3D-print at low costs again - Mallory, how to realize it

I tested painting today at the old attempt. After a bit of sanding the area wich was treated with primer:

I painted this area and another one without primer:

Tbh I don't see any difference. Looks like I can omit the part with the primer. Additional the small Revell potions of varnish are enough. Probably I will need two black of them for the main body. Another question is the colour of Mallorys skin. Let's see if the material's colour is good and a paint by clear varnish is enough.

No decesition regarding the upper body yet. But more and more I tend to print a new one.

 

I'm at the same situation like you: I don't know much about the properties as well. That was the reason for this test. Probably I can see more tomorrow under daylight. Additional I will test the adhesive force when its completely dry. The motto is still to cause as low costs and work as possible. A complete different version would be to print the body with black material, the skinny parts in a appropitate material and finally paint the face only (eyes, lips, brows). Nothing else. Unfortunately I dont have black filament in stock. That's the result of documenting my projects. Grey material is way better for photos than black or white. Alas, I'm still learning. Although the "black body" isn't completely black. We have steel plates at her shins and boots, silver whatever at her boots, at the necklace and the belt, and brown leather stripes. A final paint is not avoidable. But probably it can be reduced to all this small details. Oh well, the red hair. It's not worth to buy an extra roll of red filament.

 

Slowly an old dream comes back to my mind. I spend so many years in Entropia Universe. I think old Jamira is worth it to get a monument in real life. I mean I spent way more time in PE/EU (8,5 years) than in Skyrim/ESO (3,5 years). But Mena Oris from ESO exists already. That's in some way non-proportional. Well, Eugene won't make another figure for free. So I need some money. I will run this book project as soon as possible. After Mallory is done. Than let's see.

 

Well, as I mentioned above you may print bottles for Acetone from PLA. PLA is resistant. Even the hardcore glue I use isn't able to cause chemical reactions. It's just for a fragile bonding. Stability comes from the gypsum infill. Neither the varnish does any harm to PLA's consistence. Althouh it's adhersive properties are good. I don't need any primer. One of the main challenges of printing large figures is to assembly the single parts. That's a job I can do very well because I know something about it. Next step would be a snap-kit of parts. Print and snap. That sounds really good to me. I never ever thought about this yet. But it would be amazing!

I should finish this version and try out a snap-kit as well before I publish something. Or cancel the current project and start directly with a snap-kit. This would be a task of accurancy. And a task of many tests and a lot of engineering the entire model. Including the knowledge of how to split the model into several parts. The method of single parts with special connectors is a good base to start at. Main question will ever be: how good can I print the part. At this point Shapeways wouldn't be a partner for printing services any longer. With an accuracy of +/- 0,5 mm they are clearly out. What I've learned is that my cheap printer works at least at +/- 0,1 mm. Would be hard enough for a snap-kit and would cause a lot of tests before success. A no-go according the high costs of Shapeways.

 

Connectors.
I used several connectors for the current project. Just to position one part to the other. Each different from the others. What about using only two types of connectors. A small and a big one? Optimized, tested and saved as seperate 3d-model. Like single bolts wich place and connect parts. Neither problems with aligning parts nor connecting. Just print two parts, grab two or three of your connectors from the chest and snap them together. Klick, klick, klick and snap!

 

LOL yeah! Didn't know this so far. But yes, the idea is the same: easy to build. According all the work I have to do so far after printing the parts I would really like to simplify the assembly process.

Yep, I tested LEGO-connections already during my Mena Oris project. It worked partly but wasn't flexible enough.

 

Car builders use such small connectors for the inner door covering. Something like this would be fine for me too. Probably just one size, not two. My models are at the same size after all. Kinda 1:2 or 1:3 scale. I would need special versions for very small connections only. But probably I can develop a snap connector that gurantees position AND contortion? No, doesn't make sense.

Sorry to folks who posted "Can't wait to see it!" The main goal is to find a smooth solution. Not a makeshift. That's really tricky. Thanks to Narfi I'm able to check out another option. Sounds promising but ... is hard to achieve. But it's worth it to try it out.

Time to watch "Tomb Raider II"!

 

Alea acta est!
I will freeze the current project and switch to develop a snap-connector in two versions: one removable and one not removable. For the same slot. The first one to test if it works properly and the second one to stitch the figure finally, probably combined with glue. After thinking a bit about this issue I ended at the very small connection places like a wrist. There is no room for two connectors to avoid contortions. So I really need a rectangular not circular form for correct positioning one part to the other.

 

ROFL! A quick search for prints of large 3d-models shows one special resin model at 350 mm. Well, pretty small I think compared to my 520 mm Mallory (this size isn't really a chellange for me anymore) and the 1000 mm Mena Oris from my former project. Not to talk about a snap-kit. Guess what folks, I am the fucking first one who thinks about such projects (since ages) and will be probably able to realize it. All others are to cowardly or small minded to think about such projects. Not to speak about realizing. Seriously, I don't understand this. Shouldn't be there tons of folks who try the same like me? But no. Okay, I'm just a little dreamer. At least I could realize the 1 meter statue of my avatar from Elderscrolls online for a few Dollars. But I'm far beyond this stadium meanwhile and think about completely different methods. And guess what, I know what I'm talking about. I can't recognise why I'm alone.

 

LOL! Is it really a thread about what you want? Or is it a thread about what is possible at the low cost area in 3d-print? Finally it's not my art. It's Eugene's art. I just run the project and try to find good solutions. Believe me, I use the printer for unspectacular jobs as well for my daily life. I don't talk about them because they arn't a challenge. I do talk about projects that are a challenge. And I don't like solutions below of what is possible. I said I'll freeze the current project until I know that there is either a better solution or not. Fortunately I am free to do what I want. No customer with fixed date and fixed costs at my neck. I pay everything by myself and have all time I need. Really good base for relaxed work. The fun is to find good solutions. Probably the standard-connector-story won't work. Pretty sure that I will go back to the entire plan. But if it works it's really not worth to follow the old path.

 

First shot:

A part dummy, the corpus for the hole and the connector.
It is very small, a few millimeters only (see next picture compared to the cigarette)

The connector snapped to one of the parts with a hard and dry "Klack!"
I thought by myself: "That's not possible! First shot and it works?" Pretty uncommon from my experiances. But it felt good and the connector sat naild in it's position. I made the hole for the connector with +0,1 mm. It seems, my little cheap printer is really accurate. Unbelievable!
But than the second part:

Not realy what I want. The connection is solid. No twist between the parts is possible. But the parts don't align to each other. And it was pretty hard to add the second part. In case of using two or more connectors it won't work.

 

That's what I have so far:

I'm afraid the triangular lock-out in the middle is the reason for the bad assembly. I will remove it. Additional I will ease the assembly by adding a tapering at the ends of the connector.

What I really love: This test took me half an hour (engineering, printing, testing). Nearly the same time I spent to post here.

I removed the second part and the connector broke:

So I will make the next test with one wich is twice as big as the first one.

 

Yes, they do. I have some flexible material as well. Not really gum but easy deformable when printed with thin wall thickness. I thought about using it already if the standard materials will fail.

Yes, I will put a bottom to the hole of the parts I want to connect. Here is the new version:

Although I doubt it'll work. But let's try it.
I made small cavities as well in the parts: