Best filler/primer/paints in the UK to use?

[spare bough]

I'm based in the UK and FB's video seem to contain products that I cant seem to find, this is my first print so I want to make sure I dont mess anything up. It'd be for a stormtrooper helmet, and I plan to do the rest of the suit too, so if anyone can point me in the right direction as to what works for u and would work for a beginner on their first time, would appreciate it ❤️

[neon shoal]

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[slim prairie]

Just wondering...
Did you already try ANY of the paints and primers in the UK from any of the other 50 times someone has asked

What paint or primer should I use in the UK?
Stormtrooper. So black and white... Right?
Whatever your local autoparts store has will be fine.

[viral knot]

Available in the UK: MOTIP, who have a decent primer/filler in rattle can. And all colors for cars, even brand specific colors, also in rattle cans

"the war painter" : 24 different colors primer also available in UK.

for a stormtrooper : satin or gloss white and satin or matte black.

[spare bough]

Primer filler is okay to use instead right ? The vid I saw of them painting the same file I used primer filler. Honestly I’m confused and overwhelmed since this is also completely new to me and never had any experience with this before.

Gloss white and Matt black sounds like it’ll be perfect

Putty Joints
Sands down
Filler Primer x3 coats
sands down
1 coat filler primer
Sand downs
resin, cure w UV light
Isopropyl clean
Sands down

once smooth, paint.

Is basically the steps I’ve got noted for my slow brain

[viral knot]

Like I said primer filler from Motip is available in UK but if the dents are deep , use a polyester filler first.

[spare bough]

Oh gotcha

I think was u who saw my other post, iirc u said to just use primer filler right?(it was)

[viral knot]

epoxy putty for the seams where you glue stuff, polyester filler like this picture from another chat, the circular bits on top (is where the supports were) is the layer right on top of the bottom interface layer. you need a real polyester filler for that, the stuff you use on a car, mainly because that stuff sands easier than epoxy.

[spare bough]

Ah okay the putty I had in Amazon basket was milliliput, will find polyester filler

[viral knot]

for smoothing layer lines, but if you print a helmet upside down , you need to use more filler where the supports are broken off.

just filler for a car will do, that is polyester filler and easier to sand than milliput.

[spare bough]

First result 🤷‍♂️

[viral knot]

that will do

[spare bough]

I think I printed the face plate up right, I can’t remember tho

[viral knot]

milliput for the seams (if you put a bit of miliput in the seam, work it with a wet finger, unhardened milliput can easily worked to smooth when using a wet finger (you should wear a rubber or nitrill glove,

yes, i remember, i told you to tilt it

how did that work?

[spare bough]

Ohh I don’t remember that 😮

Unless it was when I was trying to print the whole helmet as one, changed to printing it in pieces

[viral knot]

tilting it backward puts the supports on the inside of the facemask, + it increases the footprint (better adhesion, less chance for being knocked over)

[spare bough]

Okay so I could consider reprinting the face plate? I am getting resin printer end of the month to print the smaller details with for future prints but considering it with this print

It’s mainly that part in the middle that I’m concerned about, that bottom part I think I could probably fix up okay

[viral knot]

But I answered so many questions of so many people, i don't remember the helmet itself, if i'm correct that was abou the mandalorian helmet? i told you to put it straightup as much as possible to increase the room between the bottom edge and the plate for supports

show me pics, mu\y visual memory is better.

[spare bough]

Ohhh yeah think u have me confused w someone else haha, its just that one storm trooper helmet I’ve mentioned here afaik

(Ignore the shit heap of my room)

[viral knot]

mmm. printing any faceplate straight up is not a good idea usualy, tilt it backward and there will be no supports on the front, and inside is not important, you probably gonna glue foam in there.

so what if it is a bit rough inside?

[spare bough]

I’ll see how it goes w those issues in the bottom, worst case I just reprint the face plate and tilt it as u said if it’s not fixable.

Rough inside is fun

Fine*

[spare bough]

It’s like this on the bottom tho

[viral knot]

I know, but remember , you print support, on top of that a interface layer , better 3 interface layers, which are basically bridges. on top of that you print the bottom object layer break away the supports and you get that, like the bottom lines are not fused (which they aren't).
I usually take a chisel and take them off, then polyester filler.

You will get the same inside the dome when you print that, where the supports go.

[slim prairie]

Honestly I’m confused and overwhelmed since this is also completely new to me and never had any experience with this before
So you're working on so test parts to learn on first - right? I mean, you're not jumping straight to real parts, real armor until you get a feel for sanding, priming, painting... testing and learning first, right?

May I make a couple suggestions for starting out with printing then moving on to practicing your finishing?:
• Print a few test XYZ cubes in a larger size like 100mm. When you have tuned and dialed in so you can print without a bunch of defects, echoing and so on use them for finishing practice.
They're quick to print and flat faced making them good learning subjects for your sanding and spot filling. Get where you can finish them off to look like milled metal. This also gives you 6 faces per cube to use for paint testing/samples. You'd much rather see bad paint interactions here than on your real parts.
• Then move to printing something more complex like a speed shape with curves and grooves. Same as above, learn to sand, smooth and paint curves and engravings. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4826498
• Then work your armor from the ground upward and hands inward. By the time you get to the chest and helmet you should be an old hand at finishing.

[slim prairie]

Personally - Don't go down that road of slathering the entire part/prop in bondo or resin.
You can get great results without introducing a dissimilar material that likes to shatter when thin.
1 - Spot putty small defects
2 - Sand, Prime, {repeat}
3 - Paint.
4 - Wear

[viral knot]

most people start with helmets, no shit

[spare bough]

Kinda just putting myself in the deep end by starting w the helmet.

Also ngl u lost me 😭

[slim prairie]

Not in my world of armor they don't. The helmet is the beauty part, not the part you want to look like your first learning part.

[spare bough]

I get that, tho not like I’m going for something with as much detail as this. Different people learn different ways, that pic w the explanation might make perfect sense to anyone with even basic knowledge but honestly my brain just ain’t registering that at all.

I also do have family members with a background in this side of things as they have previously built boats, cars, trains etc, tho not the same thing hence why I am here for specific parts that may not translate from their experience

[viral knot]

why would i want 100 suits? i have 1 that is 75% printed, and i'm working on a masterchief helmet based on the FXBX helmet from series one, which is going to be my suit, the starboost that is 75% printed is not for me

gotta build me a vacuform machine next

[slim prairie]

With no tag or reply to... Don't know who you're repling to or about what. Who said anything about making 100 suits?

[slim prairie]

FBFX helmet
??

[viral knot]

@slim prairie "Not in my world of armor they don't" implying more than 1 suit

[slim prairie]

No idea why you're implying that - out of thin air.
I was referring to my cosplay world of dozens of other cosplayers - and nobody I know (that's any good or has decent looking gear) did so by having their helmet be first.
First parts always look like learning parts.

[viral knot]

yes fbfx over there in feltham

[slim prairie]

?

Are you trying to say the helmet from season 1 of the Halo TV series?

[viral knot]

but i'm not into cosplay, i know enough people with suits that are not into cosplay and we want every piece to be the best possible.

[slim prairie]

That's awesome. Look, you do you... Take advice or don't... I'm just suggesting as I do regularly for the last many years...
Start at the feet and work up... hands and work in... Learn on the parts nobody is staring at.
Do the helmet last so that you've leveled-up your skills by the time you get to the beauty part that everyone phtoographs and stares at when they meet you

[spare bough]

That is fair

Not a bad idea.

Aight maybe I’ll start with the boots,

[spare bough]

Tho I am confused about this still

[viral knot]

I am almost done with my 3d models of the fbfx replica, got built-in indents for the fans, lights mesh under the cap sucking air in front of the visor and blowing it to the inside so it wont fog up

[spare bough]

This is cool af

[slim prairie]

I figure it this way... The vast majority of photos tend to be like these. People see you... photograph you... look at you... From the waist up. Your boots can look horrible, and you can distress them the most... hide it with faux mud... whatever... Nobody is looking at that closely.

[slim prairie]

Yep... Pretty much what I did with mine. Fans in at the jaw... out at the top (through the UA)... playing into the heat rises/chimney effect. Microphone in the face plate to the voice amp.

[viral knot]

I've been 3dprinting since 1993 , since 2004 at home on my own fdm machines, I don't have to learn how to, I know so i concentrate on finishing my stuff, printing is automatic pilot

[slim prairie]

👏🏻

[viral knot]

And I'm into SF models, statues and my new project a 26 inch Yoda automatron

[slim prairie]

Def a fan of the removable visor and helmet cam. Great for recording at conventions etc.

[viral knot]

those magnetic connectors are a bitch to fit into the model without supergluing.

a Suit for me is just a lifesize statue that you can wear, cheaper than solid too 😀

[slim prairie]

Ok. What are you confused about?
sand. light dusting of primer to highlight the defects. sand some more.
Start with coarse grits of sandpaper. Working toward finer grits. Eventually to wet sanding.
when you're happy: Final primer. Then color

[viral knot]

@slim prairie what is your take on ASA or PETG instead of PLA?

[slim prairie]

Never PLA on anything going outside of the house. Statues or display, staying in the air-con: sure.
But never for functional parts... cosplay... real world etc.

Its great beginner material: Very forgiving. You can print from 180-220 and still not have a puddle of goo. That's why printer sellers give it away with the printer: So the learner user can start with some easy success

[viral knot]

not only that, but petg and ASA are easier to sand.

[slim prairie]

Absolutely

[viral knot]

and I print ASA and PETG on 250 mm/s

[spare bough]

Is this a bad time to say I printed in PLA? I assumed because I live in the UK and not somewhere humid it would be fine

[slim prairie]

Sounds about right for my CoreXY machines. I won't print that fast on a bed slinger

[spare bough]

And also that sounds much simpler than any of these guides

[viral knot]

untill now I found only 1 pla at the same price that actualy prints 250 mm/s in good quality.

Iuse spectrum ASA 275 and eSUN PETG +HS on 250 mm/s

[slim prairie]

Less about humidity than heat. PLA has a much lower glass-transition temperature. Meaning the temp it gets soft and warpable at. So you want to avoid putting those PLA items in a hot car boot... summer temps... at the park in the sun... luggage on the tarmac if you're flying with it... etc.

[spare bough]

Also Primer, filler primer or just primer ?

[slim prairie]

Either. Whatever is cost effective. Filler primer is nice if its not 3x the cost to you

[spare bough]

Autumn comic con should be fine but the summer one may be an issue then.

[viral knot]

pla starts deforming at 53 degrees C or something glass transition at 66 degees or so.

[spare bough]

It gets about 30 roughly max in the summer, 35 on a real bad summer, but not sure how that translates to actual temp of the material

[viral knot]

ASA and PETG 90 degrees

[slim prairie]

Don't confuse air temp with parts temp. THe parts can get well hotter than the air temp especially if they are in the sun, in a car trunk etc.

[viral knot]

if the sun shines straight on it 50 degrees. those temps you name are measured in the shade.

[slim prairie]

So many melted droids, props, armor get posted all the time around the various social channels. Sucks seeing someone with melts parts just because he was painting them outdoors

[viral knot]

and black is affected worse than white, because black absorbs all light.

[spare bough]

Okay so what I’ll do then is just have this helmet as a decorative piece, and restart w a better material for an actual wearable armor, in the mean time I’ll practice sanding PLA w the cubes u mentioned

[slim prairie]

I saw a guy standing in line to get into a convention... about 10am... line snaked from indoors to outdoors... and his back armor was starting to soften while we stood in the sun in queue

[spare bough]

That’s so depressing 😭

What material should I print in? I’m also getting resin printer for the small details

PETG right?

I hear ABS u can IPA bath to smooth it

[slim prairie]

Yeah it was. Bigger thicker heavier peices with more mass can take it longer - but generally we try avoiding going big thick and heavy because its exhausting to wear

[slim prairie]

"vapor bath" - youtube it. not dunk it like a bath

ABS also means enclosed and vented machine because ABS printing fumes

[spare bough]

Damn yeah that’s not quite possible w the way my setup is at the moment

PETG it is

[viral knot]

I sometimes get filament from a dutch manufacturer, TM3d, they had a nice ASA that cost the same as PLA and used the same settings, temp 195-130 was only 75 mm/s. can't wait till they use a additive to get to 200 or 250 mm/s

I can print ASA on my bed slinger or with the lid and door of my K1Max open

[slim prairie]

Yeah. I use ASA on my big machine for car/motorcycle parts and other industrial printing.

[viral knot]

it has about the same specs as ABS, just dont overheat it.

[slim prairie]

With the high humidity where I am (Queensland AU) - its sometimes more picky because its so hygroscopic. If I can do PETG for a project its less prone to soaking up mosture quickly

[viral knot]

TM3d also has a neat PLA FLEX, i printed a basketball with it, about the same specs as TPU

[slim prairie]

Yeah - but still that low warp temp of PLA

But it is better in machines with AMS like the Bambu line

[viral knot]

in 2 years that will change, they will in time put an aditive in pla to prevent warp at lower temps

[spare bough]

Any brands u recommend if I’m gonna be printing the armour in PETG?

Usually I go for elegoo since I got a n3max

[viral knot]

but for print speeds of 30-75 most printers wil work ok with ASA

[spare bough]

Resin and filament

ASA is better than PETG?

[viral knot]

it takes in less moisture than PETG. moisture causes stringing, brittle(but so does absence of moisture

if petg takes on moisture it expands, and if it is heated steam bubbles will form in the filament thus clogging and stringing etc.

ASA usually is a bit more expensive than PETG. but I like the stuff

[spare bough]

I’m falling asleep, I’ll check back here in the morning, appreciate the time of you guys

[viral knot]

l8tr

what's the time down under @slim prairie

local is 06:15

[slim prairie]

1517 on 20jan

[viral knot]

9 hours later

gotta remember that

[slim prairie]

You're GMT, right?
So I think that means we're earlier, not later

I'm at GMT +10

[viral knot]

its jan 20 06.17 here

[slim prairie]

right. at jan 20 at 1517 here

So we're ahead of you... We reach a specific time earlier than you

We're saying the same thing - just differently

[viral knot]

you are ahead yes, not earlier 😀

[slim prairie]

That's the same thing

If I get to the train station, earlier than you... I've gotten there ahead of you

Different growing up - different dictionaries - different Englishes

hahah

[viral knot]

if the distance to your station is the same as my station to me, I am earlier 😀

time is relative according to einstein and my hero Hawking

[slim prairie]

Agreed - All my relatives are always late. haha

[viral knot]

the whole time thing is weird anyway. according to einstein you cannot go faster then light, if you do you travel back in time relatively at speeds > lightspeed

[slim prairie]

Well... You'd reach infinite mass... needing infinite energy to do it... so at infinite mass doesn't that make you the same mass as... well... everything all together.... and then some?

I'm fat enough as it is!

[viral knot]

and now some physicists say that you could go faster than light. ergo travel back in time

i would like to shave off a few years (and pounds)

[slim prairie]

I don't know as I hold to the litteral "go back in time" on that. More that you'd be able to see back in time, because you'd be racing the photons and winning. So you could get ahead of them and pick any point you wanted to see by going far enough out, faster than light

[viral knot]

i like einstein-rosen bridge better, or using the heisenberg principle

that shoul speak to you aussie, surfing spacetime

[slim prairie]

I'll stick with a type-40 time capsule and a bag of Jelly Babbies

[viral knot]

tardus cool

or is it tardis?

[slim prairie]

i
Time
And
Relative
Dimension
In
Space

[viral knot]

i love the latest itteration of dr who, starting with christoffer eckleston. no more all studio, but location too

[slim prairie]

The 2005 incarnation of the show was good until... the they decided to revamp how the show was made a couple doctors back... dropped all the production values and went for 'messaging' instead of content

[viral knot]

but I have seen the tv show from the start, all the doctors jon pertwee, sylvester mccoy etc

[slim prairie]

I feel sorry for Jodie Whittiker. She's a good actress that I feel could have done the role justice. But she was whammied by being a female at the time they dropped all the production values. Fans tended to blame her, instead of management and production head.

[viral knot]

I like the show now better than season 1 original, black and white all studio

[slim prairie]

Tom Baker will always be "my doctor"

But I'm an old guy - that's who played him when I was young

[viral knot]

mine was Pertwee

i'm almost 67 😀

[slim prairie]

Ok. You win. 57

Wait... That's not right... Let me ask Siri...
no, I'm 58

Well... Big parts are off the printer. Now I have to clean them up.
Joy

Great talking to you @viral knot but work needs me.

[viral knot]

is that a giant storm?

[slim prairie]

It is.

[viral knot]

cool

[slim prairie]

Right now running with dual head

[viral knot]

nice

800x800x800?

[slim prairie]

840x840x1000

Those parts coming off are 14kg each

[viral knot]

how long did it take to print those 2?

[slim prairie]

6 days

[viral knot]

djeez

I think you could print the entire starboost in one of those

ok, go to work, i'll take a nap.

cul8r

[slim prairie]

I can run an entire Spartan in one go - so starboost should fit

Maybe 2 jobs for best parts orientations

[viral knot]

so nice, unfortunately to big for me, you cannot move it , weight is 100 KG or so?

and too wide, won't fit through a door

[slim prairie]

Yep. About that. Casters are a must mod to do

Printer so big you get in it to clean it. haha

Ok - really have to run. Have a good day!

[viral knot]

I'll have to stick with my neptune 3 max for big parts or maybe buy a K2 plus or wait for a big bambu

bye

[spare bough]

@slim prairie poly cement to stick the3 helmet(top dome, backplate and faceplatye) pieces together(PLA fusing instead), easy to sand body filler, 80,180,320,500 grit sandpaper for mouse sander, filler primer, satin white, satin lacquer. Seems I forgot to put back the white primer and universal primer

[slim prairie]

You work on commission, right?

[spare bough]

?

[spare bough]

Just wanted to make sure i got everything right, will be starting tomorrow so.. Though this will be a test as its printed in PLA, will reprint in PETG

[slim prairie]

Just being humorous about your shopping spree-All the paints etc.
(My pic was the shopping spree scene from "Pretty Woman" where she tells the sales girl that refused her)

You work on commission right? Big mistake... big... HUGE mistake. Gotta run now, more shopping to do.

body filler, 80,180,320,500 grit sandpaper for mouse sander, filler primer, satin white, satin lacquer.
Yeah, seems like a good assortment to get you started

[spare bough]

ahh okay lol, the reference was unfortunately lost on me

[slim prairie]

No worries. For being a RomCom its a pretty decent movie. And that "You work on commission?" scene is so well known I'd pretty much say it's made it into "pop culture conscouness".

Two minute watch says it all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyQPUuGVXwM