Integration of 3D Modeling and Printing of plastic details into Wooden Ship Model Construction (HMS Victory | Cutter Alert) by Serikoff

[Charlie1805]

Da es Sommer ist und ich einen permanent geöffneten Balkon habe, habe ich beschlossen, so viele Teile wie möglich zu drucken, da der Druckvorgang gute Belüftung erfordert. Ich habe noch nicht alles gedruckt, aber der Großteil ist fertig.

Ich habe viele Teile mit Victory gedruckt, die tiefschwarz (und einige mattbraun) lackiert werden. Ich habe also nichts gegen das Lackieren von Plastikteilen, allerdings erst ab einem Maßstab von 1:100. Ich habe alle Teile für die Kupferplattierung beider Alert-Rümpfe vorbereitet, einige sind bereits fertig.

Dieser Artikel bietet eine umfassendere Zusammenfassung des gesamten Prozesses, von der Modellierung der Teile über das Drucken (Lackieren) bis hin zur Kupferplattierung.

Alle Ergebnisse von Victory werden im entsprechenden Thread veröffentlicht, sobald ich mit Alert fertig bin. Im Alert-Thread geht es um die Kupferplattierung der Kunststoffteile. Ich habe nun alle Experimente abgeschlossen und die optimalen Bedingungen gefunden, um mit den Ergebnissen zufrieden zu sein.

Und das ist die Anzahl der bisher gedruckten Teile für beide Modelle. (Das ist noch nicht alles; einige sind noch irgendwo versteckt, und einige (die defekten) wurden aussortiert. Ich mag mir gar nicht vorstellen, wie viele Teile insgesamt gedruckt wurden, wenn man Versuche, Druckexperimente und Fehler mit einrechnet, aber ich schätze, es waren Tausende...)

Ja, ein 3D-Drucker ist nicht billig, aber er spart enorm viel Zeit bei der Herstellung von wiederverwendbaren Teilen. Besonders, wenn man nicht nur ein, sondern mehrere Modelle baut.

Am wichtigsten ist mir jedoch die Fähigkeit, Metallteile (kupferbeschichteter Kunststoff) in komplexen Formen in großen Stückzahlen mit perfekter Wiederholgenauigkeit herzustellen. Was braucht man mehr?

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Ich habe bisher etwa 200 Teile verkupfert, und ich gebe zu, dass das Testen und Experimentieren eine ganze Weile gedauert hat, aber... wenn man bedenkt, dass ich endlich einen Weg gefunden habe, reproduzierbare Ergebnisse zu erzielen, kann ich sehr komplexe Teile in beliebiger Menge um ein Vielfaches schneller herstellen als mit herkömmlichen Löt- oder Gießverfahren... und was ist im Leben wichtiger als Ergebnisse, und vor allem was könnte wichtiger sein als Zeit?
Frieden sei mit allen!

Bis zu deinem Bericht der Anfertigung und Herstellung der 3D-Druck-Teile, deren Beschichtung und realistische Darstellung hätte ich so ein Ergebnis nicht für möglich gehalten. Deine Dokumentation dazu ist einfach fantastisch. Das Ergebnis spricht für sich.

 

[2rods]

While it's summer and I have access to a permanently open balcony, I decided to print as many parts as possible, as printing requires good ventilation. I haven't printed everything yet, but the lion's share is ready.

I printed a lot of parts on Victory, and they will be painted a deep matte black (and some in matte brown). So, I'm not against painting plastic parts, but only at scales of 1:100 and above. I've prepared all the parts for copper plating for both Alert hulls, and some have already been completed.

This article is a more complete summary of the entire process, from modeling the parts to printing, (painting), and copper plating.

All the results from Victory will be in the corresponding thread when I finish with Alert. I'm talking about copper plating the plastic parts in the Alert thread. I've finally completed all the experiments and found the best conditions to ensure I'm happy with the results.

And this is the number of parts printed so far for both models. (That's not all; some are still hidden somewhere, and some (the defective ones) were scrapped. I dread to imagine how many parts were printed, taking into account trials, printing experiments, and errors, but I'd guess it was thousands...

Yes, a printer isn't cheap, but it saves time on creating repeatable parts exponentially. Especially if you're building not just one but several models.

But the most important thing for me is the ability to create metal parts (copper-coated plastic) of complex shapes in large quantities with perfect repeatability. What else do you need...

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I've copper-plated about 200 parts so far, and I admit it took a fair amount of time testing and experimenting, but... considering I finally found a way to achieve repeatable results, I can manufacture very complex parts in any quantity tens of times faster than traditional soldering or casting methods... and what's more important in life than results, and ESPECIALLY what could be more important than time?
Peace to all!

Amazing! Any chance you are going to print the scroll Mouldings on sides of hull? My model is 1:98 scale and Mouldings supplied are terrible.

 

[g8rfan99]

My problem is that I pay less than a US$ for a 3D printed cannon barrel, including shipping. The last ones were for 1:64 scale guns. With a machine that costs over $600, I would need to build six first rates to recoup my investment and that will likely never happen

Allan, I just bought an Elegoo Mars3 (slightly older version) with wash and curing station, plus a ton of resin and an exhaust system for $200 on craigslist. I'm loving it. The details are amazing. You can buy a nice used printer for cheap that will do just as good as a new one. Elegoo even sells returns, still new in the box for half price. You could easily recoup your cost

 

[Philski]

Amazing! Any chance you are going to print the scroll Mouldings on sides of hull? My model is 1:98 scale and Mouldings supplied are terrible.

Why not post a picture.....things might be possible...

 

[AllanKP69]

The details are amazing. You can buy a nice used printer for cheap that will do just as good as a new one.............You could easily recoup your cost

If I wanted to go into business making printed objects, your idea is perfect for someone starting out. Also, if I enjoyed using a machine like that as much as the wood working machines, that would be great as it is hard to put a price on fun so the cost does not really matter as much. But for my own use it makes no sense. It normally takes me about 1 to 2 years to build a model. If I save as much as half the cost by making my own cannon, and now paying $50 for 50 guns I would save $12.50 to $25 every year. $200/$25 = 8 years payback. $200/12.5= 16 years. Subtract the interest or capital gains on $200 for 8 years to 16 years, the payback goes out more years. I know it could be used for making other things on the models, so that could make a difference as well. This probably makes no sense for anyone else, but at my age I have to pick my battles and this is one I would probably lose. Who knows, things might change, so never say never.....
Allan

 

[serikoff]

Amazing! Any chance you are going to print the scroll Mouldings on sides of hull? My model is 1:98 scale and Mouldings supplied are terrible.

To print parts, you don't need a photograph or a sketch, but an STL file with the 3D object you want to print. And that's the key. If you don't have one, you'll need to create it in a 3D program, but I don't make custom parts. It's very time-consuming and unreasonably expensive in some cases. But you can ask this question on the forum; maybe someone else is doing just that.

 

[Strand]

Do you make your STL files available on a platform? Or do you sell them?

 

[Philski]

To print parts, you don't need a photograph or a sketch, but an STL file with the 3D object you want to print. And that's the key. If you don't have one, you'll need to create it in a 3D program, but I don't make custom parts. It's very time-consuming and unreasonably expensive in some cases. But you can ask this question on the forum; maybe someone else is doing just that.

There are programs that do take a photograph and converts them into a 3D file, outputted in any one of many formats. You can also take a photograph and trace it into Fusion 360 then use it as a pattern to creare a 3D file again outputted in several formats. And there are other 3D programs that can also use a photo to create a 3D STL.

 

[Philski]

Do you make your STL files available on a platform? Or do you sell them?

Files I make, I keep to myself. I don't print 3D for profit. Its a hobby I enjoy.

 

[serikoff]

Do you make your STL files available on a platform? Or do you sell them?

I don't know if this question is for me or not, but if it concerns me, I haven't yet sold the specific files I've already created. There are quite a few of them for the Victory and Alert models. I haven't received any requests for that yet. I know you can post them on various resources, and that's logical, and a good idea for payment for the time spent on these files, but again, I haven't done that yet. If you need my files specifically and you're building similar models, please send me a private message.

There are programs that do take a photograph and converts them into a 3D file, outputted in any one of many formats. You can also take a photograph and trace it into Fusion 360 then use it as a pattern to creare a 3D file again outputted in several formats. And there are other 3D programs that can also use a photo to create a 3D STL.

From what I've tried and seen from others, these resources aren't up to the task yet. If you want a good result, you can either create it yourself or order it from professionals. None of these online 3D programs produce decent results. If you've found something really useful, please post its name and the results you got here; that would be helpful.

 

[Dubz Modelling World]

Alert stl files would be nice for me. I have then to stop reading your buildlog otherwise I will never start my Alert build ... hahaha :-D

 

[serikoff]

Alert stl files would be nice for me. I have then to stop reading your buildlog otherwise I will never start my Alert build ... hahaha :-D

Ahahahaha. I kind of created it to inspire someone to build it. At the very least, you can just follow it if you want to make something similar. I'm always happy to help, especially you.

 

[g8rfan99]

If you've found something really useful, please post its name and the results you got here; that would be helpful.

Hi Sergiy
I've tried MeshyAI with very good results. You can upload a photo, drawing or engineering plans and it will create a very detailed model that allows you to download the stl file. I uploaded the plans for the sideboard and sofa in the captains quarters on the Constitution and the models created were perfect.
You can try it for free and it allows you to download 10 files. After that you have to pay for it, but not too expensive

 

[serikoff]

I previously mentioned in my *Alert* build log that if I were to build another ship, it would be the brig *Le Faune*—a sister ship to the brig *Le Sygne* (based on the monograph). As for why I wouldn't build *Le Sygne* itself: it has an ugly duck-shaped figurehead.

*Le Faune*, however, could feature a figurehead of a young woman, so I used the Gemini AI to create this design:



To create a 3D model from this photo using MeshyAI (thanks to @g8rfan99 for recommending the resource), I used Gemini to generate the figureheads without the background or the ship:



I then uploaded that image to MeshyAI, and the result really surprised me (incidentally, I tried it twice):





And although there are some issues with the eyes, considering the entire figure is only about 6 cm tall, the result is very impressive—BUT!
...the service isn't free... and generating a figure like this (if it's a one-off) costs a fair bit. It’s cost-effective if you make a lot of requests.
And by the way, here is what the free version looks like—the one you can download 10 times a month...

Spoiler: Free

But! The fact that this is already possible is a huge step forward and... unfortunately, a major blow to the people who made a living from it... but such is the price of progress.

 

[g8rfan99]

Hi Sergiy,
Sorry about the free Meshy. I can ony guess that overseas they don't offer the same deal. I was able to download 10 files using Meshy 6. From the looks of the above model, they are only letting you use Meshy 5. Since I had alot of other things I wanted to do, I went ahead and made the plunge and spent the money for a one year subscription. I used the image you had above and generated this model

I think you would have to say that the details are much better. I would be more than happy to share the stl file if you would like it. I'm not sure how to share those kinds of files here, so we would have to PM and share actual email addresses. Of course, this model has the figure attached to the stem. ideally you would ant just the figure, with a cavity in the back allowing it to fit onto the stem of the ship.

 

[serikoff]

Hi Sergiy,
Sorry about the free Meshy. I can ony guess that overseas they don't offer the same deal. I was able to download 10 files using Meshy 6. From the looks of the above model, they are only letting you use Meshy 5. Since I had alot of other things I wanted to do, I went ahead and made the plunge and spent the money for a one year subscription. I used the image you had above and generated this modelView attachment 633453

I think you would have to say that the details are much better. I would be more than happy to share the stl file if you would like it. I'm not sure how to share those kinds of files here, so we would have to PM and share actual email addresses. Of course, this model has the figure attached to the stem. ideally you would ant just the figure, with a cavity in the back allowing it to fit onto the stem of the ship.

Fantastic results—it’s especially noticeable on the face. Thanks; I’ve sent you a private message.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

There are programs that do take a photograph and converts them into a 3D file, outputted in any one of many formats. You can also take a photograph and trace it into Fusion 360 then use it as a pattern to creare a 3D file again outputted in several formats. And there are other 3D programs that can also use a photo to create a 3D STL.

Just wondering, but are there things you can print with a resin printer that you can't print with a filament printer? I am thinking of getting a resin printer to compliment my filament printer

 

[g8rfan99]

Hi Mark
I'm sure there are others here who will support me. A resin printer is capable of much finer detail. Especially important when printing small scale parts.

 

[KevinW]

Just wondering, but are there things you can print with a resin printer that you can't print with a filament printer? I am thinking of getting a resin printer to compliment my filament printer

It’s all about detail. I don’t know what you’ve managed to get out of your filament printer but I promise you, the first print you get from a resin printer will blow you away. The figureheads you see in previous posts will come out pretty much exactly as they look in the photos. Even with a 0.1mm nozzle and the finest of layers, I could never get anywhere near that with filament. Resin printers are also much, much easier to use, pretty much plug and play.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

yeah it's the figureheads and various ornamentations that I was looking at printing. I don't like the britannia metal things. I actually used a 3d scanner to scan the items in question and have them in an stl format. I tried to print one of the figureheads, but the result was not good enough for me. So that's why I was thinking of getting a resin printer.