|
|
Post by deraltefritz on Apr 21, 2020 18:46:09 GMT
Does anyone have experience of using any commercial companies either based in UK or who supply to UK that I could use to print FM 2mm models?
|
|
|
|
Post by Zach on Apr 22, 2020 6:59:47 GMT
Hi deraltefritz (from TMP!) I've never printed anything in the UK (I'm located in the US), but www.treatstock.com works almost everywhere. Another one is www.3dhubs.com, although I like them less than treatstock nowadays as they've become a bit pricer. I would not recommend using Shapeways due to the extremely high price (and probably shipping as well). You should be able to find someone very local to you to print the models. Some people on here also have their own printers and experience printing at local libraries and through other means. I'm sure someone will be by with some local advice soon! Here's some advice on the nuts and bolts of ordering a 3d print from an online hub: forwardmarchstudios.com/how-to-3d-printIt only takes 4 easy steps. Let me know if you have any other questions! |
|
|
|
Post by deraltefritz on Apr 23, 2020 21:07:03 GMT
Treatstock comes up with numerous local FDM printers using PLA or Resin but only one UK SLS but an international search shows another one in Holland another in Germany.
So I will see how we get on with FDM/PLA but for future reference what is the best material for SLS these days?
In the Treatstock options I get range of materials to choose from inc PLA, colours and "Infill" set up 20 up to 100. Whats this? No option to choose filament size.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zach on Apr 23, 2020 21:53:24 GMT
That's weird you're not getting an option for filament size. Possibly they're letting the printers pick it now and then they let you know. I think I remember someone doing this for me in my last order.
There options are basically, 300, 200, and 100 micrometers. 300 is no good for 2mm, figures or buildings. 200 is fine for buildings, ok for the troops. 100 micrometers with a fine detail nozzle creates almost perfect prints off all the infantry without any strings.
SLS is a material in and of itself. SLS stands for "selective laser sintering." The model is created inside of a bathtub of sorts filled with nylon powder that resembles snow. A bunch of lasers are fired into the powder so that they converge at a certain point. This melts the tiny pieces of nylon, which fuse together into a net-like material with a bunch of interesting properties. SLS plastic is extremely strong, in part because it is somewhat flexible. It also absorbs a large amount of liquid. You can dye it by using watered down latex paint. It also has a tooth which makes it take paint more like an artist canvas than a primed miniature. All in all SLS is an interesting material. It is also the most expensive 3D printing technology by more than a bit.
When I began designing the range of figures FDM printers weren't quite as good as they are now. Plus, I was new to the 3D printing design hobby myself. I made a typical mistake, by trying to sell through the Shapeways store. Shapeways is overpriced and has a clunky interface, so working with them was a nightmare. Their flagship material is an SLS product, so that's what I designed the range to work with, initially.
That said, over the last year or two FDM printers have come down a lot in price, and the quality has gone way up. Since a year or two ago I stopped recommending SLS and now recommend FDM printers. SLA (resin) printers are also coming down in price now, and they are the best printers of all 3 options as far as detail goes. They're not quite as cheap as FDM (yet), and they have some drawbacks for home printers (they create toxic fumes that must be removed via an exhaust system).
All that said, be careful not to overpay for your prints. As a general rule of thumb with FMS 2mm, when you see how many figures you're going to get for ~$30 USD, you should find yourself saying, "I can't believe it!" My huge Wagram set-up cost well under $100, for example.
|
|
jonb
New Member
3D printer with experience with FMS figures on FDM printer
Posts: 2
|
Post by jonb on Apr 23, 2020 22:02:45 GMT
Hi deraltefritz, I'm a UK based printer who has printed this figures for a client recently and am listed on treatstock. I'm a little unsure on what you are asking but I'll try and clear up some things: Firstly the different types of additive manufacturing. The 3 you've mentioned are FDM, Resin (or Stereolithography/SLA), and SLS (Selective laser sintering). Resin & SLS will give a much better resolution/quality however are less widely available. FDM is generally what most people will have on treatstock as it is generally for hobbyists who won't have the more expensive printers, although there are some resin printers starting to join as their price lowers. From my knowledge SLS printers are generally only used for industrial manufacturing at the moment, however I may be wrong as I know more about the FDM side and a little about resin printing. In terms of the options given on treatstock, they try to give the simplest ordering process for non-printing savvy customers and generally all customers need to give is their model and what material/colour they want. Infill is also added so a customer can choose the strength of the object however a knowledgeable printer will know that you can get surprisingly good strength from less infill than you would assume. I'm a little unsure what you mean by filament size, there are different sizes of filament but they aren't really something you change depending on print, that's just what size your printer will be able to print with. If you mean nozzle size (i.e. how thin the material will be extruded, that would be determined by the printer depending on the size of the model & details of the model) For the 2mm models from FMS my experience has been that most can be printed on FDM printers (in my case an ENDER 3) fairly easily once settings have been figured out. However there are a few I tried to set up that wouldn't be able to print due to how small some of the walls were, even using a 0.2mm nozzle and tiny layer height (from memory I believe it was a model of a horse and cart, so if someone has printed that on an FDM printer I would love to hear how so I can give it a go). So my advice would be to find a resin printer to do those models as they should be able to print them, although they will be more expensive. If you'd like to get a quote for some models or want to get in touch directly you can visit my site: www.simpleprints3d.com , or email directly: simpleprints3d@gmail.com. I hope I helped, Jon p.s (I've just seen your reply Zach, so apologies for covering some of the things you've mentioned. Also, you're comment on filament/nozzle size has got me thinking if printing with a 0.1mm nozzle will solve my issue with the cart) |
|
|
|
Post by deraltefritz on Apr 25, 2020 11:09:37 GMT
Hi deraltefritz,I'm a UK based printer who has printed this figures for a client recently and am listed on treatstock.If you'd like to get a quote for some models or want to get in touch directly you can visit my site: www.simpleprints3d.com , or email directly: simpleprints3d@gmail.com.I hope I helped,JonBrilliant, I will get my initial figures sorted out and then drop you a line. The initial batch would be buildings and then a couple of samples of figures from the main ranges so that I can see what they look like. cheers |
|
jonb
New Member
3D printer with experience with FMS figures on FDM printer
Posts: 2
|
Post by jonb on Apr 25, 2020 12:07:43 GMT
Fantastic, I look forward to hearing from you!
|
|
|
|
Post by ewing9593 on Apr 27, 2020 16:14:10 GMT
Hi deraltefritz, I'm a UK based printer who has printed this figures for a client recently and am listed on treatstock. I'm a little unsure on what you are asking but I'll try and clear up some things: Firstly the different types of additive manufacturing. The 3 you've mentioned are FDM, Resin (or Stereolithography/SLA), and SLS (Selective laser sintering). Resin & SLS will give a much better resolution/quality however are less widely available. FDM is generally what most people will have on treatstock as it is generally for hobbyists who won't have the more expensive printers, although there are some resin printers starting to join as their price lowers. From my knowledge SLS printers are generally only used for industrial manufacturing at the moment, however I may be wrong as I know more about the FDM side and a little about resin printing. In terms of the options given on treatstock, they try to give the simplest ordering process for non-printing savvy customers and generally all customers need to give is their model and what material/colour they want. Infill is also added so a customer can choose the strength of the object however a knowledgeable printer will know that you can get surprisingly good strength from less infill than you would assume. I'm a little unsure what you mean by filament size, there are different sizes of filament but they aren't really something you change depending on print, that's just what size your printer will be able to print with. If you mean nozzle size (i.e. how thin the material will be extruded, that would be determined by the printer depending on the size of the model & details of the model) For the 2mm models from FMS my experience has been that most can be printed on FDM printers (in my case an ENDER 3) fairly easily once settings have been figured out. However there are a few I tried to set up that wouldn't be able to print due to how small some of the walls were, even using a 0.2mm nozzle and tiny layer height (from memory I believe it was a model of a horse and cart, so if someone has printed that on an FDM printer I would love to hear how so I can give it a go). So my advice would be to find a resin printer to do those models as they should be able to print them, although they will be more expensive. If you'd like to get a quote for some models or want to get in touch directly you can visit my site: www.simpleprints3d.com , or email directly: simpleprints3d@gmail.com. I hope I helped, Jon p.s (I've just seen your reply Zach, so apologies for covering some of the things you've mentioned. Also, you're comment on filament/nozzle size has got me thinking if printing with a 0.1mm nozzle will solve my issue with the cart)
As Jons customer, I can recommend his services highly. He's been very helpful with the process so far. He got me on the road with these miniatures and always sends a helpful email to keep me informed as to what is going on.
Cheers, Steven
|
|
|
|
Post by deraltefritz on May 29, 2020 6:56:41 GMT
WEll first order is in with mainly building and a few sample units, what this space.
|
|
|
|
Post by deraltefritz on Jun 20, 2020 20:55:46 GMT
See my previous problems with finding a UK printer for the Forward March miniatures here: forwardmarchstudios.freeforums.net/thread/161/new-renaissance-units. Have been working to reduce the cost of an individual element down from 35p and there are a number of printers on Treatstock who are able to print elements at 12-15p each which is much better than the corresponding Irregular Miniautures cast models at 20-25p each. The trick seems to be to ask for Standard Resolution (as opposed to High resolution) and the cheapest option is to make the whole design printable with 0.4mm nozzle, the 0.1mm nozzle printing takes 4 times longer. That results in higher printing costs. My test print run was: 2mm Division Generals, Bicorne, 30mm round bases 1 Angry Cat 30mm 3 Rank No Flags x10 1 Artillery 10 commander 4 cuirassier 40 Danger Cat 30mm 3 rank x 20 8 Dutch cavalry 15 Epic Artillery Beta 10 Epic Lancers Beta 1 Forward March Micro Skirmishers x6 1 galloper cavalry 6 harquebuser 2 staggered skirmishers Total: 102 models or 269 elements Most printers quoted $40-45 for this order in standard resolution or $70-80 for high resolution The UK printers were: www.treatstock.com/c/speedy3d £32.39 = 12p per element www.treatstock.com/c/3d-sdp Around £35 = 13p per element Treatstock Tech Support £37.25 = 14p per element Simple 3D prints (https://www.simpleprints3d.com/) £36 inc postage = 13p per element |
|
|
|
Post by deraltefritz on Jul 12, 2020 17:57:28 GMT
So here is my order after it has arrived (there are two groups of basic German houses as well)  the models seem to have come out very well with a good level of detail, the horses look like horses and everything looks like it did on the file viewer. Double rank of cavalry  Double row of horse to represent Pistols (O) as 'caracole' Reiters, a shallow wedge of Light Horse and a single rank of Horse - the classic ECW charging cavalry  Dragoons with a mix of mounted and dismounted infantry and Irregular Horse  Here are the infantry elements, from left to right, a block of Shotte, a block of Pikes, a test block of mixed shotte/pikes (will see how it paints up) and in front a Horde of irregulars, a folorn hope of skirmishers and then in front one of the Deployed Range which I am going to use as Muskets - later period units of Louis XIV wars  Now they have arrived, I will have to clear the desks of house building and start basing and painting and sorting out the flags. |
|
|
|
Post by Zach on Jul 13, 2020 7:22:22 GMT
I didn't see this post earlier when I replied to your post with the buildings. Anyways, glad to see how well these came out. They really look nice. I can't wait to see how they paint up. And the horses really did come out nicely. As did the pikes, which is actually more impressive; I've gotten some rough prints of the pikes in FDM, but those look great.
|
|
|
|
Post by suntzu on Jul 13, 2020 14:59:29 GMT
I cheated when I did the pikes , they are actually 6mm normal infantry
|
|
