What Is Achievable With FFF 3D Print Technology?

After seeing this incredible 3D print, you realize what is truly possible with FFF technology.

I ran across a post on Reddit where artist Marco Di Lucca posted an image of a 3D print he’s been working on. You can see the image above. For those who don’t recognize the figure, it’s the Walter White character from the AMC series Breaking Bad, played by actor Bryan Cranston.

It’s a large print by any measure, and it has absolutely incredible detail.

Notice the smooth surfaces, the textured skin and, of course, the perfectly formed eyeglasses. The beard has a texture all its own. It would be completely unscannable by any device I know, yet it’s near perfect in structure.

This massive resin print is incredible. One commenter asked, “how much resin did you use?”

The answer was: “None.”

This print was not made on a resin 3D printer, the platform where one can achieve this level of quality.

No, it was made on — wait for it — a standard Creality CR-10S 3D printer using FFF technology.

This incredible 3D print was made with filament extrusion!

Di Lucca was asked how the beard was modeled in 3D. He responded with:

“The beard was converted into polygons from the xgen groom then dynameshed.”

I’m not even sure what that means, but it is certainly an effective process.

Di Lucca explained the manner of 3D printing:

“It’s been printed in 3 pieces on a cr10s pro. Layer height 0.16mm with standard 0.4 mm nozzle. Print speed 50mm/s outline 40% less than that. No supports other than under the ears.”

Di Lucca is only using this 3D print as a “reference model”, as the intent is to produce a sculpture in marble. Why Walter White? It turns out Di Lucca is a fan of Cranston and the series, as am I.

There’s a few things to note about this project.

I believe this is an outstanding example of the capabilities of 3D printing when everything aligns properly. Here we have a case of a highly skilled sculptor (see Di Lucca’s page for more incredible design examples) and a highly tuned 3D printer.

The CR-10S is not a particularly notable 3D printer, but even so Di Lucca was able to persuade it to produce this incredible 3D print in three parts. This demonstrates that it isn’t so much the machine but how you use it.

Print profiles are extremely important, perhaps more important than the machine itself.

The next time your 3D print turns out bad, it’s because the design, machine and profile are not optimally balanced.

And that’s up to you to fix.

Via Reddit