{"id":1112,"date":"2021-05-14T17:46:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T22:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scope-eye.net\/?p=1112"},"modified":"2022-02-01T01:59:15","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T06:59:15","slug":"adventures-in-resin-printing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/?p=1112","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Resin Printing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I have a 3D printer that I&#8217;ve been building for several years now &#8211; For a while I was working on it quite regularly and making all kinds of progress, but at a certain point family obligations started to demand more of my time and so for a period of about 3 years I didn&#8217;t work on the machine at all. I was meaning to get back to it for a while but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and for a while I couldn&#8217;t go to the makerspace where I store and work  on the project at all. Between the frustrations I faced in the project, my inability to go work on it, and a general frustration in the modeling hobby and a desire to become a productive modeler again, I decided to buy a 3D printer that I could use to print models now, and which could complement the other printer later.<br>After a fair bit of deliberation I decided on a low-cost resin printer. The great thing about resin printers (even low-cost ones) is that they can produce very smooth and finely-detailed prints. I figured that once my other printer (the typical plastic-extruded-through-a-hot-nozzle FDM type) was done a resin printer would still be useful for common needs like hands, as most mecha kits&#8217; included hands are garbage. I figured I could take the hands from my Zaku Kai model, which I created in Blender back in 2007 or so, and have a good starting point for a first print.<br>Unfortunately, I made those hands back in 2007 or so. They were terrible. I had to start over. It took me a while but I finally got the new hands to a state where I felt ready to print them.<\/p>\n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_10.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_10_thumb.jpeg\" \/><br \/><\/a>\n<!--more-->\nI really underestimated at first the work that would be needed to make the hands in the Blender model look good. The existing hands really were among the earliest things I made in Blender, and frankly, they were terrible.<\/p>\n<a href=\"model-data\/CG_Models\/zeon_hand_wip_20200710.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/CG_Models\/zeon_hand_wip_20200710_thumb.jpg\" title=\"Original hand is on the right. The early versions of my new hand model are on the left.\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nThe new effort worked directly from the reference art as a starting point and achieved a much more natural-looking expression early on as a result. The work went through a number of iterations as I tried to fit the reference art better, make it fit the Zaku better, and make it function better when posed using the armature.\nFinally I had something I felt was ready for printing &#8211; it really felt great to finally set up the machine and get it going. Though the first few attempts to print the hand completely failed because the supports weren&#8217;t strong enough. Over a few iterations I got better at setting up the print with strong enough supports to get successful prints.<\/p>\n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_1.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_1_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"One of my earliest successful attempts. The supports weren't quite good enough but it mostly looks right\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_2.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_2_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The hand model removed from the build plate, still covered in liquid resin...\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_3.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_3_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"One of the later attempts shared print time with something my daughter made in Blender.\" \/><\/a>\n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_4.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_4_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Catbean.\" \/><\/a>\n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_5.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_5_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"With the model cleaned up the print failures are more apparent: there's a ridge running through the fingers near their base, and part of the wrist cuff didn't print very well.\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_6.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_6_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"\" \/><\/a>\n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_7.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_7_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"On this attempt I used more supports all over the back of the hand.\" \/><\/a> <a href=model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_8.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_8_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The added supports prevented the ridge line from appearing on the fingers, but also made a bit of a mess on the back of the hand.\" \/><\/a>\n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_9.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_9_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"I tried using an ultrasonic cleaner to remove uncured resin - but I think using water in the cleaner was a poor idea, as it did this to the resin.\" \/><\/a>\n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_10.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_10_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"An early attempt to print a copy of the hands in 1:100 scale failed utterly, leaving only the supports\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_11.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_hand_print_11_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"With better supports in place, I got a nice set of the hands in 1:100 scale.\" \/><\/a>\n<br \/>\n\nThen, having gotten a few successful prints of the hand, I thought, why not print more parts? So I went as far as printing the whole left arm of the Zaku in 1:60 scale.\n<br \/>\n\n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_1.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_1_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"I started with the forearm: the little pokey bits on the elbow were a bit of trobule but good otherwise\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_2.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_2_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Added the elbow and upper arm: At this point I decided not to make the parts jointed and instead build a static-pose arm\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_3.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_3_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Added the shoulder joints - pretty much just a ball but the details came out pretty nice\" \/><\/a>\n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_4.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_4_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"With a 1:60 Scopedog for scale\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_5.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_5_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The shoulder pauldron was the most time-consuming part of the assembly to print, at 7 hours!\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_6.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_6_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Lots of supports on this print - but looking good as I got it cleaned up\" \/><\/a> \n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_7.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_7_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Removed from supports\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_8.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_8_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"The completed arm (with the pauldron detached)\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_9.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_9_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"Another view\" \/><\/a> \n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_10.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_10_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"With the pauldron attached...  That's a big pauldron!\" \/><\/a> \n<a href=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_11.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"model-data\/1_60_Zaku_Kai\/zakufz_20210514_arm_print_11_thumb.jpeg\" title=\"With the arm upright...\" \/><\/a> <br \/>\n\nUltimately my goal isn&#8217;t to give up on traditional model-making methods &#8211; but achieving the kind of results I want has always been very time-consuming and it&#8217;s harder for me to dedicate that time to model-making these days. I&#8217;d like 3D printing to help me achieve those same results more quickly.\n\nBoth the Zaku Kai Blender model and the new hand model are available in my <a href=\"\/git\">Git repository<\/a>. The models in the \u201cCG_Models\u201d repository are provided under the Creative Commons \u201cAttribution-ShareAlike\u201d license. This means you can use the models pretty much however you like, as long as you properly acknowledge my role in creating the model, and if you modify my work, you should share the modifications under the same terms.\nBoth models are provided in the Blender format which was used to author them &#8211; while this isn&#8217;t the most convenient for 3D printing, it does make it easy to do things like change the pose before printing.\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have a 3D printer that I&#8217;ve been building for several years now &#8211; For a while I was working on it quite regularly and making all kinds of progress, but at a certain point family obligations started to demand more of my time and so for a period of about 3 years I didn&#8217;t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[71,24,84,48],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1112"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1121,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions\/1121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scope-eye.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}