3D Printers and home printing

This is an area Ive been keeping an eye on over the years as the technology developed and become more mainstream. Its now at the point where entry level printers are now affordable and reasonably plug and play with a little configuration. There are two types of 3D printers, FDM and SLA.

FDM printers are the type of printer your probably thinking of when you hear about 3D printers. The material used for printing is fed in via a reel, heated and extruded via a print head which moves in the X, Y and Z axis. SLA printers on the other hand uses a liquid resin which is cured layer by layer by a UV light to build up the shape of whatever you are printing. It only prints on the Z axis so its much quieter. SLA printing is what we need for this hobby, FDM printers leave little steps for each layer of print, SLA printers leave a far smoother finish.

Before Christmas I picked up an SLA printer and have been playing around with it since. Ive printed a few things and Im happy with the results, although Im still along way from printing a complete model, Ive been able to print a few things and learned along the way. I hope to be able to print things like wheels, seats, helmets, figures etc that can be hit and miss when you buy them. So far the figures have come out pretty good, although I still need to paint them.

Ill post some pictures along the way.

You seem to grasp technology far better than i will ever be able to. Kudos.

agreed paul, nice one brian

I've been looking at 3 d printers too. Though of scanning LHD dashboards and then try to print a mirror image to make RHD!

Thats the plan Rory, although the cost of a 3D scanner means it would be cheaper to hire a 3d modeller to recreate them.
Something to look into Rory is Photogrammetry. I ha nt had a few hours to research it yet but if it worked it would be ideal.

Here are some figures I printed to 1/18 scale. Theres almost an endless collection of 3d models online you can buy to print yourself

You're a brave man, Brian. I have trouble printing on paper! Great advice for those that are thinking of taking the plunge. Look forward to seeing more of your creations.