Now a fresh day and some new things learned... I think.
First the crappy test print.
These are my 1st attempt, 2nd attempt, and desired print.
What I discovered this morning, after 8 hours and 25 minutes of printing the 2nd print, is another setting in Cura that, in my slowly diminishing ignorance, was off.
RockyBoy brought it up but I was too newb and overwhelmed to catch it at the time. Filament diameter was set to something higher than 1.75". I don't remember if it was 1.8 or 2.8 but something with an 8 in it and since it was expecting more volume per mm it would stand to reason that I would lack volume and density in the resulting print. So I changed that value and initiated another print but not this one. I've pulled a Benchy print that everyone seems to use and find its proclaimed 1+ hour print favorable for diagnosing this than the 8+ hour print. Once I get everything all tweaked as best I can I might go back to that other one to see what happens.
I also did some learning on the programs that make gcode. I learned they are called slicers because of how they break an object apart for printing. Of course it makes sense now but before learning this "slicer" was just another word that was a bit foreign. So looking at some slicer reviews I found that Cura is a free one and Simplify3D costs $150. I suspect I'm going to be allergic to Simplify3D and must try something else. I might stick with Cura if I can learn it and make it work. I think I am the weakest link in this print problem and it's just my ignorance keeping me from getting the setting right.
Thank you Lia. You are correct about the Cura 14~ or something (I'd check but the card is in the 3D controller). Last night I saw a comparison to that and a more recent Cura 2.5. Looking now at the Ultimaker site they show a 3.0.4 and a beta 3.1 available. I'm temted to go for the 3.0.4 but might wait for a solid 3.1. What I don't want to do is throw in another variable before I get my mind wrapped around what is going on and get myself lost.
My Benchy is just over 45 minutes and looking good so far.
Thank you David and thank you John (no apology necessary). I remember 40+ years ago my mother donning the same helmet while I would take a deep breath before walking past. Chemicals aside, if you say Aquanet then Aquanet it will be, maybe. After this Benchy finishes on the tape I'll run it again on the 2 kinds of sprays my wife already uses.
Post Benchy print update:
Here is my first Benchy print. It certainly looks better than the other 2 test prints but not quite as good as the shamrock cup. The cup doesn't look like it's a challenging a print so that could be a reason. Regardless there remain things to understand, discover, & tweak. Let me know what y'all think.
I think one step I need to take is taking the shamrock cup from the .stl file and run it through Cura with the settings I have and see if it comes out as before.
Thank you Jason, your comment on the tape thickness didn't hit the grey matter until last night. On that I'm thinking if I ever use tape again I should account for that. I could stick some tape on the paper I'm using.
But for now, hairspray testing.
Hairspray update:
I've begun buidling my navy, one Benchy at a time. So far both hairsprays did well. Each time there was still plenty of adhesion left over, much more than I would expect necessary yet not so much I couldn't muscle it off with one hand (I work out). The hairsprays I used were the
Aussie mega flexible hold and the
TRESemmé TRES TWO SPRAY extra hold. Both smell much better than the what I remember of my mother's Aquanet. Just when I thought I couldn't love my wife more she comes through again. If my wife changes hairsprays or if either of these fail, or if she makes me buy my own I'll post again.
So now with what I would call a working situation I'm going to settle into Cura and see if I can improve the shipbuilding process in my navy. I still have some recommendations from above that I have to look at like measuring filament diameter and verifying extruder feed for starters. Right now I'm printing the shamrock again but this time I didn't use the provided .gcode but rather the provided .stl and put it through Cura with the same settings I have for the Benchy. If it comes out inferior to the past 2 then I'll know there is still a setting that is off.
Eventually I also want to print some things that I can actually use... like one of those doohickies that keep the filament away from the lead screw. It bothers me.