Well, with some substantial help from my son, aka tech support, we were able to get my 3D printer working this evening…
And after nearly 90 minutes of printing, then another 10 minutes or so of wash and UV light curing, we created this test print semi successfully…
I say semi successful, or as my son termed it, a successful failure, due to it ending up a bit too brittle, and this ended up cracking and breaking. So successful print, but an overdone finishing process. Lessons learned. 
Good first effort. You will figure it out as you keep climbing down the hole. Elegoo is a great product. I have a Mars 5 Ultra that I got last Christmas and love it. I have printed all sorts of things. With the Chitubox slicer software I have been able to create all sorts of parts as well. Have Fun.
Thanks Gino. It’s a bit messier of a process than I expected, but that kinda adds to the fun. I downloaded the Chitubox account to get started, so off we go! I am so looking forward to making up what I’ve found so far. This is a crazy huge new world. Baby steps…
i have a resin printer, mainly for accessories for my 1/35 stuff (i have a folder full of jerry cans, oil drums, weapons etc) or larger figures (120mm +)
i’ve just take a side rabbit hole and gotten a filament printer for vehicles now. i found the resin to be a bit to brittle to build multi part kits (probably my settings) so hopefullt filament will be tougher.
plus i can print all sorts of storage items and organisers with it
As far as I know filament printers do not have as much resolution as resin…
The software was an online purchase right Gino? I can’t unpack my Mars until Friday so I know nothing.
not as much no, i wouldnt print 1/35 scale stuff on a filament. But for vehicles its good. i find my resin warps when i try and print flat plates
The basic version of Chitubox is free and came with my printer. I paid for the Advanced version, about $75 a year, to allow me to split, cut, join, etc. and design my own parts.
Thanks Gino, that info helps me.
This evening I had another go at 3D printing after my crash and burn attempts after New Years… today’s success was much more successful. The first go (on the right) was about a 50% success rate, with some breaking free during the printing process, as can be seen by the support nubs only…. a few that stayed on the base were somewhat incomplete on the bottoms of the cans for unknown reasons. The second go, started immediately after I took the first group off of the printing plate, came out much better, with all twelve ammo cans printing, although a few were also again underdeveloped on the bottoms of sides…
I’m gonna have to mess with the jerry cans that crashed and burned on the first attempt and see if I can get those to print up properly…
I find that items with flat bottoms do better when you angle them at about a 45° or less angle. It seems the flatness doesn’t print well.
Thanks for that tip Gino. I will give that change of angle a shot on my next batch.
Friday I had much better luck… a few of the .30 cans broke off during the printing process, but overall, this one I’ll call a 95% success
Today’s efforts came out much better… same print with no break offs during printing…
Then I created this set up yesterday… ammo cans and ammo belts
so this is today’s production batch… each print took a bit over 90 minutes
I’m starting to get the hang of this stuff…
Last week, I added a new fitting onto my printer, a “Wham Bam” plate. Put simply, it is a thin sheet of metal attached by a magnet to the print plate and can be removed then flexed to pop off your prints instead of using a putty knife to pry your new prints directly off the print plate. It is something of a time saver, but again there was a learning curve for the new fitting. My first few attempts with the plate were a failure, but after some online research to see if others hade the same problems with the device, I adjust some settings on my printer and had success!
These are loader and at seats for a Sherman tank as well as some stowage boxes for inside the turret. I am starting to get a handle on the printer… now to master creating the files.
I’m getting better on this 3D print stuff… having far less misprints and self inflicted misfires as I learn…
a couple of weeks ago, I printed up these Hedgerow prongs for Shermans.
I only needed the middle set, so I gave the others away at AMPS this past Saturday
I also have been trying my hand at printing figures… the first batch I did a faceplant by not paying attention to the orientation of the figures
the second was better but only half of the figures printed up
a few adjustment to the settings and my next attempt went exactly as intended… all printed up properly
I also had success in upscaling some jerry cans from 1/35 to 1/32
Then today was a successful print of some 1/48 Zuni rocket pods. When completed I thought they were too long… then I compared them to the ones in a Hasegawa weapons set… exact same size!
Success… consistently and finally!
Nice prints, good job!
Thank you sir! It’s getting smoother to make this happen lately…
And my latest batch of prints… yesterday evening I printed up the stuff for my new A-10… the fans and gun came out sweet
The gun is a HUGE improvement over the kit part…. Although I need to add some barrels using brass or styrene inside the cooling shroud
Once those were done I decided to do another batch of the Commonwealth tank crew…. But this time I cut them off of the bases after they came out of the printer before the wash and cure before the resin became more brittle. It was time consuming, but turned out ok. Since they take so long to print, I had them printing overnight.
Then in the morning I printed up these GE-F110 afterburner flame holders. Damn they look so much better than what comes in kits. The original file was 1/32, but I downsized these to 1/48
I’ll be printing up more for use on various aircraft types. I’m sure that most folks don’t know the difference in afterburner rings in various engine types.
Nice job. Looks like you have gotten the hang of it. You should be able to print just about anything now.
Thanks Gino! Yes, I’m starting to get the confidence in being able to print, as well as set up the programs for the printer. This rabbit hole has led me to a cave of wonders