Garden Railway Forum

I have had some good results with printing figures, but in resin and not PLA.

It's worth mentioning that the last figure on Steve's post is the same as the last mishapen one with a broken leg on my post, using the same drawing. Just shows the differnce between PLA and resin.

philipy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 2:19 pm It's worth mentioning that the last figure on Steve's post is the same as the last mishapen one with a broken leg on my post, using the same drawing. Just shows the differnce between PLA and resin.

It is indeed the file I got from you Philip and it's a great people file. As we discussed the ridges are actually in the drawing and are not caused by the printing or slicing process. Essentially the better quality the file, the better the output.

-steves- wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 1:11 pm I have had some good results with printing figures, but in resin and not PLA.

They look pretty good. Are they your own designs ? If so what software did you use ?

Paul_in_Ricky wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:24 pm

-steves- wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 1:11 pm I have had some good results with printing figures, but in resin and not PLA.

They look pretty good. Are they your own designs ? If so what software did you use ?

Unfortunately I can take no credit for any of the designs nor drawings, only the printing.

Paul_in_Ricky wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:24 pm They look pretty good. Are they your own designs ? If so what software did you use ?

The driver figure was created in "MakeHuman" then posed in "Blender". Makehum n allows you to create almost any human figure of any age, race, gender and body type but you do then have to import it into Blender to pose it as you want.

philipy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:34 pmThe driver figure was created in "MakeHuman" then posed in "Blender". Makehum n allows you to create almost any human figure of any age, race, gender and body type but you do then have to import it into Blender to pose it as you want.

So only two extra software packages to learn then ;-)
Have you considered selling these as digital downloads ?

Makehuman is so simple and intuitive that it doesn't really need to be learned.
Blender on the other hand is a total nightmare!

No I hadn't considered selling them. They are OK-ish for what I want but if I had bought them from somebody else I'd be most unhappy!

ge_rik wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 12:31 pm Hi Rod
I notice that the aluminium framed version of the printer I bought has recently dropped in price to £89. The main problems I had with my £80 printer came from the cheap plywood frame which has taken me quite a while and a fair bit of expense in trying to improve. The aluminium frame should overcome many of those problems.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CTC-Ender-3- ... O&LH_BIN=1

Be aware though, that it comes in kit form. The online video guide suggested mine could be assembled in a couple of hours. It actually took me nearly three days

Rik

Thanks Rik.

That's good to know. Need to save up now, maybe a few years before I can get one though. May have to work on Anne's good nature a bit more....

Those figures are brilliant Steve. Would you be selling them to members by any chance....

Maybe a way of getting funds for the forum....

philipy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 7:08 pmMakehuman is so simple and intuitive that it doesn't really need to be learned.
Blender on the other hand is a total nightmare!

Makehuman at a first play seems fairly straightforward, but I'm getting the impression that as soon as you need something not immediately available the learning curve will steepen dramatically.

Blender ? yup, tried several times to get into it, but, yes, it's a nightmare.

Paul_in_Ricky wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:56 pm Makehuman at a first play seems fairly straightforward, but I'm getting the impression that as soon as you need something not immediately available the learning curve will steepen dramatically.

Blender ? yup, tried several times to get into it, but, yes, it's a nightmare.

I admit that I've never tried making clothes etc for MH figures, but so far I haven't need to, I just look on the assets list and find something suitable.

I struggled with Blender on and off for several years without getting anywhere at all, but then Metalmuncher on here did me a short video and instructions on how to pose a figure ( move arms and legs etc). It's one of those things thats not too difficult when you know how, but obvious and intuitive it is NOT!

Well you have all contributed to setting me off on a new quest!

It looks like we can make printed people to populate our railways, and I can see a way I might be able to do this.

So I have downloaded "makehuman" and "blender". Here is my first attempt at printing a basic figure from make human - just a printing test:
and in detail:
I printed it flat on its back. My slicing software seemed to want to add "wings" filling in the space between the arms and body. There must be holes in the mesh there. So firstly it is 84mm high or 5ft 3inch tall, and it does look anatomically superior to anything else I have. Makes my own figures built up from layers of modelling clay look positively chunky. (the other figure in the first photo was bought by the way - not my own creation)

Secondly while the printing isn't perfect at least the fingers and toes are all there. And the face looks pretty good as well. Certainly assuming I can add the correct clothing and adjust poses then I would accept the print quality for now.

The big challenge is going to be getting the clothing and hats appropriate to the 1880's. Modern clothing isn't really what I want! I am looking for bowler hats, top hats, long dresses and that sort of thing.

So lots of learning to do. And perhaps one of those printers which uses uv light to set a liquid. They don't seem very expensive.

The resolution looks quite good for a 3d print. Like you, I'd need a hat and other accoutrements, in my case appropriate for the 1930s

Rik

Trevor Thompson wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 6:01 pm There must be holes in the mesh there.

The big challenge is going to be getting the clothing and hats appropriate to the 1880's. Modern clothing isn't really what I want! I am looking for bowler hats, top hats, long dresses and that sort of thing.

So lots of learning to do. And perhaps one of those printers which uses uv light to set a liquid. They don't seem very expensive.

MH doesn't aim to produce printable figures, it and Blender are primarily aimed at Video games and etc so there are holes in the mesh all the time. They recommend Meshmixer, I think, to fix them, but I can't get on with that either!

There are lots of Youtube videos on making clothing but I haven't had the need so haven't spent the time learning, don't think it's that easy though, judging by some of the comments.

I mentioned that Steve has used his resin printer for figures and done a comparison with one of my FDM prints of the same thing on the prvious page of this thread.

philipy wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:56 pm

Paul_in_Ricky wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:56 pm Makehuman at a first play seems fairly straightforward, but I'm getting the impression that as soon as you need something not immediately available the learning curve will steepen dramatically.

Blender ? yup, tried several times to get into it, but, yes, it's a nightmare.

I admit that I've never tried making clothes etc for MH figures, but so far I haven't need to, I just look on the assets list and find something suitable.

I struggled with Blender on and off for several years without getting anywhere at all, but then Metalmuncher on here did me a short video and instructions on how to pose a figure ( move arms and legs etc). It's one of those things thats not too difficult when you know how, but obvious and intuitive it is NOT!

I have just been playing with make human and blender. I can import a figure into blender successfully. I can also export the stl file from blender. In fact it seems to print better that way.

What I cant work out is how to move the figure in blender. Not something I can find a video on either.

Any chance of a copy of that video on how to do it please - with metal munchers permission of course?

Trevor

Trevor Thompson wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 9:05 pm

What I cant work out is how to move the figure in blender. Not something I can find a video on either.

Any chance of a copy of that video on how to do it please - with metal munchers permission of course?

Trevor

Certainly I'm happy to let you have it. I've just asked Richard if it's Ok with him, so i'll let you know in due course.

Trevor, PM sent

I do think that Steve's figures are superb and far better than we can buy elsewhere on the internet. Hope Steve can get to sell them to us hopefully....

But like I have mentioned before, how close do most look at the loco's and rolling stock when we run them....Trevor is doing a great job with his attempts.


By the way I am working on Anne to look at a printer. It may take sometime, but hopefully I can get one before the end of next year....
It's the one that Rik has sent a link on eBay for...

philipy wrote: ↑Sat Nov 21, 2020 6:05 am Trevor, PM sent

Many thanks

Trevor