3D printers killed the modeling stars

 

I open this post on my blog this time not to show images of my creations but to talk about modeling and its future in general.

A few weeks ago I was at my favorite model shop, here where I live and work.

I was looking for some miniatures, preferably in resin, since lead is now outlawed... to customize for my Marvel or X-COM collection.

The shopkeeper, on the other hand, didn't have any, and won't have any anymore. He explained to me that 3D printers have invaded the sector, almost no one buys miniatures from his shop anymore, everyone orders figures online from 3D print makers or collectors equipped themselves with 3D printers at home and print the models independently. 

In practice models are now modelled directly on the PC, traditional model makers are becoming extinct.

So, in order not to consider myself now extinct, I decided to try the 3D way too, and did some research on the 3D printers recommended for beginners.

After days of study, I decided, also taking advantage of  Black Friday and the theoretically advantageous prices, to get a resin 3D printer, cheap but with good reviews.

I purchased an Anycubic Photon Mono 2 online.

Very good delivery, free and in four days. The first two printing attempts were less good...

The assembly instructions, in Chinese and English, were not exactly... clear, and I had to browse YouTube a bit to find some videos that made the instructions for the first assembly understandable.

Once assembled the printer and filled the print tank with resin, I would have to print a test piece.

But why waste resin on a test piece since with the same amount of resin I could have printed a 3D miniature of a nice Muton from XCOM? So.... I joined a forum for sharing .stl files and I downloaded the Muton file to be printed.

I then downloaded a "slicing" software compatible with the Photon Mono 2 3D printer and prepared the right scale (90mm) and the supports for printing, which, as is known, in resin printers takes place side down compared to traditional wire printers.

I passed the file after slicing into the USB stick supplied with the printer and performed the first print after calibrating the printer.

The display gave a printing time of around 4 hours and 30 minutes, so, as it was already late at night, I went to sleep.

The next day I went to see the wonderful Muton figure freshly printed supposed to be found attached to the printing plate, but there was nothing. He hadn't printed anything for 4 and a half hours.... Nothing!

I searched the internet for an answer to the problem, it could be due to calibration. I took a look and realized that the table top where the 3D printer was, that table wasn't perfectly levelled, it was slightly tilted!

So I decided to put the printer on the floor, where luckily at least the floor is not inclined... and this time I launched a quick print: a base for miniatures with a diameter of 25mm and a height of 10mm.

Estimated printing time 40 minutes. Great! First frustrating attempt but at least I understood the problem and found the solution!

Around midnight I went to see the print result: nothing. Zero. Empty.

Back on the internet to look for a solution to the problem. And I read that perhaps it is due to the first failed print which may have left a layer of polymerized resin on the bottom of the resin tray (called FEP) that does not let through the light and therefore does not allow printing. It was therefore necessary to clean the bottom of the tank, the FEP, from the residues of solidified resin from the previously failed print.

So, around 2:00 a-m- I empty the resin tank, with quite a few difficulties given that the original filters provided with the Anycubic Photon Mono 2 are really low low low quality material...

On the FEP (which is a transparent plastic sheet, tenths of a millimeter thick) there was actually a film of polymerized resin attached, which probably needed to be removed and according internet's experts could be the reason for failed printing attempt number 2... 

How to remove this polymerized resin film now?

I had two tools: a plastic spatula and a metal spatula.

I had read that the metal one was used for detaching the printed resin pieces from the printing plate.

I had read that the plastic one was used to make another transparent protective film, that protects the printing screen, perfectly adhere to the print screen by removing every air bubble with this tool. Just the same we do with our mobile..

Between the two, I chose the metal one, because it was a matter of removing the resin from the FEP.... This was a fatal error: while removing the resin (not an easy operation), I produced two holes in the FEP!!! And the FEP is basically the bottom of the resin tank, I basically drilled two holes in the bottom of the resin tank!!!!!! A huge success...

All this to say, in conclusion, that I spent another 30€ to order a new FEP and that I will try to 3D print  again and again as soon as I receive it. I hope not to make any more messes!

It's frustrating to start with 3D, I read that at the beginning the failure rate is almost 100% for newbies like me.

But I don't want to become extinct... I'll try again, and maybe I'll be able to post some 3D rinted miniature here also!

Stay Tuned!