Charlie Lowell

I have an Elegoo Mars2 Mono that works for me, although I haven't tried printing a body yet. I have printed some nice 1/25 scale parts I designed in Fusion 360 though. I've only used water washable so that I don't have to deal with storing and disposing of used IPA. I've had great results, even though I have nothing to compare it too.

You can't get "clear" pieces from using clear FDM printer filament, mainly because of the infill. From what I've seen, you can get better results with clear resin, but only after you polish it up. Otherwise it's opaque. Also, regular clear looks a little yellow, so I've heard to use a few drops of blue dye mixed in to help it look more clear. I have both kinds of printers and I have both clear 3d filament and clear resin. I've yet to use the clear resin yet though.

I knew an old wood turner about 20 years ago that swore by leaving bottles of CA with the lids off after opening them. He claimed they'd last nearly forever. That said, I keep my CA in the freezer. I've got quite a few bottles that are easily 15 years old. The "thick" is just recently getting very thick, like gap filling. The medium is more like thick now. The thin, however, is still very thin. I've recently designed and 3d printed some resin parts for a current build and what you all have said so far has been very helpful.

Has anyone used a "mini" table saw for cutting sheets? I haven't put it together yet, but I 3D printed a mini table saw that you attach to a Dremel rotary tool. I got some blades from Amazon. I've been meaning to put it together and try it out, but too many other retiree things going on right now. I also picked up the HFT mini miter saw for cutting round and square stock. Haven't had the chance to try it out yet either.

Nice work! You sound like me. Recently retired and back into the hobby after decades away. I also got fed up with "social media." After I found my account hacked for the fourth time (three times in a month!) I gave up and deleted my account. Happy to have found a forum like this.

Thanks for letting me join. I built model cars when I was younger in the '70's and early '80's. I still have a handful of those builds, although most aren't in any shape to be shown. I started building again last June, six months after retiring. I build slow partly because I like to take my time and partly because I have a few other hobbies. Even being retired, it's hard to find time for all of them! I've finished one kit and currently have two more on the bench. I'm in central Florida and I'm looking forward to seeing other people's builds and learning new tips and tricks!