I have now printed 4 54mm figures using my 3d printer and this is the latest of them after tweaking a number of settings.
The figures are Russian Napoleonic Infantry designed for 28mm and resin printing rather than the FDM printer I have.
The figure is scaled to 175% size and I have tweaked settings to thicken the walls of the figure, etc which means that the thinner scabbards now cast properly and don't break off.
I am pretty happy with this one and think I should be able to print off a unit to experiment with painting.
I have been asked about printers and settings so technical info follows:
The printer is a Cubicon Style which I bought in 2016 as it had an enclosed case (which made printing ABS easier and I wanted to use it to print components to turn into metal in vulcanised moulds) and it had an auto-leveling plate.
The settings for the figure above are:
0.4mm nozzle
ABS
0.2 layer height
supports are everywhere with an angle of 65 degrees, 10% fill and a grid pattern (I find that these are the easiest to remove.)
There is no raft beneath the print.
Wall thickness is 6, top and bottom are 3
Was it printed standing? ABS needs to be printed to higher temperatures? I ususally use only PLA, even for the prints to use outside. I haven't experienced any problems as they're usually painted and sealed with varnish.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your tips on the wall thickness. I've usually paid more concern to layer thickness, and usually use less then 0.1mm for miniatures in any scale. Now I'm experimenting with layer-height on 0,05mm for H0 (1:87) miniatures (even if the limit of my FlashForge Adventurer 3 is set to 0,1mm). These I print laying in about 30-40 degrees with heads 'down'. I think the layer-lines becomes less visible then. Large scale figures like 1:18 scale I usually prints standing.
If layer-lines becomes to visible, I usually use an overspray of car spray-filler to give them a smoother surface. Since you're using ABS you can use vapors of Acetone to smooth figures. That method does not work on PLA.
My experience is also that it works to print 'resin files' as FDM.
Yes it was printed standing up. ABS is 240 degrees nozzle and 115 degrees for the plate.
ReplyDeleteThese are Toy Soldiers so the layer lines don't bother me too much and they will disappear once painted. 0.2 layers are much better than 0.4 though.