Calling All UM2 Users - Can You Match or Beat These Prints?

[cloakfiend 995]

After Acetone dip 25secs no sanding has been done at all btw.

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P.s. most of the lines you are seeing will not be visible after a light spray coating, in fact almost all of them with be invisible. its just the way PLA looks after it been printed. the acetone actually helps bring the detail out to some extent...eitherway i think it came out great. ready for a chrome finish...lol

[cloakfiend 995]

Heres a close up dip test on one of my trex skulls...just to show you how nice the surface becomes.... but im gonna post my acetone business on my thread as otherwise i repeat myself on other peoples threads. all printed at 0.06 umblue lets you go to maybe 0.1. but 0.06 is a must with colorfabb.

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[oppass 0]

very helpful. great photos. Really appreciate what you're showing us. Thanks cloakfiend.

 

[cloakfiend 995]

no problem, only took an hour and a bit to print, and did a great job with no jams at all which was great, ill give it a quick under coat and spray it gold so you will see it as a 'finished' model.

[cloakfiend 995]

ok under closer inspection, the lines (more like slight gradients) are still visible but are so minor i really couldnt care so much. if i was making a model this small i would make the wrinkles deeper for them to be more visible after the acetone dip(or any post production of cleaning up). the smaller the object, the more visible the lines are going to be as when the details of the model become finer than the details of the layers then it all becomes a bit pointless. whilst the details of the wrinkles are still clearly visible, i wouldnt waste me time printing things this detailed this small, that is the lesson i have learned. ill try printing it twice the size and see what that looks like after a wash....

[cloakfiend 995]

OK here are the undercoated pics still no sanding whatsoever apart from the tiny top where the printer finished the top of the head, if im going to chrome it i will need to light sand with very fine sand paper. but obviously we are slowly losing detail due to the acetone and layers/ texture of paint( which is why its better to overdo the depth of detail during the modeling stages to compensate for the finishing process. But seeing as if you want something looking its best, you cant expect to just pull it of the plate and start painting unless you really dont care about quality. No good model painter will ever paint a model right out of the box. everything needs finessing even resin prints... Oh well here is the best my ultimaker 2 will do at a first test for the 30mm model, maybe colorfabb pla would keep more details, but bear in mind i will need to sand it regardsless to get a smooth surface as possilble, to even out any bumos in the paint and to eliminate any obvious ringing.

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you only see the true form of your object once you paint it. it always looks best untouched but you wont see the flaws until you put that first layer of paint on. I think here i may have overdone the spraying a touch!

 

[mitchfx 0]

Thanks Cloakfiend for doing this test print and demonstrating your refinishing process. Sorry for the late reply but the UM forum reboot preventing me from following up in a timely manner. There are some really nice aspects to this print compared to what I've been getting on the Dremel. I wonder if your intermittent banding might be due to filament inconsistencies.

Anyway, I had already pulled the trigger on a Rapide Lite 200XL by the time I saw your posts. I ordered it with the upgraded extruder and slider rails so hoping it will match or possibly beat the UM. I'll post examples once it arrives.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rapide-lite-200xl-400mm-desktop-plus-3d-printer#activity

 

OK here are the undercoated pics still no sanding whatsoever apart from the tiny top where the printer finished the top of the head, if im going to chrome it i will need to light sand with very fine sand paper...

[cloakfiend 995]

No problem! rapid lite looks like it can do some good stuff, but im concentrating on fine quality and have now finally acheived it (apart from overhangs, lol). My last few posts didn't seem to make it, but the acetone wash on your model looks amazing and pretty much perfect. Ill re-post a pic when i get back. just ordered some funky paints so gonna have some fun with that. i now figured out how to achieve perfect layer alignment with the ultimaker 2 so i get perfect stepping on layer height without those annoying offset lines. ended up taking the filament off the roll. the feeder is not strong enough to pull the roll in my opinion, or it just gets tangled too often for my liking which must cause those tiny changes in amount of filament pulled in.

[mitchfx 0]

Here are a couple of test I did yesterday on the Dremel.  The bronze is at 100 micron and the gray was at 80 micron.  100 took about 1 hr 20min and the 80 took about 2hrs 30min.  

These are raw with no cleanup or refinishing. The Idea Builder seems to shine with smaller models like that but artifacts and issues become much more common with taller prints.

Edited April 26, 2015 by Guest

[cloakfiend 995]

They look great! a good buy defo! im now experimenting with metal coatings.....

[cloakfiend 995]

Note to MOD, the last few pages of this thread have vanished.....

[tsagos 8]

Metal coatings ? Can you give us more information please ?

[cloakfiend 995]

Yes, Sure, experimenting with metal coating can give you such awesome looks that you just cant print. It takes a tiny bit of effort and a bit of waiting, but is well worth it.

Its basically a base of either varnish, resign or casting material that you mix the metal powder in, and then paint it on your model, and after its hardened, you darken it with ink, so that when that dried, you lightly sand the highlights and it looks instantly cool.

Also because its real metal you are using, and not just some metallic paint, you can add patina aging acids to it and it will rust or corrode leaving either blue or greeen rust for copper and the orange rust for iron.

Here is my lastest attempt, i actually bought a metal paint from the US for this, but found it very hard to paint with and uneven, and i had to mix a hardener and catalyst and weight them out, and wasn't sure if my scale was correct, so not sure all in all, but im sure after i treat them they will look cool.

But after some washes and sanding will hhopefully look something like the picture below... but different as i mixed the paints for this old model, and it was layed on thick. Theses new models should have much more detail.

Just used a regular big house painting brush to lay on the paint, nothing fancy.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Guest

[g_leopard 2]

how do you configure a file to get that resolution ?and what are the specific configurations for the printer im dealing with a simpler shape and having lots of issues

[Labern 774]

how do you configure a file to get that resolution ?and what are the specific configurations for the printer im dealing with a simpler shape and having lots of issues

If you provide a photo or stl of what you are printing and your settings you used in cura. This can then help us know what problems you are having and the best solutions for resolving them.

Different designs can require different settings to get the best result.

[cloakfiend 995]

I print everything at 35mm/s no infill and at 0.06 layer height. Shell 1.2 and support everywhere and use colorfabb PLA. But feel free to do the best for what works for you. All prints need a bit of love (a bit of a sand)under the overhangs but then a quick acetone dip and they are ready to paint. I dont think people realize how important it is to acetone dip your stuff. If you dont, then forget about painting it in my opinion, unless the paint you are using is mega thick.

Get the model looking as good as you possibly can before you paint it, escpecially if you are going to give it a glossy or reflective coat.

[joelmongeon 39]

I know you already bought another printer but I've been meaning to print your test on my UM2.

There is a bit of clean up to do with an exacto, but I thought I'd post what I got directly off of the printer without clean up.

Printed at .04 mm. Have you received your printer yet? How do you like the Rapid Lite?