Bismarck Scale Model 1:100

Hi All

I bought myself an A8 Desktop 3D Printer Prusa i3 DIY Kit a few weeks ago from Gearbast and for a price of £130 I didn't expect much, but this was my first outing with 3D printers and didn't want to buy an expensive printer.

First things first after a few hours of building and a weeks testing I have to say I am impressed by the quality of this printer its been a great investment.

I have been obsessed with WW2 era battleships for a long time building various 1:350 scale models but have always wanted to try and scratch build a large scale model, so my first attempt is as stated above a 1:100 scale model of the Bismarck, now I am not an expert at 3D modelling so my Bismarck will not pass scrutiny with die hard model builders but for me as my first attempt will be good enough, this is more a learning experience for future models hopefully.

As my printer bed is only around 22cm x 22cm x 22cm and my Battleship will be around 2.5m in length its going to take a lot of printed parts, I have already started the hull. Each part takes around 10 hours to print.

The first issue I had with the build is a way to join each section, I have tried various epoxys and superglues but due to the very small contact area I found none that would stick the parts together securely and as I am using PLA, acetone isn't an option. Luckily I found a video on youtube regarding using a dremel and filament as a friction welder and I have to say it works awesome.

I have attached some pictures of my slow progress so far.

Pic1 - Picture of the bottom of hull

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...psqxh9qqha.jpg

Pic2 - Picture of internal of hull
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps5gtwlf76.jpg

Pic3 - Size comparison with 3 litre bottle of diet coke

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps10kalj3r.jpg

Pic 4 - Example of filament weld

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...psjrf3wpa6.jpg

Pic 5 - Printer in action printing next part

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...psp6zeltjz.jpg

Although a long way off as I want to print and join the whole hull before doing any work on it, what would be a best way to finish the hull, I know it will take a bit of sanding but can anyone recommend things like putty or spray filler that will help with getting rid of lines and blemishes for painting as though it was a resin cast mould and not 3d Printed?

I will update this with progress and my experiences as I continue.

Cheers

Druid

Druid, fantastic prints! And a great example that Gearbest printers can be worth it.
I often use simple 6mm pin-hole connections printed along the layers with 0.15mm clearances, it helps line up the shapes and creates a secure fit.
For finishing I recommend polyester resin. It can be sanded, primed and spray painted afterwards.

Hey All

Little update, as I had a couple of hours to spare I decided to try print a Barrel for one of the main turrets, this didn't go particularly well. My 3d printer is good but doing barrels well isn't one of the things it does. I tried printing the barrel both upright and lying flat, upright seems to be the best option but the barrel doesn't come out particularly straight. I was printing with a 0.2 layer height, I may try a 0.1 layer height to see if it prints better.

Any ideas for printing good tubes and circles?

Cheers

Druid

Hi tomhank1511

Thanks for the reply, I started doing that but forgot to add the clearance and had to gently drill the holes wider for the locating pins, also to create the pin holes in my model as I was using Boolean operations to split my hull into printable sizes I found when I was trying to create pin holes in the parts that it would only remove the pin hole on the top surface which meant that the holes had no depth or faces, as I say not a great 3D modeller and I am using Blender.

The hull is almost complete I will add pictures when done.

Cheers

Druid

Hi All

Just a quick update to show the progress of the hull, nearly there.

This image shows the hull and parts still to be attached.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...psonqrcykm.jpg

Have to say that I am still impressed with my little Prusa Chinese copy, its doing the parts exceptionally well, have even changed layer height from 0.2 to 0.3 without effecting quality.

Cheers

Druid

This is a great project and thats going to be one large Bismarck once you're done. Are you thinking of powering the model once youre done or will it be static display?

Regards,
www.3dexfilament.co.uk

Hi 3dex

Good question, I am not 100% sure yet, static at the moment but in my design I am allowing the possibility of converting it to RC if the mood takes me.

The hull when finished will be 2.51m in length, it sounded great in my head until I started to print the parts, lol.

Cheers

Druid

Hi All

I finally finished printing the hull.

It was quite a task, it took 24 pieces and around 220 hours of printing, all parts have been friction welded together, during the course I had 3 failed prints and have some issues with warping as you can see in the photo as there is a few gaps in the hull.

Good thing is putty will solve those issues.

If anyone has doubts that massive scale items can be printed out well at 251cm x 40cm x 12cm, I would say that's pretty big for a printer with a print capacity of around 20cm cubed. Overall I am pretty happy with the outcome of my hull, now onto to the horrible task of finishing the hull, sandpaper and filler here I come.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...pssa6l8xek.jpg

Cheers

Druid

Ah, I am not looking forward to post-print work myself... try talking to this guy. He does good work:

http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...ht=Ghost+SHell

That hull is HUUUUUUGE. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Awesome details out there!

Hi All

Needing some advice, I am finding my PLA hull very hard to sand as its heating up too much as I am using a small mouse sander due to the size of the hull.

Is there a better way to finish, I was thinking about building up several layers of filler primer and sanding the filler down until I have a smooth hull, has anyone done it this way?

Cheers

Druid

Hey All

Just a quick update spent a few hours sanding and spraying a filler primer just to get a rough indication on whats needed for a smooth finish, there are a few areas that needs attention, I think its going to take several laters of sanding and filling for a good finish.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...psayjvonpq.jpg

As you can see I had to buy a work bench to work my model on ;)

Druid

Hi All

Sorry for no updates recently, unfortunately my A8 is out of order at the moment, my X Axis stepper motor developed a fault and I am still waiting on a replacement for it under warranty, hopefully it is on its way but the message from GearBest was a little cryptic as all I got from them was that customs in the UK may open the package so I assume they have sent me something.

Cheers

Druid

Hi All

Since I am still waiting on the parts to fix my 3D printer I decided to work on the deck of the ship, at first I was going to 3D print all the decking boards but as I wanted to get moving on something I have decided to wood plank the deck, well that was until I started doing it. I found some scrap wood lying around and using a Stanley blade I cut these into strips for the individual planks.

This is extremely tedious work and I cant cut straight, lol. Some sanding will be required, here is around 3 hours work between cutting and gluing and its barley touched the deck.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps6vn0y0qj.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...psmmmgvmnj.jpg

Cheers

Druid