What do you use for...?

Occasionally I get asked what I use for resin or whatever, so here I reveal all!

Printer

I use an Elegoo Saturn 8K. It is a decent price, and the resolution is good enough that you do not lines, even when printing curves such as on a tank wagon.

That said, Elegoo do a more recent version of the Saturn, and if I was buying one now, I would use that, because of the extra convenience features.

Resin

I use Elegoo Standard 2.0 grey. I started with this as it is the printer manufacturer's resin, so should be tailored to the machine, and it works well, so I have stuck with it. If you buy a pack on 10 bottles it is about £16/kg.

I have used about 15 kg in 18 months.

Slicer

I use ChiTiBox - the free version -  for creating CTB files for the printer, as that is what came with the printer, though I have upgraded to a more recent version.

It has setting for my printer built in, and I use them more or less as is. I did increase the exposure in the base layer, but must admit I am not sure if I did that on the version I am now using.

Wash

I use IPA. It is non-toxic, and low flammability.

If you use water, you still have to dispose of the waste afterwards; you might as well do that with IPA and recycle it. I recycle by leaving in the sun for a few hours, shaking occasionally, then leaving to settle over night, and decanting off the IPA. Give it a good shake to break up clumps, then leave to settle a few more days, and decant off again.

I have used about 10 l in 18 months.

Glue

I generally use superglue to stick parts together, though if there is a large surface area I will use UHU.

Paint

I use acrylic paints, and more specifically paints for wargaming. For primer, I use Warhammer or Army Painter; the latter have a larger range of colours, and are slightly cheaper, though I think I slightly prefer the Warhammer.

For painting I mostly use Warhammer, but I have recently discovered Ammo. 

Warhammer paints come in a variety of types that basically define how thick it is: base, layer and shade. for me, it would be easier if they were all layers. They do some "technical" paints too for effects, including "ardman", which gives a very high gloss. The metallics are great too. The pots are designed so you shake them and then when you open them there is paint on a lip of the lid ready for you.

Ammo are a Spanish company, and while they are primarily for wargaming, they do target model railways too. They even do a BR Blue set; I am not sure how accurate the colours are (I have poor colour vision, so not something I can comment on). The bottles have small holes allowing you to easily drop just a small amount on to your palette, which is great for mixing. I use yoghurt pot lids for mixing.



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