3D Printing for 20mm Chain of Command

With my platoon STLs sourced the next step is to resize, sort out supports and determine resin settings - which anyone who has used a 3D printer will know may well turn out not to be a walk in the park.

My 3D printer is Phrozen Sonic Mini 8K S printer which works for me as I have limited space on my desk. It has a relatively small plate as a result but produces excellent prints. I will be using Elegoo 8K Space Grey resin which I find to be a good balance of flexibility, resolution and of course, price.

When resizing STLs I have found that some are more "heroic 28mm" than 28mm but I start with a 78% reduction and then compare to see if a further reduction is needed. With Colonel Muller's files a simple 78% is perfect.

I use LycheeSlicer to batch resize to 78%, repair where needed and add supports. This is where the resizing of files presents the first challenges: rifles and AT gun barrels can get very thin and I faced a challenge with the edges of some of the French helmets which would get damaged when removing supports after printing. 

The fiddly supports on the back of French helmets

Overview of typical supports

I am printing at 0.025mm, so quite high resolution and near the maximum of the printer. As mentioned I support in Lychee, export to Chitubox and then create the print file.

After a lengthy printing (due to the resolution) and cleaning, I let them dry for a day and then a dip in very hot water before very careful support removal.

And voila!

A finished print in 20mm