LF alternative to shapeways with higher resolution printers

[lezdep]

Sergey,

I'm surprised with your motivation a few years ago with CAD 3D software and your love of Facebook that you don't have one of these yet!!!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AnycubicPhoton/

There would be many different reasons, but one main one is resolution. Still not high enough for 1/20 scale models, imho.

Then I suggest that you take another look. The Anycubic Photon is plenty capable of capturing anything you want to do in 1/20th scale. I have a friend who has one and he has printed some very finely detail 1/35th scale parts as well as a couple nicely detailed figures with very good results.

I have taken another look and got test print done by MoFo. I think you're right. Printers are capable of satisfactory resolution now.
Decided to invest into my own. Make more sense then giving money to Shapeways now.

[sky1911]

Thanks for MoFo and Icon for explaining some of the basics and pointing at those machines. As usual with things like that
I went into tutorial / review binge-watching and these things indeed appear to be awesome. The detail shown and the
quality of the untreated surface are pretty amazing.

As said, I went into a bit of quick research trying to find the pixels per inch value (read: the resolution). It shows that this
thing runs at 534 ppi on a 5.5" screen, which appears to be the screen of a Google Pixel XL or LG G3 / G4 as per here. Now
going down further in that list there is a display with the same size but a considerably higher resolution available, the Sony
Xperia Z5 premium (where the name probably hints at the price tag, premium) which also comes with a 5.5" screen but
with 801 ppi (or 3840x2160 - 4k) resolution as opposed to the 534 ppi @ 2560x1440.
I wonder if one could replace the screen currently in the Anycubic Photon (S) with that one to get even better printing
results. The way I understand it the "gate" has a higher resolution thus allowing for finer details. I'm sure that would
help with detail, but I also wonder if the z-resolution would also need to be adjusted to match or otherwise you'd still
get steps between the layers.
Anyway, according to Amazon that Z5 premium display comes in at 59€, 10€ more than the Anycubic display.

Yeez, I guess I'm off reading up more on this as this sounds like a fun toy to add to the collection

[MoFo]

Probably wouldn't work, as the main PCB would need to be able to control it, and it's designed for a 2K screen (and probably a specific 2K screen at that - you probably couldn't plug in just any 2K screen as a replacement). So you're kind of stuck with the screen it comes with. Although it's a fairly simple machine, really, so a good electronics engineer could probably hack something with a raspberry pi.

But yes, tat is the obvious next upgrade to the printers. It's probably a ways off though, since a manufacturer would need a large, reliable pool of spares to draw from, which probably requires a wider adoption of 4K phone screens. Which sort of future-proofs this generation of mSLA printers - you're relying on the much, much bigger smartphone market to drive change, so there's a lot less worry that a better model will come along in six months time.

Though after using my Photon for a while, I think I'd actually prefer a 4K tablet version - the pixel size would be pretty similar to the current 2K model (which, really, is more than sufficient for most purposes; a decent coat of filler/primer and you're good) - but there have been several occasions where I wished the build envelope was bigger. An 8" or 10" screen would be awesome.

[Grypham]

Interesting finds, Roman. Please keep us updated on what you find out regarding even higher resolution. Something tells me that, yeah, it won't be a simple screen swap.
Thanks also to MoFo and Icon.

Now if only those 3D scanners could come down in price....

Richard

[sky1911]

Hm. The build envelope has been my concern, too. I mean the one as it is would probably do for printing engines in 1/12
scale, but larger body panels will probably have to be cut up into pieces.

Anyway, further diving into the display stuff. According to Amazon the Photon uses a Sharp 5.5" LCD display (LS055R1SX03).
So it's probably not one from the smartphones I quoted above - the Pixel XL is supposed to have a AMOLED display and the 4k
replacement I thought of (Sony Xperia Z5 premium) uses a Triluminos Display, which from what I gather so far is something
similar to the classic red green blue dot setup, but with an extra dot (emerald green) and is also, according to some, based
on rather old tech - or has been around for a while, just called something fancy now.
Whatever, the above mentioned Sharp display is connected via HDMI to MIPI (just another interface type) so basically the
data is sent as if the display was a regular screen / monitor. So that should be "manageable". I'm thinking there are inter-
faces like that for Raspberry Pis available. Also it would be interesting to know, what is powering the Photon. I'm assuming
it is something like a Raspberry.

Worth noting, the display for the Anycubic Photon is not compatible (according to the Amazon page) with the Photon S.
That will need further research as to the reasons. The main question is - are all panel types usable? The way I understand
most LCD displays work as a mask that basically is able to let light (from a backlight or in this case a UV LED) shine through
or block it. In this application where UV light is allowed through, it cures the resin. Where it isn't, nothing happens. So I
wonder if OLED screens are even an option here as my understanding is that they don't need / have a back light but emit
enough light themselves - which in this application might be bad.

... further research needed.

And yeah, I had a look at 3D scanners as well and anything promising decent results is way beyond reasonably priced...
for now.

[MoFo]

I know the Photon-S UV LED array is different (it's one of the selling points, though not a major upgrade), but I haven't heard anything about the LCD screen being different.

Anyway, if you really want to get into it, here's some pics of the Photon mainboard:
https://directvoltage.com/shop/resin-3d ... mainboard/
It's derived from a Chitu board, so the chip is probably similar to this: http://www.cbd-3d.com/en/prod/dlp.shtml
You may find more info digging around the Photonsters Giyhub repo: https://github.com/Photonsters/anycubic ... ifications

[scaleautofactory]

The Photon S is marginal improved: a better touch screen, double Z-axis, uv led matrix.
The internal electronics like board and lcd-screen is same like the previous photon.
Firmware is improved - easier gui.
The print quality hasn't changed.
The main bad thing: now the housing is fully plastic instead of the aluminum body from photon.

[acer709]

Hi,
Thanks for the info and links etc.
Is the Anycubic Photon 3d printer
the best solution to create 1/12
Body for a Benetton B192 as am going to want to build it for my own use from the
1/20 Tamiya kit parts Am thinking of curbside model.
Alternatively Am not sure if I am going to do alot of this 3d printing so
Mofo coukd you give an approx price estimate to do this for me.
Body, front wing, rear wing.
Thanks keep up the good work.

[MoFo]

I can't really say if it's the 'best' printer. There are other, bigger, better printers on the market, but they're substantially more expensive, with concomitantly higher operating costs. But the Photon produces prints that are only a slight step down from the bigger money printers, at a fraction of the price. Really, it's only major limitation is size - since it's using an off-the-shelf smartphone screen as a mask, you've got a relatively small build envelope compared to laser SLA, material jetting or FDM printers.

That being said, the front and rear wings of a 1/12 B-192 would certainly fit the Photon. The body would have to be printed in a couple of sections, but it would also fit - scaling from the Tamiya kit parts, the engine cover would fill the build envelope, but the cockpit section would need to be split in two as it's a little too long. And they're simpler shapes than a modern car, so they should be easier to print.

I'd need a copy of the files to give you an estimate. It's a combination of materials costs, print time and the amount of time I'll need to spend setting them up to print. The easiest way to do that is to load the STL files into the slicer.

[acer709]

Mofo,
Thanks very much for going through the details great stuff.
I have found the cad files by Turbo squid they are $59 is that a good price?
They are by optical soft but just wanted to check they are compatible they have a free file conversion so this could be appropriate but wanted to check with you first.
And they are of the whole car which is good, no engine detail just curbside but very cool.
All clever problems indeed but so exciting!