:





Macross Armored VF:





Epic scale Deimos Predator:




40k scale Deimos Rhino:


MWO Atlas:



Generic-ish sorceress mini from Thingiverse (face turnes out kind of crappy but that might be the smoothest print I've made on the Mega):


   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

How much prep time per fig would you estimate the infantry sized figs (up to the various mechs) take to get them to those states?

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






 warboss wrote:
How much prep time per fig would you estimate the infantry sized figs (up to the various mechs) take to get them to those states?

It really depends on the mini in question. If it has been designed with FDM printing in mind, supports will be minimal and you'll be mostly smoothing things out. For example, from the above the sorceress, and the goblin are almost as-is.

In other cases the pieces will have been split for ease of printing or poseability, which will make prep lenghtier but will get you good results (of the above, the Gnerl and the Q-Rau were split):



In other cases, though, you will need supports, which means that you will need to remove those supports... and the more complex the mini is, the harder to remove those are. This was the case of the Armored VF above, which came out from the printing bed like so:



Cleaning this one up was a fething nightmare, let me tell you. That one might have been what finally prompted me to splurge and get a Photon. And boy, does it make a difference!



OTOH, resing support cleaning is really easy in comparison ^_^

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/07/17 06:41:10


 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

Thanks.. and, yeah.. wow... that veritech looks sisyphean in terms of the cleanup. With your photon, do you have an option as to what size connection to the actual model you can use for the supports? (to minimize the possible damage to surface detail/cleanup effort) I'd be curious if for smaller 25-35mm infantry sized figures printed in one piece if that affects print stability. In regards to your earlier comment about nozzle diameter, this video popped up in my youtube recommended feed this morning and might be of use. I've only watched a few minutes and apologies if it covers stuff you already know. The first 6 minutes are basically warnings, precautions, and reasons why you shouldn't change to a smaller diameter nozzle but there is a noticeable difference in the quality of the baby benchy boat model at the 6:30 mark. It's a bit of a moot point though as you've already got a good resin printer though and not worth spending almost 24 hours to print a 35mm figure.


This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2019/07/17 14:45:31


We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






 warboss wrote:
Thanks.. and, yeah.. wow... that veritech looks sisyphean in terms of the cleanup. With your photon, do you have an option as to what size connection to the actual model you can use for the supports? (to minimize the possible damage to surface detail/cleanup effort)

Yeah, both the official Anycubic slicer and Chitubox allow multiple support sizes, as well as automatic and manual placement, and you can combine support sizes in the same print. Chitubox have more detailed options, though.

I'd be curious if for smaller 25-35mm infantry sized figures printed in one piece if that affects print stability.

Can't say I've had much of a problem with them.

In regards to your earlier comment about nozzle diameter, this video popped up in my youtube recommended feed this morning and might be of use. I've only watched a few minutes and apologies if it covers stuff you already know. The first 6 minutes are basically warnings, precautions, and reasons why you shouldn't change to a smaller diameter nozzle but there is a noticeable difference in the quality of the baby benchy boat model at the 6:30 mark. It's a bit of a moot point though as you've already got a good resin printer though and not worth spending almost 24 hours to print a 35mm figure.
One of the usually overlooked perks of using a smaller noozle is that supports are far easier to remove. But yeah, they come with their own sets of problems, and given the costs, well... honestly speaking, I feel it's best to use FDM printers for what they're best at.

Now, as I said, I ended up getting a resin printer too (it was on sale at the time), and boy, does it make a difference! These were my first prints, and the quality absolutely blew me away:


(The fething gun cannon is fething hollow! At that size! That's bonkers)




(Again, just for clarity )

After cleanup, I ended up with this:






I didn't stop using the FDM printer, of course. I just... started using it for other stuff. Like custom dice:





And... you know, stuff ^^

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Virginia

I really need to get my library to buy a Photon, our FDM printer really struggles to do my conversion bits.
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






After my first prints using the newfangled Photon, I continued doing some more tests:





And then I started to try and push the limits of the printer further... until then I had only printed stuff at 50 microns per layer, which, as far as it goes, is actually the thicker recommended layer height. So next I tried to print the same model at 50 microns and again at 20 microns, to try to see how much of a difference would that make. Yhis is the mini I tried it with:



Primed, because that green gak doesn't really takes well to photos:



Now, first things first: 50 microns is more than enough definition for most things, and works really well for minis. But still, as you can see the difference is noticeable in photos (almost not at all with the naked eye, though). And it is even moreso when you actually zoom in:

50 microns:



20 microns:

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/07/23 07:57:17


 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

I wonder how the recently added anti-aliasing would affect the 50 micron layer. I'd imagine that it wouldn't do anything for the 20 as I can't see any layer lines there. Were the orientations on the print bed the same for both?

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






Yep, exact same orientation for both.

As to the antialising, remember that it only helps with the pixelation of each layer: it won't help with the vertical layering per se.
   
Made in ca
Fireknife Shas'el






50 microns seems to be approximating the surface texture of lead free pewter castings. 20 microns approaches injection plastic or resin casting. Thanks for blogging this.

   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






It's been a bit more than a month, and well... I've been doing stuff ^^

With the advent of the new Adeptus Titanicus I had already been mulling around the idea of doing some Epic stuff, and the Apocalypse ruleset kinda set me to do it, as I felt it could be worth to test it that way. So... I started with these:




Those are regular Epic size, but honestly... I feel they work well enough with AT, really:





They also paint up really, really well, IMHO:





Automatically Appended Next Post:
The logical step, then, was Armigers of course





...and then I thought smaller:



Just out of the vat and still wet. I could have filled more the bed, but well... that's a 2-hours print, so...



This is what they look like just of of the cleaning. The detail is insane, and I've printed those at "low" detail settings!




Yeah, I know they don't look like much unpainted... but they do gain a lot with a lick of paint:




Those were painted in about 5 minutes and what it took to dry the wash.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2019/09/02 21:43:20


 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

Nicely done! The finish on the tiny marines is smoother than expected. Have you noticed a difference in that regard between your resin printers?

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






I still haven't painted any Epic infantry using the Mars, so not so far


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Once I saw that a Horus Heresy Space Marine force was pretty doable, I turned my eyes again to ye olde anvil of the Emperor:




I love how they look side by side with marines:




The bases, by the way, were printed on a fdm printer





Once again, a tiny bit of paint works miracles:



After seeing that infantry was withing my grasp, I started to churn more armor. Firstly, some Chimeras and more russes:



I... kinda made a whole buncha them





I love how they look, TBH:




And then... well, then bigger stuff, you know:








For size:





This is all I've ended printing, armor-wise, but I still have only assembled like one third of the infantry I made...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/09/02 22:48:50


 
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

What great work - the resin printers do such a good job. You have an excellent armored force!!

Do you find the resin cost with all you have printed a bit much or is it manageable?

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






 MDSW wrote:
What great work - the resin printers do such a good job. You have an excellent armored force!!

Do you find the resin cost with all you have printed a bit much or is it manageable?


IME, more than manageable. All that, plus about thrice as many infantry more, plus all the supports, plus some other assorted stuff for a friend's boargame might have been... maybe half a liter of resin. Or about €23.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Lately I've been playing a campaign of Maho Shojo, an upcoming PbtA RPG about magical girls that's going to be released sometime this year. We had a blast. This was our team, the Uber Fraus, with a mythical norse theme:









This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2019/09/03 19:35:57


 
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

Killer!!!

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

The chibi is strong with this one.

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






Last week I tested the Lancer RPG for the first time. It's a very interesting, tactical mech combat RPG with deep customization, and we got hooked. And well, one thing led to another and...

I started with these guys



(btw, contrast paints over metallic coat gives a lovely metallic color)



Then I went "eh, why the hell not", and started testing out sizes, and... (the current Btech box mechs are there for size comparisons)












Automatically Appended Next Post:
And this is my very first "own" miniature. I posed this one using the destophero beta using their current assets, and I'm really happy with how it looks, and with what it means for the future. I mean, I "designed" this in the morning and had the mini by lunchtime! That's bonkers!

(the closed fist arm din't print correctly, though. I need better supports there)



This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/09/04 09:34:35


 
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

Great!! The design feature you have is great, as i have not jumped into that aspect yet, but it would have taken my Ender 3 the better part of the workday to print that in the highest resolution.

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






 MDSW wrote:
Great!! The design feature you have is great, as i have not jumped into that aspect yet, but it would have taken my Ender 3 the better part of the workday to print that in the highest resolution.


In this case I printed it at 50 microns per layer, and it took about 2 hours and a half to print, which is not bad. Of course, printing 6 would have taken exactly the same time...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/09/04 16:57:48


 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

 Albertorius wrote:

And this is my very first "own" miniature. I posed this one using the destophero beta using their current assets, and I'm really happy with how it looks, and with what it means for the future. I mean, I "designed" this in the morning and had the mini by lunchtime! That's bonkers!

(the closed fist arm din't print correctly, though. I need better supports there)

Spoiler:




I like it. Is that a heroforge style plug and play service or have you branched out into 3d modelling?

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






 warboss wrote:
 Albertorius wrote:

And this is my very first "own" miniature. I posed this one using the destophero beta using their current assets, and I'm really happy with how it looks, and with what it means for the future. I mean, I "designed" this in the morning and had the mini by lunchtime! That's bonkers!

(the closed fist arm din't print correctly, though. I need better supports there)

Spoiler:




I like it. Is that a heroforge style plug and play service or have you branched out into 3d modelling?


Heroforge style but currently much more involved (I had to close that empty hand, and each digit has three joints... >_&gt. The second iteration of DesktopHero is very much in beta yet, so the amount of assets is quite limited, currently.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Virginia

I love those Epic tanks for AT and Battlemechs sooooooo much!
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






 Fajita Fan wrote:
I love those Epic tanks for AT and Battlemechs sooooooo much!


Thanks! I'm really happy about how they turned out, tbh. Epic was something that I always liked to get heavily into, but at the time I got there GW prices were kinda stupid high...

Also, I just printed these feudal world IG regiment troops:




I'm trying to fill up as much of the building plate as I can, for this kinda stuff:



Also working on a City of Tarok cottage:




Automatically Appended Next Post:
A very fast and dirty paint test:




This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2019/09/07 16:13:55


 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Virginia

I really wish I could get my hands on a resin printer.
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

Looks great, Albertorius. Were those at 50 microns? You can definitely see the difference in the details with models purpose built for printing as compared with the more shallow details on my first test print.

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
 
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