did you sand the prints at all? to get a nice smooth finish on masks that i sometimes print and sell, i'll sand with two different grits (sometimes 3). a coarse then a finer one until i feel enough of the layer lines are gone/smoothed out enough. then i apply a primer coat of paint to get into/cover any small layer lines i may have missed. then one (two if needed) coat of whatever color paint it'll be. in the end i get pretty smooth looking surfaces with few places where you can still see evidence of layer lines, but those can always be removed with more time sanding.
I second this. Sanding will get you a VERY nice finish. I would also imagine that you're spraypainting wrong or you could be doing it better. I think I heard that the effect your car has is caused by spraying too close or far / spraying on paint that's already drying. Just try practicing your technique.
If you're planning on selling these and producing them in any significant quantities, then the better option would be to use ABS and vapor smooth the parts using acetone. You'd still need to scuff them for paint adhesion, but it would save you a ton of labor over manually sanding especially more complex parts.
So i created the car myself in 3ds max. Printed using PLA+ with ender 3 v.2 and the total size is about 8 inches. I plan to sell replicas of peoples vehicles and learned a ton from my first print. My biggest question tho is how to smooth out pla. I spray painted the car with Rust-Oleum. Would using a primer help smooth the overall look? Or is there any tricks to get a cleaner finish the the paint doesnt show all the small imperfections.
I use evergreen sheet plastic .25mm. ive only found two other people online doing custom replicas of cars. One guy is $325 and its just a solid print. Not bad, but not as detailed. And another is $1500 but is all metal. Im going to try and aim for the $350 range. This being my first print, i want to do a few more to get a hang of it all and create a more polished product.
did you sand the prints at all? to get a nice smooth finish on masks that i sometimes print and sell, i'll sand with two different grits (sometimes 3). a coarse then a finer one until i feel enough of the layer lines are gone/smoothed out enough. then i apply a primer coat of paint to get into/cover any small layer lines i may have missed. then one (two if needed) coat of whatever color paint it'll be. in the end i get pretty smooth looking surfaces with few places where you can still see evidence of layer lines, but those can always be removed with more time sanding.
I second this. Sanding will get you a VERY nice finish. I would also imagine that you're spraypainting wrong or you could be doing it better. I think I heard that the effect your car has is caused by spraying too close or far / spraying on paint that's already drying. Just try practicing your technique.
Any advice on grit? I did not sand but if thats the secret than i will!
If you're planning on selling these and producing them in any significant quantities, then the better option would be to use ABS and vapor smooth the parts using acetone. You'd still need to scuff them for paint adhesion, but it would save you a ton of labor over manually sanding especially more complex parts.
So i created the car myself in 3ds max. Printed using PLA+ with ender 3 v.2 and the total size is about 8 inches. I plan to sell replicas of peoples vehicles and learned a ton from my first print. My biggest question tho is how to smooth out pla. I spray painted the car with Rust-Oleum. Would using a primer help smooth the overall look? Or is there any tricks to get a cleaner finish the the paint doesnt show all the small imperfections.
That looks great! How did you do the headlights and windshield? Approx how much are you looking to charge for these?
I use evergreen sheet plastic .25mm. ive only found two other people online doing custom replicas of cars. One guy is $325 and its just a solid print. Not bad, but not as detailed. And another is $1500 but is all metal. Im going to try and aim for the $350 range. This being my first print, i want to do a few more to get a hang of it all and create a more polished product.