/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>45627412
I am in the process of 3D printing my own doll. I finally have all of the pieces printed and sanded. It's been a lot of work, but it's very rewarding.

I am using a Prusa Mini FMD printer with a Revo Micro nozzle system, so I can easily swap between 0.25/0.4.0.6/0.8mm nozzles, which was very useful for this model. I was able to use the larger nozzles to cut down print time on the larger parts, but keep the fine details on the smaller parts like the hands with a 0.25mm nozzle. However, for simplicity, sticking to a 0.4mm would be fine, it would just take longer to print everything, I used less than one full roll of flesh-toned PLA. I had maybe ~80 hours of print time, including some failures. I sanded all parts with 250/800/1000 grit sandpaper and it turned out relatively smooth. There are still lots of blemishes and artifacts from printing, but for me, that's part of the charm. Materials for the body itself was approximately $30, including the filament and material to string it.

I have no experience with resin printing, but your end results would likely be much better than mine, though more expensive.

The next step for me is the faceup, which I believe is going to be the most challenging part of this process. If you don't care to learn how to do it, I know you can pay people on Etsy to do it for you. But I bought some pastels and watercolor pencils for ~$15 and we'll see how it goes.

If you're whole goal is to save money, understand that this hobby is still a damn money pit. I still need to buy eyes, a wig (and wig cap), and clothes, which aren't cheap. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend doing this project if your underlying goal is just to get a cheap doll, because it's still not that cheap. If your goal is to have a doll that is truly handmade, that you poured your own time, sweat, and care into, then yes, it's worth it. Good luck!