Coloured Miniature Test

steampunkkaja (52)in #print3d • 5 years ago

Today, I finally got additional resin tanks, so I was able to put my colour kit to use! I have to admit, I wasn't too pleased with the initial results, but I may have ways to avoid today's problems in the future.

Problem № 1: the colour I got was neither what I wanted, nor what I expected.
Below is a screenshot of the tool I used to determine the exact mixture of dyes to get a dark olive colour suitable for miniature military vehicles:
Dark olive formula.PNG
Curiously, the colour I ended up with doesn't match either the selected or achievable values, but I think I can live with it. The only drawback is that I'll have to go through my entire shop and change the "dark olive" colour option to something else, because I wouldn't call my results "olive" by any stretch. "Evergreen" might be more accurate, as you'll see in a bit.

Problem № 2: the physical properties of this coloured resin are very different from the white resin that I'm used to using. For starters, the surface is as fragile as candle wax prior to curing, so these models should be cured before anything else is done to them. Strangely enough, the resin is also much more brittle coming out of the printer, so supports are more difficult to remove without breaking thin features on the model. Tank guns are already challenging to deal with, and this coloured resin makes it even harder. Fortunately, both of these problems I have can be easily avoided by simply curing the models immediately after wash and dry.

In my next test, I will decrease the the touchpoint size for the supports, this way they will come off the model easier. I can't go smaller than the current size of 0,4mm with white resin, otherwise models fall off the supports and get stuck to the bottom of the resin tank, but the coloured resin may allow me to go much smaller. At the same time, I may also decrease the layer size from 50 microns to 25, since that is now an option, and also because print lines are much more visible in coloured resin. The only drawback to doing so is that it will double the print time.

So, what do you think? Should I continue doing what I'm doing, or give up and go back to white models?