Supporting your miniatures.. Literally!

Since getting the printer, I've been spending time honing in some settings as well as getting the hang of properly supporting home printed 3d models.  My initial foray(s) were mainly using auto generated supports with a few extra that I added for spots that I thought needed them.  Unfortunately, the results didn't turn out so well as shown in the previous post.  I've been learning more about where and when to place custom supports and they've improved the final appearance of the model with each iteration (newest print on the left, oldest on the right).

It's not perfect by any means as, despite my added supports, the gunclub (a combo of the two weapons for the RPG character) remains a bit bowed where it meets the hand but at least the globs of fused support and model are gone.  I didn't notice any areas of failure to print so I'm probably (other than the before mentioned gunclub) adequately to overly supporting the model.  As long as the cleanup is manageable and mostly invisible, I'm ok with the latter!

Here is the final result painted.  From L to R, we have a GW Primaris marine, my earlier Shapeways printed Krogan, my recent home printed Krogan, and a prepainted Star Wars miniature circa 2008.

Overall, I'd put the crispness of the detail somewhere between my (admittedly dated) prepainted PVC miniature and modern GW plastics at the above printed layer height of 50 microns (with a 47 micron accuracy on the XY plane due to the 1440p/"2k" LCD screen).  For something printed at home in a few hours, I'd call that a resounding success considering it took me over a month to get the Shapeways krogan after payment!   It's unfortunately not an exact like for like comparison though as my 3d modelling (or more accurately tweaking) skills have improved somewhat and I did learn how to smooth out the obvious polygon facets visible on the krogan as well as his layer height being set to approximately 1/3 (16 microns) that of the home print.  At least for my thoroughly mediocre painting abilities, I don't think the added difference shows in the final product.

Along with the krogan, I decided to reprint NXR Star Trek ship as well since I had plenty of room on the build plate and wanted to test out both the custom supports as well as a true vertical orientation on the model at 50 microns instead of the previous 45 degree angle/20 micron/auto support print shown on the left.

There is some difference in this model in terms of fine detail but I can't say whether the orientation or the layer height had more to do with it.  It's evident in the overall softness and the shallowness of the depth of the saucer elements like the cover over the front saucer tip where the original NX deflector was.  Like the krogan, this model wasn't specifically made for 3d printing so shallowness of details is to be expected somewhat but it's a bit more muted than I expected.  I haven't painted this model (obviously ) and I am curious how much of it will show through after a layer of primer, paint, and wash are applied.  Regardless, I'd have to test out a fully vertical 20 micron print to see how much of that loss is due to each factor.  Due to the length of time that would take, I'd probably wait to do that for when I'm ready to print out a full build plate of Trek ships so as to maximize the results for the longer print as a vertical starship is significantly taller than my other mainly wargaming character prints.

Well, those are my 3d printing results for this past week.  As always, feel free to comment below and thanks for reading.  More to come in about a week!

Adventures in Cloning Krogans

After getting my first 3d printer last week and doing an initial pair of test prints last weekend, I've been trying to test out some additional models at a higher level of detail (20 micron layer height instead of 50) in the days since.  I decided to go with three models that I tweaked myself from existing models for my first build plate.  Included was the Star Trek NX refit that I previewed a few weeks earlier, a purpose built for 3d printing 40k model of a Sister of Battle that I converted a chainsword onto, and another custom posed Krogan that I built as a possible RPG character model for a Starfinder campaign I just joined.  I used the automated standard supports to build a scaffolding around the models and added some manual supports for small islands that were missed.  I did a fairly thorough job since I've been watching youtube channels for months detailing failed models and they did indeed print entirely and were well bonded to the build plate.  Mission accomplished!... or so I thought.

The front/top of each model was quite nice and I was incredibly impressed with the level of detail.  Individual teeth on the chainsword printed perfectly and even portholes on the starship are visible.  The only misprint I found was the sagging barrel on the Krogan's gatling laser club and the deflector on the NXR bonded with the secondary hull. Unfortunately, the undersides of the models were much worse as I saw when I removed the supports.

Each model is a example of a different kind of error with supports.  The supports on the back of the Sister of Battle were on occasion too close to her and tiny bits of resin trapped between them bonded the two together leaving large, ugly messes resembling superglue blobs.  The amount of surface area needed to print the starship at a 45 degree angle (so as not to be taller than the other models and increase the 7 1/2 hour build time by another hour or two) meant a large amount of supports and the standard auto setting left many pips that have to be individually removed after the support itself is clipped.  The krogan was lacking any supports on the top of the gun barrel as it was printing vertically on the build plate and supposedly didn't need any but sagged for some reason around the hand.

Obviously it was time to go back to basics and rewatch any videos dealing with placement of supports.  In the next post, I'll detail what I learned, what I changed, and show some of the results.

Star Trek NXL Long Range Exploration Pod

For a change of pace, I figured I'd post something that I came up with earlier this year while rewatching several of the Star Trek series on Netflix, most notably Enterprise.  First off, thanks to the talented Doug Drexler for designing both the original NX class ships for the TV show as well as the image of the NX refit that I used as the basis for my own conversion.

As the creator of the ship design, Doug Drexler, said in an episode of the Trekyards show, the prototype NX warp 5 ship had numerous variants and upgrades in development before launch.  During the first years after the initial launch of the NX-01 Enterprise, the galactic neighborhood proved to be far more dangerous than Earth ever thought and the various tactical and defensive upgrades were prioritized over more exploratory and scientific ones.  After the looming threat of the Xindi weapon was over, the focus shifted back to a more even handed approach regarding future upgrades.

One of the first primarily non-tactical upgrades deployed was the NXL long range exploration module.  While the later refit of the NX design was more promising, it was also fraught with delays and developmental hurdles as is common with more innovative designs.  The NXL module, combined with the earlier fast tracked tactical upgrades like photonic torpedoes and phase cannons, extended the capabilities significantly across all mission types over what was possible with the original design despite being a purposeful stop gap measure.

Unlike the refit, the NXL module did not replace the main engineering components.  Instead, it was primarily geared towards extending the mission duration between resupplies as well as acting as an emergency life boat for the crew.  Storage capacity was tripled along with the addition of larger, more spacious shuttle bays at the front of the pod.  The original now blocked shuttle bays were partly converted to saucer storage (although they could still serve their original purpose in case of a separation).  Other ventral inaccessible systems like grapplers and weapons had equivalents installed on the pod which were integrated into the main systems.   Like the shuttle pod, those original systems were not removed but left operational in case of an emergency separation.  A large pair of hydroponic bays were installed in the pod as well as a huge secondary water storage tank.  On Captain Archer's frequent and insistent recommendations, this secondary water storage tank was made accessible to the crew for both exercise and leisure activities.

Finally, emergency living quarters for up to 200 in cramped conditions were included both for humanitarian rescue missions as well as in case of catastrophic saucer section damage as part of its secondary life boat role.  To better facilitate this role, maneuvering thrusters and an independent life support systems powered by a microfusion reactor were installed that could maintain the pod's crew and systems for months when separated as well as backup or supplement the main saucer systems as needed.  Separation under ideal circumstances takes less than an hour including the movement of key supplies and equipment (like shuttle craft) back to the saucer section.  In case of an emergency, it can be accomplished in less than two minutes though.

The attachment of the pod, affectionately nicknamed the "pot belly" by crews, was a popular upgrade in the NX fleet as it significantly improved the quality of life on ships during extended mission durations.  From a practical perspective, the added mass and bulk was absent the negative effects on maneuverability, speed, or defense one might expect.  The addition of thrusters and the microfusion reactor on the pod counteracted the added bulk at sublight speeds whereas the modest improvements to power output and efficiency made during a simultaneously scheduled tuneup of the original warp reactor and plasma injectors made performance changes at all warp speeds negligible compared with the original design.  Hull plating as well as tactical systems on the pod were patched into the main systems and operated within the same parameters as other late NX era ships (although these systems were inoperable after emergency separation).  The actual attachment of the NXL module to NX class ships took less than a week in space dock with the majority of the time spent actually overhauling the existing propulsion systems in the original NX hull prior to connecting the pod.  Despite increasing the available usable space on the ship by over 40%, the added crew requirements for the pod were minimal at only a dozen extra crew compared with a standard NX ship.  This was because the added space was designed for uses that typically didn't require frequent or intensive crew monitoring (such as the hydroponics and cargo bays).

This design, despite its popularity, was only ever planned as an interim design until the deployment of the formal refit and as such always had an expected operational expiration date.  The refit with its much improved propulsion, navigation, and tactical system upgrades slowly phased out the NXL module over the course of a decade.  The construction of the newer Columbia class ships with the refit systems already integrated meant that those ships also had no need for the interim NXL modules either.  Despite its relatively short operational service life, it remains an interesting and successful footnote in the annals of Starfleet ship design on the road to the iconic saucer and secondary hull aesthetic.