3D Printing and Modeling

I made yet another mistake. I did not take the size and skinniness of my figurines into consideration when I sent them to the FabLab students for printing, and there was too much support covering the print. I also did not do a very good job in taking off the small supports. It certainly did not help that my hands are not the most delicate either. I will try to increase the scale of the props in my diorama and try printing them again before painting anything. 

I am very happy to say that this third attempt seems to be working out well so far. I finally managed to print the base of my diorama before I had to head back home. At least now I actually have some ground to run on. I still have quite a few other things to do. I sent the rest of my models to the people working in the Fab Lab the day before so that they could be printed while I was in Plant Hall getting some last bits of studying done for some tests.

I came back to the lab in between my classes to print my diorama again. This time, I tried to print the background that would slide into the base.   Sadly, when I returned after my last class of the day, I found that the background piece turned into a spaghetti mess halfway through. I did manage to set up the Bambu printer and get it working on the piece again before they closed down and I had to leave. With luck, this next attempt will not be as disappointing when I come back and see the results.

Unfortunately, after leaving my base and coming back after a day or so, I would come back to the lab today and find that the printing process was a failure. I did not have the time to record videos or take pictures of the printing process the other day, as I was on a bit of a tighter schedule than in previous weeks. This is because I started working on another part of the diorama before actually printing the base, which--in hindsight--was probably not the best idea. I will have to try again next time. Thankfully, with the extended deadline my class was given for this project, I should be able to make things work.

With my newest assignment, I am halting my plans for my final project until I finish this diorama. Since the requirement is to tell a personal story, I have already come up with a plan for this. The story for this project will tell how I found out about The University of Tampa and how I decided to apply for it. The screenshot below is the base of my project that will (hopefully) be a successful print in the lab.

With the mostly successful procedure of my items, I went through more of the tutorials and started to come up with ideas for my final project. I have recently been rewatching old Power Rangers shows for kicks in my downtime, and a couple hours ago, I rewatched two episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh!, a show where people play in admittedly hilarious high-stakes card games. As happy as I was reliving my younger years of these shows, they gave me  The picture below shows what I have in mind for the time being. Please bear in mind that they are merely accessories that can be attached to a larger piece.

On Wednesday of this week, I tried to print some of the items from the tutorials. Strangely enough, there were several technical difficulties in getting the printer started on my objects, ranging from display errors on the screen before starting to parts of the nozzle flying off after it slammed itself into the wall inside. Through some trial and error, I was eventually able to start work. I tried printing the heart button, twisted earrings, and sunglasses using a white filament. Immediately, the earrings were turned into a spaghetti-like mess. The heart button also lost the hook that would connect it to other things during the printing process. Despite the sunglasses getting detached from the bed of the printer before it could build up the temples/arms, they were the most successful out of the three. On my second attempt at printing those items, I used a green filament for the printer. The earrings and sunglasses came out very well, excluding the fact that I accidentally tore off the ...