So, after a long time pondering whether it is worth the investment I finally decided just before Christmas to buy a 3D Printer. Not a cheap investment but the way I looked at it, it’s the only way to get hold of some of the models I want. Perhaps I’m just an awkward cuss but the main model manufacturers don’t make that many models I actually want. Now, my wife might appreciate that as it saves money, but for a person that enjoys making and painting models it’s friggin’ irritating. Browsing a few 3D print sites I’m finding a whole bunch of models that I have wanted for a long time. For instance, a decent model of the Nostromo. I have the vinyl model from many moons back but it’s lacking in many ways. Gambody on the other hand have a beautifully detailed one, which if you want to take the time can be illuminated with LEDs.
Anyway, after much deliberation I decided on the Creality CR6-SE at the time it had a lot of good reviews and offered much that I was looking for. Large build space, decent build plate (textured glass) and aside from being recently upgraded claims to be extremely quiet. Well, silent it is not, but it’s quieter than the drive bays I use so that’s not too bad. It also allows USB printing (or wireless if you want to buy the module) as well as an SD card slot.
It arrived a lot faster than I expected and I was able to assemble the thing and get it set up before the wife came home from her trip to the mainland. I confess I wasn’t looking forward to trying to explain the expense to my wife. She does get that I have a fairly expensive hobby, but this was a fairly major investment in something we were unsure about. It was with some relief that when my wife came home she was more fascinated with watching it print than in tearing strips off me.
Since then I’ve dropped quite a few models through the printer and am more than happy with the results in most cases. It was a fairly steep learning curve to start with and while getting the machine running took about 30 minutes, getting the print settings right took some time longer. This is definitely not a “straight out of the box” hobby unless you have already been using such printers. As a new user it was a hard couple of weeks until I managed to pin down the settings and figure out what needed to be done to get a good quality print out of the thing.
Out of the family members, I think my daughter was the most excited to find out I had a 3D Printer, and she has been very busy making a long list of things she wants too.
One other thing that pleased me enormously was that – with some extra work – I can now print some of the parts needed to repair other physical models I have. Yes, I do need to model them myself but that’s no great shakes as I’ve been making models for a few years now. Scale similarly isn’t such a big deal as I can model to whatever scale I need. That is quite liberating actually. It also means that with a little care and attention I can upgrade some of the models with extra detailing that wasn’t provided by the manufacturer. Further to that, I can also make extra pieces to detail the card models I make. Very cool, railings for the warships and such like. Printed in a couple hours rather than days of cutting and soldering.
We are also looking at the possibility of printing things for around the house – some replacement items to repair broken items, and a few things that will serve a purpose where we can’t find suitable items in the stores.
One thing that has amazed me is how much is out there for 3D Printers. Including a huge amount of “upgrades” you can print ‘for’ the printer. Admittedly a lot of the free models are broken in creative ways that make all manner of problems for printing, but hey, with a little work and a little determination anything can be fixed eventually – it just takes patience and a good modelling program.
I’m a kind of happy heaven for modellers with access to a huge collection of free and pay-for models that encompass several areas of interest and several models that I absolutely have got to have. The first of these “have to have” models is a large illuminated model of the Normandy from Mass Effect, not finished yet, and I’m going to have to buy the LEDs and parts to illuminate it. Really looking forward to working on this one.
At some point of course I will attempt to make my own models to print. But I need to get a deeper understanding of “how” a model should be made for best results.
So, I have found another way to waste my time and continue feeding the “hermit” rumours that are circulating.
I suppose the next purchase will be a 50/50 split in cost with my daughter who is insisting that we need to get a resin printer as well. To be honest I’m actually dreading that one. I already have literally hundreds of table-top gaming models ranging from fantasy through historical and modern to horror, cyberpunk and science fiction. With the massive amount of table-top game figures available from various on-line creators I suspect a resin printer will result in an avalanche of the things. One day somebody will come round to find out why I haven’t been seen for months and find me buried under a mountain of gaming figures.
Ah well, at least I’m prepared for the next pandemic lockdown. Just me, the printer, the wife and a large collection of paints…. Oh yes, I might have to stockpile on filament, just in case.
Who needs food?
