Author Topic: Love my 3d-Printer!  (Read 12177 times)

I am Belch II

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #30 on: 06 March 2019, 15:29:47 »
Nice. Makes me want a 3D printer even more now
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worktroll

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #31 on: 06 March 2019, 20:11:01 »
A colleague at work has gotten a 3D printer. It's convinced me I could do good things, provided I spent all the time I spend on making & painting my minis, on learning how to use a 3D printer to best effect. Which seems slightly self-defeating, for me anyway.

When we can get a BT-scale vehicle printed for a couple of bucks by a third-party provider, at suitable resolution for tabletop use; when you could get your 3D terrain, or Heroscape-style hexes, printed for less than the cost of buying them commercially, the millenium will have come.

I'm loving watching those who have more time, or more interest in the 3D printers, doing wonderful things.

W.
* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

Papabees

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #32 on: 13 March 2019, 22:29:19 »
Any opinions on this printer:

https://flashforge-usa.com/products/finder-3d-printer

Has good amazon reviews. I was planning on mainly printing Btech type minis for wargames. My preference would be to not have a grainy appearance.

NeonKnight

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #33 on: 14 March 2019, 08:15:15 »
I cannot reccomend enough if you are looking to do Minis, to go the Resin Route. PLA doesn't quite get the same level of detail.
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grimlock1

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #34 on: 14 March 2019, 09:01:15 »
I cannot reccomend enough if you are looking to do Minis, to go the Resin Route. PLA doesn't quite get the same level of detail.
The other limitation to the Finder is that it's a single filament machine.  It has to print any support structure out of the same material as the item.  The contact points for the supports are fairly thin but it can still leave you with a fair bit of sanding and filing. A machine with PVA supports is much better suited to complex, unsupported features like overhangs. Here's a good article about that.

All that said, I have a Finder and I've been pretty happy with it. The stock slicer software is okay, but I'm looking into something that will let have more control over layering and infill.
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Papabees

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #35 on: 14 March 2019, 12:54:06 »
I cannot reccomend enough if you are looking to do Minis, to go the Resin Route. PLA doesn't quite get the same level of detail.
Is the only way to go resin a SLA printer? I'm really looking to jump in so if there are some articles or pages I should review to educate my self rather than bother you guys with questions feel free to point me that way.

Papabees

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #36 on: 14 March 2019, 12:58:40 »
The other limitation to the Finder is that it's a single filament machine.  It has to print any support structure out of the same material as the item.  The contact points for the supports are fairly thin but it can still leave you with a fair bit of sanding and filing. A machine with PVA supports is much better suited to complex, unsupported features like overhangs. Here's a good article about that.

All that said, I have a Finder and I've been pretty happy with it. The stock slicer software is okay, but I'm looking into something that will let have more control over layering and infill.
Grimlock, would the finder allow for using different software if I wanted? I was considering the Anycubic Photon but some of what I have read says the odor is noticeable in an SLA and I was planning on using this in the house.

Is there any good source to compare PVA/SLA/etc. I like to get the best bang for my buck in the $300 to $400 dollar range and the prints from the finder on the Youtube review looked really good but if I can spend a shade more and get an appreciable increase in value or performance I'm open to it.

worktroll

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #37 on: 14 March 2019, 13:06:36 »
I've got some great prints off a co-worker with a filament printer (I dunno the fancy words). 1:200 armour is a little small next to IWM vehicles, but not as bad as true 1:285 like GHQ. I'll try & post some pics. He's played with resolution & layering; the finest is very good, but the faster (~45 minutes to print an SU-122) are good indeed!

OTOH, I have some lovely resin prints from another gent I know, who got himself the "best under $15K" printer on the market. And yes, they are lovely.

I think it comes down to how much you intend to use it. I'd suggest that the current cheaper printers are entirely capable of making items which will look fine on the gaming table. If you're looking to make 'Mech-scale WarShips, or masters for casting, the resins seem the way to go at the moment.

My main beef is that the time to become fluent with a 3D printer would eat the time I have for the painting/modding of minis. So I'm happy to sit back atm.

W.
* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

grimlock1

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #38 on: 14 March 2019, 13:29:32 »

My main beef is that the time to become fluent with a 3D printer would eat the time I have for the painting/modding of minis. So I'm happy to sit back atm.
Why mod minis when you can make them exactly how you want them?

I know I'm stirring the pot, but I can't help myself.
I'm rarely right... Except when I am.  ---  Idle question.  What is the BV2 of dread?
Apollo's Law- if it needs Clan tech to make it useable, It doesn't deserve those resources in the first place.
Sure it isn't the most practical 'mech ever designed, but it's a hundred ton axe-murderer. If loving that is wrong I don't wanna be right.

Cache

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #39 on: 14 March 2019, 16:26:46 »
Why mod minis when you can make them exactly how you want them?
Because he can't make them exactly how he wants as he lacks the 3D modeling skills. But he does have the modding skills.   WT should learn to code.  ^-^

Woodworkers make things out of wood. Metal-workers make them from metal. Modders mod and 3D modelers go that route.  8)

worktroll

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #40 on: 14 March 2019, 17:41:23 »
I'm a kitbasher. I need someone else to make things, and then I change/combine them.

If I was a sculptor, might be different. And I was a coder, decades ago. PICK, Fortran77, Pascal, anyone?  :wheelchair:
* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

Easy

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #41 on: 14 March 2019, 17:53:11 »
cleanup
« Last Edit: 29 May 2019, 15:50:44 by Easy »

Daryk

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #42 on: 14 March 2019, 18:45:08 »
Pascal was what we used in my AP Computer Science class in high school...

worktroll

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #43 on: 14 March 2019, 20:40:33 »
If you want me to invoke 6502 & Z80 assembly language ... Execute User Immediately!
* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

Daryk

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #44 on: 15 March 2019, 03:18:54 »
We had to use assembly language in a few labs in college... It wasn't that bad, but I wouldn't call if "fun" either...

grimlock1

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #45 on: 15 March 2019, 07:55:16 »
I'm a kitbasher. I need someone else to make things, and then I change/combine them.

If I was a sculptor, might be different. And I was a coder, decades ago. PICK, Fortran77, Pascal, anyone?  :wheelchair:
Hey, don't knock Fortran!  Until 6 months ago, I worked at a particle accelerator that was running on Fortran.  In fact, they finally finished upgrading to Fortran 90 about 2 years ago!
I'm rarely right... Except when I am.  ---  Idle question.  What is the BV2 of dread?
Apollo's Law- if it needs Clan tech to make it useable, It doesn't deserve those resources in the first place.
Sure it isn't the most practical 'mech ever designed, but it's a hundred ton axe-murderer. If loving that is wrong I don't wanna be right.

Exilyth

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #46 on: 15 March 2019, 23:10:04 »
Nice 3d prints.


If you're interested in 3d printing, there's at least 2 links you absolutely need to know:

https://www.reprap.org/wiki/RepRap - the rep rap project aims to build a 3d printer which can print itself. The community has a wiki and a forum, both of which are full of interesting info and projects (mostly 3d printer designs build by people) related to 3d printing. Topics include, amongst others: building and calibrating printers, printing in various materials, various colors, printing electronics (!), recycling old prints into filament.

https://www.thingiverse.com/ - a giant repository of printable object, most of which are permissively licensed and ready to print. Includes some interesting categories - e.g. "wargaming" and "architecture" contain many objects which could be rescaled and used as terrain.
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worktroll

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #47 on: 17 March 2019, 01:07:19 »
Go to Thingiverse, and find Bergman's 1:200 WW2 packs (all 4 of them), and his 1:100 pack, and his WW1 1:200 pack. All the historical vehicles you'll ever need. The 1:200 is a little small; a SU-122 comes out about the same size as a Striker or Hetzer. But scale can be modified.

If nothing else, I'll be getting lots of trucks printed - the gent who'll do them for me is very price-competitive with ordering metal heavy APCs, or buying epic Rhinos off ebay.
* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

Bedwyr

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Re: Love my 3d-Printer!
« Reply #48 on: 25 May 2019, 10:34:24 »
Spitballing priorities, I would probably recommend that if one is going for a single printer, get the one that's better at miniature detail. While 3D printed buildings are very cool, the hobbyist can get very good results with foam board, mat board, and styrene (after all that's what effects artists work in; you can always print specific details like roof chillers with the precision printer).

I need to re-up this. After some time's passed, I think my more frequent use case is just going to be structural rather than artistic, so enclosures, hinges, and couplings. So I'm looking for good structural integrity with good resolution for a nice appearance and hand-feel.
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