I just picked up a used 3D printer. I put the blame squarely on you, @Herowannabe.

I'm busy this weekend, but looking forward to testing it out with your designs.

No having a printer how much, do you think, it would cost to have someone else make these? In the amounts listed as required?

I got these printed, but have one issue. The gap in the hangar bays is huge. How did you glue these and what did you do about the gap?

There is no gap with my 3D printer. Just a quirk of different printers having different tolerances.

To get rid of the gap, just sand or file the pieces down until they fit more snugly.

I just picked up a used 3D printer. I put the blame squarely on you, @Herowannabe.

I'm busy this weekend, but looking forward to testing it out with your designs.

I take full responsibility. And you're welcome.

No having a printer how much, do you think, it would cost to have someone else make these? In the amounts listed as required?

I did look in to shapeways but they are WAY too expensive for this sort of thing. Just the emplacements alone (not the much larger stations or terrain pieces) would have cost well over $100 to print, maybe even $200 or $300. Who know how much the whole thing would have cost.

One option (possibly): check out your local library. I've noticed that libraries are starting to get 3D printers and I believe you can pay to 3D print your own stuff. It's worth check out at the very least.

If that doesn't pan out, shoot me a PM or reply to this thread and we'll see if we can't work something out.

What software do you use to drive your printer?

I use XYZware, the proprietary software that comes with my XYZ brand printer. I don't think I have any other choice actually.

My podcast is trying to do a story driven event at GenCon this year. We are looking for prize support for the event to be donated by companies. Our listeners love HotAC as we talked it up so much. I'm trying to think of how to get a sponsor for these events that would print out some of these items. I think I just thought of one! I could reach out to the company that makes the Da Vinci Jr 3D printer. Maybe they would print out some stuff for us in exchange for us giving them some attention.

Anyone have other ideas about how we could encourage a business to make some of these for us in exchange for some product hype? Is there a print-for-money service out there?

ok i have fixed the retraction problems I was having with Cura and have built a new e3d v6 0.2mm hot end just for fine details so this weekend ill slice the station and get printing (all be it very slow)

My podcast is trying to do a story driven event at GenCon this year. We are looking for prize support for the event to be donated by companies. Our listeners love HotAC as we talked it up so much. I'm trying to think of how to get a sponsor for these events that would print out some of these items. I think I just thought of one! I could reach out to the company that makes the Da Vinci Jr 3D printer. Maybe they would print out some stuff for us in exchange for us giving them some attention.

Anyone have other ideas about how we could encourage a business to make some of these for us in exchange for some product hype? Is there a print-for-money service out there?

The main thing is there is a lot to print its very time consuming if you only have 1 printer (for private printing)

but there are several pay to print companies like shapeways etc

I need to be "that guy" ...

First, let me start by saying that I suspect that I am a lot older than most people on this forum. I am 75. Despite this fact, I am reasonably technically capable. I make extensive use of technology in general.

I do, however, have absolutely no knowledge when it comes to 3D printers, how they work, and their capabilities. I do know that it is a reasonably new field.

I also know that Google is my friend, and I have been using it over the past few days to try and get a handle on how this all works.

Still, if there was a kind soul out there willing to give me a solid primer via PM, or at least perhaps links to one (I can't seem to find anything good), I would really appreciate it.

These types of printers seem to provide a flexibility and capability for making things that fascinates the hell out of me. I would like to pick up a printer, but don't want to do so, until I have a good foundational knowledge set that will allow me to make intelligent decisions.

Thanks in advance for any assistance provided.

First, let me start by saying that I suspect that I am a lot older than most people on this forum. I am 75. Despite this fact, I am reasonably technically capable. I make extensive use of technology in general.

Wow! 75! I thought I was old on here at 46. You got me beat.

I am in the same boat as you, except I don't have the cash to buy one now. I do think they are really cool, though. They fascinate me, too!

My 3D printer isn't the greatest as far as quality and resolution go, but I have debated setting up an Etsy shop for these pieces (if I did, I would donate half of my profits to Josh Derksen, the HotAC creator). If there is enough interest in this I might just do that.

Or, I believe Thingiverse.com has a feature where you can order prints through a third party. From what I've seen its a little pricey though, and none of the money goes to me (or Josh).

Have you set up the Etsy shop yet for sending out these 3d printed items? I would love to get my hands on a full set of pieces for HotAC. Unfortunately, I do not have a 3d printer, nor do I know anyone that has one. I would be eternally grateful if you could print me a set. I would love to support you and Josh for making this wonderful ruleset for x-wing. You can PM me about pricing if you are interested. Thanks!

Just take my money!

I got myself a Jr the same as Hero, as it was the cheapest 'assembled' printer I could find - I might have been capable of putting a kit together, but I tend to be impatient, take shortcuts that don't work and then get frustrated & give up...so I've come to realise that its cheaper to pay someone else to build stuff

I think the problem with 3D is the same as any other technology that's advancing rapidly - when do you chose to jump on the wagon?...waiting forever for the new 'hotness' and never actually getting anywhere...so you have to accept that whatever you get is going to be out-of-date before you've unpacked it!

If you've got the money, and you want precision and results that seem as good as some of Shapeways more expensive material options, then it seems like the Formlabs Form2 is pretty high up the ladder:

https://formlabs.com/3d-printers/form-2/

...if only because it uses a laser like the commercial printers, rather than filament...but you really pay for that advance - there's a guy on the Facebook Mods&Paint forum who's just got one, and has shown off a quite impressive TIE Bomber print...

...but like any technology, it'll probably get cheaper...but how soon?

The R&D department where I work bought a MakerBot (the sponsor of ThingVerse it seems) to use to prototype some stuff. They used it for about six months. This month is our annual fundraising campaign for the United Way, and the printer showed up on our internal auction site. MakerBot products are not cheap; they run between $1500 and $2000. I got it for about a quarter of that, plus it came with an upgraded bed, plus a bunch of unused filament. I just picked the printer up today, and am excited to try it out.

FWIW, I'm somewhere between 46 and 75.

To those suggesting print-for-pay, the owner of the design has control over that. This project has a "Non Commercial" tag, meaning even if someone wanted to, they cannot print these out and sell them. The way I understand it, it would be up to the owner to set up a shop (Etsy or otherwise) to do that. Or change the license. Or set up some sort of arrangement with someone to do revenue sharing.

Legal stuff aside, I'm completely booked this weekend so it's going to be a week or more before I get the chance to give this a whirl. I am not going to print the ion clouds; I really like the way my existing clouds turned out, and I don't care for the wire-frame version. I am going to print all of the various station components.

@Herowannabe - I shared your response with my wife. She was amused.

Just to say that I've noticed today AmazonUK have dropped their price on the Jr to just over £200, some £20 less than I paid and £70+ cheaper than a couple of months back...

...so Hero was right about xmas deals, or maybe they're trying to clear stock to sell the WiFi / 3-in-1 Jr's and new Mini's

I need to be "that guy" ...

First, let me start by saying that I suspect that I am a lot older than most people on this forum. I am 75. Despite this fact, I am reasonably technically capable. I make extensive use of technology in general.

I do, however, have absolutely no knowledge when it comes to 3D printers, how they work, and their capabilities. I do know that it is a reasonably new field.

I also know that Google is my friend, and I have been using it over the past few days to try and get a handle on how this all works.

Still, if there was a kind soul out there willing to give me a solid primer via PM, or at least perhaps links to one (I can't seem to find anything good), I would really appreciate it.

These types of printers seem to provide a flexibility and capability for making things that fascinates the hell out of me. I would like to pick up a printer, but don't want to do so, until I have a good foundational knowledge set that will allow me to make intelligent decisions.

Thanks in advance for any assistance provided.

Hi

3d printing in a simple view is

basically a "cheap construction robot".

you have several small motors that control the position of a "very small hot glue gun"

in a some specially designed software you "slice" a 3d object into lots of 2d layers stacked on top of each other

then the "cheap construction robot" prints each 2d layer 1 at a time through the "very small hot glue gun"

when one layer is finished it moves up slightly and prints the next layer on top of the last layer

I hope the makes scene

the truth about 3d printing

the truth about 3d printing

All fair points...especially #10,

...but as far as application to X-Wing is concerned, I was unsure but now I'm happy with my decision - there are some brilliant modellers on here like Macross & Barry H, but I don't have their skill at scratchbuilding with 'conventional' materials...but for a small fee, or in other cases for free, downloading a file, running it through some software, then sticking the output onto an SD card, pressing a few buttons & coming back maybe 2x10hrs later and getting this:

means I can have a ship that maybe only a small percentage of players do [ok, it's been painted, but you get my point]

Hero ...

Let's assume the following:

1. I have downloaded all of your files
2. I have the exact same printer you do
3. I know exactly how to make it work perfectly ... how to make it "hum" as it were
4. I have all of the materials I require

Given the above, I have the following questions. Please answer even if your response is just an estimate/guesstimate. I am trying to gain an understanding of cost & time as it pertains to 3D printing objects.

Question: If I made 1 complete set of everything you listed for HotAC:

1. How much overall time would it take to print all of it?
2. How much would it cost in materials to print all of it?

Thanks in advance for your time and answers. I do appreciate it.

Hero ...

Let's assume the following:

• I have downloaded all of your files
• I have the exact same printer you do
• I know exactly how to make it work perfectly ... how to make it "hum" as it were
• I have all of the materials I require

Given the above, I have the following questions. Please answer even if your response is just an estimate/guesstimate. I am trying to gain an understanding of cost & time as it pertains to 3D printing objects.

Question: If I made 1 complete set of everything you listed for HotAC:

• How much overall time would it take to print all of it?
• How much would it cost in materials to print all of it?

Thanks in advance for your time and answers. I do appreciate it.

Short answer: I will find out this weekend and let you know. I need to figure these things out in order to price everything out for an Etsy shop anyway.

Also, re: how much time, do you mean how much time it would take you or how much time it would take the printer? Those are two very different things. Typically you'll set your 3D printer to run and then come back in a few hours when everything's done.

Hero ...

Let's assume the following:

• I have downloaded all of your files
• I have the exact same printer you do
• I know exactly how to make it work perfectly ... how to make it "hum" as it were
• I have all of the materials I require

Given the above, I have the following questions. Please answer even if your response is just an estimate/guesstimate. I am trying to gain an understanding of cost & time as it pertains to 3D printing objects.

Question: If I made 1 complete set of everything you listed for HotAC:

• How much overall time would it take to print all of it?
• How much would it cost in materials to print all of it?

Thanks in advance for your time and answers. I do appreciate it.

Short answer: I will find out this weekend and let you know. I need to figure these things out in order to price everything out for an Etsy shop anyway.

Also, re: how much time, do you mean how much time it would take you or how much time it would take the printer? Those are two very different things. Typically you'll set your 3D printer to run and then come back in a few hours when everything's done.

Sorry I wasn't explicit ... I want to know how much time for the printer to print everything.

Alright, replying to a bunch of posts all at once here:

the truth about 3d printing

Mostly fair points, albeit a little pessimistic (save for #10. #10 is spot on). I don't agree with point 8 at all though: with thingiverse.com being a thing and growing more and more popular, no, you don't need to be a 3D designer to have fun with your 3D printer. Many of the coolest things I've printed were things that I didn't design- someone else designed them and I downloaded them. Now, I happen to also enjoy a bit of designing, but it's far from necessary to enjoy having a 3D printer.

If I were to add a point 11, it would be this: 3D Printers require tinkering . Be prepared to open up the printer and take things apart to clean and calibrate and etc, much like he does in this video. As long as you're comfortable doing that (and it's not nearly as hard as it may seem, there are plenty of tutorial videos out there on how to do all this stuff), you'll be fine.

To those suggesting print-for-pay, the owner of the design has control over that. This project has a "Non Commercial" tag, meaning even if someone wanted to, they cannot print these out and sell them. The way I understand it, it would be up to the owner to set up a shop (Etsy or otherwise) to do that. Or change the license. Or set up some sort of arrangement with someone to do revenue sharing.

Thanks for reminding people (I am the designer, btw), and I am working on just that. Read below.

Hero ...

Let's assume the following:

• I have downloaded all of your files
• I have the exact same printer you do
• I know exactly how to make it work perfectly ... how to make it "hum" as it were
• I have all of the materials I require

Given the above, I have the following questions. Please answer even if your response is just an estimate/guesstimate. I am trying to gain an understanding of cost & time as it pertains to 3D printing objects.

Question: If I made 1 complete set of everything you listed for HotAC:

• How much overall time would it take to print all of it?
• How much would it cost in materials to print all of it?

Thanks in advance for your time and answers. I do appreciate it.

Short answer: I will find out this weekend and let you know. I need to figure these things out in order to price everything out for an Etsy shop anyway.

Also, re: how much time, do you mean how much time it would take you or how much time it would take the printer? Those are two very different things. Typically you'll set your 3D printer to run and then come back in a few hours when everything's done.

Sorry I wasn't explicit ... I want to know how much time for the printer to print everything.

Been working on this, and I have some solid answers for you now:

I just ran all of the files through my software thusly:

• I processed them at a "good" quality (didn't see the point at printing these at "excellent" quality, as that doesn't really make a difference when all the pieces are relatively flat)
• I grouped things together whenever I could I ended up with about 30 different print files
• I estimate a total of around 50-60 hours of print time depending on exactly which files you print. For example, I have uploaded 2 different versions of the minefields, and one of them takes longer to print than the other. NOTE: This does not include YOUR time spent downloading files, working the computer, setting up the printer, removing the prints, gluing pieces together, etc.)
• I estimate a total of around 150m of filament
• At current prices for Da Vinci Jr. 1.0 filament, that would end up being around $20 of materials (NOTE: that doesn't include maintenance costs on the printer, if any, nor does that account for those times when a print fails or comes out slightly off and you have to redo it).

Still working on the Etsy shop, but getting close. Step 1 was to figure out all of my materials and expenses, which I've done now.

Next step is figuring out how much an Etsy shop is going to cost (I assume they'll take a percentage of any sales, similar to paypal or ebay), and I want to have a conversation with Josh Derksen before I start selling anything, just to make sure he's cool with it.

Sounds great. Let me know once you've set up shop. I want to be your first customer . I shall check back here frequently.

Mostly fair points, albeit a little pessimistic (save for #10. #10 is spot on). I don't agree with point 8 at all though: with thingiverse.com being a thing and growing more and more popular, no, you don't need to be a 3D designer to have fun with your 3D printer. Many of the coolest things I've printed were things that I didn't design- someone else designed them and I downloaded them. Now, I happen to also enjoy a bit of designing, but it's far from necessary to enjoy having a 3D printer.

If I were to add a point 11, it would be this: 3D Printers require tinkering . Be prepared to open up the printer and take things apart to clean and calibrate and etc, much like he does in this video. As long as you're comfortable doing that (and it's not nearly as hard as it may seem, there are plenty of tutorial videos out there on how to do all this stuff), you'll be fine.

Absolutely agree...I've already printed a YT-1000 [purchased for $6], YT-2000, Ghtroc 720, Slave II, Sheathipede shuttle and Y-TIE / TIE-Wing uglies [free from Thingiverse or elsewhere], together with other, larger ships I've not tried printing yet...and designed and printed a mid-section for my VCX-100 conversion I've been working on, together with modifying your terrain and others stuff for hull-plating and a bridge for a Decimator/Raider hybrid.

As far as tinkering goes, I had a some initial problems with my Jr, with poor layering, clogged-up nozzle and prints coming away from the bed during printing...I decided to try and resolve the second by getting the build sheets I mentioned earlier in the thread...not sure how well other solutions work, but these have been excellent - never had a print come lose, only print brims on small-contact-area prints and haven't used a raft since getting them...

...when I'd put in a build-sheet, I needed to adjust my z-axis setting as they are thicker than the supplied bed-tape - and it turned out that solved my layering problem - the printer as supplied had the setting too close to the bed, so the nozzle was sometimes 'dragging' on the print and also not feeding the filament [it would 'click' loudly where the mechanism lost grip] and clog the nozzle - since adjusting the setting I've had zero problems with print quality...I just wish it hadn't taken so long to find what the 'clicking' was caused by, as I only [eventually] found one reference to it online

Out of interest, Hero, how much printing have you done now, and how many times have you had to clean your nozzle ? I'm only up to 200hrs and about 400m of filament - I have cleaned the nozzle once, but that was due to the problem I mentioned above...

Cheers

Im going to need at least 35 hours to print all the pace station files. But at I already have every thin printed on 3mm foam board i'm starting with the nice bonus stuff that you dont set in the normal print-set e.g. xp token and the squadron set up aid (the deployment guild took me 6.3 hours to print in fine detail)

Re: cleaning the nozzle:

I've done the basic cleaning on mine numerous times, and have done the deep cleaning 3 or 4 times now. Part of the reason for that is I had a print go bad while I wasn't watching and it clogged up the nozzle with filament pretty badly. I've since cleared all of that away but in the time after that happened I had to do a bunch of cleanings to keep it working right.

I haven't kept a close eye on how much printing I've done, but I've easily gone through 1,000m of filament this past year, maybe even 2,000.

PLA Density: 1.25 g/cm^3. PLA Volume: 0.80 cm^3/g or 800 cm^3/kg. 1.75 mm filament length for 1 kg spool : ~ 330 meters / ~ 1080 feet

so that puts me at about 1000 m since my last head re clean/rebuild guess ill have one in my near future knowing my printer

p.s. space station is 60% printed and most these parts are now painted