3D Printing Through To Painting

I want to walk you though some of the places you can go to get free 3D models to print and play around with. Printing something you're passionate about will make the learning process much more fun rather than tedious, so find something that excites you!

You can download the Cthulhu bust has an .obj in this lecture's materials, or there is a link for a .stl version in the following assignment. They both will work the same for printing, but the .stl is much smaller file. However I can't directly upload a .stl to Udemy.

I've used Simplify3D, Cura, and tried a few other slicer programs, and Ideamaker slicer is my favorite, plus its free! Even if you already use a different slicer I recommend giving it a try.

Cura is a very popular slicer because it's open-sourced nature makes it very customizable and there are plenty of plugins for it out there. I personally don't like it but I want to go over the basics as plenty of people do.

Our printer settings can change every aspect of how our printer prints. It's important to understand what they do and to experiment with them yourself as understanding how your setting effect your print can help you solve issues you have down the line.

I go over the most used printer settings in both Ideamaker and Cura, but these same settings apply to any slicer program you may use.

ChiTuBox is a free (but you do have to make an account) slicer program that you can use with many SLA printers. SLA slicers are generally less developed than the FDM slicers at the moment, but ChiTuBox is the best one I've tried so far.

Its a bit buggy but once you understand the program its actually a very powerful tool for preparing your models for printing.

This lecture is completely optional.

You'll often come across models that are faceted, meaning they have a lot of flat jagged surfaces, especially if they were pulled from a video game.

Printing these models as is then smoothing them by hand would take a lot of time and effort, but by using a simple function in  Blender (a powerful free open-sourced 3D modeling program) we can smooth the model before printing. This will make our prints higher quality and easier to post process.

If you're taking this course you probably already know about the basics of your printer, so I'm not going to waste your time with a 30 minute in depth look on the history and technology of 3D printing.

This is a simply a quick 1 minute overview of the main functions we need to focus on when using our FDM printers.

Leveling your print bed is one of the most important things you'll do, and can also be one of the most frustrating.

This lecture aims to make the learning curve of leveling as painless and quick as possible, but be patient as you go through trial and error.

Its finally time to start our print. I'm going to run you through the process step by step to help remove any uncertainty with the process.

If you're taking this course you probably already know about the basics of your printer, so I'm not going to waste your time with a 30 minute in depth look on the history and technology of 3D printing.

This is a simply a quick 90 second overview of the main functions we need to focus on when using our SLA printers.

Leveling your print bed is one of the most important things you'll do, and can also be one of the most frustrating.

This lecture aims to make the learning curve of leveling as painless and quick as possible, but be patient as you go through trial and error.

Here is the basic process of adding resin and starting your prints. It will vary a bit from printer to printer, but this is a great starting point to get you most of the way there.

I went through several iterations of this lecture before deciding on this.

In the end I wouldn't be able to make a video going over all the potential issues without making it obscenely long. So instead what I've done is given you some great resources that very clearly explain and troubleshoot most every print issue you'll come across.

If you aren't able to solve a print issue with these resources I'm still more than happy to help.

This is a fairly straightforward process, we mainly want to make sure that we don't damage our prints when removing them from the bed and want to take off our supports as cleanly as possible.

This can be a messy and time consuming process. It takes some practice to clean your SLA prints well so be patient and expect to ruin or model or two while you're learning.

Also make sure you are wearing a proper respirator and gloves. Resin is hazardous and you need to handle it properly.

You should only handle a resin print with your bare hands once it has been fully cured.

Priming is my personal favorite part of post processing. It brings out the beautiful details of our models, as well as the imperfections we still have to clean.

This method has been the single biggest change in my workflow since getting my first 3D printer.

It allows me to print with much larger layers (I've gone over .4mm) and still smooth faster than traditionally sanding a model with .1mm layers.

I've spent literal weeks sanding life sized models before learning about this method, hundreds of hours could have been saved! I would have payed the whole cost of this course for this video alone when I had started out.

Sometimes the method I use in smoothing the easy way isn't practical for a given model.

In these cases we'll have to smooth the old fashioned way; sanding and priming over and over until its smooth.

But there are a few things we can do to make that process easier on us that I go over as well.

Zenithal Shading is a quick way to bring a lot more depth to your model. It is commonly used in mini painting to provide the shading of the model that can then be colored using a thin paint.
It can also be used in larger models, and is a cool look on its own.

Masking will help you to get much cleaner lines and protect areas that you've already painted.

Here I go over tips to up the quality of your masks as well as some common use cases.

Your base coat is the foundation of the rest of your paint job. You generally want it to be the color most of your model is going to be so you only have to spend time masking or hand painting the details.

Hand painting can be a long and highly rewarding process. It can also be intimidating to start, that's why this video aims to make hand painting approachable by going over the various techniques, brushes, and paints that I use to get high quality results.

You've finished the class and created your very own custom display piece! This is an amazing accomplishment!
This has been a very hands on and detailed process and you've stuck to it to the end! Take a moment to share what you've created, I would love to see it and your success can help encourage those just starting out!