Print-Rite 3D Printer from Hobbyking

[Spitfire]

Not the most vibrant forum on the internet and I'm not sure if you guys are in to professional type 3D printing using thousands of pounds worth of equipment - but I am at the cheap end of the scale and thought I'll have a go ...

Bit of background - I'm 63 - live in deepest darkest S W Cornwall - been building and flying model planes since I was 10

I just love the fettling side of the hobby and if pushed would say my enjoyment comes 80% from the building and 20% from the flying.

So - this week (for my 63rd birthday) I decided to have a pop at this 3D printing lark ... I use Hobbyking http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/st ... sp?whl=GBR a lot for my models and they're relatively cheap. Although - like most - they are China based they are developing a UK warehouse and their delivery service is brilliant. So I have been keeping an eye on their 3D printing section.

My best mate who lives in Kidderminster and has been making models with me for 40+ years has just bought their Turnigy Fabrikator http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/st ... ouse_.html

But my budget was a bit more limited and I went for the Print-Rite which is a rebadged Colido

http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/st ... ouse_.html

It doesn't have a heated bed - but it did come with a 1kg roll of PLA - and it was well packaged and I had it assembled and printing in about 30 minutes. It uses Repetier-Host software and that has Slicr3 built in.

The bed comes covered in 'Blue Painters Tape' and they add some spare in the box - but I soon realised that's just masking tape - so I've been using that ... I find that a wipe with acetone to clean it of any dirt/imperfections and a quick spray of hairspray and everything sticks well.
In fact it sticks a bit too well - and I've decided that, to avoid damage to the bed, when I take jobs off I just remove the tape and the job together then just retape.

I have used Autodesk 123d to design stuff http://www.123dapp.com/design but haven't done much yet as most things are on Thingverse

I am most impressed with the Print-Rite - it is easy to use - cheap - and fairly robust - easily moveable - and for me as a basic hobbyist I think it'll be fine.

I emailed Hobbyking technical about heated beds and they tell me that within a couple of months there will be a heated bed kit for this model to include a beefed up power supply (regarding amp draw)

Anyway - there you go - a review

[3dadmin]

Welcome and thanks for the short review !

[iDig3Dprinting]

Thanks for the review @spitfire. As a maker of things did you consider trying to make your own 3D printer?

[Spitfire]

I never considered it, as my one blank spot is electrickery ... despite years of trying I do not understand amps and volts and resistances and all things circuitry. But, ironically in my model building I am all electric
This is because I see what battery goes with what motor by research and just connect up from diagrams I find on the internet - I know nothing about why/how it works, as long as it does

So, from looking at my recent purchase and its mass of wiring and circuitry etc, I can see my blindspot would have been a significant disadvantage

So I did what I do best - research - buy one - then learn how to use it

I am currently ploughing through loads of youtube tutorials on Autodesk 123d so I can 'design' things of my own to assist my flying hobby - and with Thingiverse out there I've just printed an excellent WW1 Spandau machine gun for a Fokker Eindecker model I've recently built

[iDig3Dprinting]

Hi @Spitfire,

Yes electronics can be a nightmare and very fiddly but as you have said it generally comes down to research. We are currently putting together a series of articles on how to build your own 3D printer, we are only on part 2 - sourcing the parts ( https://www.idig3dprinting.co.uk/news/b ... ter-parts/ ) and we haven't finished that yet. Once we have though we will go to part 3 assembly.

The printer you have is of a similar design to the one we are building it's a Prusa model.

It's amazing that you were able to find a model for a specific gun, thingverse has a vast database.

We spent a bit of time trying to find model aeroplanes akin to airfix models which we thought we would find in abundance, at the time we only really found one. how have you been doing finding models for flying models?

[Spitfire]

, we are only on part 2 - sourcing the parts ( https://www.idig3dprinting.co.uk/news/b ... ter-parts/ ) and we haven't finished that yet.

Blimey you may as well try to explain how to build the Titanic in Swahili with all those bits

Whilst I'm happy to scratchbuild in balsa and ply and I've built hundreds of airfix models over the years I can't see the benefit of building from scratch in this context when I had a ready to use, and very adequate, printer here for less than £230 in 2 days and printing in less than an hour from receipt.

It's down to budget I suppose - I wouldn't want to spend much more than I did and couldn't justify much more money for what I am aiming to use it for. Nor would I want to spend hours sweating over the purchase and construction of hundreds of bits to get to the same place.

It's amazing that you were able to find a model for a specific gun, thingverse has a vast database.

We spent a bit of time trying to find model aeroplanes akin to airfix models which we thought we would find in abundance, at the time we only really found one. how have you been doing finding models for flying models?

It was really easy - you search 'Spandau Gun' in Thingverse and hey presto Couldn't be simpler

I haven't needed to search for any more specific bits just yet - I have looked around for quadcopter motor mounts and there's quite a few of those out there...
I'm building a ducted fan Hawk at the moment (Red Arrow style) and can't see me needing any bits for that ... but I'll stick with my Autodesk tutorials and have a go at designing something I may need in the fullness of time .... plenty of time is what I have ...

Good luck with your kit .... not for me though ... far too complicated

[iDig3Dprinting]

We are building it from scratch with the specific purpose of offering guidance to others. It's more expensive this way but we learn a lot and so are able to pass on what we learn. The other advantage is that we can fix & service it ourselves.

[3DexLtd]

Hi Spitfire,

Nice to see you're a fellow model aircraft enthusiast.

A few years ago I finished a Brian Taylor Me-109 and hope to start on a BT P-47 sometime this year.

Have you got anything on the build board?


Cheers,
Will,
http://www.3dexfilament.co.uk