## Intro This is the reason I bought a 3D printer. I saw someone post a build of this Kerrigan model on reddit and was sold, had to buy a printer and then find and get the kit. This is the amazing thing I’m finding about the 3d printer – there are lots of resources and models available for what would otherwise be hard to find kits. Normally I shop for resin figures at e2046 or gk-m, which is good for any current / in-stock items but once a kit has passed it’s prime (or never had a prime to begin with) it’s basically impossible to find one available for purchase. 3D printing solves that. I have not printed a whole lot prior (only gollum before, plus the initial test print) so this was definitely a learning curve with the print and largest yet. Gollum was essentially a single piece, but this kit had tons to print and took many rounds. I had about 3-4 failed prints and had to account for them and re-adjust. Throughout I think I did get a little bit better with the process in general (not just working with the files and supports, but also using the printer, cleaning the parts, removing supports, curing, etc.) The files for this kit are sold or cgtrader.com and I highly recommend it if you like Kerrigan or starcraft. They fit together surprisingly well, and it’s designed well in general (I’m currently on another purchase from cgtrader and while it looks nice, the parts definitely do not fit as nice as this Kerrigan figure did). The main “challenges” are: - I glued together her torso and legs together first before gluing her down to the (also fully glued) base. This made sense from a painting and gap filling perspective. However, after doing this it’s definitely a tight squeeze to try and get her body into the base – it definitely would’ve been easier to glue in a different order. - Her spines are a little scary as they are pretty wide with a bit to them but only glue to her back in a single place. One side I was able to add a little extra glue supports where it touches the base, but the other side doesn’t have any contact – hopefully it survives. - The bottom of the base comes in two halves. One had a failed build, but even once I thought I had both halves printed successfully without issue, there was a gap when I tried to put together. Similarly, on the rest of the base (the thing wrapped around her arm – whatever we call that) there were a couple gaps where all the parts join, but they were less. Ultimately, it’s not a huge deal as I have plenty of experience patching with milliput on low quality resin figures from my past, but if you expect the prints to fit together perfectly without seamlines and without work, you may be disappointed These are really the only design / build challenges, outside of basic print failures because I had no idea what I was doing. ### Metadata - **Hours Spent:** 12 building and painting, ~50 printing ## Photos ![[IMG_3910.jpg]] ![[IMG_3911.jpg]] ![[IMG_3912.jpg]] ![[IMG_3913.jpg]] ![[IMG_3914.jpg]] ![[IMG_3915.jpg]] ![[IMG_3917.jpg]] ![[IMG_3918.jpg]] ![[IMG_3919.jpg]] ![[IMG_3920.jpg]] ![[IMG_3921.jpg]] ![[IMG_3902.jpg]] ![[IMG_3904.jpg]] ![[IMG_3905.jpg]] ![[IMG_3906.jpg]] ![[IMG_3907.jpg]] ![[IMG_3908.jpg]] ## Lessons Learned - **cgtrader has lots of (likely) quality kits, but not free.** Free kits on thingiverse or patreon kits are great, but if you want something specific, cgtrader is a great place to go. I can find mostly anything I’m interested in there with at least a couple options. I’ve only printed a couple so far, but I’ve been pleased. - **Printing kits with many parts takes a lot more time and effort than I thought**. Probably something most know by now, but printing a kit can take a long time if it has any size or decent number of parts (on most standard/home resin printers). This one took about 10 jobs (excluding failed) each averaging 5 hours. On top of the actual running time, you have to clean the build plate and newly printed part(s) after each job and prep for the next run, which adds up. I can see why people get the largest printer possible. In many cases, it’s probably easier to just order a kit from e2046, but 3d printer can fill the gap for the kits that are hard to find in stock anywhere.