Komodo Raider

[garylmast]

I see these models on MyMiniFactory and I just can't resist. I had to do the Pirate twice. When I was slicing it, for some reason the scale was wrong, which gave him a diet, so it would fit on the crocodile. There was about 30 slices total. Oh well, anything to keep busy. I applied the Bronze Metal Coating. The size is about 20" Long and 17" Tall. https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d ... hor-134993

Gary

[highpockets]

That is so COOL!!!! What's the material? How much clean up was there?

Thanks for sharing....

[garylmast]

John,

Actually applying the metal powder is fairly simple and once you do it, you’ll find a lot of projects to apply it on.
First you need a few inexpensive tools:
1: Spray gun with a 2.3mm nozzle for a little over $40 on places like Amazon or Ebay. Not the same one at Harbor Freight which is only 1.6mm. (Titan Gravity Feed HVLP Spray Gun 2.3mm nozzle)

2. A digital scale that measure grams ( about $10 on Amazon).

3. Plastic container to clean gun. You need about a cup Acetone to clean the gun. Completely disassemble and clean each part immediately after you have sprayed the resin to avoid it setting in the gun. Takes about 5-minutes to clean the gun, it takes about 10-minutes when the resin starts hardening.

I get the metal powder and resin from https://www.metalpowdersusa.com although he doesn’t list the resin on his website, you can call or email him from his website. The resin is a lot thinner than fiberglass resin you get at Home Depot or an auto parts store. The thinner resin when mixed with the metal sprays better. I’ve attached a pdf that shows the mixing ratio for each metal. Make sure you paint the the model with Primer before applying the metal mixture.

I use a board with nails sticking out to suspend the model while spraying, sitting on some cardboard. Use Steel wool and a light gage wire and nylon brushes to sand off the surface resin after it has set for several hours. You may also apply some patina to highlight parts. If you sand through, mix up a little in a plastic cup and touch up with a flux brush.

Although Aspire has a slicing feature, it’s not always applicable, so I use Rhino, Netfabb and ZBrush to manipulate the models, however, there should be a lot of free software that will work. I found the software that runs my 3-D Printer also has a slicing feature.
Gary