Effective and Safer 3D Print Smoothing with Epoxy not Acetone 3DBurn Ep 4

So I wanted to find a method of smoothing my 3d models without using acetone.

So, I did a little bit a research and
I think of found the perfect method

Stick around to see how you can smooth
your 3d prints

Okay. So here we have the Darth Vader Melted Mask from one of my previous videos.

You can check that out from the link in
the description below or from a little

I up in the top right hand corner.

What you'll notice is that the lines aren't
very smooth at all and are very prominent

So what we will do is grab the little
plastic container and our Z-Poxy PT 39

resin

Now I'm going to eye-ball it here and

we'll pour some into the plastic container

and as you can see there that's the
clear resin

ready to go! Now the next step is we need
to add the hardener

to complete the epoxy.

So once again I'm eye-balling it here and

there's the hardener.

Now I've sped up this footage but this is me mixing in the hardener and the resin together

so they react.

Now you can see that the mixture is very
cloudy and it will eventually go clear

once it goes on to the model itself.

So what we'll do is we'll grab out trusty
paintbrush

and start applying the Z-Poxy to our Darth Vader Melted Mask model.

Let's start the time-lapse footage!

Okay so while I'm applying the epoxy here I'll tell you a little bit about the product. So it's

from a company called Zap

and the exact name the product is the
S-Poxy

PT-39 and its

quoted as being a thirty minute
solution.

So, for me though, I would
definitely leave it for 12 hours because

I just don't see it setting any time
soon than that.

Now this is a good alternative to
acetone smoothing as well as another

product out there called

XTC 3D from a company called
Smooth-On.

I picked this particular one up off
eBay and I paid about thirty one dollars

Australian

and you can find this overseas as well
so if you living in the US or Canada

you'll be able to purchase this product
as well. I'll just pop a picture of the box up on

the screen so you can see it.

And there it is. This is the very first
time I've used the product as well.

So what you're seeing here is my first
attempt and I i think it really shows

for beginner at least anyway, how a first
attempt could actually turn out.

Now with a little bit more practice, I
know I can do a better job of this in

the future, so

for everyone watching don't judge me on
this. This is just my first time.

So after all that rambling let's have a
look and see what the final product

actually looks like

after its been sitting for about 12 hours.

After all that awesome Time Lapse footage , here we go!

Now you'll see it's really nice and smooth and

all those ugly lines from before are all
gone. Awesome!

Now this is was my first time using the Z-Poxy solution, so

I ran into a few issues an I thought I would discuss them in like a

top 10 countdown things not to do. So here we go!

Number Ten! Make sure you do this in a
well-ventilated area because even though

it says that there is no odours,

it does get quite fumey, so

make sure you are definitely in a
well-ventilated area. Number Nine!

Okay, so these two things here are you
most important so

no matter what wear gloves.

This stuff is an epoxy so it's just
like super glue.

and we'll stick your hands site what ever
you do, just make sure you wear gloves.

Number Eight! Make sure you have the right tools for the job so in this case make

sure you've got the right size brushes
for the right size application.

In this example I would have used a finer brush for the more intricate

details inside the

model and on the outside I would have
used probably a slightly bigger brush

Number Seven! Make sure you've got some Isoprpyl

Alcohol handy for rinsing your brushes and the container as well.

Because it will stick to it and if you
don't get rid of it

it'll just be lumpy mass. Number Six!

If you don't want your 3d model to stick
to your desk or table

after you apply the Z-Poxy solution I would make sure you put something underneath it

like

a placemat or some baking paper.

Number Five! Whatever you do don't pick up your model for at least I would say 12

hours

I did mine in the first hour or two and I
did leave some finger prints on the

model itself

you can see a right here and even though it doesn't really distract from it much

I think that it looks a little bit unprofessional

Number Four! One of things that it does say on the Z-Poxy bottles

is to make sure you puncture the top of
the bottle.

What I did instead is I chopped three
millimeters off the top

and now I find the solution comes out a
lot easier. Before it was like a really

really thick syrup

that was just so hard to squeeze out. Now, it just pours out!

Number Three! One of the other things that I should have done

is attach the model to some sort of stand.

with double-sided tape or blue TAC. Now the reason I should have done this

is because when you get to the edges

it gets really hard to apply it smoothly

and also if you put it on paper, that's
what it looks like.

Number Two! Now this is definitely
something to look out for.

Next time when I was doing something
like this with all the intricate spaces

in here,

I would start here first instead of starting
on the outside.

Reason being is that you can get into
all the fine places without having to

worry about moving the model

too much and you can also tip it up on
its side.

Hold it there. No problems whatsoever! You can see into the crevices a lot better

where as if you do the outside first all
this stuff in here is a lot harder to get to

which is what I found.

So starting here first, ending here.

Number One.So this is probably one of
the most important tips that I've got

for you.

When you get to your 3d model, try not to
lather it on

too thick. If you have a look around his
mouth he looks like a drooling

Bulldog.

Now while that looks cool it's not the
effect that I was going for this

model so

next time I would just put it on.... not
thick

but not too thin either.

That's it for another episode of 3D Burn.
I really hope you enjoyed it.

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Imagine, Learn, Create. Bye!