Flower-Class Corvette by Yves Vidal - FINISHED - 1/48 - Bensworx Virtual Kit - 3D printed

[Kevin]

once printing has started, can it be paused, or switched off over night?

[yvesvidal]

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

once printing has started, can it be paused, or switched off over night?

 

You can pause it, but the beauty is to run it during the night, while you sleep. My current print (Hull section 2) is given for 27 hours....

Not to worry: these printers are designed to run a lot and are quite silent *at least the Creality Ender-3 V2 is thanks to the silent chips they use to drive all motors. The only thing you hear is the fan for the extruder and an occasional motion of the spool. Running it during the night is actually perfect, as the electrical power is cleaner and more stable than during the day.

 

Yves

Edited July 10, 2021 by yvesvidal

[Hsae]

Yves, you have to cure and wash the resin parts, correct? If so, how long have the parts to cure?

I am still learning about resin printing.

 

Hermann

[yvesvidal]

9 hours ago, Hsae said:

Yves, you have to cure and wash the resin parts, correct? If so, how long have the parts to cure?

I am still learning about resin printing.

 

Hermann

 

Hermann,

 

There is no need for curing or washing. Curing is done automatically, as it cools from the printer. Washing is always something good to do, but there is no demolding agents used in the process.

 

Yves

[AON]

From what I've learnt so far (liquid) resin which involves dipping into a liquid bath requires washing and rinsing.  PVA filaments do not need to be washed or rinsed.

Edited July 12, 2021 by AON
Can't spell

[CDW]

Great project Yves! My best wishes for your success.

A few years ago, I got into the printing of a six foot wingspan F4U Corsair R/C model aircraft kit that I purchased to plans/code for online. After about 25% through completion, I learned that the software I was using needed to be upgraded as the airframe shapes were so complex, my software could not handle it. At that point I became distracted and boxed everything away, never got back around to finishing the project. Amazing technology and lots to learn. It's a steep learning curve really IMHO.

 

Notice with my project, the entire inner airframe is printed inside the outer skin. 

 

 

 

[yvesvidal]

I agree with you Craig, there is a lot to learn with this new technology. The beauty of it is that you can print intricate internal structures (like what you are showing), which would be sometimes impossible to build (easily).

 

I am currently printing another section of the hull (Hull_7) and that is planned for 33 hours, non-stop !!!

 

Yves

[yvesvidal]

Time consuming progress.....

 

28 hours.... Hull_2 section: 

 

Even better....33 hours !! Hull_7 section: 

 

The positive side of these virtual kits, is that while the model is building itself, you can get a life !!!

 

Yves

 

[CDW]

Where are you buying your filament? Here in my hometown of Tampa, there is a 3D product warehouse where filament, resin, 3D printers, and all sorts of related supplies and equipment are sold. They also offer 3D printing services. I saw one room set up with a large number of 3D printers all doing their thing. Just for the heck of it, I may check to see what they would charge to print my Corsair. Probably its not cheap.

[CDW]

Your parts are coming out nice. With some adjustments in your software parameters, you can probably get a smoother finish that will not require any sanding. While it's been too long ago to remember exactly the adjustments made, by altering the speed of print, temperature, and maybe a couple of other parameters, I learned to get a very smooth finish several years ago. If I started again, would have to relearn everything. 🙂

[yvesvidal]

3 minutes ago, CDW said:

Where are you buying your filament? Here in my hometown of Tampa, there is a 3D product warehouse where filament, resin, 3D printers, and all sorts of related supplies and equipment are sold. They also offer 3D printing services. I saw one room set up with a large number of 3D printers all doing their thing. Just for the heck of it, I may check to see what they would charge to print my Corsair. Probably its not cheap.

 

Craig,

 

I am buying the PLA filament from Amazon. The brand is Overture and each spool cost about $19 to $23 depending of the color. Spool comes with 2.2 pounds of filament, which gives you a lot to print. I have been able to do 4 sections of the hull, plus extra parts with less than one spool. I suspect that your plane will not take more than 1 spool. Only drawback of this technology: the material is incredibly hard..... not easy to sand or drill.

 

Printing may not be that expensive, if you are not in a hurry. They may schedule you during the night and give you a nice price.

 

Yves

[CDW]

1 hour ago, yvesvidal said:

 

Craig,

 

I suspect that your plane will not take more than 1 spool. Only drawback of this technology: the material is incredibly hard..... not easy to sand or drill.

 

Printing may not be that expensive, if you are not in a hurry. They may schedule you during the night and give you a nice price.

 

Yves

 

It's surprising how much filament the plane takes. In addition, it must be a heat/UV resistant type, non standard. Because RC aircraft are flown outdoors, the filament must be UV resistant whereas standard filament is not. Heat from sunlight will cause the filament to get soft and sag, distorting the model. I still have some spools of it packed away but I cannot recall the name of the type I used.

My worst nightmare was when the filament somehow got hung up in the spool near the very end of a long print. It was something like a 30 hours long print. When that happens, it ruins the entire part and the whole print must be redone. All that work goes down the drain.

 

Vought F4U Corsair – 3DLabPrint

Edited July 13, 2021 by CDW

[AON]

Depending on how long and how your filament has been stored it my be brittle now so cannot be used.

 

PLA should be kept dry, stored in a zip lock air tight bag, with the air sucked out, and a dessicant baggy in it to keep it dry.

 

If the filament snaps when bending it over about 90° due to brittleness... being old... it is no good.

 

I use a drinking straw to suck the air out while sealing the bag, then put it back in the box it came in.

[yvesvidal]

Quick update: printing of the hull couplers (8 of them) is done. Each took between 1:30 and 5:00 hours to go....

 

 

I am currently printing the pedestal (2 x 7 hours) and still have four major pieces of the hull to go through: another week of non-stop printing. With Virtual kit, you either need multiple printers or build two kits at the same time... :-)

 

Yves

[Hsae]

Cool stuff!

 

Hermann

[RGL]

Dark magic this

[yvesvidal]

A quick update on the Corvette Hull: 

 

As you can see, all the parts for the hull have been finally printed. We are talking of 2 weeks of non-stop printing. The hull is comprised of 9 vertical sections and one horizontal piece at the stern. They are labelled 1 to 9 from left to right. The section 3, 4 and 5 took between 36 hours and 41 hours each !!! The other sections have been detailed in previous posts.

 

Overall, close to two spools of light gray PLA and 25% of the White PLA went through that process. If we calculate the cost of this massive hull, it comes to close to $45, for a 1.25 meter long hull. This technology, obviously, allows the realization of models at a low cost.

 

 

I have started sanding very lightly the various sections and drilled the portholes. It is a lot easier to work on one section at a time, rather than on the entire hull.

 

 

It is now time to assemble that behemoth. To glue the PLA, I am planning to use the special soldering cement available under the names of Plastruct or more economically the MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone), available at certain hardware stores or online for a fraction of the cost of these Hobby Shops little bottles. A Plastruct bottle is about $7 for an ounce, whereas I can get half a litter for less than $20, including shipping. The old Ambroid bottle has been refilled with the pure MEK. Same consistency, same smell, same gluing power.

 

 

Yves

[AON]

Looking very impressive.

How well do the white couplers fit?

Have you tested  the glue to a sample of the PLA?

[yvesvidal]

Aon,

 

The white couplers fit incredibly tight. Yes, I have tested the glue and it is ultra solid: the PLA is welded !!

However, you have to put a lot of glue and hold the parts tightly coupled while the glue dries. 

I also noticed that gluing different colors PLAs is more delicate, as far as gluing goes. As you mentioned, in some places, resorting to Epoxy glue may be the right thing to do, for a nice and secure bond.

 

Because the parts are so large, I have to use a brush to apply the glue and use capillarity to work for me. 

 

Yves

Edited July 22, 2021 by yvesvidal

[CDW]

Yves

 

You have done a remarkable job to produce the entire hull on your first try in 3D printing. The finished product looks outstanding. You are encouraging me to bring my machines back out of storage. 

[Hsae]

Wouldn’t it have been easier to include some align-pins in the hull sections vs. making the coupler?

 

Great work so far!

 

Hermann

Edited July 22, 2021 by Hsae
Can’t spell

[yvesvidal]

I want to come back on the subject of gluing PLA parts, as we are experimenting: 

 

- My tests with MEK/Plastruct liquid glue are working very well for small parts. I believe the reason why it is so solid (like welded) is that the surface of each part is softened and fused, creating a very strong bond once dry. You still have to press very hard the parts for a few minutes. It does not offer the convenience and ease of Polystyrene bonding found on Plastic models. I will be able to use that gluing technique for the superstructure and small details.

 

- For the hull parts, these are so big and so hard that the softening of the mating surfaces is going to require a very large amount of glue and time. So, I am resorting to Cyanoacrylate glue and two components epoxy for parts requiring fine adjustments. I think it will be overall more solid. I am also seeing different melting points for PLA of different colors (white versus light gray). The White seems very impervious to any softening....

 

- Other people have had good success with SCIGRIP 16 and specialized (and expensive) PLA glues. ACETONE is also an option although the fumes are nasty. I suspect that Acetone will evaporate too fast for large parts, anyway.

 

- Some people use a 3D pencil, which is the equivalent of a welding iron, as it creates a 200 Degrees celsius bead of PLA, to bond two parts together. Results of course is not too sharp, as it adds materials and not strong either.

 

Yves

Edited July 22, 2021 by yvesvidal

[AON]

If there is a need to press the softened parts together to bond does this deform the edge creating a bulge that needs to be trimmed back?

 

Thank you for this info as it will be very helpful to me.

[CDW]

On radio controlled aircraft built from 3D printed parts, CA glue is being used. This takes into account the stresses the airframes undergo while flying and in various maneuvers. Very good strength of bond. Of course, there is no distortion from CA glue but there is a risk involved inhaling the fumes created by CA which is not to be underestimated. Many modelers have had serious medical complications from breathing CA fumes.

[yvesvidal]

Starting with the Stern. As mentioned, I am using CA glue to secure the very large coupling part to the hull shells:

 

 

 

Overall, it is not too bad. I will have to put some acrylic putty in some places, sand and I hope that after a couple of primer coats, the hull will be presentable. I will try to be more careful for the other sections.

 

The trick is to lightly sand the inside surface of the hull shells and the contact surface of the coupling part, to make sure that the glue can adhere well. The fit of the coupling piece to the hull shells is amazing.

 

Yves 

 

 

[AON]

My scratch build doesn't fair that well.

Nice job!

[Kevin]

love it

 

[yvesvidal]

Moving on with the hull. Insertion of the coupling part between section 8 and section 7: 

 

You can appreciate the finesse of the fit.

 

 

This model is designed for Radio Control but will be assembled as a static model, in our case.

 

 

After a few hours of drying, I am starting to print some deck parts to see how this whole kit is fitting: 

 

 

The little bottle of Ambroid, gives an idea of the size of the hull: it is massive !!

 

 

Yves

 

[AON]

I can imagine the satisfaction of realising the fit while assembling these pieces.

 

Can you please hurry up so I can see the whole thing!  😇  😁

[CDW]

My son-in-law is a machinist involved in the manufacture of nuclear submarines. I found it interesting to learn that each of the various companies involved in the manufacturing process each produce a complete cross section piece of the submarine in a fashion similar to how your Corvette goes together. All the pieces are sent to a central facility as they are completed, then assembled as a complete ship just as you are now building your model. I do not know if larger ships are built in this fashion, only that it applies to nuclear subs.