Finishing 3D printing is a labor-intensive process, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of practice to get a beautiful, smooth surface suitable for painting. Deep printing layer lines or small surface defects can be smoothed with a variety of materials from putty to resin, but the deeper the defect, the denser the filler will be and this will affect the surface details – smoothing them out and creating fine details is less distinctive. [Darkwing dad] There is another solution that is quite easy to achieve, by mixing acetone with glazing putty it can be airbrushed at once on the printing surface. After a little experimentation with the ratio of putty and acetone, a wide open nozzle and a low pressure, it was found that a beautiful even spray can be achieved. Importantly it dries in just a few minutes, enabling you to apply multiple coats in a short amount of time.
Once sufficient thickness has been applied, the coating can be easily sanded to obtain a smooth result and fill in the worst gaps and the layer lines are neatly concealed. The final part of the filling process is more simple, a few coats of filler primer are applied directly from a rattle can, then there is a light sand and you are good for painting.
We cover smooth 3D prints as long as we cover 3D printing itself, and there are multiple ways to do this, depending on the filament material, your budget, and your tolerance for harmful fumes. Here’s a guide to smoothing using UV curable resin, using a special smooth filament with IPA, and finally if it’s too fancy, smelly or expensive, take out the old butane torch and burn those prints with good old fashioned fire. Smooth 6
Thanks [Zane] For the tip!