3D Printing and Painting Figurines: Preliminary Research

 /Dusts off Crafting Blog/

Well, it's been a few years hasn't it? I write almost constantly in my costume blog since that's where almost all of my effort has gone. But there are a few creative projects that I'm doing that don't fit and I want to write about them. So today, I'm writing about my early research into making 3D printing anime figurines and ball jointed dolls. 

Why I wanted to do this

It's a bit of shiny object syndrome. I saw and bought some stylized BJD parts from an Etsy artist. I thought these would be better than the free stuff I was finding on Thingiverse. It was highly customizable and new stuff is coming out all the time...so I joined their Patreon. The process for printing and finishing in various mediums was well documented! 

I've also started collecting anime figurines. My collection varies in style and quality from cheap, clearing at a grocery store blind bag to a rather nice official things. Everyone so far is under $80. Again, shiny objects caught my attention on Etsy and I found some of the more side-characters that didn't have figurines. 

Current Challenges

The research is fun and I'm absorbing a lot of information. There are a few things I expect to be a problem. 

Finding Legit STL Files 

One of the first anime STLs I bought was in a bundle that was on clearance on Etsy. Close to 30 characters from Demon Slayer, which included several of my favorites. However, I didn't really clock the "too good to be true" vibe since not long after buying it, the Etsy shop was gone. And that's when I started to notice that STLs on Etsy were illegal redistributions of other people's work. 😱

So I took the images from the files I bought and did some reverse image searching to find the real artists. It's been a pain but I have found most of them and made legit purchases where possible. I find that Cults3D is a bit more of a legit place to buy these, but I've become wary. 

Skin Tones for BJD

I have a variety of skin tones for my BJD, but there's not filament in the right color! Then I learn about the alcohol ink aka Sharpie Marker method of coloring clear or white filament with sharpie markers. There are various models of sharpie holders for this purpose that colors the filament as it feeds in. It all melts together in the hot-end and comes out in the colors of the markers! I have the markers but I'm looking for a good sharpie-holder model for my new printer. 

Prepping Plastic Prints for Painting

So for most figurines and miniatures, artists print in resin with an SLA printer. I know about resin and all the safety precautions you need to take...and I don't wanna deal with all that! So I got a new FDM printer and looked into better ways to prep the plastic. I learned recently about PVB which requires minimal sanding and you can finish in a isopropyl alcohol vapor bath or spray. I got a Polysher which should work nicely. It also makes things sticky so assembling the figurines can be helped with that. I'll still use glue but yeah. I have some PVB to experiment with currently but it has to wait until after the dance showcase. 

Learning to Paint 

I've only used my airbrush once and there's lots of nuance to mini and figurine painting. I'm watching lots of tutorials and painting videos to get a better idea. However, the anime figurines are usually flat and boring compared to comic books or fantasy paints. All of my figurines are currently pretty boring when it comes to paint...if there is any. They're all colored plastic with decals for the faces and details! No shading. No definition. No fun! But I was recently shown a figurine painter that does add a little more panache to her anime figurines. She does what I was planning...combining BJD face-ups with anime figurines. 

Printing Thin Swords

Nearly all the characters I want to print have a thin blade or whip or a combination of the two. Some swords I think I can handle with the FDM printer. But Mitsuri's sword whip and Shinobu's needle sword may be too much for the machine. I may hire someone to print those parts in resin. I'm also considering getting things like water and fire effects printed in a semi-transparent colored resin.

What I've got so far

New 3D printer: Got a Bambu A1 which was a recommended FDM printer for minis. It had direct flow which means I can print in TPU as well. I can 3D print molds and rubber shoes! 

Learning about PVB: I got a bit of PVB to experiment with and hopefully print the BJDs as a first pass. 

A set up for finishing PVB prints: I got the container for the isopropyl alcohol vapor bath so that's handled.

A cleaning pot for my airbrush: Saw this in a video and found it at Hobby Lobby so picked that up in preparation. 

Skin tone sharpies: Found the pack of skin tone sharpies and some regular colors too. Excited to see how it works. 

STL Files: A growing collection. I'm making a chart with plans on how to approach them. 

Next Steps are to do some test printing, get used to the new 3D printer and using PVB. 

Then I might take a painting class.