Photonstering
September 15, 2019Apparently I am now what is called a Photonster, as I’m completely hooked on the Anycubic Photon I mentioned in my previous post. I’m really not exaggerating when I say the printer has been running almost day and night after I got it, and I’m in love with the results. There’s been a bit of trial and error, but so far only a couple of prints have failed and even those were due to user malfunction and could actually be salvaged.
Obviously my main interest has been in 28mm miniature stuff (although I’ve also printed a pair of earrings for Emmi), and the printer is wonderful for that. I’m still playing with the settings a bit, but it appears that it’s fairly easy to get a lovely result with minimal if any print lines showing. The detail level is more than adequate, easily ahead of Reaper Bones minis for example. It’s not on par with resin or the best metal casts, but it’s not far behind either.
I was initially worried about everything being very messy and time consuming, but those fears proved to be unfounded. The plant-based resin I’m using is very low odour, and now that I have my cleanup routine for the prints in place, even that bit is easy. After printing the prints are dunked into isopropyl alcohol and scrubbed lightly with a toothbrush to remove excess resin, then rinsed with water and detergent and then cured with UV light (in my case by putting them out in the sun, I’m still waiting for my UV lamp to arrive). It’s a bit of work, but no more than say, removing paint from old minis.
What have I been printing? Sharks! Pirates! Battlemechs! Monkeys! Parrots! A dead whale (yes)! I definitely see a very, very real chance of going overboard here. Luckily enough I’m at a good place in my hobby right now, more in the “time to get rid of stuff I don’t need” zone than the “I don’t know what I’ll use these for but I’ll get them anyway because” one. Shown below are a couple of the pieces I’ve done – a shark and some fins that I already painted up, the aforementioned whale carcass, another shark model from PrintYourMonsters and a pirate from Depths of Savage Atoll. I undercoated the pirate to bring out the detail.
Click for a larger version
Click for a larger version
Click for a larger version
The whale carcass with a Black Scorpion pirate for size
Click for a larger version
With the whale I botched the print a bit – another user malfunction – so had to fix a gap between its head and its body. Nothing new to anyone used to bigger models, though! As you can see from the pictures, the whale is massive. After hollowing the model instead of printing it solid, it cost me something in the range of 5€ in resin, which isn’t an awful lot. The pirate shown also shows how the printer really makes it viable to print 28mm minis, I have metal stuff that has less defined detail.
So, if it’s not clear by now, I love this machine and I can’t recall the last time I was so excited about a hobby thing. While this may of course be a passing thing, I’m sure going to ride this wave while it lasts!
Dawn of the Lead 
Your tempting me to buy one.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Maybe you should! 😀 At <300€ this was a bargain for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like you are really making the most of it! Hope we soon see some of the minis painted! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks John! I’ll try and get some done soonish, couple on my desk already.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow, that’s really high quality. I’ve been avoiding 3d printing because of the huge start-up costs, the time and effort needed and the low quality of the results. I did think though that over time all three factors would change and it looks from this like they have. You have me researching it again now – although of course I still have more than enough stuff I’ve already bought that needs painted first!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Excellent results mate, very impressive!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cheers! You’ll be sure to see more.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow, those are really impressive, especially the pirate lady! Looking forward to seeing some paint on them.
Also, please print a pot of petunias to go with the whale carcass.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah these are very impressive. I need to learn how complex the software is to use on these things…
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s addictive stuff! Really liking the results you’re achieving and it’s tempting me to invest in one. I use a Form 2 at the moment, which is an awesome machine, but costs quite a lot to keep going. I just had to replace a few vital components recently. Ouch!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Truly impressive – SISU!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahah, thanks Mark!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, these are so cool! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, I agree! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] pieces on their printers. My enthusiasm sparked, I bought an Anycubic Photon which turned out to be a great idea. Before I knew it, I was down the 3d printing rabbit hole. It wasn’t too long before I found […]
LikeLike
[…] of Savage Atoll Kickstarter. Regular readers might remember that I showed this three-part print back in September. It sat for a long time undercoated on my desk, and as often happens in these cases, once I […]
LikeLike