Printing Guide

This page is all about how to optimise your print settings to get the best result out of your 3D printer when printing our designs. We will add to this page over time as we come across new tips and tricks.

Arachne Tips

As of around 2022, we started designing to be support free and also switched printing methods to Arachne on our FDM printers. Since switching, most of the considerations below no longer matter, as the new solution method takes care of most of the issues.

The main things you need to think about besides having a correctly calibrated and tuned printer are:

Infill

• We do 7% rectilinear infill if you want a fire and forget method. This is the fire and forget method that will let you save on filament and maintain a good strength for the parts.
• If you want to have very light models, we recommend using lightning as the infill type, with 15% infill. You might want to add single layer exceptions strategically in large items on the layer below where the OpenLOCK clips (100% infill rectilinear).
• Landing Gear should be printed with 4 or more perimeters (outside layers) for additional strength.

Adhesion

Make sure you are using the right kind of print plate for the material you are working with. We print exclusively in PLA because it is low temperature and does not give off a toxic odour. Adding a light adhesive like a 3DLAC spray or glue stick can aid in keeping items on the print bed. We also always recommend using a heated print bed.

If you have issues of curling, the use of a brim can help, but does leave unsightly additions to the model that can be hard to remove.

If your slicer supports it, mouse ears can be a great alternative to brims. Make sure there is a 0 mm gap from the model.

If you are still having issues with adhesion, tune the temperatures for your filament, and make sure the printer is not in an area with draughts or low ambient temperatures.

Supports

We try to go as support free as possible with our prints. When supports are needed, we recommend manually placing organic supports. Make sure the settings say “from build plate only” or something similar, and place them under large overhangs sparingly.

Non-Arachne Tips

General Assumptions

In general, you can make the following assumptions about our parts, although there might be the odd edge case here or there:

• Support-free where possible (90% of our models do not require supports on FDM printers)
• Oriented for optimal printing – no need to rotate the parts, they are already oriented for optimal printing
• Optimised 0.15 mm layer height or less – If you have a Prusa or other printer with a .05 mm step size, this will print great at 150 microns. If you have an Ender or similar .04 mm step size printer, 0.16 mm might print fine, but you might lose some finer details, consider printing at 0.12 mm (120 microns)
• We use the OpenLOCK system to connect parts of our ships together without using glue. We have made a variety of variant clips for special circumstances, especially for adding hinges, attachments for fighters, and certain hull pieces on our ships, particularly

Starships and Tiles

Our starships are designed and optimised for FDM printing at 0.15 mm layer height (150 microns). While you can print on SLA/DLP liquid resin machines, we do not offer direct support for these printers. You are free to enquire on our Discord where the community may be able to support your needs.

Moving forward, we are trying to be more SLA friendly, but still predominantly support FDM printing due to the fractional cost of PLA vs. liquid resins (costing 2.5-3 times as much as PLA). Some of our largest ships can be so large that it would be more cost effective to buy an entry level FDM printer and PLA for the same price as the resin would cost.

Troubleshooting

• Adhesion issues – we recommend using 3DLAC on a heated print bed for optimal adhesion, we do not print using rafts or brims.
• Semiotics (built in symbols on walls and floor panels) require some special settings to print properly, namely the use of XY Compensation (under the advanced tab in Prusaslicer). A setting of 0.07 should give the optimal results. However, it is important to note that using these settings may reduce the gap between clips and connectors, so some trial and error might be needed.
• Print in place hinges conversely require that you have XY Compensation off/set to 0. The compensation will fill in the gaps and give a solid result. This applies to hinge clips and PDC parts from the Sleipnir series.
• OpenLOCK Supports – Older models have OpenLOCK supports built into the bases. These are removed using needle nose pliers or other tools after the fact. Moving forward, we are getting rid of these supports, as modern printers do not need them, and they are hard to remove on resin prints. To remove the supports, see this guide.
• Support Rods – Some ships, such as the Beta Centauri, Type S Scout, and Type A Free Trader Beowulf have channels for inserting 6 mm aluminium or brass model aircraft rods. We use K&S-Metall 969824 rods and cut to size (mark after putting them in place, remove than cut to size). These add needed stability for heavier ships. Support rods are always optional, but without them, you may want to glue clips for added stability.

Figures

Our 28mm figures are designed for SLA/DLP liquid resin 3D printers. Most are provided with an option to use the built in supports for a trouble free print. They can be printed on FDM printers by orienting them backwards at a 45 degree angle and using automatic supports from the build plate. They are not designed to print support free.