As players all of us desire a cool-looking gaming area we will name our personal, however what does that seem like? A pleasant gaming chair? An adjustable gaming desk like one from Flexispot? Copious quantities of LEDs and lighting options like those from Nanoleaf? However how will we stand out from the group – particularly if you wish to turn into a streamer or simply need your folks to see you will have one thing they’ll’t?
3D print issues your self that’s how. There are an absolute ton of 3D printable fashions on the market, some free, some paid for and in case you have a 3D printer, or are pondering of getting one, you possibly can set to work creating your individual bespoke gaming art work on your room.
Which 3D printer?
For this mission, we’re going to use the brand new Bambu Lab A1 which lately got here out on the finish of final 12 months. With its multi-material AMS Lite add it could actually print in a number of colours on the identical print simply, which, whereas you are able to do on different printers, the AMS makes it a lot simpler.
Having mentioned that, in the principle, we’re going to print our fashions in a single shade and try to color them to an ordinary that appears half-decent. Due to this, we will print them in any previous filament we now have mendacity round that we possibly don’t use that a lot.
One more reason we’re utilizing the A1 right here is as a result of, proper now, we don’t need to tinker and mess around with settings. For probably the most half, the A1 simply works out of the field. Many different 3D printers want fine-tuning and tweaking to get the perfect out of them, even retaining a watchful eye to ensure nothing goes incorrect. Until you’re unfortunate the A1 ought to allow you to print and return later when it’s completed (though it’s good follow to repeatedly examine on what’s taking place, simply in case.)
Our mannequin right here is that this wonderful chibi model of basic gaming hero Duke Nukem from 3DXM. As a result of we’re going to paint him, we’re simply going to make use of some inexperienced filament we don’t thoughts utilizing up.
Popping the mannequin into Bambu Studio – the slicer software program that comes with all Bambu Labs printers, sizing it to the dimensions you need on your desk or shelf, including helps, and slicing it able to print ought to take solely a minute or so.
From there you possibly can ship it over wi-fi to the A1, select the colour you need to print in in case you have the AMS Lite, hit print, and sit again. This Duke Nukem took round 5 hours to print at 100% however had we pushed the printer into Sport and even Ludicrous mode it will have been a lot sooner.
In case you are new to 3D printing you need to know that any a part of the mannequin that hangs suspended in mid-air will want helps whereas it prints. Your A1’s nozzle can’t simply make issues seem in mid-air. Which means that this assist materials is a) a waste of filament and b) must be eliminated when the print is full. It needs to be a case of simply pulling it off, however it may be sharp and you may minimize your self so possibly pop on a pair of gardening gloves and even washing up gloves for a bit safety. Having mentioned that you simply haven’t lived till you’ve got your blood throughout that good mannequin printed in white filament that you simply simply spent 9 hours printing.
As you possibly can see from the image the helps pulled away properly, leaving a great-looking mannequin., even when at this stage he seems to be a bit just like the Hulk due to the colour.
At this stage, you possibly can select to evenly sand him all the way down to easy out the traces between the layers and take away any anomalies from the printing course of. For this characteristic, we didn’t hassle however you possibly can spend as lengthy on this part as you want till you’re pleased.
With the print of the mannequin full and the A1 having carried out admirably we set it happening our subsequent mannequin for our room, a free Jigglypuff Pokemon from Makerworld. Whereas that is printing in simply over two and a half hours we will hit our Duke Nukem with a few coats of white primer to prepared it for portray. We used Military Painter Matt White however any mild primer will do. We particularly use white as a result of we’re going to paint him with Military Painter Speedpaints 2.0 which works finest on a white primer.
Due to the inexperienced filament used, we ended up needing three mild coats of primer to cowl out the inexperienced utterly
After letting Duke dry we took him over to the workbench and used a base coating brush for probably the most half to use speedpaints for a (very, apologies) down-and-dirty paint job so you possibly can see what is feasible in round half an hour. Clearly, you possibly can spend way more time in your portray in case you like.
By now you possibly can see the Pokemon Jigglypuff was full and the Bambu Lab A1 did a unbelievable job and got here up with a very easy ball form. There was a small quantity of stringing for no apparent cause however you possibly can take away that by hitting it with a lighter for a second or two to burn it away. Now, you possibly can simply paint it and have a print of one thing else going when you do.
By the tip of a day of printing, you might have a shelf filled with actually nice fashions from about half a roll of filament (which is able to price about $22.
Is the Bambu Lab A1 the perfect 3D printer for newcomers?
On this mission, we simply needed great-looking fashions as a part of our Video games Room redesign. We didn’t simply need to exit and purchase the identical Funko Pops all people has so we wanted a frustration-free technique of getting our sport characters out. As a result of the A1 not often appears to have points – at the least in our expertise – you possibly can set a mannequin going and head off out if it is advisable.
When you’ve got extra expertise with a extra hobbyist slightly than newbie printer you would possibly have the ability to do the identical, however if you’re new to the 3D printing maker area then the flexibility to simply get out of the printer what you anticipated is a boon.
The A1 is just not a big format printer and the dimensions of fashions and busts you possibly can print is perhaps a hindrance. We can be trying on the spectacular Elegoo Neptune 4 Max quickly, which is a helmet-class printer that wants a bit extra consideration to get nice outcomes, however if you wish to print a lifesize model of the man from Fortnite for the nook of your room, you’ll need to up the dimensions of your printer.
Bambu Lab A1 settings for Bambu Studio
If you would like greater high quality prints you need to change your layer peak from 0.2 all the way down to one thing like 0.12 and even 0.08. This gives you finer element however will take considerably longer to print.
You may additionally spend money on a 0.2mm nozzle to swap out the bottom 0.4mm that comes with the A1. They solely price about $15 from Bambu Labs, may be swapped in seconds in contrast to different printers, and it’s at all times good to have in your printing arsenal.
Hopefully, you will have been impressed to make a few of your individual sport room decorations and even to select up a 3D printer for the primary time. We can be bringing you extra options that will help you degree up your gaming area sooner or later.
