Tan-y-Bwlch Water Tower - Finished ( I think!)

[ge_rik]

Wunderbar!

Rik

[philipy]

Wunderbar!

Rik

Didn't realise that you spoke Welsh, Rik!!
Seriously, thanks to all for the nice comments.

[Keith S]

I never knew 3d printing could produce something so realistic! The whole thing is amazing. It couldn't be more realistic.

[ge_rik]

Wunderbar!

Rik

Didn't realise that you spoke Welsh, Rik!!
Seriously, thanks to all for the nice comments.

Good job I did don't misspell and end up with an item of ladies' lingerie ....

Rik

[Andrew]

Absolutely lovely! Such a great finish...

[Trevor Thompson]

That really does look good. I am also creating stonework in the way you are - and it works really well. The water looks amazing! Mine has real water in it - which isn't that clever because it freezes in the winter, and splits the model. The float is also very effective - it looks just right.

I am interested to hear in due course how well the resin stands up outside - presuming you will leave it out. I have been planning to print signals - and I was hanging back on it in case the resin won't take being left out. There has been an interesting discussion on forums for other scales recently where I learnt that the resin is damaged from being in alcohol for too long - so water washable seems like a positive step. I am also curious to hear how long you cure for. I have been using quite a long time 30 minutes for example.

Resin printing certainly solves all those surface finish issues associated with printing.

Trevor

[philipy]

It did occur to me to use real water, but then I thought about the freezing problem, as you say, and in summer being an ideal mozzy breeding ground, so decided against. I can see the small birds using it for drinking and bathing as well . I also looked at using transparent resin but wasn't sure how it would cure and if it would stay clear or discolour. The acrylic sheet will hopefully last although it may also yellow with time, but with black underneath that may not be obvious. I'm still a bit concerned that water will collect above it and freeze and split the corners, but we'll have to see. I'm not planning on putting it outside until Spring but then it will stay out.

You could pretty easily add a piece of acrylic to yours I would think. I just cut it to size and gave it a couple of coats of rattle can black on the underside. 4 pieces of styrene sheet along the insides of the tank and the acrylic glued on top using clear 5 min epoxy to hopefully ensure a watertight seal around the edges.

Yes I've seen mentions of over washing in IPA. I haven't seen a problem myself but I kept it as short as possible anyway. Then again I've also seen people talking about too much water washing as well. I just drop it in a container of water with a small drop of detergent, give it a quick wipe around with a brush to get the surface clean ( it goes sort of milky and then the clean surface appears through the mist) then transfer to clean water and brush again to rinse it. Then dry with kitchen roll and into the UV curer. I've tried using 10 mins cure but I think that is a bit too short except on very small items. 15 or 20 mins seems to be about right, and 30 mins is fine but not necessary as far as I can tell.

Edited to add: I've just had a thought. I have a couple of stone tower sides and a base that I printed and then decided to do slightly differently. I'll glue them up tomorrow and leave outside straight away and see what happens with the nasty weather we ae supposed to be geting now ( It was snowing earlier this evening!).

[philipy]

Before using the Sunlu Water Washable ABS like resin, see my WARNING at https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14611