FDM PLA 3D printing - with a model making inclination
- Thread starter Dave Ward
- Start date
It's the nature of the beast! Although remember these pictures are massively blown up!
Dave
That birch gun looks very good.
+1
Hmm had an overnight failure - 6 hours into a 8 hour print - the printer stopped with a 'jam' warning. It proved to be a clogged nozzle. I had to change the nozzle, but the existing part of the print is useless. The nozzles are considered a consumable item & are cheap ( around 25p ). Changing them is a pain - literally - they have to be removed/replaced at around 200C & I haven't managed to change one yet without a few scorch marks. Changing the nozzles means you have to go round & do the bed levelling, to compensate for any slight difference in nozzle height, and yes, it can make a difference ( bitter experience ). Printer now up and running..................
Dave..
Dave..
The worst tank made by Britain - had an experimental horizontally opposed 12 cylinder engine - was ordered off the drawing board, and had so many problems that it was deemed unfit for service overseas. Cooling problems were impossible to solve, Nevertheless 1771 examples were made, only used for Home Defence and training declared obsolete in 1943. Some were converted to bridgelayers & used operatinally in Europe & by the Australian Army in the Far East. Bovington have an example
A13 Covenanter
Britain made about half the number of tanks that Germany did in WWII, but when 1771 were as useless as the Covenanter, that's hardly a meaningful statistic :sad:
Dave
A13 Covenanter
Britain made about half the number of tanks that Germany did in WWII, but when 1771 were as useless as the Covenanter, that's hardly a meaningful statistic :sad:
Dave
The printer has been busy - parts for the WWI Gun Carrier Mk.I
These are the external panels for the tracks ( each is in two build plate friendly pieces )
Printed nicely - easier when all the detail is on a flattish horizontal plate.
This was the one I thought was going to be a problem - I did have to do some extra work in the slicer settings - but I set it running ealy last night, and after 16 hours 15 minutes
It's essentially hollow & has detail on 5 faces, but I had to use extra supports, as there quite a few hanging bits internally.
I have been only able to find one rather vague drawing of the contents of the blockhouse, showing engine & gearbox, but that's it - no photos, nothing. I'd hoped that Panzershop, who make the 200 Euro resin model might have had some info on the inside, but no. There's a large arched opening at the front which will show the emptiness, so I'll have to get a bit creative............
Next to print will be the tracks, which I dont think will be a problem ( famous last words )
Dave
These are the external panels for the tracks ( each is in two build plate friendly pieces )
Printed nicely - easier when all the detail is on a flattish horizontal plate.
This was the one I thought was going to be a problem - I did have to do some extra work in the slicer settings - but I set it running ealy last night, and after 16 hours 15 minutes
It's essentially hollow & has detail on 5 faces, but I had to use extra supports, as there quite a few hanging bits internally.
I have been only able to find one rather vague drawing of the contents of the blockhouse, showing engine & gearbox, but that's it - no photos, nothing. I'd hoped that Panzershop, who make the 200 Euro resin model might have had some info on the inside, but no. There's a large arched opening at the front which will show the emptiness, so I'll have to get a bit creative............
Next to print will be the tracks, which I dont think will be a problem ( famous last words )
Dave
I've been confounded by the model of the Canadian Ram tank, I just can't get the separate fenders to print in any acceptable way. I've just about exhausted my options, the only one left is printing them as complete solids - which will take a long time. Looking at the hull & turret, I.m wondering whether to bother
The grille detail on the engine deck has not printed, so I might ditch this - one of things that looked OK on the slicer, but in practice isn't a goer! I suppose experience will alert me to these things, but you've got to fall into these holes, before you learn to avoid them.
Dave
The grille detail on the engine deck has not printed, so I might ditch this - one of things that looked OK on the slicer, but in practice isn't a goer! I suppose experience will alert me to these things, but you've got to fall into these holes, before you learn to avoid them.
Dave
SunLu printer out of commission - I had a nozzle clog, which I couldn't clear without dismantling the hot end. During assembly, I managed to break the temperature probe in the heat block. This controls the nozzle temperature, and nothing will work without it. I do have a spare, but it actually means doing some wire splicing - something I'm not that good at. The spare has a plug, but in order to fit that, I'd have to remove all the cable protection wraps & open up the mainboard box, something that took me 5 seconds to decide not to do. One of those jobs that you really have to feel like attempting, which, at the moment I'm not. At least I have a spare - I bought a few of the 'consumable' bits, like drive belts, nozzles, heat breaks, bowden tubing & connectors, fans & temperature probes - all of which are the more common bits to fail. All from China - the parts are cheap, but you do have a 2-3 week delay in getting them...........
Dave
Dave
Finally managed to repair the SunLU - the thermistor is a very delicate pair of wires, not really the best, when you have fat fingers!, but after a lot of false starts it's fitted & the machine is working.
In my searches for models of the more obscure tanks I've been looking at the early Italian tanks, I've found a few..............
Fiat 3000 - only 2 made, but they did exist & were used operationally ( against N. African Tribesmen! ). Tere are some resin models available, but all are scarce & costly ( it's a biggie! )
Fiat 3000 - Italian version of the Renault FT-17. Tauro made a 1/35 model of this - one of the really dreadful products of the last century!
M11/39 - again a few models, more collectors items!
I've looked at the .stl files, and all appear to be doable. As usual, I'll blow them up to 1/35.
All the above were freebies!
I've actually lashed out $9 and bought files for this-
Included is the armoured ammo carrier version as well. I'd looked at the Accurate Armour version of this, but at £130+, I'd shied away!
This is in 1/56, but there aren't any red flags for printing it in 1/35
Just as well I'd got a spare PLA filament spool!
Dave
In my searches for models of the more obscure tanks I've been looking at the early Italian tanks, I've found a few..............
Fiat 3000 - only 2 made, but they did exist & were used operationally ( against N. African Tribesmen! ). Tere are some resin models available, but all are scarce & costly ( it's a biggie! )
Fiat 3000 - Italian version of the Renault FT-17. Tauro made a 1/35 model of this - one of the really dreadful products of the last century!
M11/39 - again a few models, more collectors items!
I've looked at the .stl files, and all appear to be doable. As usual, I'll blow them up to 1/35.
All the above were freebies!
I've actually lashed out $9 and bought files for this-
Included is the armoured ammo carrier version as well. I'd looked at the Accurate Armour version of this, but at £130+, I'd shied away!
This is in 1/56, but there aren't any red flags for printing it in 1/35
Just as well I'd got a spare PLA filament spool!
Dave
Some interesting stuff Dave.The Deacon is a real oddity but find it interesting.Great stuff.
Rich
The Kingsroon printed the Fiat 3000
In 1/35 - 4 pieces, tracks, hull & turret looks OK
The Fiat 2000 is at another level, size wise. If fits on the SunLu, just,
These took 8 hours apiece to print:
The Lower hull just about fits diagonally on the build plate - leaving about 5mm space! Its not complicated, just large & will take about 6 hours to print. There's the upper hull, top plate, final drive,, main turret & 7 mg turrets = the last two will fit on the Kingsroon, but the others are just a bit too large!
Dave
In 1/35 - 4 pieces, tracks, hull & turret looks OK
The Fiat 2000 is at another level, size wise. If fits on the SunLu, just,
These took 8 hours apiece to print:
The Lower hull just about fits diagonally on the build plate - leaving about 5mm space! Its not complicated, just large & will take about 6 hours to print. There's the upper hull, top plate, final drive,, main turret & 7 mg turrets = the last two will fit on the Kingsroon, but the others are just a bit too large!
Dave
I found a really obscure tank model - there were 125 of these made....................
I had to look this up! - Anybody identify this rarity?
Dave
I had to look this up! - Anybody identify this rarity?
Dave
Yep - I was looking at Marmon Harrington srmoured cars & it came up - 200 were ordered for the Dutch Army in 1940, but after 125 were made war intervened. The US Army tested one & found it to be useless for any service purpose. The tanks were shipped to Surinam ( Dutch Colony ), but fell into disrepair due to no manpower - they were nominally in service until 1954, when Suriname became independent - I suppose they were scrapped after that.............
Dave
I realise that I've been concentrating on my 3D printing to the detriment of my other models, so after the present range of models has printed, I'll be cutting back on the prints, and going to be opening a few boxes from the stash - starting with a Sukhoi Su-2 for the WWIII Soviet wingy thing GB.
I have started printing out the Deacon 6 pdr SPG, and I have to say that the results have really surprised me - I'll be putting up a few pictures of some parts shortly
Dave
I have started printing out the Deacon 6 pdr SPG, and I have to say that the results have really surprised me - I'll be putting up a few pictures of some parts shortly
Dave
Printing the parts for the 1/35 Deacon ( blown up from 1/56 )............
The turret
Need a bit of cleaning up & removing supports was a bit nerve wracking, but happy with that. Roof - separate print
Chassis ( or sub frame as they call it )
Supports needed careful removal, but as a single piece print, I don't think it coild be much better. I keep on saying that, but a very minor tweak in the slicer program can have quite an effect. The turret & chassis both took around 7 hours to print on the SunLu, with my normal Geeetech Silver PLA.
I'm going to finish printing the other parts for this, cab, rear deck, fuel tank, wheels etc, but these were the two that I thought may give me grief! Thw printer wll then take a back seat as I turn back to my bench & normal kits
Dave
The turret
Need a bit of cleaning up & removing supports was a bit nerve wracking, but happy with that. Roof - separate print
Chassis ( or sub frame as they call it )
Supports needed careful removal, but as a single piece print, I don't think it coild be much better. I keep on saying that, but a very minor tweak in the slicer program can have quite an effect. The turret & chassis both took around 7 hours to print on the SunLu, with my normal Geeetech Silver PLA.
I'm going to finish printing the other parts for this, cab, rear deck, fuel tank, wheels etc, but these were the two that I thought may give me grief! Thw printer wll then take a back seat as I turn back to my bench & normal kits
Dave
These will be last pictures for a while of new prints _ I'm having a break to comcentrate on the GB
The Deacon dry fitted.......................
Still missing the fuel tank..................
M11/39 - not happy with this, the tracks don't look good - blowing up from 1/100 was a bit too much.
Fiat 2000, again in 1/35. Problem with this was the upper hull insisted on warping - I printed it out again, and used 2-part epoxy glue with four clamps, but there's still a warp & needs filler to close gaps. Thhe upper hull has thin & thick sections, which cool & contract at different rates - giving a warp. It's really noticeable here due to the large size. It may have been easier to split the upper hull at one of the joint lines & printed the halves verticaly, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.......................
Dave
The Deacon dry fitted.......................
Still missing the fuel tank..................
M11/39 - not happy with this, the tracks don't look good - blowing up from 1/100 was a bit too much.
Fiat 2000, again in 1/35. Problem with this was the upper hull insisted on warping - I printed it out again, and used 2-part epoxy glue with four clamps, but there's still a warp & needs filler to close gaps. Thhe upper hull has thin & thick sections, which cool & contract at different rates - giving a warp. It's really noticeable here due to the large size. It may have been easier to split the upper hull at one of the joint lines & printed the halves verticaly, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.......................
Dave
A major fifficulty with FDM printing is with thin hollow sections - you can use the standard grid support, but removing this often wrecks the part, even after a successdul print. I've neen trying to print a General Electric Dash 9 diesel Locomotive, but the cab was not printing.
There is another method of support, which is generally used for resin printing, organic, or tree support. I had read that it could be used on FDM printers as well, for very delicate parts. Unusually this has been scaled down from G scale to OO ( 1/22.6 to 1/76 )
This was the fourth attempt to print, the first organc support. You can see why it's called that, or 'tree' It lloks really weird. This support is automatically generated by my PrusaSlicer slicer programme. It ony took about 80 minutrs to print.
After a minute or so of cleaning up
The supports just cracked away. There are certain areas that need a bit of a file, but given that the cab is under 30mm wide not too shabby. The wall sections are very thin and were the mjotr problem with normal supports
I was pleaed to see the window frames actually printed - the edges need smoothing, but not a lot else. No interior for the cab though.
These big American Diesel locos always look impressive to me, and some have eyecatching colour schemes - there's a huge following of this type of model in the States, and loads of OO decals available (or HO - I'm not that fussy! ). I'm not a mad train buff, but it's a different genre!
Dave
There is another method of support, which is generally used for resin printing, organic, or tree support. I had read that it could be used on FDM printers as well, for very delicate parts. Unusually this has been scaled down from G scale to OO ( 1/22.6 to 1/76 )
This was the fourth attempt to print, the first organc support. You can see why it's called that, or 'tree' It lloks really weird. This support is automatically generated by my PrusaSlicer slicer programme. It ony took about 80 minutrs to print.
After a minute or so of cleaning up
The supports just cracked away. There are certain areas that need a bit of a file, but given that the cab is under 30mm wide not too shabby. The wall sections are very thin and were the mjotr problem with normal supportsI was pleaed to see the window frames actually printed - the edges need smoothing, but not a lot else. No interior for the cab though.
These big American Diesel locos always look impressive to me, and some have eyecatching colour schemes - there's a huge following of this type of model in the States, and loads of OO decals available (or HO - I'm not that fussy! ). I'm not a mad train buff, but it's a different genre!
Dave
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