Brickwork

[garethashenden]

Has anyone tried to do any brickwork with the Anycubic Photon? I love old mills and other industrial buildings and around here they’re all made of brick. Plain brick is straight forward, there are already products that work fine for that, but then there are arched windows, which are more common than flat-topped ones, and this is where I run into trouble. It has occurred to me that this printer may be capable of printing these sorts of details.
Before I rush out and buy one I thought I’d check and see if anyone has already tried it. If so, how did it work out?

[narrowminded]

Has anyone tried to do any brickwork with the Anycubic Photon? I love old mills and other industrial buildings and around here they’re all made of brick. Plain brick is straight forward, there are already products that work fine for that, but then there are arched windows, which are more common than flat-topped ones, and this is where I run into trouble. It has occurred to me that this printer may be capable of printing these sorts of details.
Before I rush out and buy one I thought I’d check and see if anyone has already tried it. If so, how did it work out?

While I haven't done bricks yet I see no reason why it wouldn't work.  If you can draw it, it will print it.  Pay attention to the size of the build window compared to what size you envision making.  That's the short answer.

[Thunderhawk]

Suggestions on minimum depths and widths that one can print with a Photon? Looking at picking one up for small jobs and detail parts.

What are people seeing as minimums that don't disappear?

This looked like a good tread to ask in with the mortar lines, but also curious for things like siding and wainscoting.

Thanks.

[garethashenden]

I’ve been doing 0.06mm motor lines. That’s about 1/2” in N scale, and they come out. They’re the same depth and width. I’ve tried it with both 0.02mm layers and 0.05mm layers, I haven’t noticed much of s difference in quality, although there is a big difference in print time.

[timwatson]

I’d love to see some of of your brickwork prints.

[garethashenden]

I’d love to see some of of your brickwork prints.

I’ve finally got one painted successfully today. I’ll take some pictures this weekend. The most important thing I’ve figured out so far is that the walls should be printed vertically. Most people angle their prints, but it was obscuring the detail.

[Thunderhawk]

I’ve been doing 0.06mm motor lines. That’s about 1/2” in N scale, and they come out. They’re the same depth and width. I’ve tried it with both 0.02mm layers and 0.05mm layers, I haven’t noticed much of s difference in quality, although there is a big difference in print time.

Thanks for this. That small doesn't disappear under paint?

[garethashenden]

Thanks for this. That small doesn't disappear under paint?

The lighting isn’t great and I can do more to highlight the mortar lines, but yes the bricks show up through the paint.

[Chris333]

I had to convert that to inches so I had an idea of the size... can't believe they printed that small.

I'm guessing about 6 hours to print.

[garethashenden]

I had to convert that to inches so I had an idea of the size... can't believe they printed that small.

I'm guessing about 6 hours to print.

Pretty much. 5 hours 40 minutes.

[narrowminded]

The lighting isn’t great and I can do more to highlight the mortar lines, but yes the bricks show up through the paint.

Love it!  

[PiperguyUMD]

That’s amazing, great work. Has me wondering about what I could cook up with the blueprints of the WM’s Cumberland Station. Just a thought, what if you printed an opening for the window, then printed the window as a separate part? That way you could paint it, then glue it in place like the ones from Tichy.

[garethashenden]

That’s amazing, great work. Has me wondering about what I could cook up with the blueprints of the WM’s Cumberland Station. Just a thought, what if you printed an opening for the window, then printed the window as a separate part? That way you could paint it, then glue it in place like the ones from Tichy.

That’s what I’m planning on doing for some larger projects.

[narrowminded]

That’s amazing, great work. Has me wondering about what I could cook up with the blueprints of the WM’s Cumberland Station. Just a thought, what if you printed an opening for the window, then printed the window as a separate part? That way you could paint it, then glue it in place like the ones from Tichy.

That is cool, isn't it?   I plan on doing some buildings and that's what I planned on doing with the windows.  The mullions can get awful thin on some of those and it would save having an otherwise perfect building compromised by that little detail.  And you can always redo some windows if you have to.  

Another advantage to this and any details on anything comes when it's time to paint.  At least for me that's a biggie.  My separate, tipping hoppers on my tipper cars were done that way as much for painting as it was for the detail and ability to stage some tipped if desired.

[garethashenden]

Following on from brickwork, I’ve been working on the other end of the factory complex, namely the clock tower. Back in the summer I clad the Middlesex Manufacturing tower in styrene clapboards, but the bell tower on top was challenging and I set it aside for a while. Until now. I’ve drawn the entire top layer as single part, and it printed far better than I expected. There are four ornamental balls on top of the corner posts, the supports for those are a bit thin and I’ve already broken one. I need to thicken that, and I forgot the actual bell in the bell tower. 

Here are the pictures, my helpful assistant is visibile in the background.