3D Printing & More Updates

Hi,

It’s been a while since I’ve updated you all on progress with Primorbis, so today I thought I’d give you some highlights and share some details on 3D printing which I’ve spent a TON of time on in the last couple months.

Highlights

• My First Copyright: I received my first copyright for Track v3.0 after a lot of back and forth explaining how the game can be sold as a single work, or as separate expansions.  Next time I may consider submitting each expansion as a separate work to avoid confusion, although that would cost more.

• My First Trademark: Primogen LLC / aka Primogen Games company logo is now a registered trademark.  Due to an issue with the mail I had to re-order my certificate that cost me an extra $100 bucks. That was a bummer, but I was happy to get it all done.

• My First 3D Printer: I got my first 3D printer and have been working diligently to fine tune my skills printing highly detailed 3d miniatures to prototype for the game Primorbis, and other games in the future.

I wanted to spend the bulk of my time-sharing some tips on my 3D printing experience. I think in the course of  less than 3 months I’ve gone from new to 3D printing to being fairly experienced.  I think if I had a guide like this it would have helped me dive in a little faster, but I’m also still learning and may find there are even better ways to do things in the future.  In short, share your comments and let me know what you think.

3D Printer Selection

I went with the Anycubic Photon S, which is a resin (LCD-Based SLA) 3D printer. I ordered it from Amazon with a bit of a discount and some extra tools and resin to get started. I also got an Anycubic Wash & Cure Machine.  I chose the resin printer primarily because of the level of detail (resolution) that I wanted to print at for the best tabletop game miniatures I could get for my game prototypes.  

I considered the Anycubic Photon S, the PRUSA SL1, and the FormLabs Form 3 as alternative options. For those who know me, I generally like to buy once and spend whatever it takes to get a good product, but this time I went cheap in part because the Anycubic is so much cheaper than the other options.  Honestly, I am still happy with this decision.  As much as I would love to try out one of these more expensive models, I feel a lot better learning with the Anycubic because I’m less worried about breaking it or getting is messy.

3D Printer Setup & Use

Setup wasn’t too terrible, but it does make it clear you’ve purchased a lower quality product.  The touch screen on the Anycubic isn’t perfect, the zero-ing process to level the print plate took me a few attempts, but as it turns out I don’t think it has to be quite as perfect as I thought it did. I also had issues with the USB and getting it to show my print files. From time to time you just have to click on a blank square and then the print file shows up. Some USB drives don’t seem to work, and I’ve found it best to turn the printer off / on every time I plug in a new USB drive.

After I got everything set up I had a lot of printing errors, which resolved after changing to a different container or resin.  I think the resin that shipped with my printer was expired and had gone bad. Printing after that was surprisingly good.  It wasn’t often that I got random errors that differed from one print to the next off the same model.  When that did happen, I changed the FEP and that fixed things.  When I was at my 50th print +/- I started to notice wiggle in my build plate even when everything else was tightened down. Eventually the wiggle started creating layer issues and I took the build plate apart, cleaned it out, and tightened the screws.  It was easy and only took a few minutes and fixed the errors.

I also noticed when I start the printer after it’s been off for a while it makes a funny squeaking noise, which I think, is the fan needing lubrication, but who knows. After running for a few minutes it stops and I haven’t had any issues come of it yet.

Other Equipment

In addition to the printer I got a few extras I’ll list out below that I’ve found quite useful. I’d also mention I’ve been very happy with the cleaning tank.  The yellow lid / cover came with a sticker on the back that I removed, then later realized it was a magnetic plate that prevents it from running without the lid being on.  Personally, I think it’s a dumb safety feature so I fixed my mistake by taping aluminum foil to the back of the sensor.  This way I can run my wash without having to take both the alcohol bath lid and the yellow cover on / off.  I’ll add my disclaimer here and say, don’t remove the safety feature for legal reasons, but it was an improvement for me. So here is what else I picked up …

-      Extra resin

-      Replacement Pan for 36” Long MidWest Dog Crate

-      White Kraft Butcher Paper Roll

-      Hair Dryer

-      3” - 4” ProGrip Joint Knife (Steel)

-      Plastic spatula (came with kit)

-      UPC power supply with battery

-      Collapsible funnel and filter cup

-      Air Filter / Fan

-      Isopropyl Alcohol

-      Safety Glasses

-      Rubber Gloves

-      Shop Rags

-      Larger Funnel

-      Ball Jars with Plastic Lids

-      Paper towels

-      Rubber Mallet

-      Hobby Knife

I placed all my materials on the Dog Crate pan to keep my mess contained in the garage.  This has helped more than once with resin and alcohol spills.  I keep a two layer sheet of butcher paper on the mat in front of the printer to keep my mess contained and soak up resin. The hair dryer is nice to dry the alcohol off quickly from prints after cleaning them in the wash. I used 99.9% alcohol at first, but I’ll probably switch to 70% and see if it works as well. Alcohol has gotten really expensive and hard to buy during the pandemic. I use the steel joint knife and rubber mallet to remove stuck prints from the build plate, then clean up the FEP with the plastic one. I keep the printer plugged into a UPC so that if I have any power outages the print will keep running. It’s a bit expensive, but I hate wasted time and materials. The resin that Anycubic sells doesn’t smell that bad, but I’ve found that keeping my Coway air purifier next to my setup keeps it almost odorless.  I feel safer knowing I’m not breathing toxins and I don’t have to wear a respirator.  Any time I work with my prints I wear my gloves & safety glasses as well as lay down a shop rag with a paper towel on top all to keep the mess down. I through the paper towels out each use, the rag out every couple uses, and replace the butcher paper only as needed usually after spills. I use the hobby knife a lot to clean up the model after printing and take off stuck on support materials.

3D Printer Software

The biggest surprise getting into 3D printing was how much the software impacts the experience. Most 3D print files do not come with support structures added which make a huge difference on a prints success. The Photon software that is made by the manufacturer is ok, but I think CHITUBOX is way better and that’s all I use now. Even CHITUBOX takes time to get used to, and I’m a bit more limited only using Mac OS.

Most of my printing errors (90% or more) are all due to supports needing added / removed or fixed in other ways. I haven’t played too much with the timing between layers other than increasing the first few just slightly. I have played around a lot with support thicknesses, positioning, tips and bases.  I use a platform on all my prints now as it makes removing prints way easier and limits the damage I do to my print platform.

If you’re thinking about getting into 3D printing, but you’re not sure yet, start by downloading CHITUBOX and try hollowing out an .stl, add a hole or two and supports.  I enjoy the process, but if you don’t enjoy this part then you may not like 3D printing as you will spend a lot more time than I realized modifying the print files before printing.

Summary

If I had to do it all over again, I would still get the same 3D printer I have now.  I do want to try out the other filament printers and some day I probably will buy a more expensive model (possibly the form labs). I am very limited in my print sizes, which isn’t a problem for most tabletop miniatures, but when I tried printing some terrain recently I had to run multiple prints and glue them together which I don’t like.  For a low price printer the Anycubic really surprised me with the quality prints it can produce and it isn’t as buggy as I had initially expected.

Please let me know if you have any questions about getting into 3D printing.  I’ll be sure to keep sharing my prints and progress on the game. Now that I’ve honed my skills with printing miniatures, my next step will be getting 3D models made of the characters in Primorbis based on the illustrations.  I’m really excited to start printing modes for Primorbis PVP so I don’t have to use my “Placeholder” miniatures I’ve borrowed from other games.

~ Special thanks to @henryl_sketchbook for the 3D alien to help me test print! ~