What 3D printer should I get?
Most of our models are printable on a 220x220x250mm build plate volume. However, some of our smaller planes are printable on 250x210x210 or 180x180x180 build volumes. We recommend getting as large a printer as possible to speed up the printing process (multiple parts at once) and supporting all our current/future models.
A great example of an affordable, but high quality printer is the Neptune 2S. We use this printer for most of our models.
Below are just SOME examples - ANY SIMILAR 3D PRINTER WILL WORK!
How do I print the models?
Our files are standard STL files. All our models require mirroring of the wings and/or tail during printing. This is easily done with slicing software such as Cura. We highly recommend using Cura 5.2.2 as it has the best performance in our experience. The fuselage and other components simply require placing on the build plate in the proper orientation. Most of our planes print entirely support-less!
Here’s an example of a wing section being mirrored for printing the left and right version
Here’s an example of a fuselage section that must be oriented properly to avoid needing supports
What materials do I need?
We recommend using Polymaker Polylite LW-PLA which is prefoamed and advantageous in many ways in terms of weight and strength. It’s an almost miraculous filament which makes all of this possible!
However, many of our customers have had success with foaming lwpla and pla+ as well as ABS. Feel free to experiment - we encourage it. But keep in mind, all our stats and claims are based on the Polylite filament. Experiment at your own risk. That being said, many customers have printed our planes with foaming LWPLA such as eSun or Colorfabb, and regular PLA+ filament. Be mindful of weight, strength and rigidity when printing with those filaments especially regular PLA.
Below are also a list of other common materials you will need:
What settings should I use?
Please find below the Cura profile we commonly use for our Neptune 2S’ and Ender 3’s. This is for the Polymaker prefoamed LWPLA. Foaming LWPLA is vastly different. Since profiles vary from printer to printer, your settings may differ. Hole horizontal expansion is probably the most important setting you’ll want to get right, as this determines how well the spars will fit during assembly. Retraction/travel settings are crucial as well for clean, gap-free single wall prints.
Also take a look at one of our planes’ manuals for more in-depth information.
Why are there gaps on the floor?
On most of our recent models, there are “gaps” in the floor of the aircraft. These gaps are 0.1mm wide and stop 0.4mm short of the top of the floor. They are there to trick your printer into printing a double-wall support in order to strengthen the floor and spread the load during landings. If this gap prints non-fused, please adjust your slicer settings. We highly recommend using Cura 5.2.2 to ensure these print perfectly fused.
