At this point, everyone knows that even the entry-level UV resin printer, its printing quality far exceeds that of filament based melt deposition molding (FDM) machine. But there is a trade-off: for money, you can get more construction through FDM. Therefore, before the logistics of large format resin printer is completed, people who want to make replicas, props and helmets have no choice but to spend a lot of time on post-processing of printed products to remove obvious layer lines.
But thanks to this ironic technique shown by [propsnstuff], you can actually use UV resin to improve the surface quality of FDM printing. The idea is to apply a layer of resin to 3D printed lines and other defects, cure them with a handheld UV flashlight, and then polish them smooth. In essence, this is like replacing body fillers such as Bondo with resin. The advantage is that the resin can cure in a few seconds.
The thick resin will soon fill the hard spots.
It is now clear that this is not a new idea. Our own Donald Papp investigated this process as early as 2018, and Thomas sanladerer described this idea in a video the next year. But the difference here is that [propsnstuff] doesn’t just cover the whole print with resin, he takes a more systematic approach. He works on a small scale, targeting areas that really need the high build features provided by this technology.
After solving the problem, he then covered a larger area with resin. But this time, he mixed the remaining resin of SLA printer with talc powder to make a mixture that can be brushed without running around. This requires several thin coats, but through this mixing, he can form a large area of printing without losing any surface details.
Is this still a problem? Absolutely, but the end result looks really spectacular, so before we figure out how to build a replicator from Star Trek, it seems that we must use a little grease to make up for our technical defects.