Sci-Fi modeling on Elegoo Mars -- Community support/tips

[Hunk a Junk]

Hunk a Junk , clean and lube up your Z shaft. Your Z shaft connection with the plate, may be loose. Hold down your printer and move your plate up an down to see if you can hear a jiggle and see if there is backlash. I'm uncertain it can be adjusted, since I've never done it myself.

TazMan2000

Worth a shot. Any advice on what products to use to clean and lube?

Also, anyone know a program to import .stl files and edit them? Specifically, I'm trying to print this large Icarus model and is way bigger than the build plate. I'd like to chop it up into sections so that I can better support it.

 

[TazMan2000]

Worth a shot. Any advice on what products to use to clean and lube?

Also, anyone know a program to import .stl files and edit them? Specifically, I'm trying to print this large Icarus model and is way bigger than the build plate. I'd like to chop it up into sections so that I can better support it.

For me, I use windex for light cleaning, alcohol for heavier and PTFE lubricant for anything that squeaks.

There are many free programs that can import STL files. Wings3d/Meshmixer, but I like using TinkerCad online. Simple to use, but there are tricks to make very complex parts.

TazMan2000

 

[korben44]

Worth a shot. Any advice on what products to use to clean and lube?

Also, anyone know a program to import .stl files and edit them? Specifically, I'm trying to print this large Icarus model and is way bigger than the build plate. I'd like to chop it up into sections so that I can better support it.

Meshmixer's plane cut tool, or whatever it's actually called, is simple to use and will do exactly what you need.

 

[Jedi Dade]

Honestly I dislike the plane cutting... I would rather be able to draw a "cut" in an irregular shape that follows a natural "seam" in the model... but I have not found a tool that does that well... But I'm a noob and only have tried a few things - and it may just be that I don't know how to use the tools properly.

Jedi Dade

 

[TazMan2000]

View this video on plane cutting in Meshmixer and see what more it can do that just slice your object indiscriminately.

TazMan2000

 

[Hunk a Junk]

View this video on plane cutting in Meshmixer and see what more it can do that just slice your object indiscriminately.

TazMan2000

Do you have a link or did I miss it?

 

[TazMan2000]

Do you have a link or did I miss it?

I thought I pasted it, but obviously not. I inserted the link in my post above.

TazMan2000

 

[korben44]

The new beta version of Chitubox, 1.8.0, has an island detection scan now. Once you slice your image, you can choose to 'detect islands'. And you can toggle whether to view all slices or the isolated 'island' slices. Extremely useful and definitely time saving.

 

[Jedi Dade]

IF they can detect the island how come they can't build a better automatic support

Jedi Dade

 

[korben44]

IF they can detect the island how come they can't build a better automatic support

Jedi Dade

What they need to do is bake the 'island detection' into their auto support feature. It's kinda weird that it isn't available until you slice the image. It may be because in order to detect the islands, the image needs to be sliced. It takes considerable compute power, depending on the size of the file, to detect the islands after the image is sliced.

In order to do that, they'd need to change the way supports are added and basically change the way the software works. Why they didn't think of it prior is beyond me.

 

[Hunk a Junk]

I'm still not far enough into this process to even know what "islands" are yet. Different than rafts? Can someone give me the dumbed down version?

 

[korben44]

I'm still not far enough into this process to even know what "islands" are yet. Different than rafts? Can someone give me the dumbed down version?

An island is just a spot on the model you're trying to print that needs a support to print correctly. So if you have a hand you're printing, and when you're adding supports, the bottom of one finger shows a black circle that's not connected to the rest of the sliced layer (usually you will see a black line going horizontally through the model relative to the build plate)... That is an island. What that means is, without proper support, it will not print correctly.

When you 'add all' or 'platform only' supports, Chitubox does not always get every spot on the model that requires support in order to print. That's why I manually add all my supports, or I'll do the platform supports then add in where needed. The add all function goes overboard and, at the same time, falls short in providing proper support to the model being printed. I hope this helps a bit!

 

[Analyzer]

I do not know if there is anything equivalent for the Mars, but there is a program called Photon Validator for the Anycubic .photon files that will examine your file and report which layers have unsupported islands. There is even an editor feature that will let you modify the pixels so you can either try attaching them to something from the previous layer or extend the unsupported part to connect to something else in the same layer or remove them. I have found it to be an invaluable tool and knock on wood, have not had any failures since running my files through it to validate them. For some of the larger problem areas I just note the layer with the issue, go back to the original file, look for that area, and add a new support then re-slice and start over again. It takes a while, but it is worth it over wasting 10 hours or more on a print to not have it turn out right

Not a very exciting video to watch, but may be helpful when starting out as he gives great tips (although I never use the Autofix option as sometimes it decides the best auto fix is to turn all your bottoms supports into a solid block. Photon Validator stuff start around the 30 minute mark, but there is also some good stuff earlier going through the sliced layers in Chitubox

 

[korben44]

I'll be creating a thread soon, but the Elegoo Mars produces amazing detail with the right stl files... These are for my 1/24 scale podracer:

 

[Analyzer]

Oh yeah! Was that in multiple parts? It's hard to see where the gaps is if they are

 

[Hunk a Junk]

Korben44, Stand back, I'm gonna say it....

THAT IS SOOO WIZARD!!!

 

[korben44]

Oh yeah! Was that in multiple parts? It's hard to see where the gaps is if they are

Two parts... The front and rear engine. I took the 1/12 scale stl files and just scaled them back to 1/24, added supports, and printed. Took two runs to finish both engine parts at 10+ hours each.

Korben44, Stand back, I'm gonna say it....

THAT IS SOOO WIZARD!!!

Love it! There is an Anakin figure that goes with it. Once I get a little further, I'll create a post with all of it.

 

[OdiWan72]

Two parts... The front and rear engine. I took the 1/12 scale stl files and just scaled them back to 1/24, added supports, and printed. Took two runs to finish both engine parts at 10+ hours each.

Love it! There is an Anakin figure that goes with it. Once I get a little further, I'll create a post with all of it.

Have a Mars myself...what resolution did you print that with? looking great!

 

[korben44]

Have a Mars myself...what resolution did you print that with? looking great!

Thanks! I always leave the resolution at its max level. So it's 1440x2560. Layer height for printing is at .05mm.

 

[Freeliner]

Awesome work on the podracer Korben! Definitely looking forward to the thread. I'm working on a 1/48'ish B-wing. I'm using Solidworks and all parts have been printed on my Mars and Saturn. I'm hoping to get a build thread going on this soon.