Me and a mate tried setting up and printing yesterday. Elegoo Mars 2 Ultra was my choice. Having set up a print (we assumed) the piece came out a fraction of the actual size - a 5 inch long piece from Steel Oxide coming out around 3/4 inch long.
What am I not doing/doing wrong?
You may not be doing anything wrong. I’m not sure where you got the file from, but I’ve obtained a few files from Cults3D and elsewhere in which the designer has not scaled it properly. I’ve reached out to a few and they’ve made corrections, or alternatively, figure out the percentage you need to scale it up to get to 5" long and adjust it in your slicer.
Thanks for that. It’s a Steel Oxide ( (Cults) set of a refuelling rig for an M548 in 1/35.
Designers will scale pieces smaller to make the file smaller. I find most Steel Oxide files are about 1/100. You have to scale them up to 1/35 by multiplying by 2.85. You still may have to adjust the sized as it may not be exactly 1/100. I find it best to know the actual dimensions of the item and compare when you scale up, then adjust if needed. It sounds like a lot, but becomes easier the more you do it.
Bear in mind the level of detail that can be seen at 1:100 scale isn’t a patch on 1:35, so a scaled-up file may start to look a bit crude.
I’ve avoided Steel Oxide for exactly that reason (and other companies as well, that sell either 3D files or 3D printed). They advertise their files as 1/144 to 1/35, and as noted above, all appear to be designed at 1/100. Scaling up seldom works as the detail in 1/35 will be unacceptable (at least to me).
I’ve just finished talking with Christian at Steel Oxide. In addition to the bladder and pump set I suggested, he is preparing a file for a set of the larger 12.00 wheels needed for the HobbyLink M246 wrecker/tractor.
This file will be prepared in 1/35 scale!