Painting 3D models

[raadsheer 0]

If you have print your 3d model, is it then nessecary to paint it?

If you did, what kind of paint material did you use?

Was it easy to do?

Thanks!

Gr. René

 

[anthonyt 0]

It is not necessary to paint the plastic, but nail polish works well on ABS, and also works pretty good on PLA. This takes at least two coats to completely cover the original plastic color. There are some nail polish kits on Ebay with many colours for a decent price.

If you want to use spray paint, then you can try "KRYLON FUSION FOR PLASTIC".

Painting is always messy. It is just easier to get the desired filament in the first place.

 

[valcrow 144]

I've painted a few things as long as it's somewhat primed it works. I've tried Tamaya spray base coat, and some random rust proof spraypaint I found lying around the house. It's not even for plastic and it works. Then acrylic over that.

Basecoat black rust paint, 2ish layers of acrylic model paint. I didn't even paint the black parts again.. it's just primer.

Primed with watered down acrylic black paint. -I don't recommend this as much, you need a lot more coats to cover the base. But at least I printed in silver so I just had to add a little bit of silver paint.

Basecoat in black anti-rust spray. Painted in model acrylics

You do need to seal it afterwards though, or the paint flakes off kinda easily. I just used a latex sealer you can grab at an art store. I just had all this stuff from my graphic design school days, didn't pick them on purpose.

 

[0235 24]

so bringing up a slightly older thread, don't want to post my own one about this topic, but is there any reason to prime the model beyond removing any visibility of the original colour through? can you just paint normal modelling acrylic paint straight on it, or do you need to prime it with something slightly rougher to get it to stick?

also, i noticed Valcrow, you said about needing to seal the model, could you do this with just an overall spray of matte / gloss modelling paint?

 

[gr5 2,172]

Most paints will not stick to PLA. But automotive primer will. And any paint should stick to primer.

 

[Daid 306]

Most paints will not stick to PLA. But automotive primer will. And any paint should stick to primer.

 

The games-workshop paint does. But it's very expensive.

 

[0235 24]

excellent. i will see what the games-workshop stuff is like, as i guess i would be able to apply that slightly thinner than normal automotive stuff, even even that's pretty expensive.

 

[3dmaker4u 0]

Priming before painting has also the advantage of smoothing the surface a bit. It stands also true that it might also blur some detail. But does not consume too much time since it's easy to apply and cures very fast.

 

[valcrow 144]

so bringing up a slightly older thread, don't want to post my own one about this topic, but is there any reason to prime the model beyond removing any visibility of the original colour through? can you just paint normal modelling acrylic paint straight on it, or do you need to prime it with something slightly rougher to get it to stick?

also, i noticed Valcrow, you said about needing to seal the model, could you do this with just an overall spray of matte / gloss modelling paint?

 

Painting directly on PLA doesn't work well, it will pool if you water down your paints even just a bit and then the PLA will show through as well, resulting in requiring many coats to get an even colour.

For the hammer, I actually tried to water down paint a lot and brush it on a few coats. I read somewhere that that could be an alternative to priming. Can't say I recommend it. It's a little better than just painting directly onto PLA, but more time consuming, not durabable at all (paint can rub off simply by your fingers holding the object).

Priming with spray primer is your best bet I think but they're kind of expensive. I tried tamaya light grey ultrathin primer (automotive stuff). Works great, but expensive, and acrylic doesn't stick that well to it. I think it's meant for enamel paints.

before / after priming.

I find priming actually helps obscure some of the printing imperfections.

As for sealing, absolutely essential the paint can rub off even if you handle it a little bit more than normal. varnish should technically protect it enough. But I would suggest a can of Krylon clear matte finish. It'll last you forever. very durable finish, and doesn't change the properties and look of your paint job at all. even if you suck at apply it and overspray.

I have an airbrush on order, it's suppose to come in a few days. There's some airbrush primer in that order as well. I'll let you guys know how that goes. I have no experience with that type of stuff so it'll be interesting at the least.

 

[valcrow 144]

Hey Guys,

As promised, I got my airbrush this past week. A harder and steekbeck 2in1 with a mini compressor. Kinda pricey, but it is one fine precision instrument.

It's working really great so far. The priming works well, I was worried that the paint won't stick to PLA, but it clings on quite nicely and provides a really good matte painting surface. I'm using Black polyurethane based vellejo airbrush primer.

Here's a scrap model I'm using to test my painting. Printing on it is pretty terrible which makes it great for testing. Primer goes on as thin as you need it to preserve all the detail.

Finished painting, (details and edges were brushed on)

Gonna be doing more painting this week to really get into it. I'm totally new to airbrushs and it seems somewhat easy enough so far and getting decent results. I'm sure with more practice and time it'll just get better from here. It's a very enjoyable experience though, unlike brush painting sometimes...

You can cover a large area quickly, or detailed gradients. The only thing you can't do well are edges and details unless you do masks and stencils which I have yet to try.

I was quite surprised that my current paints work with it. Random games workshop, vellejo and even craft acrylic paints thinned down work.

More pics/impressions here on my blog.

http://www.redicubricks.com/first-impressions-of-airbrush-painting-a-catapult/

If you have any questions about airbrush + 3d printing or want me to try some stuff, let me know. I couldn't find almost any information specific to airbrush and 3d printing out there when I was trying to figure out what to buy.

 

[ian 32]

i love this new tread ! :-)

thanks for all the info... i have to give this a go...

Ian :-)

 

[0235 24]

never buy a cheap airbrush. i brought a cheap one. used it once, it was fine, used it a second time, it was awful.

 

[3dcase 37]

A post about painting, printed them a year ago, so won't fit in 'Your latest print'.

some scenery for my railroadtrack 1:160.

Used normal 'Revell' modelkitpaint.

 

[lennart-bruggink 3]

It's a cool idea to have your own home as a model!

That is going to be worth a little project when i'm done doing Rhino;)

Cheers!

Lennart

 

[valcrow 144]

That's a fantastic use of a 3D printer. The house is a great personalized touch.

 

[ian 32]

fantastic home model !

I always wanted to do this for mine... Should kick my ass a little and get that done....

Ian :-)

 

[0235 24]

its images like that which made me get an ultimaker compared to other printers on the market

 

[valcrow 144]

More airbrush painting, on a arger scale.

Step by step pictures here:

http://www.redicubricks.com/atlas-painting-step-by-step/#more-471

Hey.. we should have a post your latest painted objects! We have one for printed objects...

 

[valcrow 144]

Thought it would be relevant to put this here:

Video painting tutorial w/written instructions

http://www.redicubricks.com/3d-printed-lightsaber-painting-tutorial/

 

[tinydancer 0]

I'm almost finished printing out the complex lightsaber. Have to say that paint job you did looks amazing, well done!

I'm thinking of getting an airbrushing kit and learn how to paint. Do you have any recommendations on what kind of system to get?

 

[valcrow 144]

I have the harder and steenbeck infinity 2in1. (it comes with a 0.15mm and 0.4mm nozzle) I rarely use the 0.15 nozzle. I think that's for warhammer sized things. It's a great airbrush, but my first so I don't really have a point of reference.

Make sure you get a gravity fed one (the ones with the paint cup on top) The other variations will waste a lot of paint.

Get a compressor with a tank and regulator. They usually are sold as kits, so an airbrush + compressor combo. But I since found out you can get compressors a lot cheaper in hardware stores vs. hobby ones so look there if you wanna save some toonies.

Lastly cleaning supplies/solvents are important for airbrushes since there are small moving parts. So get whatever solvent works for your paints and make sure it breaks up the paint nicely (as in dissolves rather than makes it all chunky) I use Vallejo airbrush thinner. I think it could be windex... but that stuff works.

 

[skint 61]

Wicked video Valcrow!!

 

[tinydancer 0]

I have the harder and steenbeck infinity 2in1. (it comes with a 0.15mm and 0.4mm nozzle) I rarely use the 0.15 nozzle. I think that's for warhammer sized things. It's a great airbrush, but my first so I don't really have a point of reference.

Make sure you get a gravity fed one (the ones with the paint cup on top) The other variations will waste a lot of paint.

Get a compressor with a tank and regulator. They usually are sold as kits, so an airbrush + compressor combo. But I since found out you can get compressors a lot cheaper in hardware stores vs. hobby ones so look there if you wanna save some toonies.

Lastly cleaning supplies/solvents are important for airbrushes since there are small moving parts. So get whatever solvent works for your paints and make sure it breaks up the paint nicely (as in dissolves rather than makes it all chunky) I use Vallejo airbrush thinner. I think it could be windex... but that stuff works.

 

Thanks for the info Valcrow. And I shared your video with a few friends, nothing but praise for your airbrushing skills my friend.

 

[Darth_Biomech 4]

I might bump this old thread, so, sorry...

What is the strongest paint finishes do you know? My prints are supposed to be painted and they will experience a lot of friction and grinding against each other, some of the parts will be held together by a thick rubber, others will be constantly rubbing against each other, so I need to find a solution for paint all the shiny metallic stuff on the print (It's a large 70cm (27inch) robot figure) and being able to pose it more than once)