Jackalgirl
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Very nice!
Apple TV: Silo
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Jackalgirl
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And now that I've been comparing these to one another (I'm using Inkscape to compare measurements) and to the shot of the chits in Adam Savage's hand (as well as trying to think like a person who's modeling these to 3D print them and cast them in pewter, as they did in the show), I'm thinking that the size of these is more like: 40mm square for 20CR, 32mm (but maybe actually 30mm, for "round numbers" reasons) for the 10CR, 25mm for the 5CR, and 20mm for the 2CR, and they look to be 4mm thick (at the edges; for the 20CR and 5CR chits, the raised sections add a little, which I'm going to need to account for).
Jackalgirl
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The latest batch, but these are undersized in all dimensions (I made them yesterday, before I got ahold of lint's most excellent screenshot). Pre-paint; I do plan to paint/weather/rub n buff these, but when I am ultimately happy, I'll use a finished set to assemble a sprue'd-up collection for pewter-casting.
I haven't modeled the 10/2CR chits yet, but hope it goes quickly once I have the 20/5CR models figured out. Of course, now that I have typed those words out loud... ; )
I haven't modeled the 10/2CR chits yet, but hope it goes quickly once I have the 20/5CR models figured out. Of course, now that I have typed those words out loud... ; )
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Jackalgirl
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Progress. These are 40 and 25mm square, and I used a simple cube .stl file in my slicer (ChituBox) to ensure that the height of the main part of the token (not the raised parts) was 4mm high. Even in ABS-like resin, they have a pleasant heft and almost make a metallic clinking noise. These ones I will probably clearcoat and then finish -- I'd like to see if I can get the clearcoat to even out the print lines in the recessed parts of the tokens I can't reach with sanding sticks. I discovered that you can very easily over-sand before the resin is cured. At any rate, the next batch will be what I'll use to make my pewter molds, and I still have to model and print the 10 / 2 CR chits.
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Jackalgirl
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LOL super slowly. I've acquired the mold material, but otherwise still need to get the rest of the stuff done (modeling, printing, preparing the molds, casting). Good thing I'm not getting paid for this. ; )Just bumping this up to see how the pewter casting is going. Love to see pics!
Jackalgirl
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Update! I cranked out the models for the 2 & 10 CR chits, which went a little more quickly because I had the base models done. Blender is still such a pain when it comes to unmanifold meshes after a boolean operation, but fortunately it wasn't too terribly bad (advice: save copies of meshes as "backups" and take it slow).
Here's a pick from my slider; the print's currently in progress and I hope it turns out well. If I can get enough of these sanded and prepped, I can move onto the next task, which is figuring out the best way to sprue these up to cast in Mold Max 60 for an eventual attempt at pewter casting.
Here's a pick from my slider; the print's currently in progress and I hope it turns out well. If I can get enough of these sanded and prepped, I can move onto the next task, which is figuring out the best way to sprue these up to cast in Mold Max 60 for an eventual attempt at pewter casting.
Jackalgirl
New Member
Here we go! I still need to scrub these down some more, and try a light coating of primer+paint to see if that evens out the print lines I can't reach (I tried acetone, but that works with ABS plastic and not so much for ABS-like resin).
I'm happy with this set, though, so if the smoothing works, the step after that will be building the sprue. Progress!
Edited to add: I lied! The slicer I'm using, Chitubox, does some weird thing where the mesh gets deformed when you add supports (I think it is a boolean union thing). So the 2 & 10 CR chits ended up being kind of wonky on the support side, even with sanding. I know that "'perfect' is the enemy of 'done' but it was really bugging me that the two sides looked so different). So I tinkered with the supports (removing and replacing) until I was able to print them out, as with too few supports the print will fail (as I found out). I put the supports where I'd be able to most easily sand down the convex deformation that the slicer introduces to the model. I'm looking into Prusa Slicer instead of Chitubox -- if it doesn't do this "deforms the mesh when adding supports" thing, I might shift to using that instead of Chitubox. Also, bonus: the spray can paint+prime did even out the printer lines that I couldn't reach.
I also reprinted the 10 CR chit at 30mm square (it was 32mm square originally). I really feel like the other chits were 40, 25, and 20mm square respectively, and it seemed weird that the original artists wouldn't have used 30mm for the 10 CR chit.
I'm happy with this set, though, so if the smoothing works, the step after that will be building the sprue. Progress!
Edited to add: I lied! The slicer I'm using, Chitubox, does some weird thing where the mesh gets deformed when you add supports (I think it is a boolean union thing). So the 2 & 10 CR chits ended up being kind of wonky on the support side, even with sanding. I know that "'perfect' is the enemy of 'done' but it was really bugging me that the two sides looked so different). So I tinkered with the supports (removing and replacing) until I was able to print them out, as with too few supports the print will fail (as I found out). I put the supports where I'd be able to most easily sand down the convex deformation that the slicer introduces to the model. I'm looking into Prusa Slicer instead of Chitubox -- if it doesn't do this "deforms the mesh when adding supports" thing, I might shift to using that instead of Chitubox. Also, bonus: the spray can paint+prime did even out the printer lines that I couldn't reach.
I also reprinted the 10 CR chit at 30mm square (it was 32mm square originally). I really feel like the other chits were 40, 25, and 20mm square respectively, and it seemed weird that the original artists wouldn't have used 30mm for the 10 CR chit.
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Jackalgirl
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I'm discovering the thing that model makers know: paint will bring out the issues in your model that might otherwise not be apparent. The more I look at these, the more I am both happy that paint seems to be evening out the print lines, but also unhappy about how different the supported side of the model looks from the unsupported side. I think I will need to go back into these with some more light sanding before actually committing them to a mold. I have some additional mold-making supplies on order anyway, so I can use the time waiting to try to make these better, and if I end up ruining them, well, that's an opportunity to see if I can use Prusa and if it's better. : )
Jackalgirl
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More (very slow) progress -- in between work & going to Origins Game Fair, I managed to get a print that printed...on the third try. I switched from ChituBox to ELEGOO's slicer, "Satelite", and thankfully it doesn't seem to deform the mesh when adding supports like ChituBox does (and Satelite also doesn't record your screen, even though you've explicitly turned of the permission to do so in your system settings, like Chitubox does, which is nice).
This is the 20CR piece, though - 40mm wide. I'll need to print the 2CR pieces to see how they turn out, and see if there are deformations that I'm just not seeing because this chit is the largest one.
I also realized that I had been setting up the angle to print at incorrectly (I was tilting up from the bed by the wrong amount -- this is the site I use to calculate angle-for-smoothest-print, in case it's useful to anyone: Angle calculator for smooth surfaces in resin printing – RC87
So the lines are much finer on this print, to boot, which is very nice; I think with a coat of prime they'll more or less disappear.
I tried to learn PrusaSlicer, I really did, but it has Blender-levels of user-friendliness so I ended up going with ELEGOO's much simpler program, which still let me move around the auto-generated supports where I would more easily be able to sand them off. I did end up with a couple of pits but that was easily fixed with a touch of wet resin and exposure to UV to cure it, with some more sanding.
I think I am much closer to being able to produce a set of masters for my attempt to do pewter casting. Glee!
This is the 20CR piece, though - 40mm wide. I'll need to print the 2CR pieces to see how they turn out, and see if there are deformations that I'm just not seeing because this chit is the largest one.
I also realized that I had been setting up the angle to print at incorrectly (I was tilting up from the bed by the wrong amount -- this is the site I use to calculate angle-for-smoothest-print, in case it's useful to anyone: Angle calculator for smooth surfaces in resin printing – RC87
So the lines are much finer on this print, to boot, which is very nice; I think with a coat of prime they'll more or less disappear.
I tried to learn PrusaSlicer, I really did, but it has Blender-levels of user-friendliness so I ended up going with ELEGOO's much simpler program, which still let me move around the auto-generated supports where I would more easily be able to sand them off. I did end up with a couple of pits but that was easily fixed with a touch of wet resin and exposure to UV to cure it, with some more sanding.
I think I am much closer to being able to produce a set of masters for my attempt to do pewter casting. Glee!
Keep the progress pics coming, JG! I was inspired to revisit my chits this morning. I took the sandpaper and dremel tool to them. Trying to recreate that pitted and worn edges look of the originals. I'm happy with the weathering so I'll paint these with my Jubal Early pistol parts next week.
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Jackalgirl
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Oh, awesome! They look fantastic -- I'm looking forward to seeing pics of them fully weathered & finished. I'm also looking forward to seeing the pics of the pistol!
My plan, for now, is to cast the "mostly perfect" tokens in pewter, then put them in a rock tumbler to simulate them being jangled around in someone's pockets / in a pouch. But I'll probably "pre-wear" the edges like you're doing just a bit, because yours look great. : )
Great plan. Gives them all the opportunity to create their own, unique weathering. Love the rock tumbler idea. I saw Adam Savage weathering his lighter in a tumbler and immediately thought "I need that tool in my life"
Jackalgirl
New Member
I have to admit that I don't have one yet. But I thought exactly the same thing!Great plan. Gives them all the opportunity to create their own, unique weathering. Love the rock tumbler idea. I saw Adam Savage weathering his lighter in a tumbler and immediately thought "I need that tool in my life"
For an update: I'm done with a set of chits from the new process. They're downstairs in the Better Half's workshop (he's a fine-scale modeler); he's going to give them a light coat of acrylic for me, which will hopefully even out the fine print lines in the places where I couldn't reach). I'll post pictures when they're done. Next step is to set up the mold box.
Things I learned:
o ELEGOO's Satelite slicer is much nicer than Chitubox; it does not deform the mesh when adding supports (and doesn't record your screen without permission)
o Make sure you have a fresh x-acto blade when slicing the supports off of the model: that way, the supports won't snap out in a way that will leave pitting. It's not a big deal if this happens (you can use a brush and apply a light coat of resin, then cure it and sand it down), but it does take extra time
o I cut the supports off before curing, but sanded after curing this time (before, I was sanding before curing -- with the finer layers I got due to changing the angle of print, it worked better to change it up).
o In a couple of cases, the layers of resin wanted to delaminate on fine edges (in particular, the bottom of the 20CR chit, probably because of where I'd placed my supports). But this was easily fixed with a brush and extra resin, curing, and sanding.
Jackalgirl
New Member
Here we go!
Minor imperfections throughout, but I don't care, since these are going to be eventually be artistically beaten up once they're cast in pewter. I'm going to try to make it so that I can cast a full set all at once, but we'll see what kind of a "learning experience" that turns out to be.
