3D Printing Blog
We Are Learning 3D Printing Through Our Personal Experience…
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Let us see how you can 3D print your favorite Pokemon or just about any Pokemon without too much effort if you already have a 3D printer available at home/office or at least have access to one. In order to be able to 3D print a Pokemon you will first have to obtain a 3D model of the pocket monster or you can of course design one yourself, but that one is only for the advanced users, so getting the 3D model is actually the easier thing. Then you need to do some processing of the 3D model and send it to your 3D printer for printing, some waiting time for the model to be ready and you should end up having a decently looking 3D printed Pokemon…
Downloading the 3D Model Files
First you need to obtain the 3D model files of the Pokemon you are going to be 3D printing, fortunately this is actually a pretty easy step as you can find all of them (over 700 Pokemons) available from Root of Evil Studios. Just download the archive with the 3D model files for the Pokemon you choose and go to the next step, there is also a download containing all of the files in one package, though it is a pretty big download.
– To download the 3D model files for any of the Pokemons…
In this example I’m using the Pokemon Evee that I will be 3D printing, there are a number of files that you will find in the archive for each Pokemon – 3D models in different format as well as textures. What we are going to be needing is the 3D model in OBJ format as that is the more commonly supported format from most 3D printing software and you should be able to directly open the OBJ 3D model. You need to open and inspect the 3D model with the preview functionality of the 3D printer software to make sure that it is rendered properly, otherwise you may need to do some fixing first before you go to printing.
Automatically Fixing Problematic 3D Models
If you have been following my series of Blog posts about 3D printing on Steemit you should already know how to easily and automatically try fixing issues with 3D models that may not be suitable for direct 3D printing. I’m talking about the free automated online service for repair of 3D models offered by Trinckle that works fast and provides very good results. Since the service does not support OBJ 3D models you will have to first export the OBF file you have opened with the 3D printer’s software in STL format that you can upload and repair with this service.
Do note that this may be an optional step, but the Evee 3D model was a non-manifold one and passing it through this automated repair service actually fixed the problem, so the Pokemon was ready to be 3D printed after that.
Getting Ready to 3D Print the Model
With most Pokemon 3D models you will have to use Support material in order to have the print successful, depending on the size of the print you will want to get you may need to reduce a bit the 3D printing speed as well in order to get good results. Using medium to higher level of detail would also be good if you are looking for a smaller in size 3D print in order to get better details on the model. The support structures will be used to make sure that the 3D printer will not try to print things in the air such as parts of the bod or the tail, after the successful print you will need to remove the support material by hand.
Do note that the 3D models of the Pokemons linked are not the most detailed ones you can probably find, they use less polygons, so some additional tweaking such as smoothing might help you get even better results though even without that they still do look pretty nice when 3D printed even in small scale. The only drawback that you should be aware of before 3D printing is that the 3D models do rely on textures for things such as eyes, mouth, nose etc. of the pocket monsters so these will not be available as details on your 3D prints. For the ones among you that are familiar with 3D modeling software it might not be that hard to add these details as a part of the 3D model based on the data from the textures, but for most you will have to do with what you get.
The Resulting 3D Pokemon Print
My first test for a quick print using small size model of Evee and 0.2mm layer height clearly shows that I should be using slower printing speed to avoid getting these very thin lines left from the printing head as it moves to a different position to resume 3D printing. Other than that in just about 40 minutes of time I did get a 3D printed model of Evee the Pokemon with a pretty good quality (after removing the support structures) and 5cm x 5cm in size, so not that small actually.
Here are some more photos of the 3D printed model of the Pokemon after cleaning up the support and other artifacts, again pretty good quality, though some tweaking can help even more. Some more postprocessing work on the model can bring a bit more detail and improve the quality, then maybe even painting it by hand and drawing things such as the face of the Pokemon can make things even better. Not sure if I will be doing that anytime soon, but the 3D print is ready and I can do extra work on it whenever I feel like it.
So happy 3D printing of Pokemons… I know that I will be printing some more for sure.
A Problem with a 3D Model Can Cause a Failed Print
Two of the most common issues with 3D models that are giving you problems to print, no matter if you designed them or somebody else did, are the presence of Non-Manifold Edges and Flipped Triangles. There are of course some more issues that may be present as well, but I’ll be talking about these two as they are the most common cause that may result in you 3D print looking not as it was supposed to be.
Non-Manifold Edges are parts of the model that have holes in them or unwanted faces, often this is referred to as the 3D model not being water tight as if you pour water in something with holes it will just get out.
Flipped Triangles are parts of the object geometry that is facing the wrong way, it is normal for connected triangles to be facing the same direction, however often when you design a 3D object you may end up with triangles that are facing different directions.
As a means of demonstration I’ll be using two cubes drawn with SketchUp (go back to Part 4 of the series to learn more about that software) and in these two I have intentionally created issues, so that you can easily see the problem and how it may affect your 3D print. The cube on the left is with a flipped triangle on the side and a surface on the top and the cube on the right is not watertight (has some holes on one of the sides). Notice how SketchUp uses different colors for the two triangles on the side, this is a hint for the user that there might be something wrong as they seem to be pointing at different directions. The large holes, intentionally left big, are clearly visible as well, though imagine if you have many of these and they are very small or the flipped triangles are small and you need to zoom in a lot to notice the color difference.
Depending on the 3D printing software you use the standard 3D model preview might or might not show any problems, often flipped triangles are not being shown in the default preview and as I said holes in the models might be too small to notice. When you generate the Print Preview however and the software actually slices the 3D model to a layer by layer structure you can see weird things happening to your models such as strange deformations or missing parts. This happens as while the slicer is working the problematic geometry actually confuses the software and it just gives weird results. Of course depending on the object and the issue sometimes even with a non-water tight model you can still get a good print without problems.
When you see that something is wrong the best thing to do is go back to the 3D modeling software and try to find the problem in your 3D model, then fix it and open it again in the 3D printer software. In case you noticed a flipped triangle somewhere it is very easy to fix it in SketchUp for example, just select the problematic face, right click with the mouse and choose Reverse Faces. If you found a hole somewhere you can just add some extra geometry to fill it in and make the 3D model solid again. Of course at times finding these issues can be a problem, especially if you have problems that are not easily visible from the outside of the 3D model.
Some 3D printer software like the Simplify3D slicer I talked about in the previous part of the series has additional tools for detecting problematic geometry in the 3D model that may be helpful in figuring out what is wrong. It even has some automated tools to help you try and fix the problem without having to edit the actual 3D model, though these may not work very well or as intended some of the time. There are also alternatives available for different software and even online services that offer to fix common issues in 3D models without you having to actually edit the 3D model.
Automatic Repair of Problematic 3D Models
Since there are quite a few options for automatic fixing of problems with 3D models that need to be repaired in order to be 3D printable I will not be covering them all. However I want to point your attention to a free online service for 3D model repair that in my experience has been giving some of the best results in successful repair of various issues after quite a lot of testing of different tools and methods. The service is being ran by a company called Trinckle that apart from offering to freely repair your models also provides 3D printing services, though you can just download the fixed model and print it yourself. So you might want to give it a try before going into manual fixing mode trying to figure out where the problems in the 3D model might be and how to fix them yourself, especially if you are new to the whole 3D printing and 3D modeling thing.
Sanding and Painting 3D Printed Models
One of the “problems” of the consumer 3D printers is the fact that when you get a 3D print ready you can usually see the lines that build up the object (these are the printing layers), though that is not actually a problem, but just the way these devices work. The higher the resolution you print with, the thinner the layers are and the visual quality is better, but that is achieved with more time needed for the printing. There are ways however that you can improve further the final quality of a 3D print with some additional post-processing work after it is made by the 3D printer. This is achieved by using sanding paper to take away some of the outer surface of the model and/or by using paint to fill in some of the gaps between the layers and make them less distinguishable.
The sanding process does require some effort and time and is not always applicable as some objects have way to complex form and many small details, making it very hard to sand by hand (a rotary tool with a fine tip could also be used at low RPM). Furthermore the sanding process requires you to use sandpaper with different grit size, starting from a rougher lower number and going in a few steps to a much finer higher number. This way you essentially start by taking more material from the object smoothing the differences between layers and then moving to a finer grit to actually smooth out and polish the surface. You may need a little practice for this to get the hang of things, but the final results could be well worth it.
The alternative option is to use paint to cover a sanded on non-sanded 3D printed object, it is a good idea to use paint that can provide thicker layers such as spray cans of paint for objects that are not going to be sanded as it covers better and gives better results. If you have sanded the object you may as well go with a thinner paint cover such as the one achieved with an airbrush for example as you already have a pretty smooth surface. Furthermore, depending on the paint used you can get either a matte or glossy look, this can be further strengthened if you decide to apply some clear coating on top of the paint. You can get creative here and the results can be quite nice with some paint. Using paint also gives you the option to overcome some of the limitations in terms of colors that the filament you use has. You can of course use some acrylic paint to hand paint a figure that you have 3 printed for example, that way you will get a better looking “full color”-like print from a 3D printer that can work with single color filaments only.
Other Ways to Improve Visual Quality
The commonly used 3D printer filaments such as ABS and PLA have a hidden weakness, they can very easily be dissolved by some strong chemicals, but you can use that fact to your advantage. Some people are using the vapors of strong chemicals such as Acetone and THF to actually smooth the outer surface of 3D prints as these are essentially melting the outer perimeter of the layers and are giving them nicer and smoother look and feel. A word of serious warning here, these chemicals can be dangerous to your health and should you decide to use them you should be very careful not to get them on a bare part of your body or to inhale any of the fumes from them. Because of the possible danger to your health these methods are not that popular as for example using sandpaper or painting your 3D printed object.
Anyway, if you want to try, then you should go for Acetone for ABS plastic as it melts it and creates a smoother and glossy looking surface. As alternative to Acetone you might try smoothing ABS 3D printed objects with the use of Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) with good results. Have in mind that Acetone and MEK are not suitable for PLA 3D prints like with ABS ones, so do not try them for smoothing PLA 3D prints. For PLA plastic smoothing you need to go for Tetrahydrofuran (THF) instead. Another dangerous solvent that needs to be extra carefully handled and also very flammable like the other two chemicals also mentioned already!
Another, much more safer alternative that could be used for smoothing of all kinds of 3D printed objects is the Smooth-On XTC-3D coating.
Protective coating for smoothing and finishing 3D printed parts that does not melt plastic. XTC 3D fills in 3D print striations and creates a smooth, high gloss finish. The need to post finish is almost eliminated. XTC 3D can be applied to both SLA and SLS prints. It works with PLA, ABS, Laywoo, Powder Printed Parts and other rigid media such as EPS, EPDM and urethane foam as well as wood, plaster, fabric, cardboard and paper.
I have tried this solution where you mix two components and then apply a thin coat of the material over the 3D printed object, then wait for it to cure and you get pretty good results. So it works pretty good, though you may need some getting used to working with the coating in order to be able to achieve consistently satisfying smoothing of different objects.
In the end you have multiple different variants for additionally improving the look and feel of your 3D printed parts, it is up to you to choose what works for you should you even need to do this extra work at all.
Connectivity Options for your 3D Printer
Depending on the model of the 3D printer you got you may have multiple options to print on the device, either connected to a computer and being controlled from it or working standalone from a 3D file you send to the device in some way. Usually the higher the price of the device, the more options you have available to choose from. What you should have in mind is that different connectivity options may require specific things and may not always be the best choice for your needs.
Starting from the lowest end, in terms of price, consumer 3D Printers you usually get only the option to connect the device to a computer and control it from the 3D printing software. There is no standalone mode available, so while working you will always need to have a computer connected to it. Not a wise idea to use a laptop that you may be taking away with you, the best choice would be a desktop computer or small and compact one that does need a lot of processing power. Using a direct USB cable connection should also give you the opportunity to monitor and control the device manually from the printing software at any point (only if the software supports it). This functionality might be useful especially with DIY setups where monitoring the printer operating parameters can help you find possible issues and things that you might be able to work on to improve.
The mid-range consumer 3D printers do get some extras, apart from the USB cable connection, they usually also come with either a flash card reader or a separate USB port for USB flash drives. This allows you to have the printer operate independently, not needing to be connected to a computer all the time or at all as you can load the models with a flash card or a drive directly to the device itself. This functionality can be quite convenient at times and I often prefer to print this way instead with a cable connection. This way I also know I have one more backup of my 3D models on an external drive, though it is always best to have an additional backup of your work on a separate device than your computer and/or the flash memory you may be using with a 3D printer (flash cards and USB drives do break as well, especially when you use them more often).
Some of the higher-end consumer 3D printers may also come with cable LAN or even WiFi option for connectivity to the device, this can be especially useful if you are getting a device for multiple users like in an office, not as much at home though. The availability of network connectivity may also come with another useful feature and that is a camera that can show you while the printer is working, so you can monitor the 3D printing process even remotely for example. In the previous articles I have mentioned already that it is not a good idea to leave a 3D printer unattended while working, but if you have a monitoring camera you might feel safer as long as you don’t forget to check the video feed from time to time.
It is a good idea to check what connectivity options will the device you have or even better are planning to get as having more than just the USB cable connection can be useful. So just don’t overlook that part of the 3D printer specifications.
The Typical 3D Printing Workflow
Normally the 3D printing process goes in a few steps like:
1. You create a 3D model or fine one to 3D print
2. You open the 3D model in the 3D printer software (slicer)
3. You check if everything looks good in the initial visualization
4. You set the printing parameters and generate a Preview of what the printed result should look like
5. You inspect for possible issues in the Preview as often you may find here some not seen on the initial view of the 3D model
6. If everything is looking fine you send the data to the 3D printer to start printing
7. You wait for the device to finish the print process and remove the finished physical object
8. At this point you may do some postprocessing work to make the printed object look better
So far in the series of articles about 3D Printing I have covered most of the steps in the workflow you normally follow, though for some I’m going to be talking in the upcoming parts of the articles. Especially important are the steps where you need to inspect the print preview for possible issues and if there are any to get back and correct them by editing the 3D model you want to print. Another very important thing can be the post processing step where you for example sand and paint or threat the surface of the 3D printed object with different things in order to improve the quality and finished look of your prints. These two will be the topic of the next part of the series, so stay tuned.
Now, if you are 3D printing something for personal use the above steps may be enough for you. However once you actually get a 3D printer and start using it you may want to offer 3D printing as a service, even without turning that into a business. You can register on 3D Hubs and start offering your 3D printing services to other users that may want to try and get something 3D printed without actually having to buy a 3D printer yet. You will find a great community and may even get to know other 3D printer owners around you, the service is connecting people all around the world, so no matter where you live you might find somebody else with passion about 3D printers close to you.
Alternatively, for people that actually make their own 3D designs, there are services where you can upload your designs and start selling them to people that may want to buy the finished 3D printed product. This is another good opportunity to extend your 3D printing hobby to something more than 3D printing at home things for yourself. Examples of such services are Shapeways and i.Materialise, though there are others as well. What is even better with these services is that you can also make something yourself in the form of a 3D model, test print it on your 3D printer at home and get it professionally 3D printed on a high-end machine with better quality and a wide range of materials that you cannot use on your consumer 3D printer. An example of this would be to design some jewelry, test print it on your device and actually start selling your own products that will be 3D printed from metal, including precious metals as well.
So as you can see getting a 3D printer with the idea of trying it out and playing around at home or in the office can just be the first step to many opportunities, you just need to be willing to take the jump into the unknown. Making the first step and continuing to learn and improve your skills as you go can really turn into an exciting journey into new technologies and new opportunities…
Alternative 3D Printer Software (Slicer)
The 3D printer software you get with your device or the so called Slicer (the software that turns 3D models of objects into a layer by layer data fed to the 3D printer) is usually great for you to get started. It might be even fine for users that don’t want to play around and experiment with different printing materials or upgrade and modify their printer, but as you continue to learn and try different things you will most likely start to see flaws and lack of useful features in what you have available.
I know as it has happened with me soon after I got my first 3D printer – the MakerBot Replicator 2. The software that ships with the printer – MakerBot Desktop, was nice and user friendly, so I was quick to learn to use it and that is a great thing for a newbie into 3D printing. However I started noticing things that could actually be better such as the speed of slicing more complex 3D models (it took forever) or getting more control over the printing parameters besides the really basic stuff. Now, have in mind that this was probably more than 2 years ago, so meanwhile these have been a lot of improvements and the latest version is faster and offers some more advanced parameters of the printing process to be tweaked.
Back in time, about 2 years ago I started looking for alternative 3D printing software to the default one for my 3D printer and I have found one that a lot of people were recommending. It was a commercial program called Simplify3D that other users of the Replicator 2 and other devices were recommending as being much better and offering a lot of extra useful features for more advanced users. I was a bit skeptical at first, especially considering the price tag of the software and it not having a trial version, though I still risked it and bought a license. Two years later and I’m still mostly using the Simplify3D software instead of any other official 3D printing software and am really happy that I made the decision to get a license back then. It has really saved me a lot of trouble and failed prints, especially when using more exotic filaments or I have to print larger and more complex 3D models. So I definitely recommend the Simplify3D software as an upgrade over the stock 3D printer software as long as your device is compatible with it.
– For the 3D Printer Compatibility List of the Simplify3D software…
There are a couple of things that I like the most about this alternative slicer. First it has a really fast 3D model slicer engine that turns a virtual 3D model into a layer by layer information for the 3D printer. Back when I first got it was multiple times faster than the MakerBot Desktop slicer, so it really saved me a lot of time just for being significantly faster. Now it may not be that much faster, but it probably still has one of the fastest slicing engines out there and that essentially save you time, time otherwise spent waiting for the software to do its job. When preparing a 3D model for printing you may want to try playing around with different printing settings and that means that you need to generate the Preview multiple times to check how the options you tweaked may affect the final result. So even saving you a couple of seconds for each preview can make a big difference and normally you get more time saved. Furthermore the 3D model preview and Print Preview of this software do look better and more useful than what the standard software for the Replicator still provides you with. In the 3D printing series of articles I have actually shared a number of screenshots from both the Replicator 2 Desktop software as well as the Simplify3D software.
Another very useful feature I like is the flexibility of the support structure generation that is available in the Simplify3D software. You have some control over the automatic process of generation of support structures (I have described in detail what these are and what they are used for in an earlier post of the series). What is much more important and useful here however is the ability to actually manually add or remove support material and that is huge advantage and I mean really huge. The automatic generation process not always does great and you may need to apply some extra structures or remove some of the added ones, but in most standard 3D printer software products you just don’t have the option to do that. So if you want to use support material you can only rely on the automatically generated one, or not use support structures at all, but with Simplify3D you have the much needed additional control.
Other useful feature is the one that can help you identify potential problems in the 3D model you want to 3D print, the software even has some built in tools that can sometimes help you automatically resolve potential problems. These features do work decently, though they are not the best I’ve seen and there are other automated tools that may help you better, though at least you can know that there is a potential problem that may result in issues with quality or even unsuccessful print. These features need some more work, but even at the moment they can be useful as again a lot of the standard 3D printing software does not even offer such functionality. I’ll be talking abut these potential issues with the 3D models additionally and in more details in the future, so you might want to read about them as well in the next post from the series.
There are other useful extras also available such as much and I really mean much more control over the printing parameters and the ability to tweak just about everything you want such as printing speeds, use different infill patterns and settings, change layer or extruder settings if you are using a custom printing nozzle for example (with larger or smaller hole), much finer control over the support structures, rafts and some other useful structures that can be printed to help you get better results, operating temperatures of the printing head(s) and the heated build plate (if available), even add custom code that the printer can execute if you want to. So again, I do recommend that you check the Simplify3D software and consider getting it if your device is supported, it is really useful and will improve your experience and capabilities when using your 3D printer.