I usually drink Guinness Extra Dark from a bottle. i should try the cans... for science.
I printed one hopper with all the parts combined and parts to build two hoppers. Unfortunately, the combined hopper didn't print well. I did get two good frames and enough fuel tanks to build one hopper. The print had a couple of issues - the tanks are solid, so a few peeled right off the plate and stuck to the film. This may have caused the combined parts hopper to fail as well. I also had some long and thin parts that either didn't print or were so delicate, I broke them off accidentally during handling.
Here are all the main hopper parts ready for assembly and paint. The diamond tread came out and so did the weight reduction under the plate. unfortunately, the part was very thin (less than 0.4mm in places) so some sections look like a gorilla jumped on them. The discoloration is due to the old resin that had been sitting in the vat for a few days - some of the pigments settled out. I stirred it up, but it didn't fully mix the pigment.:
Note the wire-wrap wire I used to replace the broken off resin pieces. The loop in front broke off during painting, as well:
Painted. "JY 25" is the month and year. I broke off the front loop antenna and replaced it with wire-wrap wire:
The rocket engine looks tilted because the central section is thin and slightly warped... but it's fine since directional control would have been achieved by tilting the engine (although it should have been by just tilting the nozzle). The two vanes below the nozzle are for yaw control:
I added some basic instrument dials and painted a print support pip that I didn't fully remove as a red start/stop button:
I have some hard rubber (or vinyl) astronauts that scale out to around 1/35. One of the seated guys fits perfectly:
Here, his buddy is waiting for a ride:
Overall, it was a fun project. The print didn't come out exactly as I wanted and the paint job has dust and cat hairs in it, but it looks OK from a distance. I may paint up one of the seated guys. I think the Badger primers will stick to this plastic. I may print a few other tanks and a new diamond plate platform (thicker this time) to make a second version.
