Thanks masterjedi322
Solo’s Blaster/Carbine
- Thread starter chubsANDdoggers
- Start date
You’re very welcome! Been awesome to watch your work on this project!
And you’re really selling me on getting a Bambu! I want to start printing an Artoo later this year, and I think that’s the direction I’m headed (although I’m hoping Bambu releases a larger volume printer soon!).
Sean
masterjedi322 i honestly can’t speak highly enough on the BL that I have. It’s my first (well technically 2nd but that one didn’t last long) FDM printer and it’s been really impressive. I’ve had it going almost everyday for months now. For me there was a bit of a learning curve but if ur familiar already I’m sure u will hit the ground running! Ya I don’t know if u could do a full size R2 with a P1S but I have thought about doing 1/2 size version myself. Probably really fun to design up as well. It’s so amazing to be able to create something on one side of the room and then see it come to life on the other.
Thanks for the insights!
I have two FDM printers right now - an AnyCubic Vyper and an AnyCubic Kobra Max...
I get decent results out of them, but they are FDM printers and subject to all the nuances of FDM printing.
I've heard nothing but good things about Bambu with the exception of the learning curve you mentioned, but I'm confident I can deal with that. I would have purchased one already if I didn't already own two. That's why I'm hoping Bambu will offer a larger printer and I can repurpose or sell my AnyCubic machines...
As for printing R2, there's a Patreon for 3D printing droids that offers pre-sliced files that fit a variety of bed sizes. There's one that fits the Bambu printers
just requires some additional assembly and finishing in lieu of printing single pieces, particularly the dome.Sean
Vagabond Elf
Well-Known Member
I would strongly recommend printing a full-sized R2 in ABS, and for that you want an X1C or a P1S.
Unless you choose to go the route of not hiding the 3d printed origin, of course. I've done that too, printing a Baddeley v2 in Silk PLA. But I also have a Baddeley dome and a lot of 3d printed accessories on my R5-D4 build (on a TEX-MEX wood frame) and even in ABS, the amount of sanding you will do before painting is hard to believe. And - chubsANDdoggers results here notwithstanding - you will almost certainly want to sand a droid smooth. The larger the surface the more obviousl print lines become, and there's a lot of long, mostly flat surfaces on a full-size droid.
In my experience, ABS is about half as much work to sand as PLA or PETG. And it's usually cheaper, too. The only downside is needing the right printer and the X1C is designed for CF nylon; ABS is pretty straightforward on it. I assume it would be good on the P1S, too, but I don't have first-hand experience.
As for a larger printer - honestly, until you get up to 50cm x 50cm, you still have to break a droid into parts. All a 30 x 30cm printer will do is let you have more parts on a single build plate. And since enclosing a bedslinger is a challenge and CoreXY starts to have problems above 30x30, getting a 50x50cm that can handle ABS is not going ot be easy. So I personally wouldn't bother waiting on that, if the goal is a full-size astrodroid.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Yeah, I’m going the Baddeley route but will probably wait until he finishes the v4 files which are looking
I’m really hoping Bambu releases are larger format printer, but might just be wishful thinking…
I’m undecided on material yet but was leaning toward PETG, ABS, or PLA+
This is all in the early planning stages so…
and now - back to you’re regularly scheduled programming!
Sean
I’ve yet to really paint my FDM prints but I do use all BL filament for now. I use all levels of their PLA as well. Don’t really notice any difference in print quality or strength for what it’s worth. What I find most important for strength though is how it’s simply printed. I print screws for example and I generally print them in two parts. The threaded part flat on the print bed (I cut the underside so it will lay flat) and the head of the screw resting normal. I also cut into the screw head specifically as well so the screw turns with strength and resistance. Glue them together and you have a very strong screw that simply won’t break. This one is already glued together but you can see an unglued cap here as well to give u an idea of what I mean…
Next up is the Hoth MGC replica which is one of my favs..
Vagabond Elf
Well-Known Member
Within it's temperature tolerance, PLA is actually the strongest of the common hobby filaments. PETG is slightly flexible so it's often more durable - especially if you're going to have a plastic-metal interface - but PLA is better for loadbearing. Unless it gets too warm, of course.
The reason I don't like it for prop-recreation is because usually those end up being sanded, and the very features that make PLA so strong also make it a lot more work to sand. ABS is actually the softest of the common hobby plastics, which makes it much easier to sand - while it is usually strong enough for the job.
And yes, the weakest part of any 3d printed object is the layer lines so for anything load-bearing it's important to consider orientation, just like the grain in a piece of wood.
masterjedi322 There's lots of threads talking about best filament for a droid over on Astromech, and if you every want to chat about it over there, I'm happy to do so. One last thought: PLA+ isn't a standard. It's marketing hype. It means "PLA with something added to it" and that's usually completely different for every brand name, and often there's absolutely zero information on how the "+" part affects the final printed parts. So definitely do your research if you're headed that way. Me, I buy generic ABS for 2/3ds the price of generic PLA and almost half the price of brand-name PLA, and I'm perfectly happy with the results.
Still working out kinks but the Endor blaster is definitely coming along. The screws for the greeblies and the mount are all 3-D printed. I do have some real ones on order but I didn’t wanna wait so I just printed these up but they work..
Very very nice
Sorry if you already covered this, but what kind of functionality do these have? Working triggers? Bolts? Hammers? Etc.
Looking great!
Sean
Looking great!
Sean
Short answer is yes to all your questions but this video will get more specific. I don’t upload videos to YouTube often and have yet to do one of these FDM prints but this video will answer all your questions and then some I believe. These are all 3d printed in MJF though not FDM printed but they are from pretty much the exact same CAD file so the functionality and cosmetic designs are the same. If you are wondering what the difference is between MJF and FDM it’s strength (and price). FDM is much more delicate where MJF (industrial printer) is on another level of strength all together. MJF printers cost literally 250x the price of these FDM printers so that obviously say something there as a well. Regardless, the way these blasters are designed are basically the same so my FDM prints will do everything you see in this video..
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Getting the greeblies inplace for the Hoth blaster..
This is pretty amazing. These are all printed with a .2mm nozzle to be able to capture the minute details of each design. For the motor/coil greeblie the one on the left was my test print to make sure it was able to do just that and as you can see it did pretty well. On the right is the same design just printed on an angle so it’s more “smooth” in appearance..
This one though is really crazy. The Greedo Killer Windage base. I had to modify my original design to space things out a bit so the numbers and letters wouldn’t blend together. I didn’t increase the size of the design at all just marginally spaced them out. I’m talking .005 of an inch but after which it was able to print everything simply beautifully..
This one though is really crazy. The Greedo Killer Windage base. I had to modify my original design to space things out a bit so the numbers and letters wouldn’t blend together. I didn’t increase the size of the design at all just marginally spaced them out. I’m talking .005 of an inch but after which it was able to print everything simply beautifully..
Was the motor coil lettering visible on the screen prop?
Certainly looks like it.
It’s always a bit of a tail chasing game CAD is. For me anyways. I’ve noticed a detail that I wanted to try and incorporate into my MGC design which ultimately has a domino effect on other designs for everything to fit. But all in the pursuit of that ever avaiding excellence. On the front of all the MGC’s that I’ve owned I’ve always noticed that the mag plate doesn’t line up perfectly with the lower receiver. It always seems to stick out just a little bit. That and I wanted to improve my front radius as well..
That’s awesome. Were you able to solve for the dominoes?
