Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Charismatic on March 13, 2019, 08:48:15 pm
-
Anyone with a good 3D Printer and got amazing painting skills (assuming 3D Printers do not color as well)? I would be interested to see if someone could print high detail/poly FS1 and FS2 miniature replicas of fighters and capital ships, and fully paint them realistically.; I would buy some. I assume there would be a 'legal' issue...unless done on the down-low.
Would anyone else like to have an Orion or Apollo on their desk?
-
Oh yeah, this thing I meant to respond to...
Yes! I would! Can't decide which ship though, maybe an Athena
-
I don't know if this is still going on:
https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=80988.0
-
Alright, well it's clear there's a fair amount of interest in this so I guess I'll have another stab at it.
I'll post an update soon, gotta warm up the printer.
(https://tl1usg.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mr6oXJkWGOwl8bn09BZShrKqR_IIqK5YIfQeCbcksWe_c1Mzr0qNUr0_GwCfgodG9yPV2LuH8n3keskT_miAoEUZqjH5lPaSaSzHia6Hgzhxe0cMIXqBpTU9abo0np1O6l1j7jlZEXuMBph4juX6KJdGlqHWeZnmbk8BjntkOSePOvBXO6oWrwxCJdwJ3lySlXYkjFaxSGwZE1_Ng2-XW5Q?width=1108&height=786&cropmode=none)
-
I'm keen to see the results of this.
Let me know how much a ten inch long Raynor would be. ;)
-
A ten inch long Raynor, in high quality and full color? My God, what kind of mad printer setup and mad skills have you got? :D
-
Hey hey hey.... I'm willing to assemble it from sections and airbrush it myself :p
-
Update #1:
After 4 hours of trying to get the Erebus into a printable STL file, I got the first of what would have been 2 prints started:
(https://ygcirw.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mvl2j_-qFwZfWHi8L4LgrySb5cnHVUVUefqq8X4lzqJSS7TTj0oFOmzbuhIEyX-BIu2oHDWbTfKQsE3XQwuY_gWuufoGALZDyYZ2QxkQgfghmOaHs2HrDa15JHjmlRBlmWMY_AMdKTomxRqDCj5UZS7vhuhAxi_eCtBunNwS9-TnH70eKctQ-4VnU6w1cDPkq73V_OecCliTMudUWhtOfag?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
Unfortunately, I discovered that the power outlet I use for my printer happens to also be connected to the one of the outlets in my kitchen...that I plugged an electric griddle into and promptly tripped the breaker :(
Good news is that, at 75microns with the carbon fiber PLA I use, the finish is looking quite good.
This print failure is a bit of a blessing in disguise though, as this print would have been ~6 inches long and as Dekker was looking for 10 inches (and I am inclined to agree), I can now restart and hopefully make a better finished product.
I won't have another opportunity to run the printer again until this weekend though, so don't expect another update until then.
-
Maybe you could print the turrets separately so that they would slot in and maybe even insert some kind of a tiny bearing for them to rotate? That would also allow you for higher turret quality.
Meybe even get some lenses and insert some LEDs where the beam cannons are :P.
-
That's a bit overkill. Just separate turrets and to scale is fine. (I'm not placing any orders til I know costs of a piece to the UK though) ;)
-
An Erebus and a Solaris would be a dream combo for me! :D
-
Just to clarify:
I'm going to try to run off a ~10 inch Erebus this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. However...
Prepping a file for printing takes a long time. Aesaar made the Erebus rather detailed so working with the 500k+ triangle mesh either takes my computer a long time to process or just straight up crashes my machine (this includes scaling the mesh, converting to a solid in Autodesk Inventor, removing features from said solid to make a multi-part model, exporting those to STL, then importing those into my laptop which controls my printer, and finally cranking through the slicing process on the files).
So I will be making 1 Erebus (if I even can) for now and posting the results. If it comes out well, I'll consider making a few more to sell here (and I would need to sell them as this takes a substantial amount of time to make, and I could really use the money...college is expensive :( ).
So yes. Don't get your hopes up yet.
-
Dude you do whatever you need to bud. We all appreciate your efforts. Just to clarify, what programs are needed to convert a POF to an STL and prepare it?
If the raynors author can consent, I'll have a go at preparing it at my earliest.
-
This is very cool.
If we had a few people that had the same 3D printing ability and know how... maby a few guys could help with the prep work (this includes scaling the mesh, converting to a solid in Autodesk Inventor, removing features from said solid to make a multi-part model, exporting those to STL) and we could as a team pump out a few?
-
Just to clarify, what programs are needed to convert a POF to an STL and prepare it?
It's a bit of a process: Start using PCS2 to open the model, save as a .dae file. Then use FreeCad to open said .dae file and then export it as an .stl file. From there, open the .stl file in Autodesk Inventor and use Inventor's convert mesh to solid feature. Once it's a solid, you can extrude-cut any features you don't want to print (or section the print up). Then export each part again into .stl format. Load this .stl into the print software (Repetier-Host for my printer), orient the print, slice with your slicer of choice, and print.
And for the print status, I made some headway on an 11 inch version today. So far, promising! (will need a bit of touch up though):
(https://70bfhw.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mFTVDKFSzpUTl9p4NfkZFtzuU_lPS1HaCw7J7yhmvn50Wc5BuRXo24LZ35_1QvAYhYIqYpirFPQF0YMlBhfcX_1J_umXHR0I5KJyR0xCK6y86QWV3NEBRTK53Gk_IvHnAF5kY-szarinTgwA5idT6N65S8chI0zQhxBhXNAJUqBET3zXSwFTXKsbMvaASuEZdwK89U6fZSi1nRPbR-JWXhQ?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
-
Not gonna lie, this made me dust off my forum credentials to comment. The linked thread with the 3d printed Sathanas made me drool too.
:D
-
More progress pictures:
(https://h7twkg.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mAD63goRmuTMlfU0bd2BehrIvpeK_e3M5XrB0JUsKLbyEPWoAW7_YyyVxERgRTdq66TJqcmJe-nW5Y9iUiaIYn_v48ZB5pod-WYe_fDjNN3tuy5Vs2BWMTdVRFTxMMtP_2sMlcjxhvOFt15ONO3I7XpfJp2EOv-50c_NFAMND7Vg5XuMyogU4BwctKcvJDQXdIt1mMUyiNbPYdy7HHypdIQ?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
(https://qdra4g.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mYVyHNQe_O1P35sjIvDDSK0Aw09xs2e0yCJhA-iqZKaNhMn-gUXdqnI1Aqe_T8RpNtg5TU87jc34I30H3dnSzHeRApuwMEf69-c-Wlp3FDMjtnOzSwa-jmSnAerFYPIBWu4NIhNXpVxJPYZL5-HmqygzZrqllZG8MIHVSkmIVCC2tUFPFWbgdIJBZkiti1tStQJe7_KTRUtJrgHlqWv1mHw?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
(https://vasqbw.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mlT8WVxFkIMJ1kV-vib1KY678zJE8tHR5qrF-oSUeCOHLt4MN_9Kkv-QHqsd46HDEFyCcXVWnIW9avy0aT24MPbStd2kLhXScmZKVlD9_5a4sIgEWUNDUucVEl2duyfIWRJjIpUMnWFAzdhLjHotoDPnInkGIuuQ4WlM-t4GaO4vb1-4EtLF3EEUlo-pSXSd8_ijZXCtdH7wvtO6ZqghByQ?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
(https://ijayzq.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mB4wteQXSHtIYX7C8Kc4Ox9lPbuYitaf1NZ4RsWGgPukwLiDIhSu8qfrRJDo5Km76VCZhiAgFBvSaeXlNvxygga-ReHB45MZ1fP73-VZqsVw5T6zvOAnW7vkYfhgOggGsp94q0iW_zyCjQ7KcGX2DbAgtpF23wsExntOD0MMNJlPE57eMHfiSYEKH0i0odFI73KddITitBmLd-AZAA4Q_tw?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
Parts will need a little bit of clean up with sandpaper/belt sander/dremel. More to come.
-
Mmmm. I'm definitely excited to see the end result!
-
This is progressing along nicely, and I am very appreciative your giving this a shot.
-
Looks great! How about a Ravana next? :P
-
And a what about user-made ships like the Raguel?
-
OK OK, let the guy run at his own pace.
-
Hey all,
I had some free time in class today and decided to put together a spreadsheet of the estimated cost for *potentially* selling these Erebuses. Some notes:
-This is absolutely preliminary. I cannot guarantee I am going to do this. This is merely a means for me to gauge potential interest and to see if this would be worth my time (I deeply appreciate those who freely give up their time for this community, but I am currently not in a position financially to be able to put in the hours without reimbursement).
-All of this would be pending approval of Aesaar/the BP team/any other persons who would need to give approval (and who, of course, would be credited) for me to sell prints
-I would still need to hash out the legality of some of these - how exactly to sell, what models I can sell (user made ships vs Volition made ships).
-Delivery Time. Printing these would be best in batches. Additionally, I won't be able to start any printing until I am settled at home for the summer (so starting around mid-May). I would probably be able to start shipping mid July onwards.
-Other models. As mentioned above, I have the Erebus currently set up for printing, so that would be the best to start with. However, I would certainly be open to other models (full TEI fleet anyone ;7 ). The Erebus is about as large and complex as it gets, so any other prints would be around the same time to make or less, depending on the size and detail.
-All of this presumes that the final product(s) are of sufficient quality (ie they don't look terrible).
That all being said, in the interest of disclosure, here's the spreadsheet:
(https://iltrkg.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mSRn9VsGExboMe1GXTbOCeWvPSFJeEzegp00ddAoEKIUa1aZWrF4hZoJ0Tlb_NxR12rGDWyLWPQyoZzX4WYVI76EG_m0KGd_h1dNMyOxFSkxG1Z1uIIU9MlVlUQjGG2TCcYhy2RQFxIE8wRgvZSy0aBvFBNxVXcFeVXKAgDk9jNc8gwGi5G0jzN5LVFLsB0_3ITEc3LdiwNu1_mUoFGggQA?width=1179&height=818&cropmode=none)
And here is a quick google form I made. Please only submit once:
https://forms.gle/D54FVh3i5Q86s3Up7
-
Baby number two is due any day. I'm really interested but can't justify that outlay bud. I wholeheartedly appreciate and applaud your effort though.
-
Baby number two is due any day. I'm really interested but can't justify that outlay bud. I wholeheartedly appreciate and applaud your effort though.
No problem mate, understandable. If I can find ways to streamline/optimize the process, I'll post. And I'll post updates on the current Erebus as well.
Again, if anyone reading (even if you're not interested in purchasing) could take 5s and just fill out this survey it would help to quantify interest:
https://forms.gle/D54FVh3i5Q86s3Up7
-
I'm keeping an eye on here anyway. Have done your survey and for the record, I'd take mine unpainted and would get other ships :yes:
-
the ravana seems like a bad choice given we still have a very old model for it
-
Oh man, a painted Erebus, Titan and Solaris would be a god send. Perhaps one day there can be an entire "GTVA and friends" set lol :D
-
Hey all, just a quick update. Still working on this, but I won't have anything to show for another 2 or so weeks, final exams are coming around and I need to focus on those. Thanks to all who have responded to the survey. Also I've got another model in the works for STL processing...
-
Absolutely mate, priorities are all important. Hope the exams go well for ya.
-
Nearly Done! Printing Turrets Tomorrow, then time for some paint! It already looks sweet.
(https://ibt8ig.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mmX5cku9PKN3UtziJLudvcoOlyNwYJzChl3sBEW_CWl-Eyc0nnSk6WPzGrwV7gW3s7ho6_GohA7SW_AZFgRJUl-xz8F4vrHfzGP1bxt0rsgNcMgmIrGJTcMaNvQO13VW6QHomM1HtMMsmin2TOsBdzhis3KV9789VPqHeDKKnB6v8Qz9BK4Jq9Y30hEWAVN5S6nqrG8BtkTxtIcRODHlNUg?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
(https://qnrg2g.bn.files.1drv.com/y4moKu95C7AiO5bBHxBUpVSZC2tu0AfPDUhRfoaIhP13To_xmv7HuCW8IdlTaSrUa4jmIRUBo4pgKN3BjJrLa55HGkOpk7T-lry_ZSu84pUh_wIdWrf2iTJSUF8Xv3o2euSzC0HbxLC75FT84jcDUr4aui8bJm007DRHBCCi5VRGfabep3SjU01kAhlNP2GzcTr3Uo2QSW0Bg5T3Qre9T3P1w?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
(https://jdakxq.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mCcbevDX0RBK7F88Stqu468yEDxM7T6S8O1PUUMx7b9Qf5TytTQtECtFaVjY3yaAfBov8VuxUIcq2LTvfWv4Ch3WEdw4kbgfs3P3R0mT5zg2ACDqco8wp9Qw03kjNZJR5m_f6zG9v5Qj4Opq5PhjmEpVa-659IXBpKDXZYqcvHgTzKcksUrhsMzZep5D9ooN3DPwYQMIvPG6-5YX0PfOUVg?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
-
Turrets Printed ;7
(https://uv19og.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mf_3H0HPWc4K2wam5C-c2jlWKZRWeTkil60n2ULIC763RnTWh7YSjkbE0cXqDNvEJGAX00eBdTMr7oib7NwIg9SDhwmyS8P_aayvKzC6XzCmiORPQjP_qQ9CIfoOZkWThp19pZdd0Ng5msY_gmuspDvqt9iyFC1M__tZG6rzplAo9P9KkyW1Fkq_BnGdwwXZTmAa5pglSqUqkn5LDhhhqUg?width=1960&height=4032&cropmode=none)
-
Very impressive!! If selling these becomes a reality I'd definitely be interested!
-
It's well on it's way. :nod:. Looking forward to seeing it finished and painted.
Teeny bit of 800 grit on top maybe?
-
I'm always intrigued by these projects - what would you think of castings? You could produce your master mold via 3D printing, and use a low-cost recyclable material like aluminum as your casting material. Al also does not hold the stigma of lead alloys, which could be a selling point. What is the actual best material for the job? I cannot say.
Castings may make your operation profitable. If you have to manually print, clean, and assemble a model every time... I'm not sure how much you will be able to deliver.
-
I agree with the master model concept. But I'd go for a silicone mold and resin "reprints" due to the benefit of being able to add dye to get the base colour just right and I believe a lower cost than metal castings.
-
That's actually a good call, Dekker. Now that I think about it, the small modeling houses get by via use of resin or vacuform. And resin is FAR superior to vacuform.
-
Uuuppdate time!
Alright, so first things first:
I've seen the discussion regarding castings. So initially, I was not looking to do castings for two reasons: one, I can leave my printer running while I'm at work to fab parts and the process for cleaning up said parts is not terribly time intensive (see the spreadsheet above), although it does lead to higher model costs. Two, I've had bad experiences with molds in the past - I've worked with Smooth-On's oomoo 30 and found that the molds were relatively easy to tear, meaning that after less than 5 uses the molds become damaged.
Their resins are pretty nice though, and the concentrated dies that Smooth-On makes have nice colors as well (such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/SO-Strong-Color-Tint-9-Pack-Sampler/dp/B005ZSGQBO/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=smooth-on+so-strong&qid=1558799802&s=gateway&sr=8-2 (https://www.amazon.com/SO-Strong-Color-Tint-9-Pack-Sampler/dp/B005ZSGQBO/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=smooth-on+so-strong&qid=1558799802&s=gateway&sr=8-2))
However
I've been talking with some guys at my work, one of whom does this on a regular basis: he recommended to me a different molding solution, Brick in the Yard's 73-20. He brought in a mold he's got of a Tiger tank Turret that he's used over 30 times with no issues, provided a thin layer of releasing agent is sprayed into the mold before the resin is poured in.
To answer a few other questions:
Teeny bit of 800 grit on top maybe?
Yes and no: the PLA/carbon fiber mix I print with produces a very nice matte black finish (which doesn't come through very well in the photos). Sanding this finish turns it into a rough, light-grey sheen that really doesn't look great - so I typically only use sanding on parts of the model with excess material buildup that needs to be removed. That being said, if the purpose of the print is for use as a master in a silicon mold, then the smoothness of the print is more important than the finish (so in this case, sanding would be done).
An Erebus and a Solaris would be a dream combo for me! :D
UEF ships would be...challenging. The nice thing about the TEI warships is that they are relatively monolithic units that are easily segmented into printable sections (think pyramid - the printer can't print on thin air, so the part needs to print from bottom to top with minimal overhangs). The UEF ships like the Solaris have lots of hanging armor panels and other unsupported geometry. It wouldn't be impossible, but I wouldn't attempt it until I can reasonably produce easier ships first (I'd need to separate the model into a lot of smaller parts for printing).
And a what about user-made ships like the Raguel?
Related to the above - I'll be focusing on just BP warships for now until I have a good process down. I am certainly not against printing other user-made ships (I'd love to make me some WoD and Exile ships too!) but I need to stay focused on just these BP ones for now.
And some news:
I have officially gotten permission from Aesaar to make these TEI BP models!
The Erebus, as you all can tell, is first on the docket but expect to see progress on a Titan, Diomedes, and Chimera soon.
So, moving forward, here is the plan:
- Make master mold of a part using a cleaned-up 3D printed model
- Resin cast using mold
- paint/airbrush as needed
- list the models on Ebay for purchase.
And I've already started reworking the Erebus model to improve upon the print quality to produce a second, casting-friendly version:
(https://xktlzw.bn.files.1drv.com/y4m1Fg0s-y1ta8SFTc8mghfdYmTG-4M8w3lI-3oA-Fmf1AdU5KwA_K3BmDfqCKGP01NNboaYRIwCngOKUh0HAvWPitFgFPz8Gl8QBk2Lc8U0C2nk71kDDhuaGo34okNFCvq6EPVUvB7bYjJJKO3mXwD_YagLlT3PICQYeo_fZ0gpoJUVBxhwavLnWc9Au9wKm7vWWnlObc8PcYqWDjaYFz9Aw?width=1280&height=795&cropmode=none)
(https://80bvfw.bn.files.1drv.com/y4m9WmIVeJbRojXcG5Qs13O3i8Pk1CNRF8TBC12k5ftDerEVp_rZ6qmvZ7QYmp1De6bXxb54ZjyxP-gNffSr1Jk1p34oUMWF8mUMJi-U9Kl7Bo8PLrkF47MLwZ4B-wdq9Jvd8RMlDQy2J00KGfuh99uunwfUXTPGfFpj9d3l1iA3MmPzT2Ut5pAfSaeBeLQRYqtC8NxYlUXyuIS0X63eeH5cA?width=4032&height=1960&cropmode=none)
So yeah, that's the end of this rather long update. More to come!
-
Aw mate, that's looking fantastic. I was going to mention releasing agent, I've only used resin once in a munitions capacity, to seize moving parts that shouldn't be allowed to move but I've seen releasing agent used on YouTube channels like punished props and Tested.
Really happy to see how it's all coming along and in sure once word gets around that loads of people will flock to eBay.
-
Hey all, just a quick update, lest anyone think progress isn't being made (been busy though with IRL stuff, like moving back home for the summer)...
(https://ul2gog.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mcZB708mZFBdZmjb-WwWol8KzRR3H3zDP4FND-zL4-Q9Z6MCf494n7wJXcZ73YZFNE4yLxBhpvXdCSksz494CrCH1f7p2aKXrIcTVNQt1t07LEwJALkBF_mCsww0Wm17Iat_OXAAv0yg7c35AQZC14PQo46J3fiYS0KHTeDkZ74qAHGBgclpSmQq40vpzsYnMVNx0VihUHRqrogCV3maxmA?width=1877&height=748&cropmode=none)
The tops of the 'wings' on the first print came out pretty rough, so I've decided to split them off individually. Initial 3D printing results of this process are looking very promising. Also, printing the wings separately makes the back-rear section of the ship much easier to resin cast.
I've ordered the molding and resin supplies. Hoping to do the first cast in a week or two. I'll check back in around then with an update.
-
Hey all, sorry for the necro but wanted to provide some conclusion to this thread:
Unfortunately, making a large quantity of resin-cast model is just not going to be feasible due to both the time involved, limited demand, and (imo most importantly) I am bad at making good molds (I tried like 3 times but they all came out like garbage :ick:)
Anyways, I did finish making the full GTD Erebus 3D print set so if anyone else wants one of these sexy warships printed for themselves, they have the files to do so. This zip file contains all of the stl files required to make one of these, plus a full STL of the entire model in case someone has access to one of those crazy expensive resin printers and can just make the whole thing in one go.
The parts are separated so as to allow for easy printing in filament-deposition printers without any supports (I used my solid modeling package to add strategically placed supports in each part to enable a clean build). Each part has the same units so using the same scaling factor on all parts should work nicely.
Single and double turret models are included as well.
Download here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmX--irQdaojl4NCaLHsW0HOIXKmLw?e=EcXLpK
If anyone prints one, please post pics! I'd love to see how others fair with this.
(https://4lybrw.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mXLSpod2ZSHEyLMlcVQF4UcTIvC0OTD30R1zmwN-LtjAS-C0UFI0k4nnOCf6hcPDcEi6Y0V_osrHcR5wXl25QtwLD91nGiopbyWq35sgE0JuKSk8vUkZms0ysXf55FGKw32lMwFCugftkN1XIvp4AJT7Z6pPmgNgWMbCKnNvlO5Y-aGZedjuTyXUxOnu-M4d4ZHYV42CBRnxExZ62PJ-dYw?width=1983&height=1031&cropmode=none)
-
Hey all, sorry for the necro but wanted to provide some conclusion to this thread:
Unfortunately, making a large quantity of resin-cast model is just not going to be feasible due to both the time involved, limited demand, and (imo most importantly) I am bad at making good molds (I tried like 3 times but they all came out like garbage :ick:)
Anyways, I did finish making the full GTD Erebus 3D print set so if anyone else wants one of these sexy warships printed for themselves, they have the files to do so. This zip file contains all of the stl files required to make one of these, plus a full STL of the entire model in case someone has access to one of those crazy expensive resin printers and can just make the whole thing in one go.
The parts are separated so as to allow for easy printing in filament-deposition printers without any supports (I used my solid modeling package to add strategically placed supports in each part to enable a clean build). Each part has the same units so using the same scaling factor on all parts should work nicely.
Single and double turret models are included as well.
Download here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmX--irQdaojl4NCaLHsW0HOIXKmLw?e=EcXLpK
If anyone prints one, please post pics! I'd love to see how others fair with this.
(https://4lybrw.bn.files.1drv.com/y4mXLSpod2ZSHEyLMlcVQF4UcTIvC0OTD30R1zmwN-LtjAS-C0UFI0k4nnOCf6hcPDcEi6Y0V_osrHcR5wXl25QtwLD91nGiopbyWq35sgE0JuKSk8vUkZms0ysXf55FGKw32lMwFCugftkN1XIvp4AJT7Z6pPmgNgWMbCKnNvlO5Y-aGZedjuTyXUxOnu-M4d4ZHYV42CBRnxExZ62PJ-dYw?width=1983&height=1031&cropmode=none)
Wow. What about the Ancient ships?
-
Wow. What about the Ancient ships?
I only STL'd the Erebus. I may also finish the GTD Titan at some point but probably no more past that.
-
i give it a try...
thanks for the stl. file. :D