Raithe

I don't really have a workshop space to try my hand at molding anything. That and figuring out what expenses it would be to get equipment and supplies. The garage is filled out with my father's lathes and horological tools, so I'm pretty much stuck setting up shop on the patio and grass whenever I want to do anything. Put it in perspective budget wise, if everything goes right with the printing, it takes about 7-9 spools of PLA to create a full armour costume. A dozen cans of primer and paint spray, fibreglass resin, and then all the small odds and ends, buckles and strapping. I'm still playing around with it and learning my techniques on how-to as it goes. I haven't wanted to jump into all the additional expense of picking up molding equipement and figuring out all those skills, and where to store additional tools and doohickies just yet.

A bit of both. The mouse sander is a nice hand held power sander. But I also do a bit of fine sanding by hand on certain areas (although I probably won't need that with those back pieces). Normally a very brief bit with something 120-200 grade, then mostly with the 400. If it really needs a delicate touch, I'll do some wet sanding with 1000 grade sandpaper. The combo of fibreglass resin and primer filler actually fills out a lot of the print lines, so that actually reduces the amount of sanding to get a smooth finish. With 3d printed PLA, the thing is that if you do sand it too agressively, it doesn't actually come off, just melts and spreads around. So a little bit different technique to sanding other materials.

Among other things: That's the back section of armour, as raw freshly printed PLA and just the first basic sanding to get rid of the immediate rough edges. * Yes, some builder's putty to fix a crack as seen there as well. Now all coated with fibreglass resin, and a couple of layers of filler primer. So potentially breaking out the mouse sander tomorrow and seeing what other small holes and gaps might need putty and filler. And re-smoothing.

Today was sunny , so I wrapped myself up in old clothes and facemask, and painted fibreglass resin onto 3d printed armour pieces out in the backyard... Also realised, that with the basic exercise equipment at home, and the benefits of being able to order groceries online instead of going up to the supermarket.. I actually haven't left the house in a month.

TheGuardian - The Real Lord of the Flies ; What actually happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months on a deserted island

https://imgur.com/TUPDjWk?

I was somewhat amused by a line I saw earlier today: "You realise the US just pulled $6.2 Trillion out of its ass without blinking but said they'd go broke providing healthcare as a right."