Modelling Mishaps - Things that can make a person cry (or make you stronger)!!

[Brother Morgan]

Hi Everyone,

 

As the title suggests, I have been having a number of issues over the past few weeks that have almost made me cry. I started 3D resin printing last November and there has been a steep learning curve. I thought I could save myself some resin by "hollowing" out the models I was printing off. I spent a number of days and a number of bottles of resin and printed off lots of models over the past few months. Over time, I started to notice models breaking apart and liquid resin pooling on the base and sometimes overflowing. I thought at first it was a one off but it started to happen regularly. In July, I reverted back to printing without "hollowing" and have spent a lot of time reprinting models I have had to throw away. Unfortunately, over the past week, I have had to throw away 20 completely finished models and I feel gutted what with all the time and effort I've put into finishing these.

Here's a few examples:

 

 

I had finished painting 5 of these Rough Riders and have ended up throwing all of them away :(

 

 

I had finished another "Red" Squadron of Rough Riders - I have 2 left. I'm too frightened to put them away as if they crack and leak, its almost impossible to clean up and if liquid resin goes on any other model, I have to throw that away as well :(

 

 

I loved painting these Solar Guard replacements but have had to throw away over 20 of these this week. I now have to find the files and reprint them and add them to my painting pile.

 

 

Although most of these look ok from afar, when you look at them closely, the jumpsuit has cracked and resin is starting to pour/dribble out of them (like a touch from Nurgle). So before they make a huge mess, I've removed and kept the bases and chucked them in the bin this morning.

 

 

This vox operator looks like he is so scared that he's wet himself  :thumbsup: 

 

 

These look fine but have started to dribble. They've been de-based and thrown this morning.

 

 

Again, these look fine, but liquid resin has started to dribble so they have been flushed out of the nearest airlock.

 

 

I loved this model and really enjoyed painting him. I'm gutted that I have to throw him away.

 

 

And finally, this model has cracked in 2 places, so had to go.

 

I'm making light of what has happened but it's really upsetting when things like this happen. I'm trying not to dwell on how much time I have lost on these models and want to take this as a learning experience. I am now in the routine of checking all of my printed 3D resin models every morning to make sure I haven't got another model that needs to be thrown. Unfortunately, my "hollow" resin prints have been cracking over the past 6 months and as I have reprinted replacements, I stupidly put them in with the hollow ones - now I don't know which ones may crack in the future. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can prevent the already printed hollow models from cracking sometime in the future?

 

Please fell free to share any of your own modelling mishaps on this thread. 

[Wormwoods]

Well, nothing THAT dire, but I did once ruin a perfectly good sword brethren when my plastic cement bottle broke open while I was assembling him, dumping enough of the stuff onto the model - and my hand - that I lost all detail. Poor bugger melted. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Such a shame. That sounds incredibly frustrating!  

 

Hopefully someone will be able to help you with the resin issues!  

[OttoVonAwesome]

Hollowing smaller models isn't typically a great idea but yeah anytime you hollow a model you gotta put drain holes in em so that exact situation doesn't happen since the liquid resin trapped inside will actually destabilize the structure of the cured resin around it over time.

[Grotsmasha]

As above, for your infantry models, it isn't worth hollowing them as the software will create pockets and blockages that prevent ALL the resin from draining out, which will then over time, find a way out. Personally, the smallest item I would hollow would be a Dreadnaught, and even then I would only do the torso.

[lhg033]

Can't say I have much experience with 3d printing (yet) but I can see this would be heartbreaking. I've done a lot of reading and loosely messed around with a friends printer with the view to get into 3d printing at some point. I thought it was mainly larger models that had this issue.

To make no assumptions, are you washing/curing the models after printing? If so maybe it is this step that needs review....?

 

For me the most heartbreaking thing I've had is spray varnish going cloudy and ruining the paintwork on batches of models - not noticeable until it had dried. Mad me almost quit my Orks when two mobs met this fate. 

[Shovellovin]

16 hours ago, OttoVonAwesome said:

Hollowing smaller models isn't typically a great idea but yeah anytime you hollow a model you gotta put drain holes in em so that exact situation doesn't happen since the liquid resin trapped inside will actually destabilize the structure of the cured resin around it over time.

 

13 hours ago, Grotsmasha said:

As above, for your infantry models, it isn't worth hollowing them as the software will create pockets and blockages that prevent ALL the resin from draining out, which will then over time, find a way out. Personally, the smallest item I would hollow would be a Dreadnaught, and even then I would only do the torso.

As OttoVonAwesome and Grotsmasha have stated, you’re better off not hollowing infantry sized models as it’s difficult to remove all of the resin that is trapped inside. When you hollow larger models, make sure you have a way to cure the inside of them otherwise you’ll have the same problem. A little light that you can adjust to reach the inside will save you headaches down the road. 
 

Sorry you had all of your work wasted. I too would be frustrated and feel defeated. On the bright side, your future prints won’t have this problem and you can move forward with adding a lot of cool models to your collection.  

[Brother Morgan]

On 7/30/2023 at 3:05 PM, Wormwoods said:

Well, nothing THAT dire, but I did once ruin a perfectly good sword brethren when my plastic cement bottle broke open while I was assembling him, dumping enough of the stuff onto the model - and my hand - that I lost all detail. Poor bugger melted. 

 

I've had something similar happen to me. Hopefully Wormwoods it wasn't too expensive a model and could be replaced.  

 

On 7/30/2023 at 3:17 PM, Firedrake Cordova said:

Such a shame. That sounds incredibly frustrating!  

 

Hopefully someone will be able to help you with the resin issues!  

 

Thanks Firedrake Cordova 

 

On 7/30/2023 at 9:35 PM, OttoVonAwesome said:

Hollowing smaller models isn't typically a great idea but yeah anytime you hollow a model you gotta put drain holes in em so that exact situation doesn't happen since the liquid resin trapped inside will actually destabilize the structure of the cured resin around it over time.

 

Thanks OttoVonAwesome for the info. I haven't learnt how to add any drainage holes and as I mainly print horses and soldiers, there is no point. I have got a couple of Stationforge vehicles to print off BUT I think my Mars 2 Pro build plate is to small to print of Heavy Battle Tanks and proxy-Valkyries. 

 

On 7/31/2023 at 12:43 AM, Grotsmasha said:

As above, for your infantry models, it isn't worth hollowing them as the software will create pockets and blockages that prevent ALL the resin from draining out, which will then over time, find a way out. Personally, the smallest item I would hollow would be a Dreadnaught, and even then I would only do the torso.

 

Thanks Grotsmasha. I've printed off some Stationforge Ogryns recently but went with full resin, so I shouldn't have any leakage problems. 

 

On 7/31/2023 at 12:56 PM, lhg033 said:

Can't say I have much experience with 3d printing (yet) but I can see this would be heartbreaking. I've done a lot of reading and loosely messed around with a friends printer with the view to get into 3d printing at some point. I thought it was mainly larger models that had this issue.

To make no assumptions, are you washing/curing the models after printing? If so maybe it is this step that needs review....?

 

For me the most heartbreaking thing I've had is spray varnish going cloudy and ruining the paintwork on batches of models - not noticeable until it had dried. Mad me almost quit my Orks when two mobs met this fate. 

 

I don't think it's anything to do with my washing and curing process. I use water washable ceramic grey resin from Elegoo lhg033. After thoroughly washing the parts in water, I then do a final wash in Methylated sprits to ensure all of the liquid resin is removed. All of my cleaned resin bits are then cured under a UV light. 

It's me hollowing out the models has caused this as per OttoVonAwesome and Grotsmasha's response above.  

 

I share your pain with the varnish. I have had issues with brush on matt varnish making my black helmets and shoulder pads go almost grey. If I do varnish my models, I avoid using it over any parts that I have painted black.

 

On 7/31/2023 at 2:38 PM, Shovellovin said:

 

As OttoVonAwesome and Grotsmasha have stated, you’re better off not hollowing infantry sized models as it’s difficult to remove all of the resin that is trapped inside. When you hollow larger models, make sure you have a way to cure the inside of them otherwise you’ll have the same problem. A little light that you can adjust to reach the inside will save you headaches down the road. 
 

Sorry you had all of your work wasted. I too would be frustrated and feel defeated. On the bright side, your future prints won’t have this problem and you can move forward with adding a lot of cool models to your collection.  

 

Thanks Shovellovin. I've read about e mini UV LED but as above, I don't think my Mars 2 pro build plate is big enough for vehicles. I also have a huge backlog in printed and undercoated resin models - I'm losing around 3 undercoated for every 1 painted model at the moment. I've started to reprint the failed models in solid resin, so hopefully in the future, I won't have this problem again 

[Grotsmasha]

Also, side note, I've noticed better paint adhesion with my 3d prints since I started giving them a once over with my GW Munitorum Varnish vs. going straight to Chaos Black spray....not sure why it would make a difference but it seems to.

[Brother Morgan]

On 8/2/2023 at 3:37 PM, Grotsmasha said:

Also, side note, I've noticed better paint adhesion with my 3d prints since I started giving them a once over with my GW Munitorum Varnish vs. going straight to Chaos Black spray....not sure why it would make a difference but it seems to.

 

I haven't had any issue with any primer, but I'll bear your hint in mind for the future Grotsmasha 

 

Here's some more leaking resin models I found today and binned:

 

 

Starting in the top left, some Lunar Auxilia being crucified, 10 Print Mini Electric Priests and Adeptus Mechanicus like figures, a Stationforge figure, a Red Pilgrim Tallarn Rough Rider and a Print Mini Man and dog.

 

 

Starting from the top left, some free models from Cults 3D, some Inquisitor Retinue from Red Pilgrim, multiple Tallarn from Red Pilgrim, a print mini casualty and Papsikel Colonial Marines and Resistance fighters.

 

I think it's easier (but expensive) to stop painting my resin models for a few months and just print everything out again :(