### Metadata ![[IMG_3737.jpg]] - **Figure:** Gollum (Lord of the Rings) - **Completed:** 2021-05 - **Focus:** My first 3D print ## Intro A new adventure – 3D printing. This is my first 3D print (besides demo print) ever. I bought a Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K. The files for this gollum are on Thingiverse. Overall it printed decent given the fact I had no idea what I was doing. The main issues were: - I tried hollowing out the model in chitubox to save on resin – seemed to make sense. And, it’s not hard. However, I didn’t realize at the time of this print I should also put drain holes when doing so. Luckily, the print had a minor flaw and tiny hole in part of it where most resin did drain out, but not all (was not large enough nor placed correctly). Eventually I think uncured resin got out through there and a hole I drilled for pinning to place on base. - There was a print flaw about midway up the head. I’m guessing due to poor / lack of supports (I don’t think I used any – again, first print and no clue what I was doing). It appeared as a white band/strip around the head. Painting mostly got rid of it in this case. I did spend a bit more time trying to improve on eyes while painting. These are the largest eyes I’ve done so it was a good opportunity. The main difference with previous eyes is the addition of more gradient like coloration to the iris (with the lighter side opposite from the main light reflection mark). I’m sure it could be better, but still an improvement over others. I imagine for smaller eyes it can be pretty hard to do though. ## Photos ![[IMG_3738.jpg]] ![[IMG_3731.jpg]] ![[IMG_3732.jpg]] ![[IMG_3733.jpg]] ![[IMG_3734.jpg]] ![[IMG_3735.jpg]] ![[IMG_3736.jpg]] ## Lessons Learned - **When hollowing a 3D print, place drain holes.** Not hard to do, but be sure to do it. - **Use supports for 3D prints**. Another basic thing. I didn’t really know much about supports at the time nor would have thought this would need them – it doesn’t have any large overhangs or anything. But, it likely needed them to avoid some issues with the print. It certainly wouldn’t hurt.