"Lost Heresy Miniatures" WIPs - Three of the Vulgorn Guards currently being progressed |
I've actually had a bit of an 'on-off' relationship supporting this creator on Tribe in the past, as I've found their (predominantly science fiction) range to be a bit smaller than most modern-day models - probably being 25mm as opposed to today's 28mm scale. Happily however, I'm a bit more knowledgeable about the data preparation software programme "Chitubox" Basic than I used to be, so these days tend to upscale most of the smaller STLs I print out by 108.41% (measured using the Colonist Marine Cyborg Hero E-900 Exterminator figure by "Papsikels Miniatures" as the new eye-line height - also known as 'Arnie Scale').
"Lost Heresy Miniatures" WIPs - Three more Vulgorn Guards which have been primed, shaded and dry-brushed |
What I was not prepared for though, was just how difficult it would prove to print out some useable models to paint - and much of this frustration was unfortunately down to me as opposed to anything else, though it took quite a few failed attempts over an entire week before I realised what was happening. To begin with I thought that my upscaling had caused the pre-supports to become unstable, as several appeared to break away from the print mid-way through the production process.
The Vulgorn Guards pre-supported, then supported by "Chitubox", and finally with my (Large) supports |
I even tried completely doing my own supports and repositioning the models at a 35 degree angle - my failsafe placement. But even this caused repeated fails. Fortunately, I then spotted that the FEP (Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene) was actually touching the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) mono 4K screen by the end of the printing process - indicating that the FEP's tension was no longer as taut as it should be - not a surprise considering that I last changed it almost a year ago. A quick swap of the resin bed for a factory-made one, and things finally started to work...
Some interesting and fun looki, and good to hear you solved the printing problem.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. I think the FEP being too slack and the suction caused by my resin vat was definitely the big issue. But the sculpts were definitely worth the effort imho.
DeleteYes, really interesting 3d stuff!
ReplyDeleteCheers Michal. Much appreciated.
DeleteGreat looking aliens. 3D printing is such an interesting hobby and I like these posts where you explain things. It sounds far too complicated for me, but your knowledge and enthusiasm shines through.
ReplyDeleteThanks Undercoat. I do enjoy doing these postings as they're such fun to work on whilst tinkering with the 3D prints.
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