Volvo VNL860 - new 3D print

[Bren]

I like to post makes of new 3D file offerings so the forum users who don't haunt the 3D sites (and therefore have a life - unlike me!?) know what's out there. This is my latest print of a file from a new (to me) designer on Cults - VLAD-2. He usually does European stuff - but this truck is also sold in North America - hence of interest to us here. It is 1/14 - scaled down in my slicer to 1/25 - which are the photos here. Please forgive the crooked alignment - I just taped the parts together for the photo shoot. There is also no sanding or post production work - so you can see exactly what will come out of your printer. Excellent detail, and, although a bit pricey at $85.00 US, it's fairly priced given there are 114 files to print. So ...if you like your trucks looking like moving hotels (looking at you Roninutah!) this one might be for you. 

For those who are interested in the technical details, it was printed on an Elegoo Saturn3 Ultra with water washable grey Elegoo resin, sliced at .05mm. 

[stitchdup]

very cool, i just had a look through the files and that old austin has caught my eye but 140 bucks for just a cab shut them again. i'll see if i can find a couple of other folk to share the file cost (and i have a couple of folk in mind)

[Bren]

5 hours ago, stitchdup said:

very cool, i just had a look through the files and that old austin has caught my eye but 140 bucks for just a cab shut them again. i'll see if i can find a couple of other folk to share the file cost (and i have a couple of folk in mind)

I hear you - these files are not cheap - but you can print as many copies as you like - so defraying the costs among 3 or 4 guys makes it much more manageable. The print above took about 1/2 a bottle of resin - so about $15 US - so not too expensive. Add in the file cost among 4 people and each could have this for about thirty bucks. 

[BK9300]

I often read about shrinkage and warping occurring during the post printing, curing process.  Have you had any issues related to that in your prints?

[Bren]

1 hour ago, BK9300 said:

I often read about shrinkage and warping occurring during the post printing, curing process.  Have you had any issues related to that in your prints?

Yes Brian - it is definitely one of the challenges of 3D printing. I'm told one can fool with print settings to eliminate straight lines being a bit curved (sometimes) but it still seems to happen to me every so often.  Print orientation is a big deal - here are the side skirts I just printed for the above. Look at the forward piece (yellow arrow) - the first one came out with a warped upper border. I re-oriented it and it printed straight. It's not the curing but the actual print that is warped. But yes, thin parts generally need to be clamped or weighted (I use 123 blocks) so they stay flat after UV curing. I find 24 - 48 hours does it - they don't warp after that. I'm having a blast with 3D - but it's definitely a labour of love - the parts need quite a bit of reworking (they call it "post-print processing") to look right. The more I do, the better I get. And resins are improving all the time - so I think we'll find it gets less of a problem with newer printers and resins. 

[stitchdup]

10 minutes ago, Bren said:

Yes Brian - it is definitely one of the challenges of 3D printing. I'm told one can fool with print settings to eliminate straight lines being a bit curved (sometimes) but it still seems to happen to me every so often.  Print orientation is a big deal - here are the side skirts I just printed for the above. Look at the forward piece (yellow arrow) - the first one came out with a warped upper border. I re-oriented it and it printed straight. It's not the curing but the actual print that is warped. But yes, thin parts generally need to be clamped or weighted (I use 123 blocks) so they stay flat after UV curing. I find 24 - 48 hours does it - they don't warp after that. I'm having a blast with 3D - but it's definitely a labour of love - the parts need quite a bit of reworking (they call it "post-print processing") to look right. The more I do, the better I get. And resins are improving all the time - so I think we'll find it gets less of a problem with newer printers and resins. 

 

I tend to print 2 or 3 of the parts i know will warp at various angles when i do a print. for example i printed 3 roofs and 5 grilles for a 37 lincoln yesterday and 5 sun visors. i only did one of each the first time and none turned out decent. you can straighten prints after curing too if you use near boiling water and have very chilled wet cloth but it wont work on thick parts.  i've been getting more good results with jayo resin than i did with anycubic resin. the area the printer in needs more heat with it though, the anycubic was more forgiving on temperature. the jayo is half the price too but i couldn't get it for my next resin, so i'm trying creality resin after seeing some good reviews.

[BK9300]

I appreciate all the good info - not sure if I’ll ever find my way into resin printing, but I can sure see where a build could be improved by being able to print your own parts.  Scratch building working for me at the moment but some parts are just too small to make!  Thanks again.

[Bren]

On 11/1/2024 at 12:19 AM, BK9300 said:

I appreciate all the good info - not sure if I’ll ever find my way into resin printing, but I can sure see where a build could be improved by being able to print your own parts.  Scratch building working for me at the moment but some parts are just too small to make!  Thanks again.

At risk of waxing too eloquent (at which point my wife rolls her eyes and mutters....again?) I think you have hit on a key point with respect to 3-D printing. The large truck body prints are impressive, and obviously encompass subject matter which will never be kitted by the manufacturers, but I think the real strength is in small parts. I have been following your sander truck build with fascination and you have next level scratch building skills. It truly is a tour de force. 3-D printing cannot approach the stuff you are doing. Nonetheless, where I find it most useful in my building is in printing connectors, rubber hose elbows, glad hands and the like. These are often not offered in the aftermarket, and they do not appear in any kits. I cannot scratch build a glad hand in 1/25 scale to save my life, and yet my printer can chuck out thousands of them. I have lost track but, presently, I have well over 2000 .stl files, almost all of them small truck components rather than large bodies such as pictured above. I think the true place of 3-D printing will find its way into most of our workshops just like our other specialty tools, for specific small jobs that we either cannot, or do not want to model. I looked at your sketch up diagram of the passenger side control module for your sander, and I think, with caution, one of the newer printers that have resolution down to .01 should be able to do justice to a lot of the detail. 

One of the most influential philosophies on my modelling was that expressed by the brilliant diorama designer, the late Shep Payne, who coined the expression 'creative gizzmology' in his book 'How to Build Dioramas'. This concept is that the eye cannot see detail below a certain level (remember he worked largely in 1/35 and 1/43) and it could be represented by odd spare parts that merely resembled the object we were modeling, without every nut and bolt being (almost invisibly) present. Perhaps pretentiously, I honestly believe that what we do on this site is art - constrained art to be sure, but art none-the-less. And the way we represent things that are very small is a mark of artistry, just as much as it is technical skill. (Pontification over...sorry? )

Edited November 3, 2024 by Bren
Mispelling

[BK9300]

More like well stated opinions than pontification!  All good thoughts about printing and its place in the hobby.  For now, l need to settle for locally outsourcing the printing of my limited need for 3d parts as a first step, then who knows.  Thanks, also, for your thoughts on my build.

[vincen47]

Great to see. I don’t have a printer yet myself, but if someone was producing this, I’d jump in line to purchase.

[Bren]

On 11/1/2024 at 11:48 AM, BK9300 said:

More like well stated opinions than pontification!  All good thoughts about printing and its place in the hobby.  For now, l need to settle for locally outsourcing the printing of my limited need for 3d parts as a first step, then who knows.  Thanks, also, for your thoughts on my build.

So I thought I'd show you EXACTLY what I'm doing as an illustrative example of what I'm talking about. I'm currently working on finishing "the bane of my existence" Pete 353 and The Trailmobile dual trailers. The Pete needed the fresh air intake to the turbo - and the crude kit parts look awful - and in any event - won't fit. So I printed two different elbow files, joined them and used CTM hose clamps to detail (pictures below). I'll post a few more examples after this....

[Bren]

On 11/1/2024 at 11:48 AM, BK9300 said:

More like well stated opinions than pontification!  All good thoughts about printing and its place in the hobby.  For now, l need to settle for locally outsourcing the printing of my limited need for 3d parts as a first step, then who knows.  Thanks, also, for your thoughts on my build.

Next, I needed some parts for the Trailmobile dolly - specifically the chain hooks - not included in the kit, electrical trailer connection, and some handles.  I also needed a better representation of the dolly support wheel. The kit part appears much larger than any reference pic I was able to find. I searched Cults for an appropriate file - and as an example of resizing something never intended for that purpose - I found a free .stl file of a child's toy train wheel, shrunk it down to 7 mm and presto - it looks exactly like what I wanted.  I'll post the reference pictures and the prints I selected as suitable, below. (Kit dolly wheel shown beside the printed one). 

Edited November 5, 2024 by Bren
added a picture

[Bren]

On 11/1/2024 at 11:48 AM, BK9300 said:

More like well stated opinions than pontification!  All good thoughts about printing and its place in the hobby.  For now, l need to settle for locally outsourcing the printing of my limited need for 3d parts as a first step, then who knows.  Thanks, also, for your thoughts on my build.

I needed an electrical junction box as well. And the electrical trailer connector. I know you like your parts small - so I showed you my gorgeous finger for scale!

[BK9300]

All good items to be able produce yourself!  Thanks again.

[BK9300]

Hope I can get detail that good from my local printing company.

[Bren]

And a few other things printed for the Pete....

 

So my main point is - you don't need to print massive whole truck bodies -  I find it a great tool for..."now where would I find something that looks like that...." And uber-scratch builders like you could definitely take advantage of this fountain of new parts for your builds.  

[Bren]

9 minutes ago, BK9300 said:

Hope I can get detail that good from my local printing company.

Sorry for deluging you with pictures?! But I just love your work and think this could be a helpful addition to your palette. You bet - these were all printed on an Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra at .02 layer height using water washable resin - pretty standard these days - nothing fancy. 

Edited November 5, 2024 by Bren
corrected printer name

[BK9300]

1 hour ago, Bren said:

Sorry for deluging you with pictures?! But I just love your work and think this could be a helpful addition to your palette. You bet - these were all printed on an Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra at .02 layer height using water washable resin - pretty standard these days - nothing fancy. 

I should know what to expect next week - my first meet with the printer!