Prologue
I wanted nicely made accessories for my Paine cosplay, but after searching online, I just couldn’t find anything that would be delivered quickly – I didn’t want to wait 3 months – and I didn’t have budget for them either.
At first, I thought that I could just make them with polymer clay. So, I purchased a small kit from Amazon and attempted to make the brooch. No go. It was NO WHERE close to symmetrical. So, I vented in my FF club chat and Izumi (@izumiyukimura) came to the rescue. Izumi said that it might be possible to commission an etsy crafter who has a 3D printer for a custom design. So, I rolled in that suggestion and found a cosplay crafter, Jenn of Dangerous Ladies’ Cosplay Kits, who designs Paine’s accessories in resin. I asked Jenn if she would sell the 3D model print files and BAM! She sent me all the files for $15 USD and I was ready to start printing!
The Model
My 3D printer was not ready yet, so I viewed the print file for the pendant in The Free Online STL Viewer.
Looks really good, right! Wonderful job, Jenn!! I’m so happy with it!
When my printer was finally ready, like the impatient person that I am, I used the pendant file as as my calibration model to make changes to the bed height, extruder temperature, flow rate, and resolution. It might have been easier if I used a calibration square model, but I really wanted to print the pendant right away!
The first two prints were disasters.
I think the major problem was that I tried to print the pendant face down and my bed height was too close to the extruder. I thought face down would be less work – I wouldn’t have to spend time removing structural supports from the print.
I flipped the model face up for the next practice print and ta da!
There was A LOT of structural supports to remove and I definitely did not have the right tools at the time to do so, but I managed with a pair of 5 inch pliers and overly flexible tweezers.
Final 3D Printer Settings
- Printed via Repetier-Host
- Sliced with CuraEngine
- 0.1 mm resolution
- Support Structure: Touch Bed
- 15% Infill density
- 100% flow rate
- 223ºF extruder temperature
- 50ºF heated bed temperature
Smooth Touches
I purchased some nail files on Amazon and started with a 150 grit to clean up some of the loose filament strands. I tried to smooth out the face but the files were just too big to curve over the pendant for proper sanding. So, I pulled out my engraver. At the slowest speed, I was able to smooth out the layers quite a bit!
I used a ball tip to rip away most of the leftover support structures and varied sizes of tapered ends to clean up the details. I had to rinse the engraver tips and the print often to remove the debris as I worked. I wish I had a small brush to remove debris from the small gaps as well. I’ll have to remember that for next time.
Now, it’s ready for a base coat and painting!!