Kaczor's post about 3D printing of a Normandy farm

[michaelwhittmann]

It was brilliant. And probably expensive.

So I think it's time for me to look into 3D printing.
I don't want to venture into this w/o the forum's assistance.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thx.

[Kaczor]

The farm was printed by my friend on Bambu Lab and custom Voron printer. Bambu printers are probably the best to start with these days. Compared to the previous generation of printers, they are almost maintenance-free.

[michaelwhittmann]

What material is the farm buildings made of?

I'm starting from scratch here.

[tankme]

Anything that is going to be outdoors needs to be printed from filament that can stand the heat. At a minimum I use PETG. I've also used ASA and ABS. ABS is kinda my go to filament right now as it's typically stronger than ASA and cheaper. There are some newer filaments starting to hit the market like Polymaker™ HT-PLA which is supposed to be good in the heat also, but it is more expensive by almost twice the cost of Bambu ABS right now. Being new it is also almost completely sold out everywhere. I can get Bambu ABS filament refills for $13.99/kg if I buy 6 of them at a time. Normal PLA or PLA+ will deform in the sun. The + is mostly marketing hype. You will find that a lot of filament types are marketing hype. Adding carbon fiber to most filments actually makes it weaker. Glass filled will actually make it stronger. My Bambu printer has lots of hours on it and it keeps chugging along.

[Kaczor]

The farm is made of PETG.

[gabr95]

Absolutely agree. 3D printing can be costly at first, but it’s amazing what you can achieve. I’ve been experimenting with some small projects myself—like printing a miniature Womens Beret for a figurine—and found that starting with simpler models helps build confidence and avoid unnecessary frustration. Exciting hobby for sure!

[Moogie]

My biggest recommendation for 3D printing is to learn how to draw in CAD. You can get Fusion for free under the hoddy licence and there are lots of tutorials on YouTube to get you started. If you can draw your own parts your not restricted to relying other people's designs . It opens up the 3D printing hobby greatly.
I taught myself CAD from YouTube, my first project was a rectangular battery box. Start small and soon you will be designing entire vehicles/ buildings.