troez3D

As far back as I can remember I have been a fan of Battletech, even without knowing it for most of that time.  My introduction came in the form of video games, namely my Dad's copy The Crescent Hawks Revenge back in the 90's; I'll most likely do another post at some point detailing the history and setting of Battletech but is has such a vast amount of lore that I won't be going into it here. There are so many PC and console games based within the Battletech Universe but most recent ones have been a first person style simulator game which come under the title of Mechwarrior.  Mechwarrior 4 was my first real introduction into the world of Mechwarrior games and thouroughly enjoyed both it and the resulting spin off - Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries, where you took command of your own mercenary group in the Inner Sphere, earning cash and influencing politics on planets by choosing sides. The most recent game has been Mechwarrior Online (MWO).  I love the art directio

Welcome to my basics of 3D printing part 2! As a recap last week we looked at; Preparing the Model for 3D Printing Where to get the Model from. Slicing the model ready for the printer. This week we will actually get to printing! so without further ado....  Settings The settings you choose will determine the overall quality of the print and how long it takes.  Remember not every item needs to be the highest resolution possible,  for example if you're printing some sort of mechanical piece, something that will not be seen or just something where surface detail is not important, you should consider turning the layer height up.  On the flip side, if you're printing a display piece  or a miniature with lots of intricate surface detail, then you will want to go as high resolution as possible.  Most printers will print in the range of 0.05mm to 0.3mm layer heights comfortably.  However, one of the quirks of my little Cetus is that it will not print any lower than 0.1mm l

Hey guys, over the next two weeks I'm going to have a quick look at the basics of 3D printing.  I've split it into two posts as even though I'm only looking at the very basics, there is still quite a bit to cover. Disclaimer - if you already know how to 3D print you probably want to skip this one. But I would feel bad letting you leave without something, so here's a picture of my cats holding hands; Right now into the meat of things.  This is going to be a long post guys so I'm going to split it into seven parts over two posts so you can read in sections if you need to; Post 1. Preparation The Model Slicing Post 2 Print Settings Check it! Printing Finishing Preparation Good preparation will solve 90% of any problems you might encounter.  Most failedprints I've had are down to me not setting something up properly or overlooking something I thought I had correctly set up previously. Firstly, what filament are you using?  What ar

Welcome to the first monthly award for print of the month! This/(last?) months highly sought after accolade goes to.... drumroll please..... Qaazars beautiful model of Wheatley from Portal 2 ! Wheatley from Portal 2 by Qaazar on Thingiverse. For those of you who don't know Wheatley is one of the main characters from Valve's great game Portal 2, voiced by Stephen Merchant .  The character is immensely charming and funny and I really grew to like him as the game progressed.  Even when at the end *SPOILER* he turns evil and takes GLaDOS' place as the overseer of your trials in the game. Wheatley in the game. The model is designed to be fitted with electronics to allow the lens to light up with a blue LED but for this print I decided I wasn't too bothered with that and just wanted a mini Wheatley for my shelves.  Who knows, maybe if I revisit this print I'll go the whole hog and do the electronics as well, but that would be a post for another time. Pri