A different way to make a Blackbird

[Beggsy]

So here's something a bit different.  Not from a kit, but it is plastic.  Sorry if it's not the right place to post it.

 

A friend at work recently learned to use our 3D printer, and for his first print was a (roughly) 1:72 SR-71 Blackbird.  It was made from this model:  https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2381619

 

It started out looking like this:

 

 

I offered to take it home, sand it (it REALLY resisted that!) and give it some paint.  It was never meant to be totally accurate, but it was a bit of fun and an experiment into what sort of finishing techniques worked on PLA plastic.  A few spare decals later, and here it is, painted up as an M-21 drone carrier (for which I didn't have a spare decal of the correct tail number, oh well):

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the crummy phone photos.  Hope you enjoy!

 

Beggsy

[mike romeo]

Well, as far as I can tell from the "crummy phone photos", that looks fab!

[Gorby]

I'm surprised how well that has turned out considering what you started with.

3D printing fascinates me, but I won't be getting one until they go down in price and up in quality (and preferably speed). How long did this take to print?

[Harrywilliams]

Looks amazing! 

Im currently printing a 1/72 harrier but that so far has taken 36 hours! 

Apart from that I've been mass producing hundreds of 1/700 b17s for a diorama.

[JWM]

Very impresive! I think the 3D printing will change all conversion market - like skins for flight similators could be also a space for making software models of details if not entirly subjects...

Cheers

J-W

 

[qn30jEkPz7]

PBS or PLA as material? Any tips on sanding/finishing? I’m planning to do a printed model myself shortly

[noelh]

The future it seems. Really like it though.

[Thud4444]

Could you go into detail about the sanding process? I had a model professionally printed and that surface is.... intimidating.

[Harrywilliams]

I used milliput to go over my chosen surface and then leave to dry for a couple of hours, then with a sanding stick I sand the surface down till it's in the desired shape, using a fine grain piece of sanding paper I then smooth the surface out, but remember when you use PLA plastics it's VERY hard to cut it so use a dremel if needed.

[Romeo Alpha Yankee]

For a printed model that scrubbed up really nicely! 

[Eric Mc]

That is pretty impressive. 

[Uncle Pete]

Nothing to grumble about there.  Except for the wrong tail number... Tie yourself to the mast and give yourself fifty lashes! 

[Vultures1]

Very nice!  Interesting to read about the process too

[Beggsy]

On 26/02/2018 at 7:16 PM, Gorby said:

How long did this take to print?

 

I think this one was about 18 hours.  We left it going overnight and crossed our fingers that it wouldn't have fallen over come morning!

 

On 27/02/2018 at 9:02 AM, LostCosmonauts said:

PBS or PLA as material? Any tips on sanding/finishing?

 

On 27/02/2018 at 9:21 AM, Thud4444 said:

Could you go into detail about the sanding process?

This one's printed in PLA.  As for sanding, it was just a matter of LOTS of patience.  I started with P180 wet-and-dry paper and worked my way up the grades all the way to P2500.  Small details would have gotten obliterated, but thankfully the blackbird is a relatively simple shape without very many hard-to-reach nooks and crannies.  There is a risk of the material warping due to the heat generated by the sanding (so keep it wet!) but when this happened to the vertical tails I found that I could run them under a hot tap and then just bend them back into shape!  In some areas I experimented with a polishing cloth and got it too a really nice smooth, reflective finish

 

In a number of areas, I smeared Tamiya putty across the surface first to help fill in the gaps.  It's pretty easy to sand it flush with the surface since it responds so much better to the sandpaper.

 

We could have actually printed this at a higher resolution to reduce the sanding effort, but it would have taken A LOT longer to finish printing!