AlexM

Hello there, one year ago, I got my recent 3d-printer: the Bambu Lab H2S. I bought it together with a cutting kit. But I have just today installed and set up the cutting kit, though, since a special additional camera, which isn't necessary (as far as I know) but usefull for the cutting function, wasn't avaialble for a long time. I'm not yet familiar with the software (Bambu Suite), but the first attempts seem promising. It comes with a sticky cutting mat. I cut out some rings from black vinyl tape, which will be useful for masking the wheels of the 1/16 Sd.Kfz 250 that I am currently working on. Then I cut out some stencil letters on normal copy paper. And finally, some smaller letters on the vinyl tape. That's where I forgot the number 5, but at least the characters are about 5 mm high there. So far, I'm happy with the first results. The printer could even be upgraded to a laser cutter, but that seems a bit extreme to me Cheers Alex

I also prefer a vertical list, as we've had so far, over panels arranged side by side.

Thanks a lot. The way you describe and show it on video makes it look feasible. If it wasn't for that darn propeller twist that is stil twisting my mind Drawing those 3D-lines for the leading and trailing edges seems to be the tricky part. Cheers Alex Cheers Alex

Great work on what seems like an awsome "3D-kit" Cheers Alex

As others have already said, great work with the camouflage that makes those Italian aircraft of the time so interesting. Cheers Alex

Very impressive project, including the propeller, something I'm struggling to create in 3D to this day. Would you share some hints on how you made them? May I suggest that the cowling would benefit from a bit more "roundness"/more circular segments, since the wireframe model is still pretty visible on the printed part? It would be difficult to sand them smooth without eliminating the raised rivets. I get good results with round cowlings when they are all around based on about 200 circular segments. Cheers Alex

That seems feasible. Given the size of the fuselage, I would recommend a FDM printer. The fuselage should then be printable upright in two parts, maybe at the typical step on the lower side of a flying boat. Typically, a fuselage is divided into left and right halves. With a flying boat, however, this could result in a ‘stubby’ keel, which is why it might be better not to divide it into left and right halves. If necessary, the front upper section of the fuselage could be printed as a separate part to be able to detail the cockpit. The tail fin should be cut off at the point where, when viewed from the side, the angle reaches 45 degrees. This should allow the rear half of the fuselage to be printed without supports. Holes for spars could be marked out in the wing area. Perhaps even recesses matching the wing profile could be made on the left and right, so that the lower wings can simply be slotted into place at the correct angle. Cheers Alex

Interesting, will look into this, even though it's also not cheap here in Germany. The graphite one is about 49 € on Amazon while the green "flavor" still costs about 32 €. But I suppose quality comes at a price.

I also have a resin 3D printer, and it’s amazing to see what can be achieved with those machines. Still, I‘m also not the biggest fan of handling the sticky resin. And I’m still struggling with bending/warping of larger parts, especially when they are thin and hollow like a fuselage. So, when possible, I prefer my conventional FDM printer. Regarding surface quality, it’s no match to a resin printer. But it’s 100 percent sufficient for my own standards. Here is what I’m playing around with recently, everything done with my FDM printer:

Spectacular! Which brand of PLA do you use?

Very cool project. As Hubert said, I suggest printing the cylinders separately, standing upright. That way, the inevitable layer lines would disappear as part of the cooling fins. In the case of your engine, the cylinders appear to be solids of revolution, so instead of AI, they could be manually done as a 2D ribbed side profile, which is then rotated to create a 3D cylinder. I’m currently working on a radial engine, which has holes on the center part and the separate cylinders so that the parts can be stuck together by toothpicks Cheers Alex

Acquiring some vac form kits from Tigger Models many years ago, and in the case of the SM.79, actually finishing one. This made scratch building a necessity. Venturing into the dark arts of 3D modeling and printing. That made me believe that in theory, every subject could be done, no matter whether a kit exists or not. If this took my modelling up a notch remains to be seen, since my output in regard to actually finished models rather tends to zero Alex

Not sure about shipping to Canada, but this german onlineshop sells styrene sheets in various "wavelengths": https://www.architekturbedarf.de/model-making/structured-plates/corrugated-sheet-plastic/1 Cheers Alex

This! Finally finishing something. Well, it hasn't worked out for well me in recent years, so we'll see...

Received mine today and the clear parts are flawless. And at least as far as I can see from the sprues, no warping visible on the fuselage and wing parts. Looks very promising so far