Thinking of getting my first printer BUT...

[DireRaven]

I'm thinking about getting my first printer ever, after a few YouTube reviews my choice would be the Neptune 3 Plus.

I'm a total newbie in 3D printing, I don't have any Ideas on how it works.

I'm not the best at tinkering/modifying machines

I'm not the most patient guy on the planet either

What programmes will I need to use to get the best outcomes?

At first, I would use the printer for small props such as Guns, Grenades, Ducks, knives, Etc...

Do you think I should take the plunge with the Neptune 3? Should I get another model? Should I stay away from 3d Printers?

Thanks for your time,
DireRaven``.

 

[SgtSaint]

My regular 'new armorer' post:

The actual 405th website has a vast armory of files.
The Armory
And 3d model index
Free 3D Model Index

A curated list of tutorials:
Tutorial Index

One of many, many, many build threads.
MK-VI gen3, as Silver timeline (TV series)
https://www.405th.com/.../build-2-mk-vi-gen-3-with-some.../

Helmet probably should be last, not first. Yeah yeah, everyone wants a helmet to drool over. But it's the thing everyone stares at so you want to do it AFTER you've developed a process, techniques and skills.
Personally I always recommend starting at the feet & hands then working up & in to the body.
• You're going to weather and distress the boots more than anything else... and they get looked at with the least critical eye.
• Then shins which have to ride on the boots.
• Then thighs since you have to avoid joint conflict so you can sit etc.
• See how this goes? Up from the boots, and inward from the hands to forearms to biceps to shoulders.
• By the time you get to the chest and helmet; the parts at eye level that everyone stares at, looks at first, is right there in your face in every photo - you can make them look stellar.
And if you start at the boots you're looking at parts that are only a day or two per part not 6 days per part. So you can hone your scaling skills.

If you've never done an armor build before you might want your first armor to be one without the really tight tolerances of a Spartan or Ironman. I confess I made about 3 Spartan armors to get my first one right. It was very Goldilocks of "This is too big, this is too small, this is just right" with every part. If I had known then what I learned through the process I would have made a Mandalorian (least actual armor) then an ODST then Spartan and actually gotten 2-3 good wearable costumes instead of a lot of waste. I mean, if you're going to print 3 costumes either way, might well have 3 costumes- instead of 1 + a pile of wrong-sized prints, right?

If you are new to 3d printing or considering buying your first 3d printer just so you can make an armor:
3d printers have come a long way since I started with them in 2009. But they still aren't fully plug-n-play like a department store inkjet: But some of the newest & smallest ones are getting there. There's a lot more to 3d printing than just hitting print: Like knowing your different materials and when to use them. Or knowing when more walls and less infil, or more infil and less walls is the right choice. You should expect there to be a learning curve and at $20/spool that curve comes with a cost. I'm just saying walk into 3d printing with your eyes open.
"What's your printer?" thread on the 405th forum:
What's Your Printer?
I wish I knew this about printers before buying discussion:
"I wish I knew" Tips When Starting to 3d Print
°
Jumping right to armor is really not the best way to go when beginning 3d printing. You really want to work up to something this big and specialized. Work up to things so big that a 3% goof can mean added costs, joints that lock up and you can't bend your elbow etc. Little easy things first… Things with no supports to start. Move up to props like pistols. And keep moving upward over time.
• A few settings differences can be the difference between a part too weak to be used and printing your armor so heavy it's exhausting to wear. The difference between a $10 part and a $40 part adds up to a significant difference over an entire armor.

If it's your first printer taking a hybrid approach can actually save money. Get the small bed printer for home use and see if you even like doing this. Large 500mm machines aren't cheap and take up space and fails are proportionately expensive. If you love doing it and can justify the big printer as your second or third machine, go for it. But if you want to make the smaller things at home and outsource the big stuff to a print farm like www.starbase3d.com (mine for transparency) the extra-large printers mean being able to have big armor pieces like legs/chest/back done in single-prints instead of several seams to be glued and blended into invisibility.

 

[Cadet]

The two threads I always suggest for this topic:

"I wish I knew" Tips When Starting to 3d Print

Hello again everyone! The "What's Your Printer" thread has now nearly hit 100 replies (holy cow!) as a result of that we're looking to move to the next stage in creating the ultimate 3d printer for Halo & cosplay reference thread! In this thread we'd like to know what are some things that you...

www.405th.com

What's Your Printer?

This question always seems to come up a decent bit so I figured "why not just make a thread?" Post your printer(s) you use for props and costumes and if you like them! This is to help newer people figure out what printer they may want for starting their costuming adventure Printer Name Bed...

www.405th.com

 

[DireRaven]

Thank you guys !

 

[J8Boo]

I watched this video for anyone who doesn't even understand the basics. It really helped me to understand what i'm getting myself into!

 

[ChickenJellyGMG]

I'm thinking about getting my first printer ever, after a few YouTube reviews my choice would be the Neptune 3 Plus.

I'm a total newbie in 3D printing, I don't have any Ideas on how it works.

I'm not the best at tinkering/modifying machines

I'm not the most patient guy on the planet either

What programmes will I need to use to get the best outcomes?

At first, I would use the printer for small props such as Guns, Grenades, Ducks, knives, Etc...

Do you think I should take the plunge with the Neptune 3? Should I get another model? Should I stay away from 3d Printers?

Thanks for your time,
DireRaven``.

I have a Neptune 3 pro, and have been having a hard time figuring out the settings for it. The slicer they use though is great and easy to understand. I would upgrade to the 3 max I know it's more expensive but the build volume alone is worth it in my opinion.

 

[FANGS]

I just bought the Anycubic Kobra 2 Neo. I've NEVER used a printer and I was able to get it going. It's fairly inexpensive and described as a great printer to introduce children to 3D printing. I figured if I can't get that one going there is no hope. haha In my very, very limited opinion, the fact that it auto-levels makes it mostly stupid-proof. Mostly. I still managed to skip a couple of steps in my eagerness to print my bendy dino BUT I got there eventually.

You might be able to tell by my inability to read all 6 steps to get the print process going means that I have a shortage in the patience department. But even I managed to get it built and going in an hour or so. I know it's going to be a lot of learning now about print speeds etc. but I'm happy so far. I want to be able to do smaller stuff - the detail bits. I'm not at this time planning on printing helmets or full suits. I'm sure that I will outgrow this machine if I stick with printing but I'm happy to be able to learn on something that takes away one of the tricky bits - leveling the bed. It's like a 3D printer with training wheels.

 

[DireRaven]

Just saw

I have a Neptune 3 pro, and have been having a hard time figuring out the settings for it. The slicer they use though is great and easy to understand. I would upgrade to the 3 max I know it's more expensive but the build volume alone is worth it in my opinion.

I bought the Neptune 3 plus (I wanted the pro but I lack the space atm), I'll probably have to read the manual 10 times to make sure I understand anything, plus I will print an army of lil' ducks as a practice

I still managed to skip a couple of steps in my eagerness to print my bendy dino BUT I got there eventually.

This will be me but with my own army of bath ducks I mentioned above

 

[DireRaven]

I watched this video for anyone who doesn't even understand the basics. It really helped me to understand what i'm getting myself into!

Thanks for the video!

 

[SinisterPropz]

Ive owned many 3D printers over the recent years being a full time prop maker, and can tell you the Bambu labs is the hands down best printer I’ve ever owned. I have heard great things about the Neptune printers and have friends who love it.

I would reccomend familiarizing yourself with Cura for a slicing program as that’s the go to free program out there.

I'm thinking about getting my first printer ever, after a few YouTube reviews my choice would be the Neptune 3 Plus.

I'm a total newbie in 3D printing, I don't have any Ideas on how it works.

I'm not the best at tinkering/modifying machines

I'm not the most patient guy on the planet either

What programmes will I need to use to get the best outcomes?

At first, I would use the printer for small props such as Guns, Grenades, Ducks, knives, Etc...

Do you think I should take the plunge with the Neptune 3? Should I get another model? Should I stay away from 3d Printers?

Thanks for your time,
DireRaven``.

 

[Berzzi]

I have the Neptune 4 max, imo its too big for the space I have, and the bed size, while it's nice to be able to print most pics without splitting it, creates other issues such as thermal expansion. I give the bed about 25-30 mins to heat up before printing. It's also a lot harder to get the bed level variance to a good number. So in hindsight I would have been satisfied with the Plus, but my caveman brain said ooo big number mean better.
When I first got it I was struggling with adhesion and spaghetti, but it turned out that setting your z offset with paper is not sufficient. It's necessary for the first step of leveling the bed for the first time, but after that you need to print a single level rectangle and lower the z height until the layer becomes a single sheet and not individual strands. What helps to zero it in is do it in the smallest increment. Give each height about 10 passes and keep going till it's too low or too high. Now you know your limits. You can repeat the print as many times as you need as you hone in on good "squish".

Another note is some filaments just don't agree with some printers. And cheap filament is cheap for a reason. So if you're going for quality prints, dune expect it from cheap stuff without having to mess with a lot of settings.

Furthermore, some kind of filament dryer. Some use food dehydrators as a cheap and affective option, but It's up to you. I recommend always drying the roll after opening it or after its been unused for more than a week(even less for petg). I've had rolls in the same delivery that were great out of the box and then the next was 'soaked'. So rather than hope that is dry, just dry it and skip the headache.

Circling back to the Neptune 4, after the initial adhesion issue was calibrated, it's been very reliable and the only tinkering I've done is chasing smoother prints, but I think it's the filament and the table is on.

 

[pinoyfiasco]

I'm thinking about getting my first printer ever, after a few YouTube reviews my choice would be the Neptune 3 Plus.

I'm a total newbie in 3D printing, I don't have any Ideas on how it works.

I'm not the best at tinkering/modifying machines

I'm not the most patient guy on the planet either

What programmes will I need to use to get the best outcomes?

At first, I would use the printer for small props such as Guns, Grenades, Ducks, knives, Etc...

Do you think I should take the plunge with the Neptune 3? Should I get another model? Should I stay away from 3d Printers?

Thanks for your time,
DireRaven``.

What you should be prepared for is headaches, but if you can power through them, you can get consistently good results. 3D printing favors people who know how to analyze and troubleshoot problems because the process is just filled with them, and these machines don't have a good way of telling you what's actually wrong.

The key is patience, and taking the time to do the boring stuff, like calibrating/tuning your printer. Even the newer printers with the bells and whistles still need to be calibrated, no matter how fire-and-forget they claim to be. The following tools have been useful for me:
Ellis3DP Print Tuning Guide
TeachingTech Calibrations

And once you've gone through calibrating your printer, you're going to want to tune for the specific brand, type, and even color of filament you're using (thankfully, modern slicers let you set up profiles for each printer and filament type so you don't have to do the guesswork every time). Each spool has its own optimal settings (temperature, retractions, flow rate, speed, etc). If you can get familiar with this part of the process, you can get consistently good prints from the cheap stuff (for cosplay, this can save you a lot of money).

This stuff is boring and can be headache-inducing at times, but you'll waste a lot more time/money and filament/money throwing caution to the wind. This is especially true when you print the big stuff. Failures on big prints are painful, especially when they're avoidable.

SgtSaint is right on the money. Once you've gone through all the boring stuff, start small and simple - prints that aren't a huge investment of time and materials. Props are a great place to start.

Mind you that I'm not saying this to dissuade you from buying one. It's just that from the outside looking in, nothing ever truly prepares you for when disaster strikes and no one outside of the community ever really gets to see that part of the process.