Another 105ft MMS build, with 3D printed parts....

I have just bought a 105ft MMS hull from Sirmar, there is a build thread by Intrepid 75 but fear not, this will not be a repeat, I am going to concentrate on the superstructure, which I will make using FDM, (Fused Deposition Modelling) or 3D printing. The first job is to measure and copy the relevant parts of the drawing into a CAD program, I use DesignSpark Mechanical a free download from RS, the well known electrical wholesaler. It is easy to learn, and will save the files as STL files, ready for the next stage, which is slicing. As the 3D printer builds in layers, the STL file from the first operation needs importing into a slicing program, I use Simplify 3D, this is not free but there are several free programs available. After slicing, the resulting G code file is loaded on to an SD card and printed out. For this build I will be using a layer height of 0.1mm with 20% infill, infill in basically the inside of the part, and the more infill you use the more filament you use. 100%n infill is good for strength on small parts. I will be using PLA, Polylactic Acid or Polylactide to use the 'scientific' name. It is biodegradable but will last forever (ish) if well painted and varnished inside and out. I will assemble the parts with Epoxy, as proprietary plastic glues do not work with PLA. Actual printing will be carried out on a Prusa i3 MK2s machine. If there are other 3D printing folks out there feel free to chip in.
 So, on with the build, so far I have done the wheelhouse front and i side of the superstructure, and I am most pleased with the results, so I will crack on with the other parts this week. If anyone wants further info on processes involved, sing out and I will post screenshots of slicing, drawing into cad etc.

Looks brilant.
got to admit, now i've got a 3d print it brillant (once you get your head around cad lol).

keep hearing about PLA not good in the sun due to UV breaking it down. have you noticed this.

Just about to use petg filiment as meant to as good as abs but not have the issues printing like you do with abs.
I use fusion 360 and cura as all free, might end up paying for s3d.

PLA ok if painted. I am doing these parts in grey PLA but I will be painting them. No had muck success with PET so far, I found it a bit stringy and globby and it eventually blocked the nozzle. I keep meaning to have a proper go and do a temperature tower to find the sweet spot....

cheers, that good to know about painting the bits. Going to be selling my printer soon for newer version now it know handy tool to have.

Can't go wrong with a Prusa. I have 5 Chinese machines and although cheaper than the Prusa, the quality is nowhere near as good....

cheers got a zonestar A8. it good but going to get the ender 3 after all the reviews i've seen.

think for how much they cost, it worth the investment.

The sweep winch has over 20 parts to it. There was very little detail on the plan but I found a good photo to work from. Can't find one of the port side so detail a bit sparse that side.

Most pleased with the results of my 3D printing efforts. The trickiest part is taking off the drawing and copying into Designspark Mechanical to make the files for printing.Majority of parts printed at 0.075mm, 1mm for larger parts. The Superstructure has turned out really well, sweep winch has ended up with over 20 parts and counting. Decks will also be printed.

Foredeck done, not quite right so may have to do another. Hard to get curve right, probably due to my inexperience with CAD. Also included is the photo of the sweep winch I worked from.

This is looking excellent, keep up the blog I’m enjoying a new way to model without getting sore fingers.

You said it RR. My hands are full of arthritis ans using a knife gets painful! My next 'tech' project is more than likely going to be a laser cutter, which is basically a 3D printer with a laser toolheas instead of a plastic extruder. Luxury! An electrical knife.....

More work on the LL sweep winch.....

LL sweep winch nearly finished. I cannot find any info on port side I need a photo so I can finish off. I have searched the internet to no avail. I am however quite pleased with the starboard side.

All the doors are done, 11 in all. I made jigs for each door and also made a little cutter with a fence to cut the parts to size. They are made from 2 x1 and 3 x 1 mm mahogany strip.

More progress on MMS, motor mount and decks..

Looking spot on right now

Progress on open bridge. As I have no internal detail I have used a bit of modeller's licence. A frame was drawn up and printed ......

The frame was then planked with 2m x 1mm mahogany strip...

After planking the parts were assembled.

Starting to look like a ship now. A bit o fettling and some more structural detail to add before final fixing in place.....

lovely looking model.

I have always had mixed feelings over 3d printing...….on one side my feelings are that you are not modelling because you haven't built it, rather relying on a machine and an aptitude to draw out your items for the printer to replicate...…

on the other hand, it takes great skill to actually do the drawing for the machine to actually print out...…….

having now started a model kit that has the majority of 3d printed parts, I am still in two minds...……..one mind says I couldn't get the detailing on the model unless I spent many hours on the thing but on the other hand it is easy to build and looks excellent for the much fewer hours I need to put in rather than scratch...……….and the other side is...…...i'm not enjoying it as much as a scratch build, because all the detailing has been done for me, and its just like putting together an airfix kit...……

still undecided myself, but each to their own, and it would be a boring world if we all did the same thing...…...an, your model does look very nice indeed.

I will be adding my own detail. Arthritis prevents me from cutting stuff out, I am making doors etc from wood strip, using some commercial fittings and making others myself (by hand). The sweep winch was measured from a photo of the real thing so still plenty of brain exercise and problem solving to do.

helensdad wrote:

I will be adding my own detail. Arthritis prevents me from cutting stuff out, I am making doors etc from wood strip, using some commercial fittings and making others myself (by hand). The sweep winch was measured from a photo of the real thing so still plenty of brain exercise and problem solving to do.

I am certainly not decrying your build, helensdad, nor your skills in both building and ability to get drawings to fittings stage, which I find very interesting and a superb achievement.

I only made my comments to give a point of view and to possibly debate the subject upon another separate thread.

I have absolutely nothing against 3d printed fittings at all, and to be honest they are far crisper and accurate than resin cast fittings.

I am though at my age a traditional scratch modeller, and doubt that I could ever change to that of the more modern genre'.

No worries chum always good to hear different points of view, wasn't implying owt. I am only doing it this way as an experiment. Who has started doing printed kits? Would be interesting to see how manufacturers do it...

Been working on the open bridge, just needs a bit o fettling and a dousing in crabfat grey to finish off.... The life rafts turned out well..

Great work. keep it up.

I feel 3d printing bring another aspect to modeling and can be really usefull same as resin parts

For me, I think printed parts are a lot crisper than resin equivalents...

Not much progress, had to pause to attend to decorating. I decided to replace the resin fittings with printed ones and I am glad I did, the results were better than expected. The steps were a bit tricky to draw up in cad program but turned out well. Rudder is installed and all electrics working. I may fit a few lights here and there for Venetian nights 'dahn the lake'. Nearly ready for some paint. My next big project will be a cnc router. I was going to do a laser cutter but affordable lasers have little useful power.

Very impressive

Barrie

Very very nice work

Many thanks Intrepid! Between decorating and patten making I have managed to get some paint on. Superstructure is ready for fitting out and the hull is in the paint shop.

Now I've returned to modelling after a four year break Im almost tempted to do another MMS!! Looks good.

Looking better now she has a bit o paint on her. Just got to ad

d fittings and she will be ready for the water...

Basin trials! She sits nicely in the water but I may swap the motor from a 540 to a 400 as she is a bit overpowered. Alternatively I could run on 6V instead of 7.2.

The final push is on and fitting out has commenced.

I need to brush up (pardon the pun) on my painting skills, photography needs attention
too.

I too like technology. 3D printing and Laser cutting.

At the start of this thread, you say you print PLA and use epoxy as an adhesive.
Acetone works with PLA apply by brush to both surfaces clamp together. testing the result 24 hrs later using a screwdriver the parts remained intact the only damage was to the surrounding material. Not my idea just something suggested to me.

My model boats have taken back seat for the last couple of years. 
I have been into 1/14 scale Rc Trucks.
Most of my 3D prints have been parts for friends. (make something then everyone wants one). The usual type of thing.
Fortunately, there are many STL files readily available for trucks in 1/14 scale free to download.
Sidetracking the need for CAD to produce your own files.
I use Cura for slicing then its just a matter of printing.
I use PLA.
But trying ABS not very successfully its more critical, temperatures and I'm told that draughts also affect the results.
Problems with the first layer and warping. 
I admire your model and your 3D skills. well done.   
 
The Oerlikon was that one of your prints?

I do not have a problem with ABS, I have a basic enclosure, made from an Ikea coffee table. I use ABS juice on the bed, keep the part cooling fan off, unless I am making something intricate , I have the fan on at 20% but only after the first dozen or so layers and then set to turn off again at whatever layer height the detail finishes at. Main thing is to keep the draughts away. I do most of my printing in ABS now, much easier to smooth, with an acetone vapor bath. For gluing PLA I now use Dichloromethane, the component that was banned from Nitromors, it makes a good strong joint in minutes and is freely available. I have 4 3D printers but I only use my 2 Prusas, a MK 2S and a Mk3. The other two are awaiting their fate, thinking of turning one into a laser cutter. I have just built a CNC router, what a marvelous machine that is, since I got it going a few weeks ago it hasn't stopped work, making signs from off cuts of hardwood. The Oerlikon was made by a mate, scratch built, and a fine job he did too! Work has ground to a halt on the MMS, I keep meaning to get it finished but keep flying off at a tangent. The 3D printers have been busy making foundry patterns for a firm that does casting sets for model steam engines and traction engines. I will get round to finishing it off eventually. I do want to get a laser cutter built at some point, I will have the set then! I have also plans to build a CNC mini mill and possibly convert my Dore Westbury mill to CNC. As far as slicers go, I use Simplify 3D, ok it isn't cheap but I tried the rest and would never go back now. For CAD I use Designspark Mechanical, a free download from RS and easy to learn, none of this Boolean nonsense, just an easy to use 3D cad program which is well supported with YouTube videos and can output in a variety of foemats, obj, stl, dxf etc... For CAM I use Cut 2 D, a combined drawing and tool path generator with built in post processing.  Plenty to keep me going, I am busier than ever now I have retired....

I am tangentially challenged too. With more to do's than having done's.

ABS filament was my ordering error I wanted PLA not realising my mistake until I had unpacked the ABS and thought I would give it a try.
I used to have access to a couple of Ulimaker 3D M/cs and I think it was a Trotec laser. They are running a business hiring out the facility now.
Not enough to 3D print or Laser cut/etch to warrant the hiring fee.

The enclosure is next on my list of "to do first". (Vector Victor he's off on a Tangent again).
I have looked at one on YouTube simple to make using easily acquired materials from the local DIY store.

I had an earlier version of Designspark Mechanical ok until I upgrade to version 4 it took out the previous version then the upgrade would not fully load.

I can download the STL files for 1/14 Tamiya Truck parts on Thingiverse someone else did the work offering the files for free.
I took the easy route.

I used Inkscape for laser work.

CAM no access to CNC so cutting tool paths not required. perhaps one day, perhaps not. I try not to think or buy long term.
     
I have my own 3D printer one of the Balco Touch a case of don't outspend my life expectancy.
It works for me if it didn't I hadn't dug too deep into my Grandson's inheritance or annoy the tax man.
The results I get are good enough for my use perhaps with a little bit more experience, I may upgrade.
I like your idea of recycling your unused M/cs. 

The Oerlikon. Hoping you were going to say 3D printed.
I built a couple of 1/35 scale Lct's my unconvincing Oerlikon's could do with a facelift, plus I have the Hull and drawings for a MAAS boat not started yet on hold needs to gather more dust only had it for 20 years.  
I still have my pusher to paddler conversion to complete first before any new boat projects materialise.