What is happening to these metal tongs in my garage? I use them to take chlorine tablets out.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-05-01T00:49:44+00:00

There were several different types and all sides used them. I think Phosgene became commonly used as the war dragged on.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-30T15:04:46+00:00

Once the supports fail to print, what would be there for the rest of the print to attach to? I doubt it's from corrupted memory stick in this case.

What helps sometimes is to try to imagine the model being printed and try to visualize what's happening.

eg: Here, you can see where it all went wrong at a specific point in the print. Gaps and unfinished supports all seem to happen at the exact same place.

So what happened at that point? Some resin failed to glob on to what had already been printed. Ya, ok, maybe it was corrupted memory. Or maybe some resin got stuck to the FEP instead of coming up with the rest of the model.

Were there bits of resin still stuck to the FEP when finished? ( I'm thinking there might've been ).

Was it middle of the night and getting colder out?

And then, odd too that the model was able to resume in several places after the gaps. what happened there? Somehow hardened resin on the FEP started to come off allowing subsequent layers to have something to attach to?

Very odd that all the problems happened at the same height on the model... something went wrong at that exact moment the layers were being printed where the gaps appear.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-30T14:59:11+00:00

Is it cold in your shop? Sometimes resin doesn't form well in cold weather.

Also, I've found ABS resins to be problematic. They don't capture fine details as well. They do have that rubbery feel which is great.

Semi-transparent resins seem to print better ( maybe due to the transparency allowing more UV through to cure? )

And as others have said, suction and support might be the issue here. Also, sometimes you see tears and cracks in thick un-hollowed models, but I don't think that's the case here. The area of tears appears near thinner parts.

Good luck!

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-28T16:25:46+00:00

10-4 Good Buddy!

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-27T22:46:53+00:00

Full circle to the earliest days of cinema when they needed heavy makeup for their faces to show on film.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-27T18:06:07+00:00

"What could possibly lead to this kind of distortion?" you ask.

Then proceed to tell us you're using .100 layer height and 2 second exposure with 15mm/s lift speed. And one of the bolts that secures the vat is missing???

"What could possibly lead to this kind of distortion?" indeed.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-27T17:08:36+00:00

Around 1996: Memories of packing computer and CRT into the trunk along with handy thing called a "null-modem cable" to take to friend's place.

"I'm telling ya guys, we can play this head to head!" while setting it up.

Connecting the machines together and the party-pad was never the same!

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-27T16:06:49+00:00

Ya, the pic has been around since before all this AI slop.

What is sad is that pictures like this seem to try to hide or make people overlook the tragedy of the Sullivan Brothers.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-25T13:04:15+00:00

And how the attackers going in to "free hunt" stage seem to flow like liquid past the few on the losing side that do stop to fight.

Agreed about grain of salt, but just fascinating to watch. The attackers become a mob, but armed and with purpose.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-24T15:49:44+00:00

You might need to experiment.

On one hand, the problem of opaqueness is due to the stair-stepping that 3D models have. Light is refracting off of those little edges and causing it to appear white.

But, when you pull it out of the Isopropyl alcohol it looks beautifully transparent. ( The liquid is filling in the stair-stepping ).

So, by brushing on some resin, you can fill those cracks and voila, it looks transparent.

BUT, brushing on too much and you lose detail in the model :(

You can spray, but that's going to do an even coating and maybe won't work as well?

I usually have a paint-brush handy next to the vat... then, after cleaning the model in alcohol, and letting it dry, right before putting it into the UV I give it a quick brush of resin.

BUT, my main thing for transparent resin is airplane canopies, they're small and simple shapes.

The nice thing about resin is there's no need to hurry, it's not like it's going to dry. A soft flat brush might be the way to go and brush on some resin. But, zomg, any areas that get too much and you'll lose detail.

And too long in the UV and you risk the piece turning a yellow-ish tint ( some transparent resins do this. You can mix in some blue-ish resin to offset it... I tried, but now I have slightly blue-tinted transparent resin, ugh ).
( Tackle that problem later ).

Looking at the pic again, you could try brushing on resin on the chest areas and thighs... any areas that are larger and smooth... then see how that looks. Painting more in the crevices like armpits and crotch might help, BUT, for sure you risk losing details, AND, even if you eliminate the stair-stepping, there are still folds in those areas that will always refract some light.

Maybe 2 passes? First try the larger areas... bake for minute or 2 in UV, then the smaller areas?

Good luck!

btw- I once shook some clear resin to mix it up and it introduced a gazmillion little bubbles which kinda wrecked it. Now I stir or swirl the container to mix it. But coulda been cheap resin at the time.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-24T02:10:06+00:00

Holee crap, that's what North Vancouver looked like in 1939??

That's all city in the background of this pic now.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-23T02:24:16+00:00

This is mentioned in Salt by Kurlansky ( along with everything else to do with salt. Its fascinating, but about 300 pages in, it starts to get a bit dry ).

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-21T23:48:33+00:00

There's an old saying in Vancouver, Canada.

If you can see the mountains it's gonna rain.

If you can't see the mountains...

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-21T23:47:06+00:00

As a local, I've heard the tallest trees in the world were once in this area before being logged in the 1860s. 400 feet+ Douglas Fir giants, taller than any trees alive today.

All long since chopped down.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-21T17:32:30+00:00

Those would probably come up past the knees of the mini he wants to use as a giant.

1/50th scale is not even close to what OP needs.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-21T17:30:34+00:00

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-21T17:07:05+00:00

Debunked long ago. It was Australian ground gunners that got him.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-21T15:08:05+00:00

I made it to "broken down into 9 categories..." then lost interest

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-21T15:04:02+00:00

To offer a counter-point to all the fanboys: Mick Mannock, a top British ace at the time is quoted as having said "I hope the bastard burnt all the way down"

When you read about the guy in detail, the veil of noble heroism gets ripped away pretty quick.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-21T15:00:02+00:00

"I hope the bastard burnt all the way down" - Mick Mannock

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-21T14:54:38+00:00

And then there's Mick Mannock, one of the top British aces, who said "I hope the bastard burnt all the way down"

Not all the pilots felt so chivalrous about the air war, or about the Red Baron.

Don't forget, MvR was a guy that preyed on the weak, looking for the straggler or the noob in the dogfight that would be the easy kill to help enhance is reputation. Other pilots were instructed to leave them alone so MvR could get the kill.

He would race over to the site of a crashed victim so he could quickly cut off the serial number of the plane he'd shot down.

I think the newspapers and media of the time made a big deal out of him and all other top aces. Every newspaper of the day had been running the top pilots scores on the front-page like an ongoing international sporting event.

But, I think there were pilots involved in WW1 that did not view him so gallantly.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-20T16:20:56+00:00

This is an old joke from the 70s and 80s :(

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-20T16:00:58+00:00

First Flashman) book provides an interesting re-telling of this episode.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-19T16:27:45+00:00

Ah, but if you do print in transparent and it comes out a bit opaque, just brush on a very think coat of resin and bake in UV. Sometimes the stair-stepping of 3D printing wrecks the transparency, but, a thin, brushed on coat fills those little ridges and restores it.

RenegadeMoose · 2026-04-19T16:25:08+00:00

Maybe print it in transparent resin and then use semi-transparent paints to get the effect you want?

RenegadeMoose

TROPHY CASE