Long prints


**Benchy for scale, out of bananas **
So this is Gambodys Imperial Star Destroyer. So far this is the result of approximately 5 days of printing and it’s half the hull. I intend to do this just for me. It’s nearly the size of the UCS Lego Star Destroyer (if you have one) and bigger then the Ventador kit.

Thinking may be ready for paint next weekend.

So has anyone else done one of these big weeks long prints?

8 Likes

That is impressive. I will look forward to seeing the completed print.

Sadly, my largest print was a Kodama planter for my wife. It took up the maximum height in the printer, I believe it was 240mm and took 14 hours to print. I spent an additional two days of post processing work to get the glaze just right and paint in the eyes and mouth.

8 Likes

I love that. I didnt keep track of the actual time but this was over a week due to all the color changes and trying to get supports perfect to not leave marks. A few failures too.

7 Likes

very nice!
Post must be 25 characters

1 Like

I have the upgrade kit that turns it into a Class 2 Star Destroyer.

The hardest part so far are the cannons underbelly. They have 3 very small barrels that love to break. I may see if I can find someone with a resin printer to do them for me.

My biggest print was Arvia by Dave Wood - FINISHED - 1:250 - P&O Cruise Ship - - Build logs for subjects built 1901 - Present Day - Model Ship World™

247 hrs printing spread across 89 separate prints - so about 25kwh - so about £8 electricity, About 8.7kg of filament costing around £155 - so about £165 ($204) total electrical and material costs.

4 Likes

Without even considering the time and effort you put in, the noise, the filament leftovers (trash) and all the other troubles you went through to make it happen. I’d say, based on your ballpark figure above, yhat you’ve spent at least around 300-350 USD (being conservative). Not (that) bad, all things considered. Was it worth it?

If you are talking about my big ship print - yes definitely worth it - despite the fact that doing that print probably prompted me to get a 2nd X1C - so in reality a fair bit more expensive than the $204 I quoted. :grinning:

3 Likes

My point exactly. On the other hand, as long as you are satisfied with the result…


Not much visually to add. Bottom hull is complete with a base coat of primer and needs gap fill before painting.
Starting on the top hull.
I break it up into 3-5hr prints and longer prints overnight.
Gap filling will be the biggest hurdle as there are intricate details and lines I have to work between. I’m not sure yet how I’m going to tackle that.

5 Likes

Looks great as it stands. Don’t forget to share with us the end result.

1 Like

I will. Will take a bit of painting.
Also trying to work out lighting for the bay and engines. I’ve decided I don’t want to drill 100’s of holes for fiber. I’ve done it before and it’s tiedious and sucks.

So will be starting super structure soon, but will be waiting to at least Friday to continue assembly.

I’ve ordered lights that will arrive then from a decently priced website that offers several options.

Will be filling gaps with resin. Plan on filling with syringe and hitting with a UV light. If I take my time and work slowly should work just fine.

1 Like

First complete coat of primer.
Some sanding and then start painting when I have time. Exept for some very small cannon on the bottom printing is done.

P1S and smooth plate
4 spools BL matte grey
1 spool polymaker yellow
1/2 spool third party green
1/2 spool poymaker ■■■■ white/black.
Approx 1 week and 2 days almost non-stop.
3D Gloop to hold it together.
Lights later.





7 Likes

Still painting my Star Destroyer (and doing some “System Installation”).

But I did manage to complete this project for my wife in the meantime:

  • Venus de Milo (Scan the World file) scaled to 1,700mm (~82% of original),
  • 32 build plates,
  • ~24 kg Bambu Marble PLA (+ 3 failed plates due to user error + 1 poop chute clog killing my ObXidian),
  • somewhere between 3 and 4 weeks pure print time using adaptive layers and PETG support interfaces
  • and 1 can of UV protecting clear coat.

Feeling cute :heart: MDL

4 Likes

would love having the stl or 3mf file… might try it myself between Xmas and the first week after the new year (left over holidays). If possible, could you share it via a pm?

There are several scans available on Scan the World for free. Unfortunately, I can not remember the exact file I used, but I think it was the “Revised Scan” file of this one: 3D Printable Venus de Milo at The Louvre, Paris by Scan The World
At least the file size (29MB) is the same. There may be higher resolution files out there, but I was impatient and just scaled, cut, sliced in Studio and then just started.

For the cut’s, I used the “Dowel” connectors but found during assembly that I could get a better look if I just used the edges for alignment. Had to be quick though as the “Kraftprotz” thick adhesive only gives about 20 seconds for this before setting. I needed to use that, as pre-print trials with Ethyl Acetate did not do anything on the PLA Marble.

1 Like

Found a detailed version on both Thingverse and on Cults3d (541MB). Haven’t thought of doing that before you posted… now I’m really looking forward to doing it.

That’s f’n cool! But for realism, I wouldn’t leave the benchy on it when finished :grin:

Excellent :smiley:

It is quite an easy and enjoyable print if you scale and place the cuts with printability in mind. Also, using a PETG interface for the few plates where support is needed helped. Although I did struggly a bit with that one hole in the toga as support on model does not work well. Flicking the “brick” upside down resolved that.

Oh, and an ObXidian can really help with “Combined Infill” to get print times down.

Enjoy the print :smiley: :+1: :smiley: