Microsoft Builder
If you have Windows 10, there is a program already included called Builder from Microsoft. It's essentially the 3D printing version of Microsoft Paint. The models start as solids so there is no issue converting 2D to 3D or troubleshooting holes, water-tightness, or any of that kind of stuff. It's no where near Blender or Autocad in terms of horsepower and capability, but if you want to import existing STL files and fiddle with them or try building some basic things like track links, it's really simple to use. One fantastic feature in Builder is that it will fix flawed models so that they will print with one click of the repair button. Again, there are more advanced tools for repairs too like netfabb but if you just need to stitch up some holes or fix some bad geometry Builders easy repair might do the trick.
Rhino
For my own efforts, I've tried Autocad, Max, Blender, Sketchup and several others but ended up settling on a combination of Builder and Rhino. Rhino is a NURBS (solids) CAD tool that that many professionals use for 3D printing. You can even model in NURBS and Mesh at the same time which is great if you are using existing Mesh models. They offer an educational version for much less. Rhino has saved me a tremendous amount of time doing more complex models.
Makergear
My printer is the Makergear M2 Rev E. It's a fantastic PLA/ABS printer. (See pics) Building your printer can be fun but my personal preference was to spend my time making prints not building and troubleshooting the printer itself so this was a great option. They provide several software tools that make leveling the bed, re-leveling the nozzle (Z-Axis) and other things very quick to do. I typically print in either fast for prototyping or ultra for a final test version. (all of my final-final items are done by Shapeways today). They have single or multiple extruder models and you can swap out the nozzles for more or less detail depending on the job. Their support is outstanding.
Bed adhesion
I tried most of the methods except for sugar water which looks interesting. My most consistent success was with printing PLA using Elmers Jumbo Purple glue sticks. Note that the purple turns white when it dries which is a neat trick working on paper projects. The best part? Not only do the parts stick really well, but if you spray a little windex on the bed afterwards the glue turns back to purple and you can stir it up a bit and use it again! I'm lazy, yes it's true.
Simplify3D
One other app you may need is a printer management tool. These are sometimes called slicers because the slice a 3D model into layers that the printer can understand and print. There are some free ones but based on a lot of forum reading I ended up buying Simplify3D. It's very handy when you want to take a single model and fill the whole bed with duplicates for a single print like tracks. You can also make a lot of print tweaks based on detail, support structures, quick print, sla, pla etc. and save the profiles for future use. Other users post their "FFF" files online so you can just import one for your printer that's already well tweaked. S3D also shows the job build in real time so if you aren't right next to the printer you can follow the print progress from your PC.
Build or buy?
No matter what printer you buy, check out their website and make sure the forum community is healthy and active. It can be invaluable when trying to solve problems regardless of whether you build or buy your printer. It's also a decent test of how many other people bought the same printer. A great printer brochure with dead forums is telling.
Print myself or Shapeways?
The nice thing about having a printer, most of the time, is that you can test print items fairly quickly. If you are trying to nail down scale, test fit with other parts, etc.. this is really handy. Quality wise, Shapeways materials are still hands down the best out there. They have their challenges too, one being they are very picky about model quality. Outside of that, they also do all of the work removing any support structures your models may required due to hollow areas, overhangs, wires, etc. and depending on the part that can be a big job by itself. You can also take any model you've done and if it passes their tests, post it to your shop to share with the rest of us.
They handle all of the ecommerce work and the fees are very fair. Better than ebay by far.
Some images:
Turret on left is Shapeways WSF, on the right it's the Makergear M2 Rev E in PLA. They look pretty similar right?
If you get closer you can see that the detail is much better on the WSF print, you can even see through the MG barrel shroud to the brass below. On the PLA print the flaws are more apparent and the MG tube has gone solid.
One thing that Shapeways WSF is amazing at is printing overhangs and interiors without support material. Check out the springs that were printed inside the frame of this 1:16 Pack Howitzer which was printed as a single part. The Kett in the back was WSF and the Panzer I tracks in the front are M2 PLA on Ultra.
Wheels and rims turn out much closer because the geometry is much friendlier to the PLA printer as long as the print orientation is correct. Scout Car wheel is PLA, Jeep MBT Trailer wheel is WSF.
The right side Dragon's Tooth and Scout Car rear panel are PLA and the Pak 36 Shield is WSF.
And finally Shapeways WSF (left) vs Shapeways FUD (right) painted and unpainted.
