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So after spending probably £1500 on a printer, wash machine, and crapton of patreon stl's; I'm finally in a position to get started. Here's my (slightly impromptu) print station (minus the fan I've still to set up along with the printers). I'll be finishing all that today, and then hopefully cracking on with it tomorrow.

Anyone got any advice on videos I should watch or software I should download before stating? I know that there's a learning curve to all this stuff, and I want to be ready to start experimenting tomorrow.

Wheeeeee another willing victim to the land of being able to make.as much random plastic nonsense as.you like

I would recommend a.space.nearby just to take the two lids to let you transfer stuff over easily.


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In terms of.software, I can recommend meshmixer for smooshing together individual STLs and 3DBuilder is really useful for adding raised or recessed text.

For learning videos, 3dPrintingPro on Youtube has all you'll need in terms of setting up models for good prints, basically just start at his earliest Chitubox tutorials and go forward from there. Not the highest production value, but the information is all good stuff, even if you don't end up using Chitubox in favour of another slicer the principles are the same.

I'm guessing you'll be using mostly presupported files if they're from any of the bigger Patreons? Even so, I'd suggest learning the process of adding support and/or fully supporting a model from scratch, not all presupporrs are foolproof and it's handy to have a knack for spotting any errors in them, which you'll learn by doing your own supports until they consistently work.

Speaking of errors, Photon File Validator is a great way to check for and fix errors, it's rudimentary software but the ability to go through layer by layer and have errant areas highlighted to fix is so helpful.

You're going to want another 3 feet of shelf for post-proc for sure!

So. I'm all set up, and what happened? I realised the Mono and wash machine had European plugs and required an adaptor. The only one I had didn't have sufficient Amperage and blew, meaning I had had to order new ones in. Those arrived today, and I set about my first test print. It failed and came out as a plastic disc. After some research, I concluded it was because of an imperfectly levelled tray, so I redid everything extra carefully, popped it on a second time and voila! One successful test print, as shown below.

I've amassed a list of little odds and sods which didn't come with the pack that I'll want going forward. Namely, a handful of small trays (one to put models on under the UV light function), a pair of tongs, a couple of sieves, and some funnels. Blackfang noted a lack of space above; though what the photo doesn't show in the OP is the three feet of empty tabletop space to the right!

My next task tomorrow will be to install some software, examine a presupported model, try to figure out how/where/why to place supports, and then do a test print with it tweaked. In between christmas dinner and other things of course.

A successful print and a learning experience. Sounds like a good start

So today's attempt was a relative disaster.

I left the resin in the vat overnight, having looked about online and found that some people did this with no trouble. Spent a little bit of time cutting something to shape/support in Lychee. But then after transferring it to print. nothing on the print tray two hours in. I thought it had to be the file, and tried printing something else. Nothing again. I tried relevelling the tray, only to find that my printer started making some horrible screeching noise when it tried to print.

I was flummoxed. And spent the next two hours endlessly trying to relevel the tray, convinced that was the issue. Eventually, I turned to google in desperation, only to find someone with the same problem had posted the answer. Their resin had cured in the bottom of the vat. Which in turn meant that the arm couldn't level, because of the extra thickness of resin (making the screeching noise) and blocking any further printing (no light could get through).

So I just emptied my vat, and lo and behold. A large square of solidified resin at the bottom.

So I suppose I've learned something (my guess is that the temperature isn't warm enough right now to leave resin in the vat overnight), but it doesn't half feel like a wasted day. On Christmas too! So now I'm off to spend the evening with the family, and I'll take another crack in a day or two. Probably the most useful thing I learned is that I can use the wash/cure machine to clean the Vat really well!

Hmmm... I've left resin in the vat for a day or so with no problems. Also its photocuring resin so would cold temperatures cause it to set? If you had a failed print then tried it again I think it's more likely that the failed print left the resin block in place.

When cleaning it out, just be careful about damage to your vat film.

 Flinty wrote:
Hmmm... I've left resin in the vat for a day or so with no problems. Also its photocuring resin so would cold temperatures cause it to set? If you had a failed print then tried it again I think it's more likely that the failed print left the resin block in place.

When cleaning it out, just be careful about damage to your vat film.

Perhaps that was it. Regardless of the cause of the resin solidifying, at least I now know what it sounds/looks like when it happens. I'm rapidly learning that this is how 3d printing works; you spend enough time plugging away at it and you learn what the problems are and how to fix them. And then probably at the end of a month and 2 litres of resin, you're capable of making some very nice prints.

Tip for others:- The Anycubic wash machine with IPA in really does a good job on cleaning my vat! Much better than the tissues did. I might try doing my build plate in there next; it was designed for it after all. I'm getting bored of using up so much paper on the task, and the IPA can have the resin filtered out of it and be reused indefinitely.

I'm thinking I might actually try and print a funnel/sieve tomorrow for putting resin back into the bottles, I've seen several clever designs out there for free. Then I can bung that in the washer machine for cleaning after use as well! Can't stand these small temporary one use versions that came with the printer.

I've left resin in the tank for weeks between prints without any issues. I only tend to clean it out when there's a print fail where something hasn't quite survived the printing process.

In about 6 months, look out for some jagged lines in the prints and regrease the z axis as this is another common failure point. You'll also have weird grinding noises that are different to the one you encountered the other day that mark this cleaning point.

I'll experiment again tonight by leaving the resin in the vat and see if it blocks up again before trying to print anything in the morning.

Otherwise, I got the printer humming again today. It took seven hours to do half a Chimera hull, a few pegs, a turret, and a hatch (all part of a TMC Feudal Guard transport). I autopositioned and autosupported them in Lychee and whacked them in to print.

The results were as can be seen below and were somewhat....disappointing. The smaller hatch and turret came out in a tolerable enough condition, but the hull rear was a mess. It took me ages hacking away with clippers, the supports were so thick and plentiful. The result was an absolutely ruined surface everywhere the supports had been. Pockmarked worse than an asteroid!

Whilst it was printing, I did some messing around in Lychee to try and learn supports better. I've clocked that I basically want to avoid having supports stronger than the odd light one anywhere that has detail I care about, and that I'm better off having just a few strong ones rather than a shed ton. Now I suppose I need to find out how few it is I can get away with. Too few, and I read that the print falling off the plate due to being unable to support its weight is common. But having too many, as Lychee has just amply demonstrated for me, ruins the model. Worse still, if they're too thick, it leaves pockets of uncured resin in the middle! I need to find a happy medium, which I suspect only experience and much testing will give me.

The print was also curiously brittle. I found that on my first test print and so lowered the amount of time the resin spent in the UV chamber for this round. But even now, it feels almost marble like. Any tips for lowering brittleness anyone?

Yeah, in general you only want heavy supports where they're not going to be seen, so behind joins or underneath the model. This is where auto orientation and auto supports fall down, as what the program thinks is optimal doesn't take into account the end result. For infantry, I tend to just tip the model back 10-20° and put half a dozen heavies under the feet, that does most of the work. If I have to support an outstretched limb with heavies (if it doesn't join the main model until much higher up) I always put them under the limb rather than on the side or top, so that at least from most angles it won't be visible. Not sure how that translates to tanks as I've not printed anything like that, but at the very least you want the bottom of the vehicle on facing the build plate (so printing upside down) so that all the heavies are on the underside. From there, give it an angle so it's not trying to print the whole cross section in one layer and you should get better results.

Play with your size settings as well, the defaults may not be idea for minis and the level of detail you're working with. I use 3dPrintingPro's settings, so even my heavies are only 0.8mm at the tip mediums are 0.4-0.6, lights are 0.2), Chitubox has its defaults much thicker so I imagine Lychee's might as well.

Are you removing the supports after or before curing? If the latter, try removing the, beforehand (but after a good wash), and if need be submerge the model in some warm water for a few seconds first. Once you get your settings dialed in, that process should have all but your heaviest supports come away with nary a visible mark on the model.

There's a knack to placing heavies vs lights, but in general you want heavies as anchors for anything that's going to be taking the weight/strain of the model, and lights for small islands or details that need connecting to something. Heavies will ruin detail, and lights won't hold much weight, so knowing what you need each support to do is key. Mediums can do a bit of both, but not as well in either case, I use them much less.

I leave resin in for weeks, but I have a cardboard box over my machine to block all light. Probably also helps with temperature a little bit.

I think I am.learning that even if you have lots of light.supports, if they are too.dense then you get resin. trapped in the gaps that then cures from back scatter over the course of the print. I keep getting weird bumps in these situations that are not entirely from pock marking. To date they tend to be on the rear or underside of my printa so I dont care that much, but I have a couple of prints I want to do shortly for which It will make an real.difference.

So I checked the resin this morning and found the composition at the bottom a little weird. Not quite separated, but a little bit sludgier and more adherent to the bottom of the vat. Adding a little bit more and stirring it dealt with the problem easily, but something to be aware of. I'm using Anycubic's gray eco-resin made out of soybeans, so perhaps that's a little more prone to solidfying over time? It's not an issue now I'm aware of it, and it may not have been the full reason I got a baked square a few days ago, but it may well have played a factor.

I spent this morning learning how to manually support two large tank pieces on Lychee. I now know what an island and a raft are, and I spent a fair bit of brainpower devising support structures; minimal ones which should hopefully bear the weight whilst still clipping off cleanly and not hiding pockets of resin. I just read what you said above about tip size Paradigm, so on my prints tomorrow, I'll try and experiment in that direction (thanks for the advice). Certainly, the auto-support function seems woefully unsuited to doing large pieces from a practical standpoint. Manual would seem to be the way in the future, even if it is much more time consuming.

I've got my two large tank bits in now, and they'll finish later this evening. Everything looks fine two hours into the print, so hopefully I'll have a much more noticeable success than I did yesterday. If it works, than I can use the same files to knock out another four or five of them without all the additional supporting legwork.

I'll say this for manual supports, you'll find you get way faster the more you do. When I started out it would easily take over an hour to do them on even a basic mini, now it's half that for your average, moderately detailed 28mm piece, and I've only been resin printing a few month. Since you're going to experiment with the sizes, here's the full breakdown of the settings I'm getting good results with. As mentioned, they are Chitubox settings so Lychee might not have exactly the same names, but the principles are the same.


Hope that's of some use. You do need your exposure times pretty well dialled in to get these to work, but that's fairly easy to do. Not sure if there's a community resource for exposure times on the new Monos like there is for the old Photon, but if I remember rightly you want about half the time on the new vs the old, so this might still be useful to you:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1crvzMnt_8NJXAsABinoIhcOjE8l3h7s0L82Zlh1vkL8/edit#gid=0

I've just learnt a very valuable lesson. I fell asleep on the sofa, and on coming back to check, found out that vat ran dry of resin about half an hour earlier. So today's print is absolutely screwed. You can see in the pictures below where the resin ran out. It did however allow me to test my lattice construction which for the most part seems to have been a success! They were few enough that (as you can see) they left relatively little harm on detachment, and they came away without much trouble. If I do as Paradigm says (take down the tip size slightly) and probably do about 15% less than I did here, that should probably be the ticket.

One thing that puzzles me is the marbling/criss cross effect I got on one or two surfaces of the print however. Can anyone shed any light on this, i.e. its cause and solution? The last two photos show it off as best as I can. It's not the worst effect in the world, but it looks a little bit like the layering you get on a more regular 3d printer and I'd like to avoid it in future. Also, does anyone have any tips on hollowing and slicing? Paradigm, I'll take a look at the resources later, thank you.

 Ketara wrote:
I've just learnt a very valuable lesson. I fell asleep on the sofa, and on coming back to check, found out that vat ran dry of resin about half an hour earlier. So today's print is absolutely screwed. You can see in the pictures below where the resin ran out. It did however allow me to test my lattice construction which for the most part seems to have been a success! They were few enough that (as you can see) they left relatively little harm on detachment, and they came away without much trouble. If I do as Paradigm says (take down the tip size slightly) and probably do about 15% less than I did here, that should probably be the ticket.

One thing that puzzles me is the marbling/criss cross effect I got on one or two surfaces of the print however. Can anyone shed any light on this, i.e. its cause and solution? The last two photos show it off as best as I can. It's not the worst effect in the world, but it looks a little bit like the layering you get on a more regular 3d printer and I'd like to avoid it in future. Also, does anyone have any tips on hollowing and slicing? Paradigm, I'll take a look at the resources later, thank you.

It could be a number of things. Your build plate might not be leveled. Your Z or X-axis could have issues. Which seems like the most likely candidate. It could also be a problem with your mesh, a problem with the slicer program you're using or it could be a problem with your layer height.

3D printing is for rapid prototyping mostly or at least mostly what it was intended for. As technology improves, 3D printing should begin to start replacing production, have fewer problems overall.

If your build plate is leveled correctly it should POP as it sucks the print off off the reservoir film screen. If you're not hearing that huge suction sound it's not leveled correctly. You may also want to use something adhesive to stick your printer to a solid surface like double sided gorilla tape.

Crisscrossing is not something I've ever experienced, but what I have seen is that certain angles make layers appear more readily - specifically, when something is printing straight up and down. It might be that, or it might be a mesh issue.

You're going a little buckwild with supports here IMO - what I'm finding out is you don't actually need THAT many to support the model structurally - typically I just use 1-3 heavy supports per part, and then every other support is just there to support an overhang point.

 Ketara wrote:
I've just learnt a very valuable lesson. I fell asleep on the sofa, and on coming back to check, found out that vat ran dry of resin about half an hour earlier. So today's print is absolutely screwed. You can see in the pictures below where the resin ran out. It did however allow me to test my lattice construction which for the most part seems to have been a success! They were few enough that (as you can see) they left relatively little harm on detachment, and they came away without much trouble. If I do as Paradigm says (take down the tip size slightly) and probably do about 15% less than I did here, that should probably be the ticket.

One thing that puzzles me is the marbling/criss cross effect I got on one or two surfaces of the print however. Can anyone shed any light on this, i.e. its cause and solution? The last two photos show it off as best as I can. It's not the worst effect in the world, but it looks a little bit like the layering you get on a more regular 3d printer and I'd like to avoid it in future. Also, does anyone have any tips on hollowing and slicing? Paradigm, I'll take a look at the resources later, thank you.

I think I found your answer sir.