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[lesfac]

My new toy is giving me food for thought.
I wondered if i could 3d print the panels for the wheelhouse sides with the bolt heads in place.
I managed to print a panel and the sizing was good and the bolt heads have good definition. The main problem i can see is the surface finish of the faces. The printing leaves a pattern which is too rough. I dont know if there are any leveling paints that you can get. I think this process has definate possibilities  to do away with the purchase and fiddly fitting of small bolts.
Maybe a more upmarket 3d printer would leave a smoother surface finish.
It might be cheaper to get the panels 3d printed by a proffessional company rather than buying all the small bolts.
Anyway food for thought.
If anyone knows a leveling paint i would be grateful for the information
Les

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I have had 3d prints made, and then come back and  cleaned it up and THEN applied bolt heads.

So is it easier to fill and sand the face and between the bolt heads, or
start with a smooth surface and put the bolt heads in? Which is more laborious, or time consuming?

 

[kinmel]

I am a Speedline fan.

On the Tamar the panels are sprayed orange and then to-scale stainless steel bolt heads are glue onto the panel. The end product is superb.

With the new Shannon kit, the etched brass panels come with the bolt heads already in place. After spraying the panel orange, I then have to accurately paint each bolt head without spilling out onto the panel. It will be almost impossible to match the panel realism of the Tamar.

My present idea is to power sand the bolts off the Shannon panel and buy a set of individual bolt heads to glue on.

 Dearer? Maybe, but I keep my sanity.

[JimG]

The only way to get the finish you want is to use a different method of printing. Either laser sintering or light sensitive resin. Both of these methods tend to be rather expensive to do yourself so would need to be sent out to someone like Shapeways.

Jim

[grendel]

the surface finish on the bed side of the panels would be acceptable, could you print the panel with holes, then print a bunch of bolts separately, them paint the bolt heads (dip them in silver paint?) and then just insert the bolts in the holes, the backs of the  bolts could be melted in place with a soldering iron tip, yes I know the bolts would be tiny, but I have not had too much trouble printing things this small.

[C-3PO]

My new toy is giving me food for thought.
Les

Hi Les,

Fascinating.... Could you tell us what Make/Model your new toy is - thanks

C-3PO

[lesfac]

Hi C3PO
The printer is a Wanhao Duplicator i3 V2.
Aldi recently sold the later Plus model for £299.
It does present alot of posibilities but I think the patterning on flat areas is a problem.
Perhaps Grendel has a point. If I can print the bolt heads with a locating diameter I could use the metal plates supplied with my Speedline kit. It might be possible to print lots of them on a plate, spray them silver and snip them off to glue in.
As i type this I can already think of difficulty with printing bolts with the "thread" diameter below the hexagon.
I had a bag of hexagon bolt heads with the kit. I think they are just hexagons in perspex, a locating diameter would help keep the spacing right.
Les

[grendel]

take your hex, add a circle of the diameter of the hole - extrude the hex up a small amount, extrude the circle up further - merge the two - voila one bolt -, print it hex side down, with the 'bolt' part sticking up, and the head will have a smoother surface.

[lesfac]

Well Ill try that but as we are talking about 1.5mm af hexagons so i wonder if each one without a raft will stay stuck to the bed while printing completes. It would be good to find a good way to replicate bolt heads on panels but at that size I dont know if its doable let alone for a novice like me.
When i printed the whole panel with bolt heads the hexagons were quite well defined but the panel surface was not smooth.
This gives lots of avenues to explore. I am pleased with the way my model lifeboatman turned out.

[grendel]

yes, 3d printing is good fun, as long as you dont mind the failures - does yours have a glass bed or tape, if its glass I use a slurry of abs and acetone to coat the glass before printing, this leaves a super smooth surface and really does help the parts stick (its like a raft but a lot thinner).
what material do you print, abs or pla?

[lesfac]

Mine has a stick on vinyl mat as the printing surface and a spare supplied. I dont know how a glass printing surface would be applied. The bed is heated.
Ive only printed about half a dozen things so I am very much a novice at this.
I have only tried PLA.
Its really amazing how good the free software is for hobbyists. Fusion 360, MakeHuman, Blender and Sculptris to name a few

[grendel]

mine has a heated glass bed, its just held on top of the heater with clips at the corner. I bought my printer earlier this year with my bonus, I have to say it was one of the best things I have ever bought, I use it to make all sorts of things.

[timgarrod]

I've just got into 3d printing. mine got a heated glass bed too. I've found if you cover it in good masking tape it sticks alot better.

[Flundle (Speedline Models)]

I bought a cheap rice cooker into which I poured a little acetone. Laying the part on a grill affair, I put the lid on ans switched it on. It produced acetone vapour which after a short time started to melt the surface of the print and smooth the layers into s smooth (is) finish.
It produce the best finished print I ever have produced, and a quantity of high explosive.
I think this subject is covered elsewhere actually, I works.

[grendel]

I think I should point ut the above is for finishing ABS not PLA.

[TailUK]

I had to make a few bolt heads for a job and resorted to very basic techniques.  I pressed the end of an appropriate sized Allen key in to modelling clay and then filled the holes with epoxy.  Surprisingly effective.

[gorwanvfr]

I had to make a few bolt heads for a job and resorted to very basic techniques.  I pressed the end of an appropriate sized Allen key in to modelling clay and then filled the holes with epoxy.  Surprisingly effective.

What a great and simple idea. Thanks for sharing.