cloakfiend

Its infill that is wasting your time, just print the walls separately flat and construct it afterwards. I know its a bit more hassle, but it will look better and you will not just waste 48hrs if one part fails. Just because you model something one way doesnt mean it will print that way, even though i never had these weird issues. Just slice it in appropriate places and stick it together. You will save a ton of time. Not that many things with detail can be printed all at once, for many reasons.

just squeezed the ends of the tiny little silver can and JUST managed to coat enough of another of my acetoned models i had lying about from work, just printed the top it was missing, glued it and off to coat. im starting to get the hang of this, you need to understand the connection of size and amps and cathode positioning. some pics for the curious....another oversize plate attempt not recommended by the manufacturer, even bigger than the buddah head... but again if acetone frightens you, then just forget about plating, as all the spraying and chems made me feel unwell lately, as i tend to breath in a lot of chemicals due to inhalation while closely inspecting the processes. im not even sure how bad the acid plating solution is, i put my hands in it quite a lot as i keep forgetting to use gloves which it comes with a box of 100, lol.

The corners can be solved by using better glue, if your printing 0.2 then ive also had issues but never solved them. I only really print at 0.06 really due to many reasons. Actually shifting outwards is weird and cant offer any guidance other than look at the model in a 3d program, as if its not doing it all the time on all models, its not the printer.

Just do like 50 proper atomic pulls in a row and you'll be fine. Or replace the nozzle and problem solved. Your choice. It may not need 50!

and distressed...

few more pics. i ran out of silver spray, and it doesnt seem to be available anywhere else lol. need to get like 50 cans!

tried again with a smaller print and it was much more shiny. ill distress it now.

I just bought a um2 so please delay any release by 6 months to make me feel better, lol.

its definitely is not doing what i want but from an art point of view, im having fun! another matte partial coat, even after 4 hours. something is not right, lol.

lol, here a photo, clean polished plate, semi clean polished plate distressed, and clean matte plate (with polished spots). when i say polished i mean came out polished from the galvanization process.

i still dont really know what im doing, i tried to plate a large printout, but it kind of failed. it didnt create a shiny copper coat, but a weird light pink metallic coat instead. very girly, so it suited the model, but i was hoping for the all singing shiny plate. i have a few models lying around so im still experimenting, but i gave up looking up galvanic values for surface area and went on previous results from the tests i made figuring out the amps that suits the model most without burning it. its not a sure thing as a beginner, and with the silver spray so expensive, its not such a cheap hobby at the beginning due to the testing, getting the solution at the right temperature, waste, failed attempts etc..., but i imagine once you know what you are doing it will save you money in the long run.

ill figure something out here is a face i had. not a good print, i tried to do 0.04 but overhangs were poorer and even at shallower angles unless im doing something wrong. that weird patterning on it again, i really need to try figure how to get rid....the line is when i tried going below 172 to 170 but i had to turn it back up to 172.

@fergazz its not really a machine but more of a process. All you really need is an adjustable current and copper and copper suplhate. They just give you all the components to get started. Unless i can figure out how to do larger stuff, I have a feeling it will be like the gym, ill use it loads at the start then have no real use for it. Art will have to be the reason to use it.

Definitely, i've seen many methods, but i just dont have the time. Im going to have to improvise to get different shapes as it is because the jar is just too small for me. The magnetic stirrer is a nice touch that prevents burning of the plating, but unless you acetone your prints like me or sand them, forget about plating. It will just emphasis the lines, and in chrome they look awful. Its a gimmick for me and i dont agree with the instructions some points dont make sense to me. I gave up on them and just do it my way regardless. The hardest part is keeping them underwater lol, as they are plastic and want to float!

heres a pic of the cans....

The graphite is useless to plate with, just looks good sprayed on.

Yep the can is 1/5 of the size too! :/

This was a curious thing from the copperface, never seen one of these before lol.

this is graphite on acetoned pla. this is copperplated silver on acetoned pla.

the crusty effect reminds me of barnacles at sea, its that kind of weird build up. thats when your current is too high. i still dont really have a clue about what im doing really with this, and see myself giving up,on it real soon. the only advantage is that you keep all the detail that y started with as the graphite ans silver sprays are so fine you literally are spraying nano levels amount of particles. its hard to control, and easy to overspray. very odd sprays. if you were to hold down the spray, you would probably empty the cans in ten seconds. they are that sensitive, and probably expensive. the graphite does look slick though, even if i does not do as advertised to a novice.

graphite could be good if i understood why it doesnt work, but three times in a row with faliure compared to working almost everytime with silver says it all. some faliure pics, yay! and a bit distressd

plating non mettalic stuff is not easy with the graphite spray. quite frankly it doesnt work. you basically need to use the silver spray. i need to find a distributor of that if im going to continue using it. tiny expensive cans. this is what will costs money plating. everything else looks like it will last a while.

i used that copperface thing. not sure what im doing to be sure and have some issues but my main one is size. its more aimed at rings and small evenly shaped thing. the coolest thing is the magnetic stirrer and graphite and silver spray. very unusual coatings. looks slick. the chemicals are real nasty though and thats saying something coming from me. the sprays are so toxic i almost suffocated myself, and used barely any! if im honest its all a bit cheap and tacky looking. the weight of plastic with that level of shine tells your brain its tacky and cheap. as a result i will distress EVERYTHING i plate.