3D Printer!

 I been working on my mini but it's slow going as there were some issues with the bodywork paint and I have paint and wait but it's coming along.

In the meantime: I purchased a 3d Printer and a wash & cure machine not so long ago and I took this opportunity to get it going. So here is a few pictures of my 3D Printer working on the test print. 

 Here we see the printer just set up and ready to print. It's a UV resin printer. This means it has a 4K black and white UV screen facing upwards in the base. Then the transparent bottomed resin vat is held firmly above the screen and the build platform lowers into the resin. Then the screen flashes for 3 seconds each slice of the 3d print and as the platform raises, the build slowly appears. 

 Here we can see the test print slowly emerging like the terminator from the resin vat, sticking to the build platform. 

Here is the finished print, upside down on the build platform. I have to let it drip dry for a while so excess resin can be removed but once that is done, I can scrape the print from the platform and head it into the wash.

The wash machine (not pictured) contains a container full of cleaning alcohol and it sits on the wash platform. It runs for a time set by the user and a fan spins the fluid around using a magnetic fan inside the container, washing off the excess, uncured resin. Once dry the container is removed from the machine and it is converted over to cure. A plastic table and reflective plate is added once the fluid container is removed, the light lamp directed and the print set on the platform. It then spins slowly for a set time bathing in UV light to cure hard. You can then bath the print in hot water to easily remove the stabilisation pegs, printed in the printer.

Now the printer is set up, what shall I build with it? Well, it just so happens there are plenty of websites online the offer 3D print files to download, many for free. While looking for what to print I found one I just had to print!

 

Here we can see the print being made, along with the stabilization pegs....

Some of you may notice this looks a lot like a saddle for a horse and a horse's ass. Well you would be correct, So I'm printing a horse? Yes, but it belongs to this guy!!

That's right, it's Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2. An amazing western game from Rock Star with the best and most loveable story I have ever seen in a video game...

 

These are some reference pictures I will be using when printing my (no so) mini. After a few prints and multiple hours the prints were finished! The first print I done, the saddle and backside of the horse took 8 hours to print! The horse's head took 11! This is because no matter the detail or how much resin it uses, the time taken to print is all balanced on the number of slices, so the taller the print, the more slices, the longer it takes. 

Once all the pieces were cleaned up, I set about gluing them together. I havent glued them all together as it will be easier to paint in pieces but I did glue the horse together and Arthur's legs. I had to file down some areas so it would fit perfectly and there are still many gaps between pieces that will need to be filled and smoothed off before priming. Not a problem for a model maker. 

Once the pieces I wanted to glue were set, I placed the rest together to get a look at the finished print.

and just for scale..

Keep your eyes open for more posts regarding this model and others because there will be others. My 3d Printer is awesome! So easy to use and super easy to clean. I love using it.