Speedbird_666

I always recommend 2 LiPos, so you can switch at lunchtime. Over-discharging can fatally damage them. If you are running the Core on the stock motor, you might not get the best performance with a 7.4v LiPo. I would add an SHS Hi-Torque Motor (or equivalent) to the 'must upgrade' list to give you a nicer trigger response and more reasonable ROF (14-15 RPS) on a 7.4v LiPo - that's the setup I typically use on my guns with 'stock' internals.

Don't forget to pick up some Yellow bed springs (amazon etc.). They make bed-levelling much easier and consistent. I got lucky, my youngest son has been hounding my missus for a 3D printer for the last 6 months (he's obsessed with the idea of making his own table-top games and scenery - he's only 8 bless him), so when they were on offer via the Creality website to coincide with Amazon's prime day, she couldn't really say no.

I think it's a slightly scaled-up Ender 3 Pro, with a couple of upgrades (metal extruder) - I'm new to 3D printing myself, so I can only go on what I researched on YouTube etc. Here's quite a good review: Whilst having the extra build area is probably nice to have, bear in mind 3D printing takes ages. So if you have a print that fully fills the Max, expect 24hr+ prints, especially if it's something intricate. I'm lucky in that my work is shifting to a permanent work from home model, where at most I'll only ever be in the office two days a week, it means that I can set prints off in the morning and keep an eye on them throughout the day. I would be gutted if a 10-15hr print failed halfway through whilst I'm out and I came home to a colossal mess of plastic.

Yep - If you like making stuff then it's a great tool to have. I'm toying with making an OpenRC F1 Car over the next few weeks because whilst it'll take hours/days to print, it'll cost very little in material cost. I want to model some scale RC boats too, so that's on my 'to-do' list also. I have various Airsoft ideas I want to try, but I need to improve on my modelling skills in Fusion360 first. I would splurge the extra on the Pro model over the stock Ender 3 I think, and it can be had for £136 (£142 with glass bed) from the new dedicated Creality UK warehouse website that launched last week. 1st time customers get £8 off on orders over £150 so I would add a roll of filament to get started with. I have the V2 (approx £170), which is pretty much a Pro with a different screen, 32 bit board and a power supply stupidly tucked away and shrouded underneath which makes it sound like a Jet engine due to the lack of airflow. The (older) Pro has the power supply in a more sensible location, a more practical screen, yet has a few nice upgrades over the stock Ender 3 model, but I'm not sure what board it comes with though. As it's open source, there a stupid amount of upgrades and spares available for it, along with the community support and YouTube videos to help guide you.

Mark II Goggle fan mount with integrated on/off switch. Tested fitted - just need to solder up a switch - and find some black screws. Next step - goggle strap mounted battery enclosure.

Knocked up a simple fan mount for my goggles: A quick and dirty print (0.3mm layer height so the curves aren't all that smooth) to test the concept - and it works great. The PLA works surprisingly well to dampen nearly all the fan vibration. MK2 will have a rubber gasket between the fan and mount and integrated on/off switch with concealed wiring for the switch and fan.

What material did you print those in out of interest?

https://www.creality3dofficial.com/products/official-creality-ender-3-3d-printer?variant=31958151331913

I'm actually using PLA+ which is a bit tougher than normal PLA apparently. I have no clue TBH - it was cheap on Amazon for Prime Day (£12 for a 1KG roll) to get started with. Every print so far has been really good. Yeh - In future I will be using ABS, but I need a new hot end first. The rear rail is about as big as I would want to go with the material - but with 100% infill it feels tough enough to throw a cheap optic on and if it breaks it wouldn't ruin my day as it's non-structural to the gun itself. The 'standard' Ender 3 is £120 with free postage from Creality's UK Warehouse (2-3 day shipping), which is a stonking deal. If you are just looking to print (i.e. thingiverse models) then all you need is Cura to slice the models and a couple of YouTube vids to point you in the right direction.

Almost completely stock. Only mod is the yellow bed springs. I'll be upgrading the hot end to an all-metal jobbie at some point for ABS. Using PLA (for now). 0.16mm Layer Height. 100% Infill for the rails. Took ages but worth it.

Meanwhile..... Overnight print done (100% infill). really pleased with the result. 10 Minutes of support removal, and another 10 to file/sand the angled front gives me this (The BUIS/Red Dot are placeholders):

To quote Jeremy Clarkson - 'I made a thing!' - well, printed something from thingiverse. Got my first 3D printer (Ender 3 V2) yesterday, printed my first Airsoft-related 'thing' today - a front sight rail for a G36 - removing the standard carry handle rail and putting a KAC/Tommy Built Style low profile rail on top instead. The rear Rail is gonna take another 8 hours. Slow Business this 3D printing malarkey.

Different types of printers. The smoother stuff you mention is likely SLS printed, which uses (frickin) lasers to fuse plastic powder together into a solid product. Not something many people can do at home, but there are plenty of SLS printing services available to small companies which allow them to outsource manufacturing for niche/short run products where injection moulding is not feasible. Here's an example, Badas designs makes drop stock adapter for various AEGs, they offer the same product in two guises, SLS print (outsourced I believe), and a 'normal' 3d print. The SLS has a fine grain texture to it, but generally looks more like a 'moulded ' product, whereas the normal 3D print has the layers (ridges) you refer to. There's also SLA printing for resin which produces fine detail prints (think Warhammer figures etc) but i don't think the outputs are particularly strong compared to the other methods (but could be wrong on that) .

Indeed. I have great plans for a spare G36 I've got knocking around, but I need to tackle the fundamentals first (machine setup and tuning, designing parts etc.) so it's more of a long-term aspiration. I've been working through quite a few Fusion360 tutorials - I'm good with 2D drafting in CAD (Autocad & Draftsight) but wrapping my head around the 3D stuff has been a bit trickier.

£168 shipped from Creality's UK Warehouse, not much more than an entry-level Airsoft Blaster. Funnily enough I saw this video the other day and thought of you:

Dear god...what have I done....😲 I've just ordered a 3D printer. There's a bunch of bits that I want to print for my various guns (including some of my own ideas), and my son has been nagging me for one for nearly a year now. Soooo.....I've got a Creality Ender 3 V2 on the way. This could be a whole lot of fun, or a slippery descent into frustration and madness. Time will tell.

I'm in the same boat. I assumed that I would be home by ~7:30-8pm for another commitment and I have to be up at 5am the next morning as well. Trying to rearrange some stuff at the moment, but it's looking 50/50 as to whether I can go.

I quite like that setup. Something I might experiment with - it would be easier to have a (smaller) battery on the goggles rather than use a wire to the back. Maybe one fan to suck, and the other to 'blow' to keep a constant flow of air from one side to the other?

I quickly put my setup together on a spare set of goggles (before I cut up my 'good' set). I'll wire in a switch at some point, but initial results in testing so far are promising. I will definitely use Sugru to mount it to cut down on noise/vibration a little as my Peltors tend to exacerbate things. 2200mAh (probably ~1800mAh 'real world') should give me way more than a game day's worth of continuous use.

Suck or blow? Just had a 25x25mm fan arrive today. 5v version - planning to use a cheap Poundland 2000mAh rechargeable USB power bank. It's a perfect fit on my paintball goggles (Empire E-Flex) - sits flush with the top of the lens.

More like delusional...😜

That's the same setup I'm looking for with Son's bump helmet. What did you do with the goggles in terms of plumbing the air tube into them? I've seem some setups that blow-in from the sides (around the wearers temple - like exfog), and others blowing down through the top of the goggle frame.

Yeh - I've just ordered a 25mm fan to sit on top of my paintball goggles after my (normally pretty good) Fogtech DX wipes completely failed to deal with the moisture last week. Made a game in the afternoon nearly unplayable. I'm planning a 50mm blower setup to sit on the back of my son's bump helmet (exfog style) with a tube to the goggles, but I don't personally run a helmet so a smaller fan on top of the goggle frame is the best option for me.

I knew I'd seen it cheaper somewhere - but couldn't remember the vendor! I picked out Z1 only because I saw it in the store last week. Worth a punt for £9 IMO.

You go with something like this (Yes, I know it's gopping to look at)