3D Printing Published by on

I tried my hand at using a 3D printer recently. The workshop I use for wood working also has a 3D printer and that sounded cool. So I learned how to use it, which is surprisingly simple. It’s a bit more complicated than printing something on paper, though, given the frequency of trouble getting my computer and printer to talk to each other, not as much as you’d think. It was essentially loading the file, arranging it to the size I wanted, setting the printer properly and then letting it run for 10hrs. There were a few further steps to clean it and then set the plastic.

Assuming, of course, that you’re just printing something that someone else created. Creating a 3D object is another skill set entirely. Maybe some day. But for now I made use of files I found online.

I’ve turned our game room into a spaceship room.This started as just a place to store X-wing and Armada models, especially the big ones. This expanded to include non-game Star Trek models from Eaglemoss. I’ve since added Serenity from Firefly, Galactica, Planet Express Ship, and a TARDIS. There was one big gap that I haven’t been able fill; Stargate ships.

The printer I used prints items upside down, which seemed a bit weird, but whatever works. Here you can see Daedalus as it came out of the printer. Most of that is support structure in order to keep the model attached to the upside down printer. Seems like a lot of wasted plastic. But compared to the old printer the workshop had, this one is far simpler to use and prints things out in far, far greater detail.

One of the biggest hang-ups to trying 3D printing before, aside from not wanting to learn how to render items, was that unless you find a really expensive set up, your items are mono-color. That means painting them. Though, since I’ve given in and tried painting miniatures now this roadblock didn’t seem as daunting.

Painting a grey ship didn’t seem particularly difficult of a challenge to overcome. Here you can see what the ship looked like from the show. Pretty simple colors in concept. But then, painting it to make it look good is another thing entirely.

My attempt came out…not as well as I’d hoped. The 3D model I used didn’t have all of the antennae for one thing, which lost some of the accuracy. Though some of them might have broken off when extracting the model from the supports. You can see in a few places I broke the model, particularly near one of the hangar bays during that arduous process. I tried painting some black over the damaged pieces to simulate battle damage.

All in all I don’t think it turned out to bad. But I am overall disappointed in the final result. That’s mainly to how it turned out compared to what I expected. I painted it using the same method I used to paint Imperial Probe Droids. They turned out with a great metallic look. For whatever reason, where the probe droid looks solid and metallic, Daedalus looks smeared and runny. Must be the different plastics involved.

Now, what is next? Not sure, lots of cool things out there to print up. Just requires time and money.