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I just ordered a ELEGOO Mars 2 Pro with a curing/cleaning box. Are there any things I should look at getting right away in regards to tools or accessories?
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May 12, 2021 05:17
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Sydney Bottocks posted:I would definitely recommend getting some spare FEP sheets, a Mach5ive gasket and a flex build plate. If your vat develops a leaky FEP, the gasket helps prevent resin from leaking into the innards of your printer (and they also recommend cutting a FEP sheet in half and putting it on the sticky underside of the gasket before you attach it, for extra protection against resin leaking onto the LCD screen). You could probably jerry-rig something similar with kapton tape, but the Mach5ive is already precut and ready to go. Thanks. Got all that ordered. Now my next question is what type of resin do people recommend? I ordered some elegoo water washable, because it looked like it would be a bit easier to get started with but I have no idea if that's actually going to be appropriate long term. I'm mostly going to be printing tabletop minis, bits, small terrain pieces, and I'll probably be painting everything. I have concerns about cleanup and disposal, I see eco-friendly and water washable resins, are those easier to work with? If I'm going to paint everything does it matter what color resin I use? does clear resin cure better than opaque? Will regular polyurethane primers work on resin printed models?
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May 14, 2021 04:35
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If you're using water washable resin, what do you do with the water after cleaning? I'm assuming it's not safe to pour down the drain or dump on my lawn.
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May 14, 2021 16:12
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Every couple years somebody comes along and predicts that GW is doomed because of 3d printing. It's never come true, not only for the reasons that Geisladisk points out but also because GW has been ahead of the 3d printing industry for years. They currently use 3d printing to create their molds and if you read their investor reports they're well aware of the possibilities of 3d printing both to help and hurt their business. If 3d printing ever gets over the hurdles of convenience and cost, expect to see Games Workshop stores to have print on demand services in house and for GW branded printers to be sold at every LGS. There are lots of things that are legitimate threats to GW but 3d printing is not one of them. On other topics. Does anyone have a good source for X-Wing Miniatures game type minis? I've found a few here and there but nothing that really excites me.
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May 29, 2021 17:24
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Mikey Purp posted:I agree 100%, 3d printing as it stands today is just too much of a hassle for most people and the results aren't really comparable. I wish more creators would focus on designing bits and bases to customize store-bought models rather than designing proxies, although I doubt people would get as excited for that. Still from a usefulness standpoint, bits, bases and terrain feel like the most practical ways to use 3d printing in its current state. Yeah I really wish the 3rd party bits manufacturers (I'm looking at you Puppetswar) would sell .stl files of their bits. Then I could print my own and not have to risk some eastern European postal service throwing my order in the Danube.
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May 29, 2021 17:35
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Warhammer is to Tabletop Wargaming what DnD is to RPGs. It defines the genre for the vast majority of people, both gamers and non-gamers. The cool thing about 3d printing right now is that it's lowering the barrier of entry for miniatures designers much like print on demand and digital distribution did for indy RPG designers. DnD isn't threatened by the hundreds of guys making and distributing their own fantasy RPGs because they have overwhelming market momentum now; DnD is more than just a game, it's a lifestyle with media, merchandise and it's own celebrities. Warhammer is very quickly approaching the same place in the wargaming space, unless they make some monumental misstep or there's some sort of quantum shift in the industry that they don't anticipate and adapt to quickly enough they'll get there. I think this is mostly a good thing, it allows new ideas to flourish in the space and prevents the hobby from stagnating while giving new people entering the hobby a touchstone and jumping off point.
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May 31, 2021 03:38
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Yeah detail is certainty not the limiting factor on resin prints at this point. Just look at these guys from the mini painting thread.Verisimilidude posted:
Those sculpts are as good as anything GW has produced and other than a few tiny spots on some of the models the prints are indistinguishable from cast minis. There are two primary things preventing people from doing this in mass, cost and convenience. Even though buying the equipment and printing an army is significantly cheaper than buying a cast one, it's not sufficiently cheaper to overcome the inconvenience of learning to use the printer dealing with the chemicals and cleanup and finding the space to run it all etc. What I expect to see in the coming years is the mini's industry shaping up like so many other industries these days: 1 Big brand (GW) dominating the market, spending tons of money on marketing, media and brand building. A handful of moderate sized companies working hard and managing decent sized fanbases as alternatives to the big brand. If any one of them ever gets sufficiently large enough to threaten the big brand, the big brand will just buy them out and assimilate them. Hundreds of one and two man shops with small groups of highly dedicated fans producing niche products.
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May 31, 2021 15:45
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InternetJunky posted:This is probably accurate from an "army battle" miniatures perspective, but there is a massive market for other minis out there that GW has never made inroads with (ie. D&D-type stuff) that is absolutely undergoing a revolution right now due to 3D printing. Almost all my mini sales are for this type of market and thanks to covid there is a huge number of new people in the hobby. I have no idea how companies like Reaper are doing now, but I think 3D printing is probably affecting them far more than it would GW. Sure, but the conversation wasn't about DnD minis it's about how 3d printing will affect Game Workshop. The success of 3d printed DnD minis is a very different conversation, and has nearly no relation to Games Workshop because very few if any of those customers would be buying GW minis if they didn't have 3d printed minis to purchase, they just wouldn't be buying minis at all. There's a reason that companies like Reaper struggle, it's because once you have a (relatively) small set of minis necessary for your RPG game, you don't need to buy more. Tabletop RPGs don't promote repeat purchases the way that Fantasy Wargaming does, this is a business limitation of the medium that every company has struggled with since it's inception. WotC tried to get into the mini's market over a decade ago, and they failed for this exact reason, they had huge sales at first and then quickly dropped once players had all the minis they needed. The market for DnD minis isn't massive, it's starved, there hasn't been a source for detailed/custom RPG minis and terrain in the past, now that there is the customers are gorging themselves, but they'll eventually get full and slow down. When that happens expect a lot of smaller inefficient printers to get out of the business, and the medium and large ones to consolidate. You'll end up with the same hierarchy as I mentioned above, a couple of large companies dominating the market, a few medium ones bucking for distant second place and a bunch of small dedicated niche producers. The guys who are really going to profit from 3d tabletop printing are the consistent content creators like Maker's Cult, their product has two huge advantages, first its something they can keep selling, second it takes up no space. Nerds will buy hundreds of .stl files and only print a few of them.
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May 31, 2021 17:40
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InternetJunky posted:You are very incorrect here fyi. The same "Nerds [that] will buy hundreds of .stl files and only print a few of them." are the same people that will buy hundreds of miniatures and only use a few of them. Maybe it's because I'm one of them or maybe it's because I'm actually able to see people's mini buying habits (since I'm a seller) but the mini buyers who aren't buying for wargames probably spend just as much on their little figures as the GW guys. The difference is that .stl files don't take up any space. The nature of 40k (and most other miniatures wargames) is that they promote people to buy more product by updating the game and promoting organized play. Can't play in the latest tournament if you don't have the minis to go with the newest meta. How many Owlbears do you need for DnD? and how often do you need to buy more of them? How often does DnD change the stats of the Owlbear and require everyone to buy new minis to compete in their organized play? I'm not making this poo poo up, it's the nature of new markets, they evolve in certain predictable ways and boom-bust cycles are inevitable. This situation is directly comparable to the DnD 3rd edition OGL situation, the OGL made it possible for anyone to create DnD content, they had a boom of new players and tons of people started creating new content and making money, then the market got oversaturated, people stopped buying and a lot of small producers went belly up more or less overnight while a few companies rose to the top. If you're making money printing DnD minis right now, good for you get it while you can, but realize that the gravy train will slow down, start finding ways to either become more cost efficient and competitive or differentiate your service in some other way.
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May 31, 2021 19:45
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TheDiceMustRoll posted:Do you guys think GW doesn't really lose anything but releasing a rules-set with STL files and telling people to go buck wild? lets say with warmaster I was thinking the same thing, if there’s a game they couldn’t financially justify reprinting (BFG, inquisitor?) it would be an interesting experiment.
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Jun 1, 2021 14:33
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I've been using Myminifactory, cults3d, shapeways and yeggi to find modelers I like, then track down where they're most prolific. If you're looking for cyberpunk stuff this guy has a bunch. https://www.patreon.com/papsikels
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Jun 4, 2021 20:35
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Verisimilidude posted:
Drop him a DM and let him know that, he included your name in the photo but it's still common courtesy to ask first. I've watched a lot of his videos and he seems like a reasonable guy who's trying to do right by everyone he interacts with, and I'm sure he'd prefer not to make that mistake in the future.
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Jun 4, 2021 20:39
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w00tmonger posted:That post would be good in the OP Agreed. I'm not backing in Patreon's right now as I'm still getting started with printing and I'm currently just picking and choosing individual models to print, but most these guys have stores to buy individual models from so it's still valuable for me to look them up.
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Jun 4, 2021 22:44
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Verisimilidude posted:Does anyone know of any 3D printable heavy gear minis? That’s the current game at our flgs and I’d like to give it a shot This is the best I could find on Yeggi https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2937037
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Jun 5, 2021 01:02
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Team_q posted:
Holy poo poo! thanks for this link, I backed him and my god is he prolific, 25 new ork models a month, troops, elites, mech, vehicles and even bits. I wish I had gotten in for May because there are some amazing models in that set, but June is looking pretty good already.
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Jun 6, 2021 04:39
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The whole reason I got a 3d printer is so I could do dumb stuff like this.
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Jun 7, 2021 05:10
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I don't have any experience with it myself, but one of the videos I watched recently said that reducing your exposure time for the first layers will make it easier to remove from the build plate. You could also get metal flexplate. Makes popping stuff off super easy.
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Jun 8, 2021 21:22
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Sydney Bottocks posted:I've used resin flex plates both from the more pricey options (Wham Bam, Fulament), and the cheaper ones you can find on Amazon (Sovol, Bigtreetech/Biqu), and thus far I've noticed zero difference between any of them. Just make sure you print out a Z-axis spacer for your printer if one is needed (you can usually find them on Thingiverse), and once you've given your magnet time to make sure it's fully adhered, just re-level your build plate and you're good to go. I don't understand why you need the spacer, shouldn't you just be able to reset the build plate to the new zero level with the magnet in place? I got a flex plate initially and ended up removing it because I was leveling my plate wrong, now that I've resolved that I'm considering getting a new one and trying again.
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Jun 8, 2021 23:50
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Class Warcraft posted:some printers do this annoying thing where they go all the way to the bottom of the z-axis until the laser is tripped, even if you've set the start point higher. if you don't print out a shim to block the laser then your new magnetic plate slams into your screen, which I learned the hard way (luckily it didn't break). Right, that's what mine was doing, but it was because I was locking the build plate in place before setting it to home instead of after. If I just let the plate swing freely with the flexplate and magnet on it, sent it home and then locked the plate into place there shouldn't that mean I don't need the shim?
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Jun 9, 2021 02:01
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I'm using an Elegoo Mars 2 pro. What I'm confused about is that the build plate has Z (up and down) travel. So instead of adding a 2.6mm shim, couldn't I just move the plate up 2.6mm instead? Like if I did this: installed the flexplate and magnet. loosened the build plate bolts sent the build plate to home Tightened down the build plate moved the plate up and zeroed it out on a piece of paper Now when the plate goes to home it's flush with the top of the screen and then moves up a bit to get to zero. Or does zero have to be lower than home?
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Jun 9, 2021 03:32
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Sydney Bottocks posted:I mean, I honestly don't know. I have a Mars 2 and I just printed and installed the shim as recommended by the flex plate's manufacturer, and it works fine. If you want to try it out and see if it works or not, that's your call, but installing the shim literally takes a few minutes and then you know for sure you're OK. The problem I had as that my flexplate kit didn’t include anything about needing a shim, so I set it up without one, then on top of that I hosed up my leveling so I couldn’t print the shim afterwards. So I ripped the magnet off and started over from the beginning and figured out my leveling issues. Now I have a plate but no magnet, and thinking about installing a new one.
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Jun 9, 2021 14:09
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Sydney Bottocks posted:Which flex plate did you get? The cheaper ones from Sovol or Bigtreetech/Biqu don't come with any instructions (which is why their Amazon reviews usually have a lot of people grumbling about not being told they needed to print a shim). Whereas Wham Bam and I believe Fulament both have pretty detailed instructions on their sites, and I think they both also have links to shims on Thingiverse that you can download and print as well. I have both FDM and resin printers so I just printed the shim out on the FDM printer before installing it. The shims work regardless of which flex plate you end up going with, so it's not like you need a specific WB shim or a specific Sovol shim, etc., just the correct shim for whatever printer you're using. It was a Biqu. Guess I'll go an add to the lovely amazon reviews. I'm running without a flexplate right now and it's working fine, if I ever re-upgrade I'll be sure to print a shim first so I have it on hand. I just really don't understand why they don't include washers with each kit.
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Jun 9, 2021 18:05
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Eej posted:I guess my next question is do I really need an ultrasonic cleaner (which I will not be putting IPA directly in) and/or a branded curing station? You certainly don't need them, but I think you will want one or the other. I have the Elegoo Mercury wash/cure station and it makes cleaning so much more convenient. I just pull the build plate off the printer, attach it to the station so it's suspended in the cleaning vat and then hit a button to agitate the IPA for a few minutes. I don't have to touch anything with resin on it until after it's been through the first cleaning. The only downside is that I can't immediately start another print until I finish cleaning the current one and take it off the build plate. I haven't used one, but the big advantage I see with an ultrasonic cleaner is that you can use commercial cleaners in it instead of relying on IPA. They also have a smaller footprint and can be used for other things like cleaning brushes, tools and jewelry.
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Jun 9, 2021 18:50
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Yeah I tried the water washable resin and it wasn't worth it. It took a bunch of scrubbing to get it all off and then I'm stuck with a big vat of contaminated water to deal with. IPA cleans better and faster, and I'm told for disposal i can just leave it outside and it will evaporate and leave the resin behind.
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Jun 10, 2021 22:01
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Hedningen posted:I’m trying to move from traditional sculpting into 3d - right now, I’m thinking of just making a few packs of bits and seeing if that’s viable. Stuff like loose weapons, shields, greeblies, and such that seem like an underserved area. What would the folks here want to see in these kinds of packs, as in how many bits and what kind of production schedule would you expect to actually find this worthwhile? Personally I need Lion themed bits for my space marines, shoulder pads, shields, vehicle ornaments, dreadnaught stuff etc. I ordered some stuff from Puppetswar a few months ago but it got lost in the mail, now I got a 3d printer and I'm scouring the internet for appropriate .stl files since I know I won't lose any bits I print myself. Pop goes the Monkey seems to do tons of business selling 3d printed marine bits for various themes but he doesn't offer .stl files, I could see some success by offering up a new set of bits based on a theme on a regular basis. InternetJunky is probably right though, not that many people would want to back a patreon that was just bits. KS or storefront would probably be the way to go. Somebody in one of the other threads was complaining about the difficulty in finding specific models of lasguns, and the lack of appropriate proxies for Elysian drop troops.
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Jun 11, 2021 19:59
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I'm told you need to wait 24 hours after applying the adhesive magnet sheet to your build plate to properly let the glue set. Dunno if that will have an effect on it's resistance to IPA. I also read that you can skip the magnetic sheet and just apply some big-rear end magnets to t he back of your build plate to hold the flexplate in place. I'm probably going to give that a try soon as I hosed up my magnetic sheet when I first got started.
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Jun 15, 2021 15:17
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Sydney Bottocks posted:Just a heads-up, Fulament sell the magnetic sheets for their resin flex plates separately, if you just need a replacement one. They have a size chart and all so you should be able to find one for your specific printer. A magnet's a magnet so it'll work fine with any other brand's flex plate. Thanks, but I figure if I decide to go back to the magnetic sheet, I'll buy a full kit so I'll have a spare flex plate for quick swapping. For the moment getting things off with the included spatula has been working well for me. Or at least it would be if the resin I ordered would get here already.
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Jun 15, 2021 16:27
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I was thinking the same thing and this is the conclusion that I came to: The people running these patreon's are primarily armatures, hobbyists and artists who are just starting to figure out how business works, specifically this brand new type of business. 3d printing is a young industry and hobby 3d printing is even younger, there are no experienced marketers working in this space yet so everyone is figuring it out as they go. I sometimes get frustrated by the lack of basic info (like links to stores or preview images) but then I also feel like it's a bit refreshing and exciting to see this brand new business developing. Different people are trying different approaches and seeing what works and what doesn't, and in the long run they'll sort it out. I'm sure in a few years the MBAs will have jumped on board to determine all the best strategies to maximize potential profit, and every creator will offer the same optimized experience, but until then I'm going to enjoy the wild west feeling.
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Jun 18, 2021 21:49
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I feel like right now there are two needs that are not being served, somebody who's better at running a business than I am could make a few bucks with either or both. A patreon middleware like backerkit is for kickstarter. Creators pay a small fee to get access to a bunch of tools for standardized features, like templates, content delivery, subscription rewards, loyalty programs, community management etc. All the thing currently being handled by a myriad of half-assed solutions. It seems like Myminifactory is trying to do that but they could offer a lot more. A Tabletop Focused patreon reviewer, youtube videos or a solid blog that acquired the files, prints tons of them and then gives good reviews and showcases.
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Jun 19, 2021 14:31
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In my experience the venn diagram of good artists and people with good business sense has a very small overlap, which is why so many of them get exploited. It makes reviewers valuable both to the customers and to the creators. If there was a prominent youtuber saying "I'd heard this guy makes great models but his patreon page just says he makes unicorn dreams and has a picture of him and his girlfriend on it instead of useful information or images of his products so I can't recommend backing him" not only would the targeted creator likely improve their page but newcomers would see that as an armature move and are less likely to do the same thing. If I was going to do a mini-review this is how I would do it. I'd pick a few of the prominent patreons, like the top 5-10 on that big list. I'd back them and get the welcome pack and whatever minis were available for the first month. I'd print the entire set, and then do a comprehensive review on each creator's starting package. I'd rate them on aesthetics, printability, ease of use, back catalog, etc. Then make a 15 minute youtube video to cash in on that sweet ad revenue. Once I had a handful of creators covered for the basics, I'd do a weekly video highlighting all the new releases from all the lines. Maybe for extra content do a bi-weekly kickstarter roundup. Building up a small following it could probably pay for itself, and if you got a decent following creators would start coming to you for promotion, it could be a decent side hustle. You'd need to be both knowledgeable about the hobby and good on camera. So somebody who is those things please follow this blueprint for me.
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Jun 19, 2021 15:43
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InternetJunky posted:This is the only youtube channel I have found that tries to do patreon reviews: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiwElQwB98nYAH7c8BPRfPQ Ok yeah, it looks like this guy is on the right path. Imma hit that like and subscribe button. Top of Page Edit:  My buddy said he'd run an X-wing campaign if I printed him a few extra ships. I went a little overboard. Bucnasti fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Jun 19, 2021 |
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Jun 19, 2021 16:19
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Eej posted:Sisters of Battle are pretty asexual now, Stormcast Eternals are literally just a headswap between male and female, they just released a pack of male and female head swaps for Cadian and they even gave Lelith pants. I would say this is miles ahead of, say, Widowmaker's inflatable rear end and *sweeps arm* the entirety of Japan Yeah, people don't seem to realize how much of a sea change the recent increases in representation is for the mini-wargaming hobby. Mini-wargaming comes from historical wargaming which was about as exclusively male dominated as a hobby can be, and it continued in that direction for like 30 years. Businesses work on feedback loops (make more of what sells, less of what doesn't) and for the longest time the feedback loop for female minis was: only make sexy ladies because that's all that sells, and since only sexy minis are made, they continue to be the only thing that sells. GW has just recently broken that loop and is showing success with it, they will continue to move in that direction, but their product cycle is multiple years so it takes a lot of time for the next iteration of the loop to happen. 3d printed minis are in that same place traditional minis were for a long time, a mostly male dominated hobby, and sexy ladies sell better right now. As more women get involved both at consumers and creators the feedback loop will change and we'll see more representation in 3d sculpts. The big difference is that the product cycle for 3d printed minis is weeks instead of years and the changes can take place much faster.
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Jun 20, 2021 19:34
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I personally would not want a resin printer if I only had 800sf of living space (i lived in a 900sf apt until recently). Not only is there the concern about fumes, but it's not like an air compressor and spray booth that you can just pack this stuff and stow it someplace when not in use. These are full of messy materials. Right now I've got the Mars 2 pro and the mercury wash station, plus assorted buckets/containers for IPA, PPE, other assorted tools and some workspace on a 4ftx2ft table in my garage, plus a second table outside that I use for transferring/curing used IPA and I still get IPA and resin all over the place. If I turn on my UV flashlight, the place does indeed look like a Jackson Pollock painting. And water washable resin is pretty much bullshit, you can't just run it under the tap like it's implied in their marketing, you still end up with buckets of contaminated liquid that needs to be disposed of, and instead of IPA which evaporates off fairly quickly when placed outside, it's water which takes forever to evaporate. The only reason I'd use water washable resin again is if IPA suddenly became hard to get again and I needed to switch to non-alcohol based cleaners. The Mars 2 pro does have a built in filter and Elegoo does make portable filters that can be placed inside the enclosures, so if you're determined to make it work I would suggest one of those. I'm happy with the Elegoo Mars 2 Pro, I'm getting great prints and the only problems I have had were due to my own inexperience and not the fault of the machine. mllaneza posted:They're coming ! Killer, I'll keep a watch on 40Emperor
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Jun 21, 2021 00:56
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I heard that the water washable resin is even more toxic than normal because what makes it water washable also makes it penetrate your skin easier.
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Jun 21, 2021 22:15
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jesus WEP posted:anycubic’s eco resin is apparently completely non-toxic but idk i still take care and let the washing liquid cure out before disposal But it's not water washable.
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Jun 21, 2021 22:39
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I'm kinda wondering if all this stuff doesn't just come from the same big vat in China and get packaged under different names. It seems each manufacturer offers the same basic stuff.
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Jun 21, 2021 22:50
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My sample size is only one, but the Mars 2 Pro is the best printer I've owned. Seriously, I'm very happy with it, the prints are super crisp, and the only problems I have had were all due to my own inexperience and not the fault of the machine. Accessories (FEP, gaskets, protectors) have been easy to find online. I think the only thing I could complain about is that the rubber gasket that goes on the bottom of the cover doesn't stay on very well, I think I just need to glue it in place.
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Jun 22, 2021 22:27
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I got a set of stick on drawer handles for a couple bucks, it made lifting and moving my printer covers a lot easier.
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Jun 25, 2021 05:22
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I’ve been priming with stynilrez black and it’s worked well except the first model I painted, which it didn’t adhere to. I’m not sure if it was because I didn’t wash it well enough or because I was using water washable resin(and washing it in water) or something else, since switching to standard resin and washing in IPA I haven’t had any problems.
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Jun 25, 2021 16:45
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Koramei posted:Anyone know of any patreons that focus on minis of women? Not a patreon but a cool KS of lady soldiers. https://40emperor.com/collections/army-deals/products/azadi-death-front-full-army-deal
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Jun 29, 2021 16:44
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