Zoltan

[Zoltan]

I’ve been using my Anycubic i3 Mega for just over a year now. Here’s my take on the printer:

I’ve upgraded from an M3D micro, which I have used since it came out via their kickstarter. I mainly wanted the bigger build volume.
It worked straight out of the box (minimal assembly required).

After a few months, I’ve started tinkering. First thing to eliminate is the noise. It’s noisy. Like, ridiculously noisy.
Couple of new fans + new stepper motor drivers (~£40 on top of the £250 printer) and the thing is whisper quiet! (main culprit: stepper motor drivers)

Printed a new, circular attachment for the print cooling fan and a new hotend cover to further reduce noise.
I am seriously impressed by what a sub-£300 printer can do.

10/10 would recommend!

[Zoltan]

I had a quick look at the reference files and the biggest distance between supports is about 6.5mm. That should be printable without sagging without issues.
Which slicer are you using? I’d highly recommend PrusaSlicer as it has some great features. (I’m using it with my Anycubic i3 Mega.)

Bridges should be printed slow with maximum cooling. PrusaSlicer detects the bridges and has configurable options to crank the fan speed to max and slow down the print speed. I just printed a few 100mm(!) bridges with almost no sagging.

[Zoltan]

Hi Jeremy,

The rampage tiles/walls are all based on OpenLock, so anything based on OpenLock standard will be compatible.
Which country are you in? I have a few custom tiles I’ve designed and happy to send you a few samples if you cover the shipping fee.

Cheers,
Zoltan

[Zoltan]

If you have Visio, you can use this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1955870
Or grab the pdf from here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2512283

These are up to OpenLock v5 (the latest revision is v7.5), but it is more than sufficient to get you started.

[Zoltan]

I’ve been using the AmazonBasics Portable Photos studio with great success.
It’s a very decent sized collapsable light box. I got a couple of IKEA roller-blinds to have non-white background.

[Zoltan]

The biggest issue is finding a printer with a decent build volume. Most of the cheaper printers have a sub-100mm Y axis size (e.g Anycubic Photon will only do 65mm),
The cheapest, at least 100x100x100mm build-volume printer I could find was the Peopoly Moai for $1300.

[Zoltan]

Yeah, it says it needs support. From the product page: “The lamps need to be printed with supports. The candles should be printed at 0.1.”
I have printed one fine.

[Zoltan]

I am trying to resist the urge to buy a second printer, but the rate you’re releasing models at is phenomenal! I finally understand why Amazon offers a subscriber & save option for filaments!

Having said that, your Elven forest looks brilliant! I’ll get there one day…

[Zoltan]

I second @aylizia on this one. Started using Daler Rowney Graduate Acrylics as base coat/primer. At £3 for 120ml it’s great value for money.

After base I shade the model, then drybrush with 2-3 different colours. Finally highlight any details you want to stand out.
For drybrushing and shading I use Citadel paints.

[Zoltan]

Am I correct in assuming that you’re not planning to use side-clips on these curved walls?

[Zoltan]

That is amazing! The roof is brilliant! Well done!

[Zoltan]

Ok, finally took the time to dig out the lightbox and take a proper picture. Enjoy!

• This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by Zoltan.

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   gloomwood_lightbox.jpeg
   

[Zoltan]

Are you using wall-on-tile or wall-next-to-tile? (i.e. does your 2×2 base include the wall or is the wall next to your tile?)
If the wall is next to the tile, then the 2×2 curved (F) tile fits perfectly next to the included curved (G) wall.

Since you’re editing your tiles, you could just cut the top of the straight wall off and put a curve modifier on it.

[Zoltan]

Look at the Citadel paint system to get some inspiration. They have a very nice app that helps you to choose the right paint/shade/etc.
Here’s a link to a great visual guide as to how to achieve certain visuals by layering/drybrushing: https://imgur.com/2sorZ0e

[Zoltan]

I’ve been using Citadel paints to paint my models, but recently started searching for a cheaper base coat/primer.

I picked up with some Daler Rowney Graduate Acrylic (http://www.daler-rowney.com/graduate-acrylic) in Netural Grey and Mars Black over the weekend.
I am really happy with the coverage the black gives, even on white filament. The grey is so-so; it needs 2 coats.

I print most of the time with 0.1mm layer height and almost never sand the models. I’ll post some pics here once I get home.

[Zoltan]

No, I didn’t use a black base. Attached one of the elven scatter terrain pieces pre and post-paint.
Once printer, I simply based the column with Zandri Dust and the tree with Dryad Bark. Then shade followed with light drybrushing.

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   elven_scatter.jpg
   

[Zoltan]

Filament colour really doesn’t matter.
I used white (as that was on offer on Amazon), which meant that I did a quick spray of black base to block out the white. Other models (like the Elven Portal and Infernal Tower) I printed in green.

[Zoltan]

It’s 200mm tall, straight from the downloaded zip file.
Here’s another image with dwarfs for scale.

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   gloomwood2.jpg
   

[Zoltan]

Would it be possible to display the image attachments in a WP Lightbox once clicked? (rather than linking to the actual image attachments)

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