Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
It's more robust for every day or practical applications,not really relevant for model making. I think it's more heat resistant - it certainly prints at a higher temperature
FDM PLA 3D printing - with a model making inclination
- Thread starter Dave Ward
- Start date
Gary MacKenzie
SMF Supporter
Stronger than PLA..............
Dave
I've been printing some models that are taking long times to print - one is just about finished, and it has taken just over 18 hours to print, the output of number of models isn't large, but hopefully better in quality.
Whilst the printer has been busy, I've been searching the 'net for further subjects - I've found loads of 1/1800 ship models, but they aren't detailed enough to upscale - however, there are a lot of wargaming models at 28mm scale, which you can generally upscale to 1/35, you can find some beauties, like the Vickers 'Independant', the Fiat 2000 & a Sherman BARV
I did find onr that Jakko mentioned recently - the Terrapin
I've just sliced it & it's telling me that it will take 19 hours to print - I'll have to go back & see if I can tweak a few settings to reduce that time..........................
Dave
Whilst the printer has been busy, I've been searching the 'net for further subjects - I've found loads of 1/1800 ship models, but they aren't detailed enough to upscale - however, there are a lot of wargaming models at 28mm scale, which you can generally upscale to 1/35, you can find some beauties, like the Vickers 'Independant', the Fiat 2000 & a Sherman BARV
I did find onr that Jakko mentioned recently - the Terrapin
I've just sliced it & it's telling me that it will take 19 hours to print - I'll have to go back & see if I can tweak a few settings to reduce that time..........................
Dave
After 18 hours of printing - a bust! It was a 100mm high Phalanx CIWS - the main body is OK, but the barrels of the 20mm vulcan cannon are just too small to FDM print - it's not apparent until you remove all the supports - I'll have another look tomorrow, to see if I can salvage it, nut not too optimistic 
Dave
Dave
Gary MacKenzie
SMF Supporter
Can you use Microsoft 3d Builder or your slicer to cut the barrels into a separate file and print them vertically?
This is how the Phalanx appeared after printing......................
Virtually covered with support material - this was carefully prised off - revealing
I stopped cleaning it up when I realised the barrel was beyond redemption. I'm going to try & find a replacement barrel cluster, print that ( but not in such fine detail ) & do a bit of transplant surgery. I'm reluctant to discard 18 hours printer time!
On a more successful note, I looked at printing another ship model, split down the middle - It would be impossible to FDM print normally. due to all the overhangs & undercuts.
This is the Orient in 1/350 - French Flagship of Admiral Brueys at the Battle of the Nile 1798. She was destroyed by a magazine explosion. They say that renaming a ship is unlucky - her previous name was Sans-Culotte! ( she was also famous as part of the subject of ' the boy stood on the burning deck ' poem )
One rather macabre fact is that a coffin was made from part of the mainmast of the Orient & presented to Lord Nelson & he was interred in it, inside the sarcophagus in St Paul's Cathedral.
I have printed the masts, but they need a lot of careful clean up - then, of course, how to do any rigging or even sails............
Dave
Virtually covered with support material - this was carefully prised off - revealing
I stopped cleaning it up when I realised the barrel was beyond redemption. I'm going to try & find a replacement barrel cluster, print that ( but not in such fine detail ) & do a bit of transplant surgery. I'm reluctant to discard 18 hours printer time!
On a more successful note, I looked at printing another ship model, split down the middle - It would be impossible to FDM print normally. due to all the overhangs & undercuts.
This is the Orient in 1/350 - French Flagship of Admiral Brueys at the Battle of the Nile 1798. She was destroyed by a magazine explosion. They say that renaming a ship is unlucky - her previous name was Sans-Culotte! ( she was also famous as part of the subject of ' the boy stood on the burning deck ' poem )
One rather macabre fact is that a coffin was made from part of the mainmast of the Orient & presented to Lord Nelson & he was interred in it, inside the sarcophagus in St Paul's Cathedral.
I have printed the masts, but they need a lot of careful clean up - then, of course, how to do any rigging or even sails............
Dave
A couple of prints from the Monoprice
Goalkeeper CIWS - Dutch equivalent of Phalanx
Australian 3" mortar carrier in 1/35 - locally produced in WWII - then handed to Nationalist China.
Yellow filament - the Sunlu printer didn't like this, I tried it on the Monoprice with the same settings & it worked! Not very good filament, though, it doesn't seem to give a great deal of detail & strings a lot
The next print on the Sunlu is the longest I've done so far - It predicted just under 20 hrs, but it took 10 minutes under 24!!
It took 84m of filament ( meaning cost was < £4 ). I was getting nervous around the 22 hour mark, as I thought I may not have enough filament on the spool. You can pause the print & change filament, but it's not something I like doing!. I think I've got about 5m left on the spool.
Like a housebrick made of Lego! A lot of supports - all to be carefully removed!
Several hours later..................
British Mk.I Terrapin 4t amphibious lorry in 1/35, upscaled from 1/56. Not very successful, used on operations in the Scheldt Estuary in 1944. It had two engines each driving one side ( it was a skid steerer ) - if one engine stalled, then it could only circle. It was very tall, which made disembarking difficult, if not dangerous, and on land, the drivers' central position gave poor visibilty. The load area was divided in two, making carriege of large sized loads difficult - the US DUKW was far more flexible in its use.
Two white wheels? A case of brainfade - I only printed 6 wheels at first, only realising my mistake after changing filament in the Monoprice..................
Looks like the grandaddy of the Stalwart!
Dave
Goalkeeper CIWS - Dutch equivalent of Phalanx
Australian 3" mortar carrier in 1/35 - locally produced in WWII - then handed to Nationalist China.
Yellow filament - the Sunlu printer didn't like this, I tried it on the Monoprice with the same settings & it worked! Not very good filament, though, it doesn't seem to give a great deal of detail & strings a lot
The next print on the Sunlu is the longest I've done so far - It predicted just under 20 hrs, but it took 10 minutes under 24!!
It took 84m of filament ( meaning cost was < £4 ). I was getting nervous around the 22 hour mark, as I thought I may not have enough filament on the spool. You can pause the print & change filament, but it's not something I like doing!. I think I've got about 5m left on the spool.
Like a housebrick made of Lego! A lot of supports - all to be carefully removed!Several hours later..................
British Mk.I Terrapin 4t amphibious lorry in 1/35, upscaled from 1/56. Not very successful, used on operations in the Scheldt Estuary in 1944. It had two engines each driving one side ( it was a skid steerer ) - if one engine stalled, then it could only circle. It was very tall, which made disembarking difficult, if not dangerous, and on land, the drivers' central position gave poor visibilty. The load area was divided in two, making carriege of large sized loads difficult - the US DUKW was far more flexible in its use.
Two white wheels? A case of brainfade - I only printed 6 wheels at first, only realising my mistake after changing filament in the Monoprice..................
Looks like the grandaddy of the Stalwart!
Dave
In case you're wondering - things don't always work out.....................
I'd started this print & the first layers went down OK, I went about my usual morning routine, when I heard an unusual noise from the printer, just enough to attract my attention
The print came adrift from the build plate - this was 1 hour into a 9 hour print, luckily I was there & caught it after a few minutes!
I think what happened was that the print warped at one corner, enough for the print head to catch & pull the print off, of course the printer doesn't know this & continues through the motions!
One of the reasons I don't like printing overnight - I've done it,, but there's always the chance that the print will fall off, seconds after you close the bedroom door - then you find 8 hours of plastic wool piled up.
I've resliced the print, turning it through 45 degrees, and used some glue stick ( I use Pritt stick ) - I don't usually need this, but belt & braces. It's 2 hours into it at the moment & it's looking good. It's a weird print anyway. It's not a model that hasn't been injection moulded, but I don't fancy paying £50 for an example - It will be revealed in due course
Dave -
I'd started this print & the first layers went down OK, I went about my usual morning routine, when I heard an unusual noise from the printer, just enough to attract my attention
The print came adrift from the build plate - this was 1 hour into a 9 hour print, luckily I was there & caught it after a few minutes!
I think what happened was that the print warped at one corner, enough for the print head to catch & pull the print off, of course the printer doesn't know this & continues through the motions!
One of the reasons I don't like printing overnight - I've done it,, but there's always the chance that the print will fall off, seconds after you close the bedroom door - then you find 8 hours of plastic wool piled up.
I've resliced the print, turning it through 45 degrees, and used some glue stick ( I use Pritt stick ) - I don't usually need this, but belt & braces. It's 2 hours into it at the moment & it's looking good. It's a weird print anyway. It's not a model that hasn't been injection moulded, but I don't fancy paying £50 for an example - It will be revealed in due course
Dave -
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Very familiar, Dave-I've had many a pile of plastic wool in my time....
Something I found - I was extremely dubious about whether this would print out - if it prints out on the Monoprint, with poor filament, then it should be a breeze on the SunLu Model by Lemoine19 from Thingiverse
Left hand of the cylinder barrel of a Norton Commando. No scale is quoted, but I reckon it's 1/4 scale, - there are well over 100 parts, so it wouldn't be a fast project - I'd have to try and print a wheel to see if that is possible. If so, it could be something that printing a few parts occasionally might work.
Very little idea how this was printed - the modeller is French, so all the file titles don't mean a great deal to me!
Dave
Left hand of the cylinder barrel of a Norton Commando. No scale is quoted, but I reckon it's 1/4 scale, - there are well over 100 parts, so it wouldn't be a fast project - I'd have to try and print a wheel to see if that is possible. If so, it could be something that printing a few parts occasionally might work.
Very little idea how this was printed - the modeller is French, so all the file titles don't mean a great deal to me!
Dave
I tried printing the spokes for the wheels - a non-starter in PLA, even if I could get a clean, complete print, the parts wouldn't be strong enough to hold the weight of the model. It may be possible, using a smaller nozzle & ABS, but I'm not going down that rabbit hole!
I had to try, but I can't say I'm particularly bothered, the Norton Commando wouldn't be on my want list ( even if I had a motorbike one ) - a Brough Superior might be a bit different................
Dave_
I had to try, but I can't say I'm particularly bothered, the Norton Commando wouldn't be on my want list ( even if I had a motorbike one ) - a Brough Superior might be a bit different................
Dave_
That’s a shame, but no point in wasting printing time if you can’t get it to work.
I would LOVE a modern plastic kit of a Brough Superior, by the way, Dave…….
A minor hiccup - I've been prescribed a new medication - I was warned of a few side effects (! ) , and I seem to have had a few - drowsy, a bit of lethargy, with lowered blood sugar levels & worst of all constipation!!. This replaced a drug I'd been taking for about 15 years, so what with withdrawal symptoms from stopping one & side effects from starting a new one, I haven't been a happy bunny................
Luckily I'm getting used to the new stuff, & beginning to feel normal ( for me! ) the printers have been working & I'll be putting up a few pictures of the results. I hope to actually put a few put together & primed this week!
Still casting around for a bridgelayer I did think I'd found the right one, with a Churchill bridgelayer - but the 30ft bridge is just too big to print on my SunLu, without chopping it into bits, which would cause a lot of problems with alignment. I was hoping to find a folding bridge, but that's looking a bit doubtful - I might go for a Churchill ARK, if I don't have any luck!
Dave
Luckily I'm getting used to the new stuff, & beginning to feel normal ( for me! ) the printers have been working & I'll be putting up a few pictures of the results. I hope to actually put a few put together & primed this week!
Still casting around for a bridgelayer I did think I'd found the right one, with a Churchill bridgelayer - but the 30ft bridge is just too big to print on my SunLu, without chopping it into bits, which would cause a lot of problems with alignment. I was hoping to find a folding bridge, but that's looking a bit doubtful - I might go for a Churchill ARK, if I don't have any luck!
Dave
After a lot of searching I've decided................
Valentine Bridgelayer - a purchase from Wargaming3D at just over 8 Euros..................
Churchill ARK
Free download from Thingiverse
Both these have the separate track sides, so can be printed face up on the build plate. I've tried printing other ways, but that doesn't work...............
Dave
Valentine Bridgelayer - a purchase from Wargaming3D at just over 8 Euros..................
Churchill ARK
Free download from Thingiverse
Both these have the separate track sides, so can be printed face up on the build plate. I've tried printing other ways, but that doesn't work...............
Dave
Jim R
SMF Supporter
Those two look nice Dave.
I hope you settle down with the new meds.
I hope you settle down with the new meds.
Some of the prints that have been coming off the printers........................
Tortoise in 1/35
Churchill NA 75 in 1/35
Both of these on the SunLu, the build plate is big enough to print without slicing the pieces.
The Monprice has a small plate I had to cut the hull into 2 pieces...............
Pz.I Bison in 1/35. I made a glaring error with this model - I managed to print two left-hand track sides - I didn't notice until I tried to put it together - I'll have to print the correct one now.
Dave
Tortoise in 1/35
Churchill NA 75 in 1/35
Both of these on the SunLu, the build plate is big enough to print without slicing the pieces.
The Monprice has a small plate I had to cut the hull into 2 pieces...............
Pz.I Bison in 1/35. I made a glaring error with this model - I managed to print two left-hand track sides - I didn't notice until I tried to put it together - I'll have to print the correct one now.
Dave
I've started to print out the Valentine Bridgelayer - I'm printing these at the highest quality that I can, without excessive print times
these track units took about 9 hours each to print = these are in 1/35
Sticking with my favourite filament, Geeetech Silver PLA, I think I've got the slicer settings just about right - if I changed filament, then I'd have to tweak settings. The supports on these prints came away in large sections with minimal effort.
I'm going to print one of the bridge sections overnight - the predicted time is 18 hours.................... I'll start it at around 8, so I can see that the first layers are sticking & lying down properly for a few hours. Just hoping that we don't have any power blips. The SunLu has a 'resume after power failure' feature, but you have to initiate the restart manually, fingers crossed.
Dave
these track units took about 9 hours each to print = these are in 1/35
Sticking with my favourite filament, Geeetech Silver PLA, I think I've got the slicer settings just about right - if I changed filament, then I'd have to tweak settings. The supports on these prints came away in large sections with minimal effort.
I'm going to print one of the bridge sections overnight - the predicted time is 18 hours.................... I'll start it at around 8, so I can see that the first layers are sticking & lying down properly for a few hours. Just hoping that we don't have any power blips. The SunLu has a 'resume after power failure' feature, but you have to initiate the restart manually, fingers crossed.
Dave
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langy71
SMF Supporter
nice and clean prints Dave, they look fabulous