Going small... Fun with small nozzles
 
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bobstro
(@bobstro)
Illustrious Member
Going small... Fun with small nozzles

I've decided to see how small I could print a recognizable print. So far, I'm down to 1:300 miniatures printed in PLA with a 0.15mm nozzle. It doesn't look great zoomed in, but at 100% size, the strings aren't visible and it's clearly a Jeep. I'm not sure how to paint anything like this, but it does open up possibilities for tabletop miniatures and dioramas at small scale.

My notes and disclaimers on 3D printing

and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Posted : 15/11/2020 2:07 am
BrianBlox, -- and Gonper liked
karl-herbert
(@karl-herbert)
Illustrious Member
RE: Going small... Fun with small nozzles
Posted by: @bobstro

I've decided to see how small I could print a recognizable print. So far, I'm down to 1:300 miniatures printed in PLA with a 0.15mm nozzle. It doesn't look great zoomed in, but at 100% size, the strings aren't visible and it's clearly a Jeep. I'm not sure how to paint anything like this, but it does open up possibilities for tabletop miniatures and dioramas at small scale.

Already looks good!

I have also tried to create a multicolor print with a 0.1mm nozzle, but a uniform extrusion is very difficult to achieve:

I think that the mechanical limits of the Prusa have been reached.

Statt zu klagen, dass wir nicht alles haben, was wir wollen, sollten wir lieber dankbar sein, dass wir nicht alles bekommen, was wir verdienen.

Posted : 15/11/2020 2:27 am
BrianBlox liked
bobstro
(@bobstro)
Illustrious Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Going small... Fun with small nozzles

1:600 is a bit too far...

1:300 seems to be the lower limit for recognizable models.

My notes and disclaimers on 3D printing

and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Posted : 15/11/2020 5:34 am
bobstro
(@bobstro)
Illustrious Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Going small... Fun with small nozzles
Posted by: @karl-herbert

I have also tried to create a multicolor print with a 0.1mm nozzle, but a uniform extrusion is very difficult to achieve:

Up close everything looks bad, but at any distance the text looks really good. Would a darker base color hide the blurring?

 

My notes and disclaimers on 3D printing

and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Posted : 15/11/2020 5:35 am
bobstro
(@bobstro)
Illustrious Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Going small... Fun with small nozzles

I decided to go all-out and try a range of scales. Here are a pair of miniatures at (from left-to-right) 1:600/3mm, 1:285/6mm, 1:200 and 1:100/15mm scales. The smaller khaki prints are all done on the Mk3 with a 0.15mm nozzle at 0.08mm layer heights with Paramount PLA, the gray with a 0.3mm nozzle at 0.15mm layer heights with Atomic PLA.

Zoomed in, FDM will always look poor compared to resin, but I'm really happy with these results at actual size. On a table of foam and felt scenery, they are quite usable, particularly at 3 feet or more. 

My notes and disclaimers on 3D printing

and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Posted : 16/11/2020 11:32 pm
Aphaitas, With_Maltodextrin, Gonper and 1 people liked
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
RE: Going small... Fun with small nozzles

Pretty cool.  Playing Axis and Allies?

--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog

Posted : 17/11/2020 12:15 am
--
 --
(@)
Illustrious Member
RE: Going small... Fun with small nozzles

I think I've asked this before: but that tank barrel is impressive. Supports or is that a two part print? And, lack of wipe artifacts is impressive.

Posted : 17/11/2020 1:09 am
bobstro
(@bobstro)
Illustrious Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Going small... Fun with small nozzles
Posted by: @charles-h13

Pretty cool.  Playing Axis and Allies?

We played Flames of Wars (1:100/15mm) when my sons were young. They're off on their own 10 years now, but asked for some to play some nostalgia games over the winter. I'm having fun producing the pieces en masse even if I can't play.

 

 

My notes and disclaimers on 3D printing

and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Posted : 17/11/2020 5:36 am
bobstro
(@bobstro)
Illustrious Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Going small... Fun with small nozzles
Posted by: @tim-m30

I think I've asked this before: but that tank barrel is impressive. Supports or is that a two part print? And, lack of wipe artifacts is impressive.

I'm getting very nice supports out of ideaMaker lately. Turrets and hulls are each one piece, printed as they stand. I've been able to disable wipe since getting the filament extrusion multipliers and LA tuned. The Atomic filament prints very well, and Paramount is almost as good, which helps a lot.

My notes and disclaimers on 3D printing

and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Posted : 17/11/2020 5:39 am
Swiss_Cheese
(@swiss_cheese)
Noble Member
RE: Going small... Fun with small nozzles

My goodness! that Sharpie is HUGE!

The Filament Whisperer

Posted : 23/11/2020 12:14 am
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