Starting a 30 hour Dragon 3D Print

I upgraded to Simply3D today…and decided to go big. So I just started a 28-hour (it estimates) 3D print. If it is anything like Cura…it will probably be closer to 38. LOL.

Can’t wait to see how it turns out. The test print I did earlier with Simplify3D looked great…so thought I would give those support structures a real run for their money. :slight_smile:

About 10 hours in…and things are looking fairly good. Since I am new to simplify3D I am not quite sure how to get smooth filled in tops of infill areas (you can see what I am saying in the flat shield parts of this) But I love their support structures which this REALLY needed… I will keep you posted. :slight_smile: Oh and the “bend” you see in the middle of the side part of the shield was actually an imperfection in the model…pretty amazing the printers are so good that even the slightest variation in a curve will show. :slight_smile:

Regarding the top solid infill, it looks like you have not enough top layers? What’s the setting for their amount?

I’m intrested in pictures of the finished, cleaned part - from below looking up :slight_smile: Up to know I know everyone is talking about the nice supports Simplify does, but most only show pictures from angles where the supported surfaces are not shown…

S3d is awesome, love it and I have found their support structures vastly improve my print quality. The pic attached is a before and after clean up Minions chess set (chess set was designed by Steve Haines, got it off grabcad). The hair, arms and legs improved because of the supports with this print, they’re pretty much flawless, even the little fingers on the hands.

There were 6 pieces with this print and S3d estimated 19 h 22 m, the print took just over 30 hours. Breathing a sigh of relief, have had a few hicups with this project. Yesterday I was four hours into the print and the power to my house flashed off and on, just long enough to interrupt the print and had to start over. Also had a wonky SD card and got 90% done twice only to have it stop. In all instances the prints were going perfectly. I’m new to 3d printing and find S3d easy to use, it just makes sense to me.
IMG_0522.JPG

I think I bumped it up to 5 or 6 layers…I will check once the print is done. I will go through and list what I have for settings. I think it might be that and not quite enough flow. FYI…this sleeping with the printer because you are not supposed to let it print unattended is going to get me DIVORCED! Not to mention it is not doing anything for my back sleeping on a cot in my computer room.

Anyone got a solution for that… that doesn’t require a HUGE DIY project - I would love to know it.

Still going… about 34ish hours in.

Ok if you are a Douglas Adams fan…then you will appreciate the print time for this was “42” hours. :slight_smile: Here is 360 of the finished Dragon with the supports removed and sanded some to clean up the edges. It did a little damage to the front of the shield when I removed one of the supports (because the top was too thin). But all-in-all I am very happy with how it turned out.
360 VIDEO

Looks quite dragony! Nice job

Looks realy clean! Realy sad Simplify3d is not available as a demo version, I don’t like their pay and try promise…
Looking forward to see what Prusa version of Slic3r can do with the new support system currently in development :slight_smile:

Ok - got it sanded some… and then painted. I am really happy with how it turned out (considering it was only my 2nd print with Simplify3D). It probably took me about an hour to get all the supports removed (especially inside the mouth around the forked tongue). Some supports left no trace and some left scaring on the surface…but nothing a little sanding couldn’t fix.

Nicely done! 2nd print or 1000th print, great job.

With S3D, I like to use a low support density 15-20% and use the dense support layers at 50-70%. This reduces the amount of filament waste and still provides a “bed” for the actual print.

More info in the following tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koCVOsRA6Bc

Thank you! Just the kind of tips I need. :slight_smile: Every little bit helps.

I am like, wow, just wow! What a great thread!

So what did you print with?

My prints generally have much more pronounced striations than your print does. Yours came out very smooth. Now I am wondering what I am doing wrong or if my machine is not right. Does S3d make a smoother print?

The “grass is always greener” I suppose since I was happy with my prints until I saw yours!

I ran it at .1 mm in Simplify3D. I think the highest quality setting (unless you go into advanced tab in Cura) defaults to .25 - so maybe check that. I am still going to use Cura for most prints that doesn’t require supports. A lot less settings for noob like me to worry with or in my case mess up. :slight_smile:

yeah I do .1mm in Cura as well. So do you Cura prints look as good as the S3D prints?

What filament did you use?

Below are two samples I just did. Left was Cura and right is Simplify3D both printed at .125mm. On the front letters…they are identical as far as I am concerned.

For the side shot - I know there are some settings I can do to adjust the surface fill of the simplify3d… but I have yet to get that worked out.

So for me until I get those configs nailed down…cura is better for flat/non supported items and Simplify is better for organic/supported objects (like my dragon head I did).

If I can get the surface thing worked out…I probably will just use simplify 3d because I like the interface and multiple undos. The PLA I am using is Polymaker Polylite PLA. But Thinking I might try the more expensive village PLA on the site to see if it is worth the extra cost.




I dunno, that dragon turned out smoother than anything I have I ever printed. I am not sure what more expensive filament would buy you.

I want you to know you have ruined this for me! I was perfectly happy with my prints until now. I don’t want to hate you but now, I must! I hope you understand. :wink:

Ha…instead lets keep comparing notes. I am sure goal is the same as mine…best prints possible. I don’t care if they take a long time. I just want them to look as good as possible. I think once I get past this initial…have to print every day phase I am in… I will slow down and start going through all the initial test object calibrations they have (that can be downloaded)… hoping to squeeze a little more quality out that way too. And it could be as simple as the filament choice…room temperature…all that stuff too. Go ahead and bite the bullet and get Simplify 3D so I have someone else to bounce quality test/ideas off of. But until I get Simplify 3D more dialed in…or help from someone who knows how to set it up well for a Taz 6…then I will still use Cura for flat edge/unsupported things because I think they have it better dialed with the printer. I have no doubt Simplify 3D can get there too…just so many settings to have to work through.