Gloster CXP-1001 - Done

[Caveman]

Might be a bit ambitious in the time scales. Attempt to go from this:



...to a physical model. I'm a bit nervous about all of the sanding that's going to be required to get a smooth surface finish. Not sure what scheme I will paint it in yet.

Itll be a fairly straight forward assembly process. I think Ill split the fuselage into forward and aft sections. The wings will be a single piece each. Ill try to print the tail as a single piece. Depending on time I may or may not do the drop tanks. It'll be gear up!

[Caveman]

Progress at lunch



Broad shape done. Details to be added. Hoping to get it printing tonight

[Caveman]

Day 1 end


Quite basic. I've tried to model the intake duct but I don't think I've done a good job of it. I may try to re-fettle it. But going to set off a print as is.

[Pellson]

Day 1 end


Quite basic. I've tried to model the intake duct but I don't think I've done a good job of it. I may try to re-fettle it. But going to set off a print as is.

Being entirely inexperienced in 3D printing, but having some ancient knowledge of basic CAD, I am nevertheless rather impressed of your progress drawing the aircraft. 

[Caveman]

Day 1 end


Quite basic. I've tried to model the intake duct but I don't think I've done a good job of it. I may try to re-fettle it. But going to set off a print as is.

Being entirely inexperienced in 3D printing, but having some ancient knowledge of basic CAD, I am nevertheless rather impressed of your progress drawing the aircraft. 

Thanks. I specifically chose this aircraft because of its simple forms. Revolve and loft is mostly what I've used here. Trickiest bits are cockpit and intake ducts. I'm not happy with the ducts, but the way I've split the model. I can adjust the ducts and just print a new nose if I want to.

[kitnut617]

I am nevertheless rather impressed of your progress drawing the aircraft. 

Yes, me too.  I will have to get my resin model of it built --- along with the Gloster Ace kits I have.

[Caveman]

My minion was hard at work overnight. I've not got the printer settings dialled in fully to my satisfaction. There's quite a few print artefacts visible. I see PSR in my future.

[Caveman]

Minion has finished. A push fit for the tail but the wing fuselage join will need a fair amount of effort to close. Quite a lot of artefacts on one particular wing tip for some reason.

[PR19_Kit]

That's looking VERY promisiing! 

[Caveman]

Cheers kit.

PLA is a rubbish material to mechanically work. It's very hard but has a low glass transition point ~50-60DegC. So it can quite easily go soft when sanding and roll up into globs. A bit like trying to sand styrene if it has poly cement on it. Also, due to the print process the model is quite fibrous. So it's possible to get strands peeling. (Very much racking up excuses here). I'm hoping a liberal covering in primer or failing that thin putty will improve the surface finish.

With some mods my printer could print High Impact Polystyrene, which is apparently equivalent to the injection moulded stuff. But that'll have to be another week build.

[frank2056]

This is looking great! I want to 3D print a Gloster CXP-1001 as well. What are you using for your 3D program? Blender?

HIPS or ABS are better overall for model printing, if you have a heated bed and can reduce drafts. Both materials glue beautifully with Tamiya extra thin and both can be smoothed with Acetone vapors to all but remove print artifacts. Much less PSR.

Here's a Whif I did at BTS The wings have been Acetone smoothed and had a first pass at priming. I printed it in HIPS (but labeled it "white ABS")

[Caveman]

This is looking great! I want to 3D print a Gloster CXP-1001 as well. What are you using for your 3D program? Blender?

HIPS or ABS are better overall for model printing, if you have a heated bed and can reduce drafts. Both materials glue beautifully with Tamiya extra thin and both can be smoothed with Acetone vapors to all but remove print artifacts. Much less PSR.

Here's a Whif I did at BTS The wings have been Acetone smoothed and had a first pass at priming. I printed it in HIPS (but labeled it "white ABS")

Thanks for sharing. I'm interested to learn from people who have trodden this path before. The software is Fusion360. The majority of aircraft shapes are pretty easy to achieve parametrically. I've played with blender in the dim and distant past but not put any hours into it in the last decade!

I've got an Ender 5 so it's already got a heated bed and an enclosure should be relatively simple to achieve. I do have some HIPS but haven't played with it yet - I thought for this build it's be better to use what I'm familiar(ish) with. What do you print on?

[frank2056]

I have a QIDI TECH I (basically, a FlashForge Creator Pro), which is a dual head printer. It's worked like a champ, but it does have drawbacks - the dual heads add extra mass to move around while printing... and I rarely need to print in two materials. Also, the firmware is Sailfish, not the more common Marlin, which means I can't use Octoprint to print remotely. Instead, I bought a Toshiba FlashAir, which is a Flash card with wireless capabilities.

I added a PEI (Polyetherimide) to the printing surface, which provides great adhesion at the beginning of a print while making it easy to remove the print (ABS or PLA) once it's cooled. For models, I print exclusively in ABS (or HIPS, if I'm out of ABS). For non-model parts, it's usually PLA.

I also have a Mars Pro resin printer, which gets more use for models than the QIDI. The resolution is far, far greater.

For design work, I use Rhino3D. Blender used to have a very confusing and difficult to use interface, but it's vastly improved. The latest versions are worth trying out.

[Caveman]

I have a QIDI TECH I (basically, a FlashForge Creator Pro), which is a dual head printer. It's worked like a champ, but it does have drawbacks - the dual heads add extra mass to move around while printing... and I rarely need to print in two materials. Also, the firmware is Sailfish, not the more common Marlin, which means I can't use Octoprint to print remotely. Instead, I bought a Toshiba FlashAir, which is a Flash card with wireless capabilities.

I added a PEI (Polyetherimide) to the printing surface, which provides great adhesion at the beginning of a print while making it easy to remove the print (ABS or PLA) once it's cooled. For models, I print exclusively in ABS (or HIPS, if I'm out of ABS). For non-model parts, it's usually PLA.

I also have a Mars Pro resin printer, which gets more use for models than the QIDI. The resolution is far, far greater.

For design work, I use Rhino3D. Blender used to have a very confusing and difficult to use interface, but it's vastly improved. The latest versions are worth trying out.

I was very tempted by a Mars but wasn't keen on the post processing required by resin printers. Can I ask why you default to ABS over HIPS?

[frank2056]

I was very tempted by a Mars but wasn't keen on the post processing required by resin printers. Can I ask why you default to ABS over HIPS?

The only reason is that ABS comes in several colors - I prefer the gray or silver (both are basically the same color). HIPS defaults to natural white/cream, since HIPS is mainly used as a support material. It dissolves/welds with d-Limonene (same as the "safe" Testors tube glue for old styrene models). Otherwise, the two are great for models.

Resin printers are messier, but if you have a good work flow and plenty of paper towels (I use shop towels, which are cheap and effective) and gloves handy, they're well worth the effort (at least for models) compared to FDM printers. Post processing isn't too bad, just washing and curing and that's quick. There are water washable resins that don't require alcohol for cleaning.