I instantly subscribed when you said “I’m lazy”. You’re my kind of people. You’re doing this for fun, giving your best, and don’t care what other people think. Looking forward to more tutorial videos!
I purchased a used one as the piece is a bit pricey, but the machine ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxG6fbm3cHBd7CNTjk5D-dwYe9c9tCB9ZN has surpassed my expectations. We sand small parts by hand often, sized around 1"x1/2," and specifically look for a piece that's designed to be vertical. The motor has plenty of torque and great speed settings. The only inconvenience I had is that the disk measures 5" where we trim 6" stick-and-sand disks down easily by mounting it then cutting with a box cutter.
For me it's step 1 : use 60 or 80 with sander, then spray filler primer, then 280 by hand or sander for large flat piece. Then big holes with mastic and the small sanding, priming and painting
Im back!!! Took last year off cuz of work so not been printing at all.. Now printers are running 24/7 after a few weeks of tuning them up and getting dialed in and learning again.. Gonna give this method a try. Last armor set I did I used resin, and did pretty well, but this seems might be easier, cheaper, and less toxic.. Glad to see your still putting great content out.. Gonna start catching up on some videos ive missed this last year.
Welcome back!! I'm actually in a season of not printing right now (due to a home reno my printers are STILL in the garage and have been off since last July lol) so I feel ya.
You have to try the FCR-1 foot callus remover tool for sanding especially for PLA it doesn’t spin very fast but it has enormous torque perfect for knocking down layer lines. This has become a game changer for me when sanding it keeps the dust in a relatively small area and doesn’t create enough friction to melt your part. It has 80 grit self stick pads and a visit to harbor freight you can get almost a lifetime supply of the finer grits Really they’re around $20 $25 bucks and for me it has been well worth it.
didn't think I'd be adding a foot callus remover to my amazon cart this morning and yet here we are LOL. thank you for the suggestion, I wonder if it'll work better for getting into tighter areas than the sander I have now.
Thank you so much for all your videos on 3D printing your cosplay armor. Im working on my own Sabine Wren cosplay right now, and your videos are lifesavers. 😁
Ahhhh that's awesome!! Good luck on your build, which season's paint job are you doing? I'd love to make a Sabine one day but that paint job scares me hehe
Great video. Will try this process.. We have recently started 3D printing miniature replicas with PLA (India). I don't find many resources to get a good paint setup for these miniatures. I do notice a lot of them in the background. Would appreciate a video on the same. The miniatures are very detailed and hence sanding the inner parts are a problem.
ya know what, I've seen folks use those to scrape the layer lines down before and thought about trying them out but was always afraid I'd cut myself with them :P maybe one day!
Very helpful, thanks. I have been sanding some enclosure panels I designed and printed in PLA. I start with 120 on orbital. Sometimes it seems no matter ho much I sand, the layer lines don't go away but seem more prominent. I wonder if I've sanded through the outer solid layer into the infill.
Do you have a link or brand for the LVLP primer and paint? I’m not lazy and would rather run my spray guns instead of rattle cans. But everyone uses paint cans. Can you recommend a paint and primer brand/type for PLA helmets?
So I have a question about how durable is pla when it comes to making helmets? I live in a place where it gets very hot so I'm afraid that when I finish my prop and I wear it when it's too hot outset it might deform or something 😅
I don't use Bondo body filler anymore It's kind of hard to sand I use USC Icing Finishing Putty, It's self-leveling and it's a little easier to smooth than regular bondo.
I've never heard of that, I'll have to check it out sometime. And I agree, that's kinda why I moved away from the bondo in a tube as it just kicks up so much dust and has a tendency to shrink
@@vaultfox No that's the spot putty #907 I still use that for like imperfections, the regular body filler that's in the can that you have to mix with a hardener.
Thanks for the awesome video showing your process! I'm working on a Bad Batch Wrecker armor right now and could really use the advice. Could you comment on what you typically use for wall thickness on your 3d prints? I generally use 3 but I'm worried I'm going to sand through when doing the initial sand of the raw print
You're welcome! I use anywhere from 3-4 walls depending on the model I'm working with, for this Tech helmet I'm pretty sure it was 3 with a wall thickness of 1.8
Hello! Excellent video and definitely can see great results with this method! One question that I have; did you recommend the fume variation of the cartridges because of the primer itself or because of a different step in the process that I may have missed? If it's because of the paint and dust itself, it would probably be better to get organic vapor/dust particulate cartridges as paint actually produces vapors and not fumes (unless it's heated by something else and made into a solid fume like welding). Just wanted to make sure, and some primer can be nasty to breath lol. Thanks again for the vid, it was excellent, and thank you for your time!
I've dialed in all my print settings for my PLA I don't wanna have to start from square one LOL maybe one day I'll give other stuff a go but for now it works out fine for my purposes
Have had a few people mention using wood filler as a replacement for it, I've used it years ago (on eva foam of all things to fill gaps) didn't work great for that but I imagine on 3D prints it would work well!
I was thinking about getting a 3d printer, so I've been watching a lot of videos on how to finish prints. Everyone uses such toxic materials - is there some reason I haven't seen yet that no one uses acrylic gel/modeling paste? It's used to create texture in acrylic paintings. It's incredibly cheap, no mask needed, can be smoothed with water before it dries and sanded after, and it dries hard and permanent. It can be used to paint plastics with the appropriate base coat. I'd appreciate any info otherwise. Thanks!
VF: You should really just TRY PETG! Sands soooo much better than PLA. It is a little finicky to figure out your printer settings at first, BUT, once you get it figured out, it’s much better to work with. You won’t go back to PLA for the majority of your build projects.
I'll get there one day, I swear!!! It always goes back to not having the time and I swear every time I think about trying it out I just am not excited to do all that work to GET it to work. I'm sure one day I'll just do a 180 and be like wtf have I been missing
@@vaultfox Thanks for your reply! I really appreciate all the hard work you do to help teach those of us who are just getting here, how to do things. You’re videos are so helpful and edited well. I e been 3D printing for about three years now and it’s a love hate relationship. Ha! It’s actually a whole other hobby by itself. Yeah, be encouraged to try some PETG sometime and see what you think. I’m in the middle of a HUGE undertaking build of Paz Vizsla (Mystery Maker files) and all that it represents. Over halfway done on my printing, have my flightsuit. It’s going to be epic! I’m so excited. 😁 Keep up your great efforts! I’m a fan! Love to you and your family.
im having trouble with my sanding. i got a lot of parts smooth as glass but some parts have big dips and even holes in them, some things just wont even come out with that same sander you got. dunno what im doing wrong and im pretty sure the mando mercs are tired of answering my questions lol
My memory is awful so you probably already said it, but why did you stop using the resin fill method? Just because you've found a better one? Or is there also another reason? Wish we had that paint in the UK! Good informative video btw, great for those who got printers over christmas!
thank you! I stopped using it mostly due to the fact you can develop a a contact allergy from using it (if you get it on your skin) and while I've been super careful using it with the proper PPE, I decided it just wasn't worth it in the long run to continue
I was just about to try the resin method reluctantly… the toxic aspect sort of spooks me. But then I was watching this video and I’m back to thinking I will just continue to sand and filler primer like before. I’ve been basically doing what you are doing here and it works fine but it just takes me forever… I mean weeks at times because I work and have other responsibilities that only allow me some evenings and some weekend hours to work on this part.. when you spread this out due to several hours here, several hours there.. this process just sort of sucks because of the time and the effort. Do you still prefer to do it this way? Some people I see lately are using painted on bondo putty acetone or upol putty acetone etc… these are also sort of not fun. Maybe there is no good solution and it just sucks lol
I made a video about it in late 2021, but mostly due to health concerns. It's very easy to develop a contact allergy to resins if you get even just a tiny amount on your skin, and while I've always been careful and work with PPE at all times, the risk outweighed the reward in the long-run.
Do you add a layer of primer after the wet sanding? I'm always worried that after wet sanding, if I paint the print right away the result won't look as uniform.
nope, usually I'm going right in with paint after the wet sanding is dried and I haven't had issues with uniformity. if anything, the first layer of paint just shows me where I probably could have sanded more than anything lol
sorry for the confusion! no, there's no UV resin used in this ... I was just commentating on how that was the method I used to use in the past. Nowadays I will just sand the 3D print down first and then apply the filler primer
Working on Bo-Katan armor of my own and this came at exactly the right time lol. Thanks for the video! Edit: are you planning on doing a video about the soft bits at some point?
ooooo awesome! and yes, I have two videos filmed on both the full armor build and the softparts coming in the next few weeks. just gotta get to editing!
forgot to mention that I get my Duplicolor primer in-store at O'Reilly Auto Parts (I'm in the United States)
I literally just left O'Reilly with a can of the grey primer
I instantly subscribed when you said “I’m lazy”. You’re my kind of people. You’re doing this for fun, giving your best, and don’t care what other people think. Looking forward to more tutorial videos!
I purchased a used one as the piece is a bit pricey, but the machine ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxG6fbm3cHBd7CNTjk5D-dwYe9c9tCB9ZN has surpassed my expectations. We sand small parts by hand often, sized around 1"x1/2," and specifically look for a piece that's designed to be vertical. The motor has plenty of torque and great speed settings. The only inconvenience I had is that the disk measures 5" where we trim 6" stick-and-sand disks down easily by mounting it then cutting with a box cutter.
For me it's step 1 : use 60 or 80 with sander, then spray filler primer, then 280 by hand or sander for large flat piece. Then big holes with mastic and the small sanding, priming and painting
Im back!!! Took last year off cuz of work so not been printing at all.. Now printers are running 24/7 after a few weeks of tuning them up and getting dialed in and learning again.. Gonna give this method a try. Last armor set I did I used resin, and did pretty well, but this seems might be easier, cheaper, and less toxic.. Glad to see your still putting great content out.. Gonna start catching up on some videos ive missed this last year.
Welcome back!! I'm actually in a season of not printing right now (due to a home reno my printers are STILL in the garage and have been off since last July lol) so I feel ya.
You have to try the FCR-1 foot callus remover tool for sanding especially for PLA it doesn’t spin very fast but it has enormous torque perfect for knocking down layer lines.
This has become a game changer for me when sanding it keeps the dust in a relatively small area and doesn’t create enough friction to melt your part. It has 80 grit self stick pads and a visit to harbor freight you can get almost a lifetime supply of the finer grits
Really they’re around $20 $25 bucks and for me it has been well worth it.
didn't think I'd be adding a foot callus remover to my amazon cart this morning and yet here we are LOL. thank you for the suggestion, I wonder if it'll work better for getting into tighter areas than the sander I have now.
Funny this came out on the exact same day my prints for my mando armor arrived, so great timing this is really helpful!
good luck sanding!!
Trying to make some Mjolnir armor right now so this was super helpful to see. I am doing it with petg but I'll give this a shot. Thanks for the tut!
Thank you so much for all your videos on 3D printing your cosplay armor. Im working on my own Sabine Wren cosplay right now, and your videos are lifesavers. 😁
Ahhhh that's awesome!! Good luck on your build, which season's paint job are you doing? I'd love to make a Sabine one day but that paint job scares me hehe
@@vaultfox I'm doing the season 3 paint job, and it's definitely going to be a lot of trial and error, but I'm excited.
Thank you so very much I literally am moving onto this stage of my armor! You are a blessing!
You're welcome! Good luck :)
Great video. Will try this process.. We have recently started 3D printing miniature replicas with PLA (India). I don't find many resources to get a good paint setup for these miniatures. I do notice a lot of them in the background. Would appreciate a video on the same.
The miniatures are very detailed and hence sanding the inner parts are a problem.
I love your videos! To the point. Fun of honesty and you are funny! Thank you for making these! I hope your channel really takes off!
Nice and easy process!!Can't wait to try it out.
Also a bonus.... learning something new from a cutie 😊😊
Great video. Fab channel. I am new to 3D printing and your help is awesome. Thanks
Thank you so much!!!
Awesome video vaultfox!
thank you!
was wondering what your favorite paints are to use for painting?
im going to try this thanks
If I may offer some advice. Look into using card scrapers.
ya know what, I've seen folks use those to scrape the layer lines down before and thought about trying them out but was always afraid I'd cut myself with them :P maybe one day!
@@vaultfox - They’re not sharp like that. In fact it would be very difficult to cut yourself.
Very helpful, thanks. I have been sanding some enclosure panels I designed and printed in PLA. I start with 120 on orbital. Sometimes it seems no matter ho much I sand, the layer lines don't go away but seem more prominent. I wonder if I've sanded through the outer solid layer into the infill.
Do you have a link or brand for the LVLP primer and paint? I’m not lazy and would rather run my spray guns instead of rattle cans. But everyone uses paint cans. Can you recommend a paint and primer brand/type for PLA helmets?
So I have a question about how durable is pla when it comes to making helmets? I live in a place where it gets very hot so I'm afraid that when I finish my prop and I wear it when it's too hot outset it might deform or something 😅
I don't use Bondo body filler anymore It's kind of hard to sand I use USC Icing Finishing Putty, It's self-leveling and it's a little easier to smooth than regular bondo.
I've never heard of that, I'll have to check it out sometime. And I agree, that's kinda why I moved away from the bondo in a tube as it just kicks up so much dust and has a tendency to shrink
@@vaultfox No that's the spot putty #907 I still use that for like imperfections, the regular body filler that's in the can that you have to mix with a hardener.
This is goon info! Thank you!
Thanks for the awesome video showing your process! I'm working on a Bad Batch Wrecker armor right now and could really use the advice. Could you comment on what you typically use for wall thickness on your 3d prints? I generally use 3 but I'm worried I'm going to sand through when doing the initial sand of the raw print
You're welcome! I use anywhere from 3-4 walls depending on the model I'm working with, for this Tech helmet I'm pretty sure it was 3 with a wall thickness of 1.8
Is there a tutorial on how to sand and paint TPU prints?
Great sharing what learn to others
Hello! Excellent video and definitely can see great results with this method!
One question that I have; did you recommend the fume variation of the cartridges because of the primer itself or because of a different step in the process that I may have missed? If it's because of the paint and dust itself, it would probably be better to get organic vapor/dust particulate cartridges as paint actually produces vapors and not fumes (unless it's heated by something else and made into a solid fume like welding). Just wanted to make sure, and some primer can be nasty to breath lol.
Thanks again for the vid, it was excellent, and thank you for your time!
You had me at " I only print in PLA cause I'm too lazy to learn the other ones" 😂😂😂
I've dialed in all my print settings for my PLA I don't wanna have to start from square one LOL maybe one day I'll give other stuff a go but for now it works out fine for my purposes
@@vaultfox Hole heartedly agree!
why don't u use an orbital sander the round ones they leave the surface better than the detail sanders
Perfect timing
glad to help :)
New subscriber. Lots of great info here.
Do you have any alternative to Spot Putty ? :D I can't seem to find it in France :(
Have had a few people mention using wood filler as a replacement for it, I've used it years ago (on eva foam of all things to fill gaps) didn't work great for that but I imagine on 3D prints it would work well!
Do you have the link for this paint on amazon? Or something that works as good as that on amazon?
I was thinking about getting a 3d printer, so I've been watching a lot of videos on how to finish prints. Everyone uses such toxic materials - is there some reason I haven't seen yet that no one uses acrylic gel/modeling paste? It's used to create texture in acrylic paintings. It's incredibly cheap, no mask needed, can be smoothed with water before it dries and sanded after, and it dries hard and permanent. It can be used to paint plastics with the appropriate base coat. I'd appreciate any info otherwise. Thanks!
Can you use wood filler instead of the spot putty?
yep, you can! I haven't used it in a while but I've had folks tell me they use it like bondo
PA represent!
unrelated but love ur collection in the background (natsuno minami figure!!)
Do you use any kind of clear coat on your helmets? buying some montana gold right now and wondering what to use of if its even needed
most of the time, yeah. I usually just use rustoleum matte clear coat and it's worked fine for me
@@vaultfox Thank you!
VF: You should really just TRY PETG! Sands soooo much better than PLA. It is a little finicky to figure out your printer settings at first, BUT, once you get it figured out, it’s much better to work with. You won’t go back to PLA for the majority of your build projects.
I'll get there one day, I swear!!! It always goes back to not having the time and I swear every time I think about trying it out I just am not excited to do all that work to GET it to work. I'm sure one day I'll just do a 180 and be like wtf have I been missing
@@vaultfox Thanks for your reply! I really appreciate all the hard work you do to help teach those of us who are just getting here, how to do things. You’re videos are so helpful and edited well. I e been 3D printing for about three years now and it’s a love hate relationship. Ha! It’s actually a whole other hobby by itself. Yeah, be encouraged to try some PETG sometime and see what you think. I’m in the middle of a HUGE undertaking build of Paz Vizsla (Mystery Maker files) and all that it represents. Over halfway done on my printing, have my flightsuit. It’s going to be epic! I’m so excited. 😁
Keep up your great efforts! I’m a fan! Love to you and your family.
im having trouble with my sanding. i got a lot of parts smooth as glass but some parts have big dips and even holes in them, some things just wont even come out with that same sander you got. dunno what im doing wrong and im pretty sure the mando mercs are tired of answering my questions lol
My memory is awful so you probably already said it, but why did you stop using the resin fill method? Just because you've found a better one? Or is there also another reason? Wish we had that paint in the UK!
Good informative video btw, great for those who got printers over christmas!
thank you! I stopped using it mostly due to the fact you can develop a a contact allergy from using it (if you get it on your skin) and while I've been super careful using it with the proper PPE, I decided it just wasn't worth it in the long run to continue
@@vaultfox do you still do SLA resin printing? I seem to remember from one video or another that you had a SLA printer back there somewhere
@@vaultfox Ohhh I see yeah that's definitely a big risk!
why dont you recommend using the UV resin anymore?
I was just about to try the resin method reluctantly… the toxic aspect sort of spooks me. But then I was watching this video and I’m back to thinking I will just continue to sand and filler primer like before. I’ve been basically doing what you are doing here and it works fine but it just takes me forever… I mean weeks at times because I work and have other responsibilities that only allow me some evenings and some weekend hours to work on this part.. when you spread this out due to several hours here, several hours there.. this process just sort of sucks because of the time and the effort. Do you still prefer to do it this way? Some people I see lately are using painted on bondo putty acetone or upol putty acetone etc… these are also sort of not fun. Maybe there is no good solution and it just sucks lol
Out of interest why did you move away from uv resin smoothing? Would be interested to hear your thoughts
I made a video about it in late 2021, but mostly due to health concerns. It's very easy to develop a contact allergy to resins if you get even just a tiny amount on your skin, and while I've always been careful and work with PPE at all times, the risk outweighed the reward in the long-run.
@vaultfox ah thanks for that. It was all the rage for s while and all the cosplayers I follow were doing it then suddenly everyone stopped
Do you add a layer of primer after the wet sanding? I'm always worried that after wet sanding, if I paint the print right away the result won't look as uniform.
nope, usually I'm going right in with paint after the wet sanding is dried and I haven't had issues with uniformity. if anything, the first layer of paint just shows me where I probably could have sanded more than anything lol
What brand is the primer one you use?
i'm confused. so you just skip uv resin and sand down directly on the print and on the primer...filler...thing...?
sorry for the confusion! no, there's no UV resin used in this ... I was just commentating on how that was the method I used to use in the past. Nowadays I will just sand the 3D print down first and then apply the filler primer
Working on Bo-Katan armor of my own and this came at exactly the right time lol. Thanks for the video!
Edit: are you planning on doing a video about the soft bits at some point?
ooooo awesome! and yes, I have two videos filmed on both the full armor build and the softparts coming in the next few weeks. just gotta get to editing!
What kind of paint do you use?
too sad i cant get my hands on that in germany..
Sorry to hear that :( I'm sure there's some form of high-build automotive filler that might be comperable
Hay fellow IUP alum. What year did you graduate
Pla it's great till you go stand out in full sun LOL
The way she used a makeup brush to brush off the dust I just… 😖😩
I mean ... it works? and I only use it to brush off dust???
I use a old blusher brush ,simple and effective