3D Printing

Is that 55 standard hours or ‘Brian’ hours?

Well, I know I stretched the build of the Freewing MIG 15 a bit, but please bear in mind that I'm a dyed in the wool "trad" builder. I find foam plastic is totally alien, and the skills involved are just a bit difficult to get to grips with. However, my ongoing struggle with the Internet, 3D printing, "slicing" and 3D modelling, will, with luck produce some flyable models. The advantage with 3D printing seems to be that the printer works all day and all night. All you have to do is switch the machine on, wait a bit for the "bed" to warm up, load a spool of suitable filament, instruct the printer to obey the commands from the downloaded programme on the SD card, press "go", then wander off to find something rather more interesting to do, other than watch a printer generate a model layer by 0.1mm layer. I found the video of the 3DLabPrint MIG-15 a bit disturbing, the way the model disintegrated made me think that it was way too fragile. It probably was. The standard filament for model aeroplanes seems to be some stuff called "PLA". A splendid eco-friendly plastic, I assume by " eco-friendly" they mean that if you can't find the model when it lands out, then it will quietly blend into the scenery with no fuss at all..Don't know about the rest of the bits though, LiPos are a bit dangerous if left lying about unattended.

Oh Brian there is a lot to learn about 3d printing, slicer software, slicer settings, layer height. infill. bed temp. hot end temp.etc. Yes you can push print then go to bed but with my experience if bed levelling is out or something not set up correctly you will have a big mess in the morning. Never use PLA on something that that is going to be stressed. This where you will have to modify the slicer settings or you 3d cad drawings to put in supports etc. I have various filaments for different print jobs. You do need to use the correct one for each job, there are so many to choose from.

I can only say that I was a bit worried, but now I've read about the pitfalls for the unwary, I'm a lot more worried than I was!
The PLA filament I intend to use is very strong, for PLA that is. The write up reckons it performs more like ABS. The printed bond is excellent, so no delaminating, and it takes a variety of glues. I'm going to do some test pieces first, I'll try using Acetone as an adhesive to see if the joints are as strong as superglue. I think that this project will be OK. The LabPrint download seems to cover just about everything, and the program has been designed to work straight away with a PRUSA i2 or i3 printer with no modifications other than adjustments to allow for choice of filaments. Whichever way this project turns out, either a pristine "warbird" or a tangled mess, I shall write of the experience so that the members can read, and find some amusement in my jottings. In any case, it'll take minds off the stressful business of taking a model to Cashmoor, and flying it

If using ABS acetone is good for final finish. Ie place your print in a acetone vapour bath the vapour smooths out your print and gives it a gloss finish. PLA is good for house hold prints but left outside in damp weather or heat will warp. Any way have fun love to see how you get on.

Brian wrote: I can only say that I was a bit worried, but now I've read about the pitfalls for the unwary, I'm a lot more worried than I was!
The PLA filament I intend to use is very strong, for PLA that is. The write up reckons it performs more like ABS. The printed bond is excellent, so no delaminating, and it takes a variety of glues. I'm going to do some test pieces first, I'll try using Acetone as an adhesive to see if the joints are as strong as superglue. I think that this project will be OK. The LabPrint download seems to cover just about everything, and the program has been designed to work straight away with a PRUSA i2 or i3 printer with no modifications other than adjustments to allow for choice of filaments. Whichever way this project turns out, either a pristine "warbird" or a tangled mess, I shall write of the experience so that the members can read, and find some amusement in my jottings. In any case, it'll take minds off the stressful business of taking a model to Cashmoor, and flying it

Brian here are a set of seats I printed for a wesssex Helicopter