Infinity Terrain

So I thought I was done for making sceanery this year… Turns out that’s something I don’t know how to do. I got my 3D printer for Christmas (arrived yesterday) but before it arrived I had a look at what I could print. Turns out I am either very picky or the quality of objects available is quite poor, I think it’s a bit of both.

So I turned to software I have not used before and started to try and learn. I used YouTube tutorials and read. None of it went in but it was a good way to get some sleep. I do have an ambitious aircraft I want to make for a landing may but my skills are not there yet.

I needed to do something simpler. There is a reason when I learned CAD 20 years ago we started by making cubes and pyramids starting with an aircraft was very naïve but I have learned a lot and put this to better use starting with some garnish terrain to go with my existing stuff.

I looked at gas bottles seemed to bit with the theme of the moto-tronica set.  This took a bit of time and I didn’t know how detailed I could make this. There are lots of details that didn’t print clearly due to the scale but there are hints of them which add to the overall aesthetic.

So I had my model and I got my printer delivered to work yesterday.

I got an Anycubic Photon but along with this I got another ultrasonic cleaner and nail lamp to finish off the curing along with lots of IPA (alcohol).

I added supports and sliced my model. This was angled at 45 degrees to help the print.

I started it off and boom! 4 hours later I had 9 gas bottles. These printed better than my expectations and used next to no resin. The only issue I found is where the supports meet the model. To the naked eye I cant see layer lines but in these photos you can just make them out.

After cleaning and curing the print I went ahead and undercoated it and zenithed it.

Here you can see the layer lines but again these are not visible when just looking at the object.

I went ahead and painted as normal. This didn’t seem any different from painting a resin or plastic model.

So that’s it a quick project to finish the year with. Its a good starting point with new software, hardware, material and processes. Good thing is that I can make as many or as few of these as I need. Looking forward to getting deeper into 3D printing, mixing this with laser cutting and hand crafting some more terrain and models. I can really see the potential in this!

More to come!