Life, the Universe and Everything can continue

Ha! I was at a local locksmithery today (early in the morning at 1pm *roll eyes*). They will manufacture the legs of the chair from stainles steel during next two days. Really cool!

 

And I was here:
http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/sisters-memories.21768/
And I thought by myself: Damn! I should really own one of this memories in decent size as 3D figures. Alas ...

 

Well, I got the legs. Looks pretty good:

 

Huhh, back again! Thank you Tass.
Well the amazing looking woman is still a work in progress. At the moment she is a bit disordered:

 

Well, I run an aside-project atm. Because a 3D-noob asked for help in another forum. Deals with a not so good 3D-model he found for free:

Folks allways think that its easy to just print such models. Unfortunataly it isnt yet ... :-(

 

That's pretty hard. But I'll try it.

First of all it seems, at least to me, that we have three classes of people who use 3D-printers at different costs. The lower class up to $1000, the middle class $1000 to approximately $10000 and the upper class above $10000 with open end.

I belong to the lower class and have no experiances with devices from the other classes. But the lower class is the most popular one. I can speak for this class only.

1. Accuracy and appereance
Such low end printers usually deliver a maximum accuracy of 0,1mm layer thickness without any additional solutions to improve the quality. Arched and sloped surfaces will always come with stairs. And 0,1mm stairs are clearly visible. I print at 0,2mm thickness usually and many others do it as well. It is just a question of time. 0,1mm prints will take twice the time as 0,2mm prints do (12h instead of 6h). My method to hide the stairs from the eyes of a viewer is to make big figures. Small details vanish more and more the bigger the whole object is. This means my printer time is nearly the same but the figures simple look way more impressive. But it leads directly to a special job: to slice the model to fit into the limited printer space and use appropriate methods to assemble the final object again. To sclice an object is pretty simple. Problems start at the point to make slots for connectors. One need some, even simple, 3D-CAD-software and should be able to use it in a propper way. This is a major handicap for many people.

Next theme here is positioning the part. Vertical or horizontal? Or upside down? Or even at a special angle? One needs at least a bit experiance to be able to estimate what will happen at a particular position. Beginners may choose a wrong position and will be pissed by the result. Probably a simple turn would solve the problem.

The alternative is to print objects that fit into the given printer volume. Such objects are pretty small. Usually the printers below $1000 are limited to 200x200x200mm or less. The stairs will attract more attention and small details become victims of the raw process. When I print a figure of 100mm height at 0,1mm level thickness means 0,1%. When I print a figure of 700mm height at 0,2mm level thickness it means 0,0285%. More than three times better. Not to speak about how impressive a figure of 700mm height is, compared to a figure of 100mm height.

2. Quality of the original 3D-model
You can find and download thousands and thousands of 3D-models meanwhile. Either for free or at low costs. (I bought some high-heels for my woman on a chair for $2,60 at Turbosquid and sent them to my modeler.) The bad luck is, that many people who want to print such figures, don't realize that many of these figures are made for vizualisation only with and for programs like 3DS Max or Maya. A lot of "3D details" at such objects are substituted by flat textures. Next and most important issue is: Such models are often open and have overlapping and single faces. This doesn't matter much for vizualisation but but for 3D-printing. I have completely different experiances with my modelers. Just because they knew what I wanted: closed 3D-models for 3D-print.

Some times people may become crestfallen when they see what happens at their 3D-printer to an object that looked so nice when they downloaded it. This happened to the noob I mentioned above with his elven dancer. The slip and the eyes caused errors. Since it is for free, I quickly downloaded the model and checked it roughly in Rhino. Nothing strange until I looked a bit closer at it at the described problem sites. And yes, there are small holes in the model. I used netfabb Basic to help. But it attested the model as error-free. The holes are self-contained geometry. Finally I repaired the figure easily with CUR3D. But well, I once paid 850 Euro for Rhino3D and 50 Euro for CUR3D. Most of the young suckers won't. I dealt with the theme since many years meanwhile. With ups and downs of all kind. Most of the young suckers didn't. And will get bloody noses often. Alas, it's the most effective way to learn.



Soooo, it became a pretty short list - LOL!

 

Beside of all this 3D crap and freaking issues I hang out with Arthur Morgan of "Red Dead Redamption II" most of my time. This is really a masterpiece! I mentioned it before:

Besides I play "Red Dead Redemption II". So this movie fits perfectly to my current mood. Default movement in RDR2 is: slow (YEAH!!!) And Rockstar Studios made a really huge area and used unbelievable good animations. Allowedly, Arthur Morgan, a gangster and murder (he looks shitty), is not really a character I want to play. But I can use him to ride slowly through this huge and beautiful designed world. Most of the time not more to do but feed myself and my horse. Nice evenings at campfire with a tent in wonderful landscapes or have a bath in a hotel. Optional with "special service". 0.50 ct if I remember right. LOL!

Meanwhile the story turned into something I never ever saw in a videogame. The hero, Arthur, is full of doubts and became ill: tuberculosis. That was a serious menace in 1899! Sometimes he lose control and has to cough often. The boss of the gang becomes more and more desperate or even loony. Arthur and the whole gang got the status "Wanted! Dead or alive" in two of the available areas meanwhile, desperate and followed by bad luck and Pinkertons and headhunters. Additional a traitor from within the gang ... just a desaster.

I mean, he is a very special gunslinger. He is talented drawer and writer for his diary, he is in doubt about many things, especially about his life and future. He helps poor people and can be (I'm able to decide) merciful against poor debtors. But he shot several hundred folks meanwhile. But my impression is that he very slowly become a good man. Wich he is from the bottom of his heart. Three women are on my list to drag Arthur out of this desaster. I really have no clue how this story will end. And I don't want to see any spoilers here! This game is breathtaking so far.

 

Definitely not. This is far beyond I can or will do. It is probably a molded and hand-painted mixed-material Resin-figure. Sure there is a way to get such a figure. But it'll be very expensive. Have a look at "Woman on a chair". I am at more than 1200 Euro meanwhile. Okay, it's a large figure. But with filler, sanding and coloring I will end above 1500 Euro.

Give me the link please.

 

I can understand that you love the figure. Interesting links btw. And yes, £500 (~550 €) for a ~250mm action-figure wich isn't unique is indeed a lot of money. The fabric parts will be a problem over time. They will become dusty and hard to clean. A plastic figur can be washed at the kitchen sink ;-) All in all a unique printed and painted Wistrel ~400mm tall with clothes of your choice and a pose of your choice would cost approximately the same. Including ~200 € for the modeler. Sent me a few images and I'll ask Igor ... or we simply sent your last picture to him? Wich indeed looks pretty much Wistrelish


I prefer Orahd Hawk for me:

 

Meanwhile I finished this elven dancer. A desaster! My version is 412 mm tall:


Well, I don't like big boobs. But that's not the problem. The problem is to print such a figure as a noob in 3D-printing. As first attempt! I'm afraid the guy will become desperate ... too sad!

 

ROFL! Exactly!

 

My wife and I had a very special experiance a few days ago. We were both in our living room. Wife sat at her desktop and did something at her laptop. And coughed because of her asthma. I lay at the sofa and played RDR2 and coughed because of smoking. And Arthur Morgan in the game coughed because of his tuberculosis ... insane!

 

I got an info regarding glue for PLA at another forum.
"PLA lässt sich absolut haltbar mit Acrifix 1S 0116 verkleben. Das ist ein einkomponentiger, lösemittelhaltiger Kleber für PMMA. Man bekommt ihn in 100ml Tuben." [PLA can be glued by Acrifix 1S 0116 absolutely durable. It is a one-component solvent-containing glue for PMMA. Availiable in 100ml tubes.]
So I stopped the assembly of woman on a chair and will wait for the new glue. I will test the new glue later.

To bring another story to a happy ending: A few days ago we got a very heavy piece, our lowbord. The two men who delivered it got serious problems to tug it to our flat ;-)

During next weeks we will undergo a major process of reconfiguration parts of our life. Especially regarding our living room. LPs, CDs and most of the DVDs will be sold and we will win a lot of space. Wide gasp of relief. While running this process I stumbled across the old ugly stands of the rear speakers. I decided to make new stands for all four speakers. Some V2A-pipes Ø20x2x1000mm and black printed feet and heads.

I will fill the feet with gypsum to make them heavy.

That's necessary to give them a safe stand. They are at a diameter of 160mm only.