hello! so, for christmas this year, one of my aunts got me this little bobblehead-esque model of a character that i like! the only problem with it is that it still has all of the lines that ive seen that come from 3d printing machines when a project is freshly done and needs to be sanded. i don't have an electric sander at home, but ive seen a few things saying that i should use sandpaper. i do NOT know how to sand a model with sandpaper. so, any tips? =]
Probably best to admire as-is
as much as id love to, the texture that the lines are providing and the incorrect colors are really pissing me off. at least it gives me a fun little project to work on =]
So you may not want to hear this but your best bet without having to sand ect is to reprint it but use adaptive layers.
The incorrect colors is obviously still an issue but if you have the filament its what I would do.
ANSWER FOR SANDING
I personally do a very light sanding of like 120 grit to scuff it up, automotive fill gap primer it, 160, prime again, 180+ and paint. I do wet sanding as I feel it just does so much better.
I use Rustoleom automotive filler primer myself.
Oh also look into sanding sticks. You're probably going to need them for the hard to reach places.
These layers look too thick for this method… I fear they’d just ruin it, no?
as much as they'd love to, the texture that the lines are providing and the incorrect colors are really pissing them off. at least it gives them a fun little project to work on =]
Refer to this comment
But… why male models?
So that automotive primer works wonders in my opinion at gap filling.
Its possible it would get ruined but if o.p. isnt happy with it as is then its worth the shot since they probably won't see it as a loss but more of a learning experience. Can't learn how to get good at something without being horrible at it first and this is a great place to start.
Sunk cost fallacy.
In his explanation he implied he doesn't actually own a 3D printer.
OP didn't print this - probably doesn't have a printer.
What does adaptive layers do?
Basically it makes the layer lines more consistent and even on round pieces like on this files stomach and arms.
It adds time but when done correctly it nearly makes them invisible in my opinion. We have a few things we make that people don't realize they're 3d printed right off the bat because of this. It really does make the quality amazing on some items.
Learn something new everyday never heard of adaptive layers till today
This method is great if you plan on painting. But this is already a color model. You will lose all your color and might as well printed in one filament.
+100 for filler primer and wet sanding!
You’re never going to get rid of the layer lines with sanding entirely, but you can very quickly (relatively) hide them with this technique rather than trying to sand them down.
ik he's canonically blue but I'll always see him as purple
You'll sand into the infill and ruin it.
Up your slicing game. I'd start with lower layer heights, and rotating individual parts to minimalize banding.
Yeah then you should have chosen a different medium.
"David is great but I really wish it could have been lighter."
-Michelangelo
They didn’t print it, so doesn’t apply. Must RTFA.
If you try to sand this PLA print, there is a 99.9999% chance you ruin it completely. I can speak from plenty of experience.
Correct, and the other point is it's a flaw in the model or (more likely) print settings (should be variable layer height, smaller min layer height, different orientation, etc...).
how so? like the og color being messed up or it just genuinely falling apart? i don't think that his limbs are detachable but i want to try and find a safe way to detach them for separated sanding/painting
Most PLA does not sand well in general. Not to say it’s impossible but unless you plan on painting the model it’s not gonna look great. You usually have to sand rough, spray a coat of filler primer, let that dry well, sand, filler primer, sand, filler primer, sand until it’s smooth. Then final primer coat before painting.
Yeah PLA really sucks for sanding, coming from someone who has done a lot of plastic models in the past. Polystyrene is ideal for sanding and cleaning tiny details, but PLA requires like 5x the effort to sand, at least. I can clean up a polystyrene model with 800 grit sandpaper but PLA needs you to really work at it with 200 grit or lower in order to make a dent, and with that grit you're going to destroy details on small stuff.
No pla is quite easy to work with, you just need wet sanding.
Honestly this is just so much easier to fix in the printer settings than it is after the fact. Rather than sanding, a lot of model-makers would fill, sand, and then paint something like this.
A few observations about the slicing of this model:
It appears they laid it on its back to optimize the print for purge waste (it appears that would reduce the number of swaps) and for the linkages. Unfortunately that means that the print ends up with visible and ugly layer lines on the part of the print that you'll spend the most time viewing. It seems unlikely that you could reorient the print so I would do some combination of the following instead:
Use a smaller nozzle
Use either a smaller layer height overall setting OR variable layer height with minimum layer height turned right down.
Scale the print up a little so that any remaining layer lines are smaller in comparison to the shape of the model, reducing their visual impact.
whoever printed it did have it on its back, as the whole backside (what my fingers are holding up) is flat with a little texture. also, i did not print this and i don't know who did, thank you for the advice though!
Ah gotcha. I can see why you're wanting to fix it with this as your starting point then! There are some people talking about rock tumblers with crushed walnut shell that sounds quite promising, albeit requiring specialized equipment.
I agree with the original comment in this thread that sanding alone is almost certainly not going to give the result that you're hoping for and you'll probably end up throwing this thing away.
If you're open to painting the model then: filler > sanding > painting is likely your best shot at a decent result but obviously it'll still look quite different from how it currently does.
Generally for small models like this I think the best results are usually by improving the print quality rather than post processing.
3D prints are mostly hollow on the inside. You're pretty likely to sand through the perimiter and leave holes.
And you likely you have a shell of less than 1mm to work with.
Sanding 1mm is a lot, that's rather unlikely to happen from hand sanding
Like Jan_Asra said, if you want to sand it you usually have to increase the top surface thickness so there's some material underneath what you're trying to sand away.
PLA also doesn't take sanding all to well. Idk if it has to do with it's low Heat Deflection Temperature (HDT) or how surprisingly hard it is for a plastic.
This doesn't help you with your current model, but there are better alternatives for this sort of thing. There's Polylite's CosPLA, designed to be able to be sanded and marketed towards cosplayers and prop makers.
ASA and ABS both are able to be vapor smoothed with acetone, which will leave a shiny, smooth surface on the model. I think that could be optimal here, but again it can't be made of PLA in that case.
Depends on how many walls/top layers they have. If they skimped this much on layer height, they probably did elsewhere, too. If there's not enough outer layer thickness, you'll sand a hole in it. And look at how big those layers are - you have to sand down to the lowest common denominator to get it smooth. That's a lot of material.
FDM materials often sand okay, but it's usually best to put a coat over it and paint. You can end up with a very undesirable texture, and the surface will not look the same as the plastic does now - and the colors will shift with sanding because the surface will effectively be frosted.
If you really wanted to salvage this you'd be looking at probably hours of sanding, tamiya putty (or gap filler of choice), sanding, and then filler primer, painting, and a sturdy seal coat to get the colors back that were ruined in the prprocess.
And especially considering the arm joints, it's probably never going to completely come out right.
The way this type of printing works is a hot printer head heats up the material and makes it formable so it can extrude. Kind of like a really fancy glue gun. Because very low heat makes the filament became shapeable when you try to sand it, rather then the abrasive sandpaper removing fine particles(like when you sand wood, stone or resin) it basically turns the print into sort of stringy glops of boogers. The reason most of the comments here are going “ooooh you might not want yo do that” is because we’ve all tried it at one point in life. It wasn’t the original design of 3d filament but if you sat a design team down and said “hey I need you to design a product that’s almost unsandable…or at the least very very unpleasant to sand” that would be printing filament.
I know it would suck for all the color changes, but maybe printing it at a different angle or orientation might give you better results as well
I have done this before on a bulbasaur and it was originally 5 seperate pieces, you want to use sanding and filler and sanding filler, it'll take a while but you'll get a nice finish
It is not solid. Right below those very uneven lines there is the infil. Like a web of plastic, not solid. You will just ruin it before you get to anything smooth.
It's not going to fall apart literally, but the surface will, it will also burn and change colour slightly because of it
I’ve done a fair bit of post processing of FDM prints. Mostly helmets but also some stuff similar to this.
I have lots sanding tools and I’m constantly chasing the perfect tool and buying something that will ‘make my life easier’.
The truth of it is if you want to smooth these layer lines out is that you will need to paint it afterwards. As the plastic will go dull and you will most likely need to use some filler on the more extreme tops of curved areas.
It can absolutely be done with something as simple as multi grit sanding papers or sanding sponges. But you will also need filler primer to get a nice surface to paint on top of afterwards.
My advice, if you don’t have much experience model painting, is to leave it as is (as you’d probably need to invest as much or more time into sanding and painting then you would reprinting it) or print it again with a lower layer height and variable layer height turned on to reduce those step lines as much as possible.
the plan is to repaint it afterwards so that it matches how the character actually looks in canon, and i didn't print the little guy. it was a gift from my aunt. thank you for the advice! what sanding grit would i have to use for a figure like this? =]
It’s gonna look worse afterwards, just leave it and enjoy as is
Riiight. In that case this is going to be a bit of a learning experience! :). And you are either going to love the results or hate it.
I’m a little bit obsessive until my patience runs out and then I say ‘good enough’.
But without investing too much money I’d say get some sanding sponges of fairly higher/coarse grit (40-120 grits) because if that’s printed in PLA it is fairly tough.
Then using patience and elbow grease work away at it until the ridges are knocked off. I’d do the entire thing not just the visible large ridges.
You also need some model filler like Tamiya model filler or Bondo (a US brand - I’m in the uk and we don’t have this). I use the Tamiya filler and it dries very quickly and sands very easily when dry.
Then you will need some ‘primer’ a rattle can is fine to use and I use ‘high build’ primer that helps hide some of the areas you might not have been too diligent in sanding. You can also even just give the whole thing a layer or two of high build primer and then very gently sand it to knock the high points down a bit. That might be enough. You can get primer from model shops/amazon or from any car maintenance store. At these types of store it’s sometimes called body filler primer or something similar.
Then for the painting part, in your case I’d just buy one or two aerosol rattle cans of the colours you need. You will need to mask off the areas you want a different colour to the main body colour. I use Tamiya masking tape for this. It’s just the right amount of sticky.
If you’ve sanded the black eye parts and want to repaint those, in this case I’d just brush them with a black acrylic paint as the dark colour will be a bit more forgiving to brush marks.
I wouldn’t invest in an airbrush just yet as it’s an investment and a whole new discipline to learn but there are cheap all in one portable airbrush kits from AliExpress etc… that will probably do what you need them to which is just get a nice even base coat of colour down onto the model. For these the airbrush directly connects to a small battery or USB driven handheld air compressor and they are usually very cheap. But I suspect you won’t be doing any precise shading work with this type of setup.
https://preview.redd.it/p5j69bppqy9g1.jpeg?width=3400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1bf0a3be639ca86a85bece6e5f222acf038eb921
The above helmet is an example of the kind of results you can achieve with sanding sponges and rattle cans.
Question, how did you think your aunt would feel about you changing the gift she got you?
Sanding is one thing but changing the colour is another. Its like saying "here i fixed the present you gave me because I didnt like it."
Im only pointing this out because this isn't a quick or easy "fix" and you might screw it up.
she didn't print it, i think she bought it or paid someone to make it, and when i told her that it was the wrong coloring and mentioned wanting to fix it she told me to go right ahead. i understand that this isn't "a quick or easy fix", which is why i came here to get some advice from people who know what they are doing and could help me. if i screw it up then i screw it up, but im also sure that i could find a way to repurpose it as another decoration. i.e. if the head comes off then i might be a little disappointed BUT then i could turn it into like a keychain and the gift wouldn't be wasted. i appreciate your concern about how my aunt may feel about this but, as stated before, she is a-okay with it =]
Good, then by all means, follow the advice you have gotten
for future reference, this is a pretty rude thing to say in response to receiving a gift, especially when that person went out of their way to take note of one of your interests and get something related to it, and is just a small item like this.
now, if it were something that literally couldn't be used that would be different. for example, if you baked they got you an accessory for your stand mixer, but it wasn't the right one for your specific model, that would be an appropriate time to say something is wrong.
If OP doesn't have experience this could be an easy way to gain the experience needed.
There's tons of print models out there for holding sandpaper. I've messed with a few of them and they work quite well.
But yeah, sanding primer is a great way to reduce the turn around time and really helps with getting the surfaces great. Then hit it with a base coat and then move on to the other colors. I normally choose the more prominent color to spray on then redo all the others after that.
There's a lot of cheap airbrush kits out there that can make smooth coats really easy. Starting with a cheap acrylic set of paints from Walmart is very helpful. Acrylic dilutes well with water and as a result can be sprayed easily.
A little practice and you'll get good at it in a short amount of time. Plus those cheap sets from places like Walmart let you practice for very little costs and they turn out great results.
thank you for the advice! would i be able to paint the model with a paintbrush or is it absolutely required to use an airbrush for the best results? with all of the post christmas chaos, i don't think i can afford an airbrush/airbrush kit right now
It really comes down to the finish you want in the end. If you get some decent paints they will tend to self level slightly but if you do it right with a decent brush that helps you get a smooth application then you'll get better results.
The brush is the key and I'd go to like a hobby shop like hobby lobby or one of them types of places to look at paint brushes. Youight be able to find some better ones at places like Walmart but it comes down to their on hand supply.
In end it's all about the final fish you're after. You want that super glossy finish with no imperfections then spray is the way to go. If you're okay with minor imperfections or minor bush strokes possibly visible then go with paint brushes but do a higher quality of paint brush and you'll get a higher quality of finish.
This is a great attitude to have btw.
If you haven’t sanded something like that before then I would recommend you don’t attempt to. But if you do start with something like 400 grit and go in a circular motion. focus on small sections at a time. Finish it with a higher grit, something like 800 then your able to quickly hit it with something like a hobby torch to bring the color back.
The torch wont restore much of the colour, Vaseline might help in restoring as well.
Hmm I’ve never heard of torch or Vaseline for post processing. But I also haven’t done or researched too much other than I have some basic plastic bonding primer spray paint for my white/grey prints that I do plan on painting and paint with acrylic and put a clear coat on after. Usually does ok but I’ve only done a few like that. I’m sure there are other better ways maybe airbrush eventually would be nice but I’ve dabbled in that before and really sucked at it.
I’ve also used wood filler and sanded that down with some of my processing before primer and paint etc
thank you both for the advice! i don't have a hobby torch on hand to bring back color, but i never knew that vaseline could do the same job. again, thank you!
whoever printed it didn't think about print orientation very well lol
Yeah, it’s been pointed to minimise filament poop and have less layer changes.
Simply dont, it won’t be easily done or good looking
people keep giving advice on how to sand it or what to use you are likely not going to accomplish anything that will make this look better than it does now
You can get some of those sponge 'foot sanders', and wet-sand it. It will take forever to do the whole thing. Start with a small region in the rear, until you get the hang of it. Finish with a sanding cloth or similar. It's doable. Think of it as 'whittling'. It may take you a month off-and-on to get it just right.
If you sand all the color is ruined, you’ll have to paint it all.
Rock tumbler that is filled with crushed walnut shells, which you can get as a cat litter type at a local pet store.
Don't, unless painted afterwards
The walls probably aren't thick enough to sand down without putting holes in it. Also, I used to hate the very idea of layer lines, but now that I've been printing for a year, it's like they're like brush strokes. You don't try to hide the brush strokes in an oil painting, and 3D-printed layer lines feel the same.
If you want to go full in you could use filler primer and repaint it, but thats feels like it defeats the purpose
You could try a coat of uv resin, while its time consuming, it makes for a good finish
I'd recommend going to your local craft/hobby shop. Most of them have packs with a variety of grits of sanding sticks that you could work with. Alternative if you have an emery board, they're basically the same thing and work really well for sanding models too. Just make sure you're going from the lowest number grit up to the highest number grit that you have.
Mega thick layers. That was printed for raw speed over anything else. That also means there's a good chance it only has a 2 layer exterior wall. I would be careful with sanding, but you could probably clean it up a little. Get a medium to fine sandpaper and go against the layers trying to knock down those raised edges a little. Then use a fine sandpaper to follow up. You won't get perfectly smooth, but you can even it out a little then use a filter primer to bump the crevices up. Smoother is the goal here and not perfectly smooth.
If you’re going to repaint the model, you can always use an acetone Bondo filler mix and paint that over the top. Let it cure, do a light sanding and then hit it with some filler primer and then go to town masking and painting the model correctly. A good wet sand with high grit paper in between is going to help a lot. Make sure you’re washing off your print between sanding coats to remove any dust and particles.
If you’re not gonna repaint the model, then I would recommend using a scoring knife to cut down the crazy high layer lines or even a Dremel or Fantic to Dremel them down.
Yeah, don't.
There are filler sprays to use after sanding and then paint and then gloss. ALWAYS use PPE when sanding and in a safe environment so you dont contaminate surfaces that will then result in you inhaling or ingesting plastic particles. Youll also likely need to throw your clothes directly somewhere safe or in the wash, and shower
i knew about the ppe but didn't know about immediately throwing stuff in the wash and showering, thank you for the safety tips!
Yeah it's just I work with metal a decent bit and youll see flecks all over your face, hands, hair etc. I have a lot of pets too, so I dont want it getting in anyones eyes or lungs. Plastic particles are lighter and will travel farther and coat much more than you might expect 😆
Should I worry about this if it is a one-time thing too? Or only if I plan to do it regularly? I want to be safe.
Damage and resultant diseases are accumulative. You can very likely get away with one-time, but theres a chance damage can cause healing cells to mutate and then cancer forms, for example. Asbestos is cancerous because it repeatedly scars the lungs and increases this likelihood. Over your life, you want to minimize these damages adding up, resulting in diseases like cancer. You will still do plenty of damage even with trying to perfectly follow proper ppe procedure. So it is best to try your best, always
Sally’s has a crazy variety of cheap emory boards and sticks. Look for sanding sticks. The reason I recommend Sally’s is because they have cheap variety packs or $0.29 individual sticks. Helps you test a few things.
Use a not plastic tool of some sort similar to maybe a clay modeling spatula. Use a lint free cloth like a new cotton poly blend to saturate the outer skin and follow behind with the tool to smooth out the lines. You can go over areas multiple times if needed and it adds a bunch of strength to the layer adhesion in the process. Just do small test print first to learn the technique so that you don’t make mr bunny look he’s been dipped in acid. Once your good at it there are countless reason to use this method for different purposes you encounter printing. After you have it smooth you can add a hard shell glass like finish to it by applying a thick clear fingernail polish layer or two over top. It will almost appear to be ceramic or like naked clay. Smooth and shiny and super strong! It is 20x easier than trying to sand all those nooks and crannies and keeps you from removing material which ultimately makes it thinner and weaker. Hope this helps and gives you another option rather than all that elbow grease sanding.
Carefully
Sandpaper
if you want an art project, sand with literal paper in your hands and no other tools, then crucially you will have to re paint it lol. The sandpaper will take out the sharp ridges but it will be a rough texture and look whitish.
I suggest 600 grit.
As others have said, You probably won’t be happy with sanding results but a hot knife (ie knife/spatula end on soldering iron at 210 degrees) might be a good way of melt smoothing the surface but again you will risk ruining the model.
1- buy sand paper 2- use sand paper
Fill steps with bondo and sand
Youre gonna have a hard time getting into all these crevices. Additionally, it gets discolored easily and youd need to either work up the polishing ladder to grits that are in the thousands or spray paint it. Due to this model being well, like this i dont recommend either of these. Leave it as-is its looks good that way already.
I would try to use Tumble polisher.
https://hackaday.com/2020/01/21/tumble-polisher-smooths-parts-with-ease/
This is the actual answer. Use crushed walnut shells in the tumbler to sand it without ruining it
i’ve been meaning to get a dremel head for buffing and light sanding
there’s also these little things like electric toothbrushes for sanding as well
Wouldn’t a dremel heat the material too much? Maybe a foot sander would be better
never knew that you could use an electric toothbrush to sand! thanks for the advice =]
not an actual electric toothbrush, but a sander that it the exact size
“Small reciprocating sander” is the search words i used
Just print it again with a much lower layer height or at least variable layer height.
It will take a lot more printing time but sanding will take the same ammount of time, more effort and it will look bad.
I hope you see the previous post about the Acetone. That’s what you want to saturate the cloth and apply to the outter skin. You can pour it on thick the cloth and kind of dab it all over. If you rub it, it’s starts to become tacky and almost like smears the plastic. You’ll figure out the technique easily by practicing. If you don’t have a can of acetone take your mom or sister …or brothers in some case finger nail polish remover. While you’re in there taking their clear polish!
I HATE the 3d printer nerds that can’t/won’t finish their shit and actively discourage people who want to.
FDM printing makes rough drafts. It doesn’t make a finished product, unless you’re happy that your finished product has layer lines in it.
PLA can absolutely be sanded and polished. Almost all 3d prints can be sanded, painted and lacquered. You can get glass like finishes you just have to put the effort in to finish the rough product.
The best way to finish this would be to wetsand, fill, finish, prime, paint, lacquer. (Think automotive paint. Lot of work but excellent finish)
OR you could start with a medium grit paper, wet sand all the way to about 800grit then polish with brasso/similar but this will all need to be done either slowly by hand, or underwater because it’s very easy to make enough heat with friction to melt PLA.
It’s probably not worth it for most people… but OP if you want to give it a go, go for it.
Fuck these nerds who’ve never *successfully sanded anything.
I am at a loss as well. Though I come from build it your self rep-rap days 2016 ish. Not bambu ready to print out of the box. PLA is indeed a pain to post process, but it can be done. Coarse diamond files can work okay. Basically behaves like backed sandpaper that lasts a lot longer.
I’m glad it’s not just me.
Only sand it if you intend to paint it. Otherwise just accept that layer lines are a part of fdm printing
Use adaptive layer height for future prints with curved top surfaces, helps smooth it out quite a bit. And/or print in ABS and acetone vapor smooth it
You don't. It's a very neat print and looks fine. You will make it far worse and you won't ever get it completely even.
dremel?
If you sand it, it will change the color unless you then polish it. I'm not sure it is worth the trouble. Try a little test on the bottom of the feet to see what I mean.
Look in to vapor smoothing. Works better on some filaments than others but will give you a nice smooth glossy look.
15 minutes of acetone
With Acetone
Well damn. This is a way better idea than mine….
Rock tumbler and grit for a little bit i bet
If you want you can use acetone for a glossy effect
Or just use a dremel
This needs a fill - bondo putty for sure. and then primer and sand 240 for smooth finish.
A couple of paint layers might even it out then you could paint it proper
A rotary tool might help. Sanding could just make it worse though.
first, throw it away.
Then throw away AMS
Then reprint in all one color
Next spray some filler primer
then sand lightly.
Repeat with filler primter
sand lightly
spray with regular primer - check finish. if good, next step. if bad more filler primer and sanding.
Lastly, now that it is as smooth as you want it, paint it decoratively.
Done!
It might be better to cover with a heavy automotive primer first, then sand, then paint.
In the future, print with adaptive layer height on. Disregard if it was already turned on here.
Reprint in ABS and vapor smooth it.
ABS is also easier to post process for things such as sanding rather than PLA.
In my experience PLA tends to melt much easier If you leave the dremel on the surface to long.
Adding to the advice that it's really hard to sand 3D prints and this is a hard model to start with.
I’d start with some sandpaper
Variable layer height
You don't
I find the ironing setting makes a huge difference. 30% extrusion rate. Also smaller layer height. I've been doing . 16.
A small tip I used is try fuzzy skin setting on test pieces. The little bumps are easy to sand away and smooth, just make sure to have like 4 to 7 walls
You will ruin it. Just reprint but adjust letting feature
Does anyone know if vapor smoothing would work in a case like this?
If it’s PETG
I'm following general consensus of; you don't. Lower your layer lines, tighten your tolerances, learn from your mistakes. We all have a scrap bin of "should haves"
One of us
They didn’t make it, OP got it as a gift
Acetone vapor smoothing?
That only works with PETG tho
If you end up sanding this, it’s gonna need to be painted again as well.
Personally, I’d try adaptive layers or see if you can split this print into parts and assemble them after.
For lines this thick, I like to use a urethane primer like Finish 1. It is smelly, needs to be mixed, but really does a nice job with thick lines.
If you want smooth prints, don't use PLA multicolor prints.
You would need to use vapor to smooth it out and that's kind of a pain for PLA.
Use white/black and a material of your choice, sand it down, filler, sand, sand, sand...primer, bottom coats, clear coat.
In my experience, sanding this model (and most plastic things in general) will make it look really bad unless you're willing to apply some form of filler to smooth it out and repaint it. Which looks quite tedious on this small of a piece. If you're very patient you can get some 120g and emery cloth, followed by a primer that's designed to fill imperfections like spray Rust-Oleum, and repaint with your model paint of choice
Honestly rip a small piece of the square that you can hold comfortably then start sanding. There's another comment with recommended grit. That is basically how rough the paper is. You start with really rough and make your way down to fine. The other option is buying a tube of bondo, it's like playdogh and you spread it all over the model thinly covering up the layer lines then you wait for it to dry for 24hrs. You can then sand if you want else spray paint it with a white primer then the colors you want.
DO NOT USE RUSTOLEUM IF YOU PLAN TO DO MULTIPLE COATS. That shut is rubbery and a second coat will undo the first coat etc. I've got so many pictures of how rustoleum has fucked my cosplay pieces up.
SDDS
Carefully
Could look up acetone vapour chamber stuff on YouTube. PLA isn’t the best for it, but people have shown it does work :)
If you want to sand and paint it, I recommend getting a cheap electric nail sander online as that will be easier than sanding it by hand, will also allow you to get into hard to sand spots that you’d struggle with using sheets of sand paper manually.
Recently bought a nail drill for most of my sanding - might not be great for this model but maybe one for future. Great little tool. Something like this: Nail drill
Try using nail pile for sanding? Bec its small…
Tumbler
Maybe you can try something like this:
https://youtu.be/0PnX-zLpX1E?si=mJ4_WX9BPE4PQ25Z
To be fair, I've never tried it myself yet, but it looks pretty good to do. Do it in a well ventilated space!
tumbler
Im lazy so I started sanding small PLA prints in a rock tumbler filled with screws. Works surprisingly well.
You seem determined eventhough it might get ruined.
I'd personally try "Testors" model paint and some "Mr.Putty" or "Tamiya" to fill in the rough layer lines. Then a couple pieces of sandpaper. You're still likely to spend $20 - $30.
They are at most hobby stores/sections, and you dont need special equipment to use them. Just creativity.
Dude…did you use the adaptive layer?
Vapor bath
Depending on material you could consider vapor smoothing if it was printed in ABS
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I wouldn’t. Just do the acetone trick
maybe try this stuff out XTC 3D: https://www.amazon.com/Smooth-XTC-3D-Performance-Print-Coating/dp/B00PFXK4JY?th=1
Start by buying a resin printer an air brush, and some paints. Sanding that print to remove layer lines will be a nightmare.
Small motorised tool with soft disc or next time maybe use variable layer height in the areas affected?
Idk I kind of like the little belly button
Acetone?
This looks like a print-in-place - meaning you can't disassemble it. It'll be difficult to get the colours right without disassembly. I'd recommend keeping as is.
If you're dead set on trying, I recommend getting a set of different sandpapers and PolyFilla (fast drying household filler).
Start by filling the layer lines with filler. Give a good hour to dry. Doesn't need to be pretty. Sand the lines away with 200 grit. Be gentle and use circular motions. Then apply more filler, and increase the grit. Repeat until the surface is super smooth.
You can use spray paint or hand paint it. Spray paint outdoors, in sunny weather - or wear a respirator when doing indoors. Start with a spray primer, adding new layers for each colour, gradually masking off a smaller and smaller area with masking tape. Finish with a top coat of your choice.
You probably won't get it looking the way you want if this is your first time doing this sort of thing, but it's a great way to learn.
dremel rotary tool if your dead set on sanding
Instead of sanding try a hair blow dryer or other heat gun. With a lot of patience you might be able to slowly warm up and smooth out the plastic surface.
Lot of people are saying to not sand, which they are correct, but the best secondary option aside from leaving it alone would using a scraper. It will be hard at this size but it’s the next best thing.
I'd do a coat of filler and paint with either acrylics or spray with masking, I personally use rustoleum 3d filler or if you don't have that wood filler with sawdust works as well from what I hear
Totally off topic but would you be willing to share the file? I love this!
With sandpaper
I’m late to the party, but I have wood working, 3D printing, and painting experience.
I absolutely would not try to sand and paint this.
To get it to look the way you want will take hours. (Like 12-24 hours, not 2-3 hours). You also might break an ear off or something while trying to hand sand. I’ve broken several pieces in post process that way. Prints are delicate and hallow. Every scratch from the sand paper will show. Think of an old sunbeaten car - this will look like that once sanded. And then some parts will be easier to sand than others, and it will not be uniform.
I saw you say you want to paint this too - that will also take a while if you’re new to that. I also paint miniatures, and it takes practice and patience to get crisp lines.
This will take hours of your time and a lot of finishing materials to get the way you probably want it, and if it doesn’t come out right, you may end up throwing it away. I’d weigh all that against your decision to try to smooth this out, and see if it’s worth it to you.
My take is that it looks just fine the way it is.
If you do NOT know how to sand a model with sandpaper, do you know how to sand it with something else?
And just an FYI, those “lines that come from a 3D printing machine when a project is freshly done” DON’T “need” to be sanded. The lines are there when it is “freshly done”, still there a day later, and still there months or years later. They stay there, that is 3D printing. A good 3D printer operator would slice/orient the model to minimize the lines visually but no one would sand a four-color model/print. Sanding is done when you are planning to paint it.
Suspend it in a box over acetone and let the fumes melt it down a bit. You'll get a smooth finish.
Reprint in ASA and spritz with acetone
OP didn't print this. It was a gift
Tiddies everywhere
it sure does look like that lmao
I’ve used acetone to make glossy smooth prints. All you need is a plastic tub and something high to place the print on. I believe the vapor that the acetone releases will somehow warp/fuse the top. Part of the plastic into a smooth finish and won’t ruin the print at all.
I believe that only works with ABS, acetone doesn't really do anything to PLA or PETG
I was scrolling looking for someone to suggest this. Ethyl Acetate works on PLA, but I don’t think acetone does. Also, you need ventilation. My husband hates when I do this indoors.
> My husband hates when I do this indoors
Something something wrong husband lmao
i would like to add on something that i forgot to mention and also clear some things up:
1- i AM planning on painting it so that it looks more like the actual character (mostly just switching to blue)
2- i DID NOT print the figure, as stated this was a gift that i received
thank you all for all of the advice that you've been giving me!! im going through the comments right now and i think im gonna try some of the stuff that's been suggested when im home. once again, thank you!
Don’t get discouraged by these people, I sanded plenty of pla. You just need to dip your sandpaper in water then it’s fine. Going for the process of filler -> sand twice it should be good enough to put primer on.
Well first it needs to be reprinted with better print settings.
Turn on variable layer height to try and get it alittle better before sanding maybe?
I don't think anyone has explained why
There is a rather thin shell, and the inside has a support grid. By the time you sand it smooth, the shell will be more or less gone.
You sand it by re printing it with a smaller layer height. Only way to get rid of the massive staircase steps without ruining it.
It was a gift. OP didn't print it
Just decrease layer height instead and try again.
I get sanding sticks from the hobby shop.
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Did you even read the post??
A glass file
thank you!! probably either going to do this or do sandpaper. never knew glass files even existed lol
Its going to take a really long time.
Could print with smaller layer heights,
Don’t sand it - if anything, reprint it with adaptive layer height
Reprint one with variable layer height
Best thing is to get a soldering iron that comes with sculpting attachments and start smoothing it with that. Sanding is going to be difficult even with fine nail files. Check youtube for tutorials on how to sculpt with a heated tool.
I see holes! This is a bad print, I’d adjust my settings and reprint it.
Did you try to see if you can print it up right?
Don’t, try vapor smoothing.
Can’t sand PLA