My New Toy

[Vince Cutajar]

Finally, after a lot of toing and frowing I got myself my first ever 3d printer. It's an Anycubic Kobra 2 FDM printer.

Earlier this year I nearly got myself a resin 3D printer but eventually decided that the technology wasn't mature enough with many complaining of print and FEP failures. Also it is a bit messy and I could not find any liquid resin locally which makes running it fairly expensive for me.

Last May, Anycubic introduced on the market it's latest budget FDM printer. I waited a bit to see what people thought about it and eventually got myself one as it seemed geared for a beginner and not expensive and free delivery to boot.

I have been playing with it for some time. It is easy to set up and what I found strange is that it came with a Prusa slicer. Usually Anycubic tends to come with Cura as a slicer. One can still use the Cura slicer but I suspect the Prusa slicer might take advantage of the fact that it can print very fast (default is 150mm/s).

So why did I get it? To do something new I guess. Also, I have many highly detailed 'private' 3D models which I would like to bring to life. With this FDM printer I will be losing all the fine details but at least I can actually hold the part in my hand.

After a lot of trial and errors (mostly failures for now) I have managed to get something reasonable. Still far from good but still learning.

Vince

[Chris Hall]

Vince -

I think resin printers (I use an Elegoo Saturn) are best for small parts, whereas an FDM printer is best for large prints - especially 1/6 scale tanks !

Be aware, also, that FDM prints can melt if left in strong sunlight, where resin is much more stable.

Have fun with your new toy !

Chris

[Robert E Morey]

Awesome Vince! You will love it! I echo Chris - I have Elegoo Saturn and love it. There is a learning curve with resin just like FDM. But both are great addition to tank building! BTW I really like Prusa Slicer as well.
Best regards and have fun!
Bob

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Chris and Bob for your comments.
I was amazed at the plethora of settings that can be changed in Prusa. I need to check if there are some Utube beginner tutorials on using Prusa slicer. In the meantime the plastic reject heap continues to get bigger.

Vince

[Phil Woollard]

Welcome to the frustrating world of filament printing, between us we have been producing superb parts for a few years now. Keep us all posted on your progress as it's a fascinating subject!

[Vince Cutajar]

Yes it is frustrating as I still can't manage to get a nice face where supports are involved. Still it is early days and I am still at the bottom of the learning curve.

Today I printed a part. Actually three parts that go together. Usual horrible print where supports are concerned but not really bothered as it was more of a proof of concept.

I made the following 3D model for a forum member here some time ago. It took a couple of weeks to do but at the end he asked me if it could be made functional, i.e. closes and opens. This took me a bit by surprise but made an CAD assembly to animate the model and luckily on the monitor it looked like it could be functional. I told him I had my reservations of how long it would last and sent him the files for resin printing because of the details. Haven't heard if this was actually used or not.

Usually I delete files like this after a while but for some reason I kept this one. Today I printed the three major parts and used metal rods at the pivot points.

https://youtu.be/W8xiWSZSvAg

If this forum member is seeing this I am happy to report that it is fully functional and that I was wrong in my initial assessment that it would quickly break.

Can anyone recognise this part? It was meant for an English Armortek tank. Can't remember which one though. Part used on turret.

Vince

[Mark Heaps]

Looks like a gunner´s sight hood, not quite right for Chieftain so maybe Comet ?

[David Battson]

Hi Vince
Thank you again for all your hard work in producing this part. I still haven't found anyone to resin print it for me, so it's really good to see it in the flesh as were and to know that the lifting cover mechanism all works out ok as planned. Unfortunately my Chieftain build is a long way off completion, but I look forward to the day I can give this little jewel pride of place on the turret.
With all your skill for design, I'm intrigued to see what else you will be producing with your new toy.
All the best David

[Vince Cutajar]

Hi David

First of all I would like to apologise for not remembering it was you and for which tank it was meant for. I must be getting senile. As I said I only kept the 3D model but deleted all our emails and photos of the real thing. Also I believe you said that this part was not fitted to all Chieftains.

I hope that when you get to that stage your print will be a 100 times better then what you saw today.

Wonder what I will try to print next.

Vince

[Charles A Stewart]

Evening everybody.
Vince, that looked wonderful (as a chieftain owner) good effort. The potential to replicate the Chieftain's gun sight(open/closed option) and may I suggest the MRS unit too.

Only suggesting, no pressure.

I'll take one off each in due course

Take care

Charles

[Vince Cutajar]

As I suspected would happen, I haven't used the printer for some time. So decided to go through the 3d models to see if there is something I could print. Came across a 200 litre oil/fuel drum I made for Phil some time ago for his 1/4 scale panther.

Used the dimensions of a modern 200L drum as reference and drew it up using separate independent parts for ease of printing. Learned that what looks OK on a computer screen does not always equate to a good physical print. After printing the different parts I noticed some drawing boo-boos. There were clearance issues between some of the parts and the top and bottom faces of the drum fell apart when I removed them from the print bed. Back to the drawing board.

Fixed the clearance issues and also the top and bottom faces. Reduced the height of the embossed lettering and also added a small plug to the top face like on modern drums. Later on looking at period photos noticed that this plug was not there so I need to remove it again. Hopefully also find a way to fillet the lettering if possible.

Glued it up together and it looked too squeaky clean. How about adding some dents and knocks to the drum wall? But how? I knew how but was just avoiding using a particular feature of Fusion because I always thought that it was complicated to use. A few Utube videos later I gave it a try. Still feels complicated but managed to do something. Had to "sculpt" a new drum wall from scratch to simulate the dents but can use the other parts from the previous version.

Cut the model differently from the previous model for even better ease of printing. Printed the various parts and glued them together.

Left is version 1 and right is latest version.

Looks much better with the dents. I used two different branded filaments. The one on the left used mostly Anycubic filament and the one on the right was Verbatim filament. I think I prefer the Anycubic filament.

Have to fix it again as I made the new drum 5mm higher.

Vince

P.S.
Could someone tell me what colour these drums were painted? Or were they left unpainted in bare metal?

[Simon Peck]

Hi Vince. Pretty sure they were left in a galvanised bare metal finish. The bands tended to rust so looked brown. There are quite a few WWII colour pics on the internet showing them in this state.

[Vince Cutajar]

Many thanks Simon for that info.

I have just now found two references which say the same thing you said. It seems also that drums made in 1944 and 1945 were painted dark yellow as they were not galvanised during that period.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

A little update on the dented drum saga.

After I finished the IR mount project for the Chieftain guys (hope you liked it) it was time to get back to the 200L drum. Made the necessary corrections and also managed to fillet the embossed letters (hardly shows at 1/6 scale). I guess it was third time lucky as I am happy with it. It was in five parts and eventually glued them up after running out of glue half way through.

My wife is in Japan with youngest daughter for the Sakura (cherry blossom festival). Was supposed to have happened four years ago but COVID threw a spanner in the works. So I am home alone babysitting the cats and thought that I would bring everything home and try to paint it. I am going for the stainless steel version so sprayed silver with a rattle can. Now I am starting to dirty it up with a dark wash.

I am applying the dark wash with a small brush and then with a paper towel removing the excess and the brush strokes. I don't know the appropriate English word but I am not wiping with the paper towel but touching the painted surface with a gentle vertical up/down movement (what's the word for this?). It seems to be giving the desired dirty look but I suspect I have to do it again a couple of times.

One of my supervisors is not amused that I am not giving him my undivided attention.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

A little more 'dirtying' of the drum. This drum project seems to have a life of it's own. Maybe more things to be added.
I'll give one more coat of dark wash and call it a day.

The other supervisor is totally unimpressed with my painting skills. I don't blame him.

Vince