3D filament printers. How good filament printers are for ornaments or rigging blocks in 1:96 scale.

[Y.T.]

Good morning,

Did anyone have good results with printing delicate ship ornaments or rigging blocks in 1:96 scale on filament printers? I live in condo and cannot use resin printers due to their toxic vapors.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

i tried and filament printers cannot print the fine detail

 

[Rob444]

The filament printers are getting better and better. My library has a bambu printer that you can use at minimal cost. I printed out some scroll work for the front of a Bluenose schooner that came out exceptionally well. On the other hand I tried some small blocks that did not work well. The holes were basically non existent. However these were very small blocks.

You might try to see if there is a worker space place in your local town. There you may have access to a resin printer. I have printed out a rope walk and waterline marker that both work well. I am starting a list of links to free FTL files that are useful for Model ship builders here.

STL Files for Model Ship Builders.

I have recently been able to use a free 3D printer in my local library to print up some objects that I use in my model building. I have gathered up a few free STL files that have kindly been offered on this site by JeffT, KeDennis and others. I have placed a copy of links for these wonderful...

shipsofscale.com

If you have more links I would be happy to include them,

Rob

 

[Kurt Konrath]

Somewhat off subject, but is there a place on the forum for owners to add STL files to a repository to share with other modelers here in the forum?

 

[Rob444]

Somewhat off subject, but is there a place on the forum for owners to add STL files to a repository to share with other modelers here in the forum?

Kurt.

I just started a thread 2 days ago as a place to store links to STL files. I asked the administrators and they said there is no storage area per se but we can do links. I have placed some for free files of ship building equipment and some cannons. It is located here.

STL Files for Model Ship Builders.

I have recently been able to use a free 3D printer in my local library to print up some objects that I use in my model building. I have gathered up a few free STL files that have kindly been offered on this site by JeffT, KeDennis and others. I have placed a copy of links for these wonderful...

shipsofscale.com

Please feel free to put any links you may have to share with us. If you wish I can combine them with the list I already have there. I am hopeful we can build up a mini library of useful items.

Rob

 

[Y.T.]

On the other hand I tried some small blocks that did not work well. The holes were basically non existent. However these were very small blocks.

i tried and filament printers cannot print the fine detail

They say that some better results can be with 0.02 mm nozzles which are the smallest available at the moment. I wonder if this makes filament printers more suitable. Otherwise must wait a few years longer till someone comes up with better way to print 3D.

 

[Jeffrav]

Good morning,

Did anyone have good results with printing delicate ship ornaments or rigging blocks in 1:96 scale on filament printers? I live in condo and cannot use resin printers due to their toxic vapors.

I live in an apartment too I have a resin and filament printers I use water washable resin with very small vapor smell and have a enclosure to vent out the window I bought on Amazon my blocks come out beautiful at a scale of 1/100 I think a fdm printer would be hard for making small blocks.

 

[Jeffrav]

here are a couple of pics of my setup

 

[Y.T.]

my blocks come out beautiful at a scale of 1/100

Could you share a picture of the blocks?

 

[shipahoy]

I agree with Jeffrav Water based resin is the way to go for almost odorless printing. I usually print batches of 20-30 in grey and paint each block with mini spray gun if i have a lot to do or a brush if only a few ( use toothpicks in a styrofoam block to hold them ) and finish with a clear coat of matt varnish if you want. I design my on blocks in freecad and scale and slice them with lychee.The savings are huge and you get very realistic blocks, not the square single hole things that come with kits.

 

[KevinW]

They say that some better results can be with 0.02 mm nozzles which are the smallest available at the moment. I wonder if this makes filament printers more suitable. Otherwise must wait a few years longer till someone comes up with better way to print 3D.

You can get 0.1mm nozzles but the smaller you go, the higher the propensity to clog. You can get away with FDM for some ornamentation but not for most, and it is simply not comparable to resin. If you have access to a Bambu or any other enclosed printer, you could print using ABS filament and then smooth the printed surface with acetone. Not very pleasant to do but very popular with the miniatures folk.

I've been reading good things about water washable lately. I last tried it maybe 4 or 5 years ago and found the surface quality sub-par compared to normal resin, but when I next need to buy resin I'll probably give it a whirl again, but only because water is (currently anyway!) a heck of a lot cheaper than IPA. I've never found the resin smell problematic, I'm more concerned about the fumes and, unfortunately, water washable still contains VOCs and other nasty chemicals. It goes without saying that you do you and I do me, but having discovered that pneumonia is not at all fun, I run my printers in the garage, separate from my workshop and very separate from our living areas.