VLOG: Anycubic Photon Detailed Unboxing for Wargamers
January 23, 2019 by dignity
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“Star Wars replicator”??? INCOMING! XD
lol yeah Brain fart there lol
At least you didn’t say ‘Stargate Replicator’ – you don’t want one of those buggers running around the shop. ?
It only takes a handful of chips!
oh, I get this. >.<
@sundancer : as Spock would have said “don’t be a muggle” 😉
You make me brain hurtz…. ARGH…
what do you mean ? Don’t they use the Force on Galifrey ?
You know nothing @sundancer 😉
Jebus Cheesecrust Pizzahut…. stap! Or else it’s ANSCHLUSSZEIT 😉
I still think there expensive. Hard to find a spare $459 these days.If they came down to the same sort of price as a mono laser printer I might think about it but I would still have to buy the files to print from
Ok yes im a perfect world they will come down to the £99 mark.
BUT…
If the perfect machine lasted say 5 years, you could compare that to what you have paid in shipping costs in the last 5 years (and remember even free shipping has a cost that you have covered somewhere)
Yes you would pay for files, but you currently pay for minis so the difference is not so great there 🙂
I think in the last couple of years Ive spent about £50 on figures as I only buy what I absolutely need
Yes they probably are the future until something else comes along
We’ll clearly if you need very little theres not much benefit.
But I reckon the economy of it is getting pretty darn close for your committed collector level war gamer 🙂
early dot matrix colour were this expensive …
mono colour laser printers were this expensive …
colour laser printers were this expensive …
So with any luck we may get this to the same level in 5-10 years.
I suspect the real problem/challenge is how the (creative) industry reacts to replicators at the consumer level.
Will be watching this with great interest, I love my FlashForge for 3d printing terrain and things where it is not so much about fine details but I will be very tempted by this for actual minis or printing modding parts for kitbashing.
Don’t wait around too long we need to see the update!
I will push on as fast as I can mate lol
@warzan I’ve been working with this printer since before Christmas when we purchased it for my department at school. My biggest print is in my project (https://www.beastsofwar.com/project-entry/1317349/). One thing I have noted in your video is that you talk about about 4 seconds per layer in my experience you are talking about 10 to 15 seconds depending on thickness of the layer and the resin type itself.
In terms of alochol you simply need to cure it under UV and then decant the alcohol.
The sample sliced cube is preset for the Green resin you have, so be careful trying that with another resin.
Lot of great help on GitHub (https://github.com/Photonsters/anycubic-photon-docs?fbclid=IwAR2syDS54HwengNjrAvldZMFJfWpaDpfUCkOtPrWgnPvbT3iJ7eF1otHm6k) do ensure that you get the photon file vallidator programme it will estimate the amount of resin that it will use and check for Islands in the prints.
PM me if I can help more.
Excellent stuff thank you for that!
Totally agree with Warren on the pricing if these are to become viable for the every day tabletop-er. There have been a metric ton of SLA printers on Kickstarter at the moment too so it seems like these are becoming more and more affordable.
The technology seems alot simpler to me so I recon this is likely going to be the way forward for the near future.
Will be following this with great interest. I have been close to jumping into 3D printing several times (even backed the Lost Islands Kickstarter) but have been scared off due to the same reasons/problems that Warren raises. The idea of having a solution with less (potential) points of failure is very enticing. I wouldn’t mind paying up to say 600-700 GBP for a bigger printing area.
I hope my hunch is correct this timer, there will be issues no doubt but I hope they are less off putting
Well your troubles (and burns!) meant that many people did not have to go through the same trouble – so in a sense you suffered for us 😀
Was this the fast resin printer you referred to?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2thSsQrZUM
Still only for commercial use but maybe a hobby version will happen in the coming years. In any case it seems that the market is moving in this direction.
Looking forward to this series. I heard about this 3D printer a month or so ago and liked the premise. Now I can sit back and imagine the things I could print on one while following Warzan’s journey.
If you have suggestions of what you would like to see printed let me know
Most of the ideas so far have been the basics, custom bases, terrain pieces, nothing that wouldn’t be covered by a few normal prints.
There was one idea that could be interesting, 3D holographics using transparent resins. Would a 3D print in transparent resin and coloured using glazes give a holographic feel to the print? Something like that would open up some interesting options for sci fi terrain.
Good to see you back in the 3d printing world. I didn’t realise that you could get a DLP machine for that sort of money so I look forward to you further adventures with it. As a long term FDM user (I’m on my second machine) I would never print a miniature on it, I have tried but even at its best it doesn’t have the resolution those, I do however have quite a lot of printed terrain and for that i am more than happy with the results.
Do you have do any further curing of the resin once the printer has finished? I looked at the new DLP printer from Prusa but that had cure under UV and then rinse off the resin with isopropyl alcohol which always put me off.
I was surprised by the price as well, so it fit in the ‘Red Lines’ I had set for us to explore these technologies.
Yes there may be a couple of options for the final curing stage for the resin, I will explore in as much depth as I can. (But even daylight can be used to do some basic curing)
You copied my printer purchase!!! You wont be disappointed. All the learning is in the supports and calibrating for the resin you are using (and levelling your bed which is easy).
So pleased with this. Super glad I didn’t go down the FDM route which you effectively put me off with the last adventure in 3d printing.
There is a new photon about to be launched and there is a price drop already happened and hopefully will happen again.
Only issue is the smell for some people but with all the hobby crap I use, everything always smells of something chemical.
Also another good thing is, if prints fail dramatically like supports do not hold the print it just sticks to the fep. You just pop it off and it does not use the entire bath on a failure. (design dependant) I am about 15 prints in 1 failure which was my fault with the supports.
I use an ultrasonic cleaner (all metal) and IPA for cleaning the prints you can safely use it if you place your IPA in a jar fill the cleaner with water then place the jar in the water. This is the only way I would consider doing this though I have seen people just go for it online which I would not recommend.
Yep I will explore the fumes issue in this series and see what options we have 🙂
Fumes have been a major issue for me.
I’ve had to place the printer in an enclosed space, rigged with extractor and active carbon filter.
I would NOT, under any circumstances, suggest running this for extended time indoor without some way of handling the fumes.
Also, keep in mind that it’s not just the smell, there might be other chemicals that you can’t smell but which you do not want to be breathing.
looks like the type of price for printers for the whole club benefitting from the printer in games.
Leave it a year or two and it should be even cheaper.
and a higher resolution as well.
@warzan Great to see this project up and running again. I must say that I had been tempted by the idea of 3d printers, however your previous adventure with all its pitfalls was quite an eye opener to the effort involved, you summed it up nicely saying it was a hobby in itself.
It is encouraging to hear that printing minis to an acceptable quality is now an option for the journeyman printer, although my previous thoughts had always been for terrain pieces and perhaps more so for terrain kits, whereby you print a variety of components to assemble. To that end can I ask that in your tests you perhaps try some such prints, I’m curious to see the range (and dare I say limitations of the printable volume).
Good luck, we wait with bated breath.
I definitely will, and will look to options of what to do when a model needs to be split for printing.
My approach to 3d printing is aimed at the 95% of our hobby. So If its not simple and effective I will be saying so!
I’m very interested in this, I have already purchased and backed some kickstarters for 3d printer files. With the end goal of buying my own printer or using a 3rd party company ie shapeways.
Would this style require a conversion process for files that already exist, would they need to be re-built before use or could I take the files right from my pc to the printer?
Not really, the printer comes with its slicing software that just takes standard STL files and you use the software to determine how it will print.
Interesting… Your last adventure in 3D printing was a bit worrisome for me. I know I have no interest in taking on a new hobby (i.e. 3D printing), but I was and am interested in being able to get files to 3D print.
Seeing all your struggles and eventual abandonment of it was kind of reassuring. It confirmed my decision not to try something that I’d likely find incredibly frustrating and ultimately a waste of money.
This look a lot simpler (so possibly, if it goes well, dangerous in that it might tempt me). So it will be very interesting to see how you get on.
One early question I have for you @warzan relates the size of the print bed. Do most companies / people who produce 3D print files for gamers (including, Kickstarters) assume that those buying their files will have the other – larger – type of printer? If so, will that make some of the terrain products essential non-viable for you with this machine? And will you be able to tell before you buy the files whether or not they’ll be printable on your machine?
Might be worth learning how to 3D model; that way if a terrain piece is too big you could edit it to cut it up into smaller chunks and then print those chunks maybe.
This is the sort of thing that’s fine in theory, and I could imagine myself enjoying it if I learned how to do it. But I don’t have the time to learn how to do it and am not SO desperate to learn that I’d prioritise it over other things.
Some of the modeling things we need to do should be quite basic hopefully, I will do my best to explore that.
I think most of the kickstarters/companies will mention what printer size/capabilities you will need.
I’ve been using one of these for about half a year now and it’s a great little machine. Very quiet to use compared to an FDM device, and the resolution of the HeroForge minis it’s made has been excellent.
The green resin you get with it is worth using for some test prints as it produces some really nice translucent prints with good detail and some great looking minis, but the resin fumes are a definite issue and you’ll need good ventilation.
I ended up printing a coupling on my FDM machine off Thingiverse that replaces the fan outlet grille and hooked it upto a 3″ ventilation tube going through a window which helps a lot.
You might want to get a UV lamp to cure the product in a controlled manner- I got a nailcare UV lamp for cheap from the usual suspects which works fine and you’re not reliant on the fickle yellow ball.
If you want a good demo of what it can do try printing this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:862724 at a tiny scale with the demo green resin- it looks the business.
Oh and drain holes aren’t just to keep resin costs down- suction is an issue with hollow shapes without holes to allow air through. I’ve had a few larger prints fail because of this but HeroForge stuff is fine without (and I think their TOS forbids messing with the STL files anyway).
Meshmixer is a good tool for adding holes and hollowing models out but there’s a bit of a learning curve.
Yep meshmixer is something I’m hoping to explore with the community.
Great video guys. A couple of things: first, you do not need drain holes as you will be doing it as solid unless you are making larger items. Also, you need a alcohol bath and then cure it with a UV light. Matterhackers has a great article on cleaning and curing your prints. https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/how-to-print-clean-and-post-process-sla-3d-prints. Also look at getting one of these for curing the print https://www.amazon.com/MelodySusie-36W-UV-Nail-Dryer/dp/B00NPW16QW/ref=sr_1_5_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1548289417&sr=8-5&keywords=uv%2Bcuring%2Blight%2Bfor%2Bresin&th=1
Looking forward to more from you guys. Also, I use my FDM printers for larger terrain pieces.
Hmmm looks like $439 direct or from Amazon here in the States. Once you guys get up and running I may start saving up. 3d printing has kind of lost the luster for me as it just seems like a bunch of work to get into another hobby. Maybe this series will rekindle the interest. Thanks for taking one for the team to check this whole thing out.
I felt the same after the FDM journey, now ready to try again and see how it works out.
I be dammed…. i remember warrien with his old printer and the problems he had. I sold alot of boardgames and brought a Photon last year. Amazing, right out of the box i was printing startrek ships from 1″ to 4″ for my own battle rules… and made doors for mansions of madness…. I look forward to watching this video later….
Just a few tips from experience.
There are low/no VOC resins out there. The stock Anycubic resin has a stronger smell than third parties that I’ve bought such as MakerJuice. I’d be reluctant to use the stock resin in a small room but I am currently using makerjuice resin with my Anycubic and nobody in the house is complaining.
The rear fan is near useless. You really have to go with a secondary fan/filter combo to get any serious filtration. KEEP the FDM to make a vent/filter enclosure you can find on thingyverse.
Resin is not cheap and it is messy
Have fun, IMHO, while you can make miniatures with SLA and they are far better looking, however, FDM IMHO is still cheaper for Terrain models.
I’ve had the opposite experience. I’m now trying my luck with Wanhao resin, and that is MUCH worse than the Anycubic resin, as far as smell goes.
Keep in mind that even though the resin doesn’t smell, it might still give of fumes you don’t want to be breathing.
I am well aware. Mine is my basement and I have created an enclosure with a vent fan out of my basement window. You can find low VOC Resins. I have a few more to test over the next month or so. I do not like the Anycubic resins and will stick to 3rd party options.
Good luck with the printer and series. As a Prusa i3 user (printing PLA) I think this technology is an interesting complementary tool. It wont work for bigger pieces but it could be used to print details that could be added to the FDM prints. The combination of the two could be spectacular, think for example a church printed using the FDM and then detailed with gargoyles, windows, and other details.
I love my Prusa MK3! That thing pretty much is running most every day as I am helping build a large D&D table.
Looking forward to seeing how this goes. The price point seems good for what I’d use one for – mainly terrain items. 400 quid would be the equivalent of maybe 20 or so resin buildings, so it would pretty quickly wash its face financially.
Colour me highly interested!
I’m sorry but I can’t agree with Warren on this and for many reasons. On the one hand you are telling FDM printers are dangerous (hot nozzle and potential fire risks etc.) but do not talk about that liquid resins – the resin itself and all fumes are a bigger health hazard than any FDM printer – unless you are printing with special materials like ABS. So when handling the resin you have to wear gloves, a special mask and better have a well ventilated area. I would not let my son near the Anycubic Photon or even be in the same room while telling him the FDM printer is HOT is not a big deal.
Regarding the “printer is a hobby in itself”: these printers are currently all not the “buy and just print” type of machines and once you have to change the FEP on your Anycubic you will surely find out. It is surely true that on the FDM side more things can go wrong than with a resin printer but don’t get the illusion that the resin printer will not need your attention.
Now on the pricing of printers: I currently print with an Ender 3 which is a very cheap FDM printer (you can get one well below $200) so less than half the price of the Anycubic and perfectly viable to print all sorts of stuff for our hobby. From terrain even to miniatures I was able to print perfectly fine – if course, I would not recommend it for printing 28mm miniatures as the quality will not what we are used to.
The type of printer depends on what you want to do with in our hobby. Do you want to print terrain? If yes, a cheap resin printer is probably not the most sensible choice. The build volume is very limited and the cost of resin is prohibitive for any larger terrain prints. Compared to the price of PLA (usual material for a FDM printer) resin is too expensive unless you are happy to spends 10x the money for your self printed terrain. So for terrain there’s no question that you should go with an FDM printer. Now, if you want to print only (small!) miniatures than of course a resin printer is better. And note that I said small miniatures: printing the huge dragon model on your resin printer may be possible (if it was prepared to fit the build plate in multiple parts or you prepare it yourself) but of course would cost you a lot. But then, large miniatures can be printed perfectly well on an FDM printer.
So in conclusion: it the moment if you want to explore every aspect of 3D printing in our hobby you would need both an FDM as well as a resin printer.
fair points 🙂
we will see as the journey continues how it all works out.
currently though the danger and points of failure are in the FDM machine itself.
if the only risk in dlp is the resin then that at least opens the possibility to find an alternative resin that is of less risk. (yes that might be impossible but I’m hoping to explore it)
personally I just think FDM is flawed as it has too many moving parts and too many potential points of failure. It by design is going to be too slow and the resolution may always be an issue because of the nature of piping hot material through a nozzle (i think there may be physical limits that are going to be too costly to overcome)
I will certainly keep the FDM machine to include it where I can and will definately highlight when there are times is stomps on the dlp process.
But my thoughts are not a knee jerk reaction I have spent a long time pondering this 🙂
But I very much welcome the alternative point of view and definately want to see and hear more of it! So please keep involved as your insight on this is crucial to me 🙂
I’m curious to see your journey onward and as said I think the Anycubic is a very good machine for miniatures printing especially at the price point. I just think you should be clear on the fact that printing in resin is quite expensive as resins are typically expensive and that the build volume is limited. At the moment most 3D kickstarter we (for our hobby) get are terrain kickstarters that usually need a bigger build volume and would be very expensive to print in resin. There are some professional 3D models out there (many from individuals, financed through patreon) but we hopefully see more in the future.
You should talk to the 4ground guys and try to print a miniature from them on the Anycubic to see if the resolution is good enough. And if it is: well, we should convince 4ground to also release model to be printed at home. While I like the way they are going forward I think it can only be a intermediate step that they print the miniatures and distribute them afterwards – we are back to the old way of centralized production again…
Finally: I cannot share your thoughts that FDM printers are inherently flawed – my personal experience with the (very cheap entry level) printer that I got have been quite positive so far. While maybe not perfect in all regards I did no tinkering except setup and bed leveling – since then it printed quite well. You should also note that there are many industry grade / professional FDM printers out there – of course not at any price point that we as hobbyists would like to pay. However, have a look at this (quite pricey) kit shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7wYGaTCIW8 while outside of the price range we are currently discussing we may see improvements on the cheaper machines in this direction. And the z layer height (if I remember correctly it can go down to 0.01mm) as well as the speed are quite incredible for a home 3D FDM printer.
So as technology is moving forward and I think it will be interesting to see what the future holds and I’m happy to follow you on your journey back towards 3D printing…
Super exited to see this thing in action.
I am want a Formlabs Form 2 and the fever is slowly rising. Just need to sell my girlfriend on the idea 😀
I would have to sell my wife… just to be able to afford one 😉
I use the Creality Ender 2 FDM printer for terrain AND miniatures, and it works really well. But the Anycubic Photon is on my wishlist for the next step of details.
Ive been looking at these for a while never had a 3D printing of my own
We may be using a lot of chemicals, but we’ve also gotten rid of a lot as well.
Acrylic paint replaced enamel (sp?).
Lead replaced by non-toxic metals.
Plastic slowly replacing metal/resin
It will be interesting to see if they can reduce the toxicity of resin printing as well.
Looking forward to this series and maybe if it works well for you guys I may buy one and get into 3D printing as well.
I’ll be following this with great interest. That price is very tempting and the simplicity is a huge factor in its favour.
To be honest the small print area isn’t of much concern as you can just split up larger models if you have some 3d moddelling skill, which granted not everyone does but its also not too hard to get a basic grasp of if you are so inclined.
Hey @warzan maybe this video by “Adam Savage’s Tested” for a curing UV oven is something for you lot? https://youtu.be/etLOLUowvPI
Oooooooooooooooooooooo! You WENT with Resin! The best choice, I want to get one of those once I become employed again. I’ve since delayed loan payments and anything else, but still got that backstage going! 😛 I need that to live! lol
You need to talk to Nerys who constantly builds, modifies, debugs, and futzs with 3d FDM and occasionally resin printers and Danny Hererra who does tabletop miniatures with good quality on stuff like the Ender 3 a $200 printer kit with a 220mm x 220mm x 300mm build area.
https://www.youtube.com/user/nerys71/videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr_uz-iWzyR1VJNlN-E1y7w/videos
Just found this video the other day. I’m looking at picking up this printer myself in a couple months. Any news on that alternative resin you mentioned which only needed fairy liquid to clean/finish?
Also, speaking of disposing of the isopropyl alchohol, i was speaking to a work colleague, who also has this printer, he mentioned that after using the alchohol, he would pour it into a different tub, then put it on the window sill for a day or two, any left over resin would cure, then he pours it though a filter and then the alcohol is ready to use again.
I know disposal wasn’t the only issue with it, but though it was worth mentioning. Looking forward to following this series