Spitfire76's Build log of 3dLabPrint's J35 Saab Draken

Spitfire76

Well-known member
Build-ruary challenge day 3 of 29

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This build is one of my submissions to the Build-ruary challenge.
Downloaded from
I will be using Polylight 1.0 LW-PLA.
Printing is underway. Starting with the 9 fuselage parts.
 
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Spitfire76

Well-known member
Build-ruary challenge day 6 of 29

Over the last couple of days I printed the first 5 parts of the fuselage. The first 3 slot together well but 3 with 4 and 4 with 5 are posing a challenge. These are much larger than the first 3 and contains the EDF thrust tube. The guide does warn about this and some sanding is required

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Spitfire76

Well-known member
Build-ruary challenge day 7 of 29
I have discovered an inconstancy with the provided files. Seems that the LW version was designed to use spiral mode but its not set in any of the files I have printed so far. Further investigation shows that it is set in the g-codes.

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Spitfire76

Well-known member
Build-ruary challenge day 8 of 29

So it turns that the g-code files were not generated with the prusa slicer but with Simplfy3D which was the slicer 3dLabPrint initially used. I believe it use to be free but it became a paid subscription a few years ago.

; G-Code generated by Simplify3D(R) Version 4.0.0

Spiral mode is for sure the best method for printing LW-PLA but the part needs to be designed to use it. When its enabled in prusaslicer this message appears

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So not all parts can be printed in spiral mode. For example Fuselage_03 has top solid infill which is disabled in spiral mode. The S3D g-code file has it disabled. I am in the process of building a spread sheet that shows if the part can be printed in spiral mode and will use the g-code files as a source.

In the meantime I am printing the parts than need to be printed with regular PLA but also ran into some issues
  • The servo mount pillars are too close together for FT or Emax servos
  • As noted on page 4 of the user guide the EDF tube needs to be printed with a 3 layer and 3 outline skirt but only brims are configurable in Bambu studio.
PS - As there is a lot of work todo just to print the parts of this plane I am considering taking it out off my build-ruary list to focus on the planes that have already been printed. I still want to build this plane so will simply place this build on hold for the moment.
 
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Spitfire76

Well-known member
Build-ruary challenge day 11 of 29
Despite my previous post I did continue printing but ran into yet another problem - lots of travel when slicing Fuselage_07

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Above was in Bambu Studio compare with below in Prusa Slicer

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I was importing the Fuselage_07_LWPLA.stl file into Bambu Studio but opening the Fuselage_07_LWPLA.3mf file in Prusaslicer. If I import that 3mf file instead of the stl into Bambu Studio its now the same travel as in the Prusaslicer. Seems that at least this file possibly others in the STL directory are not the same ones that are bundled in the 3mf directory, I am not going to trust the STL directory and just load the 3mf files into Bambu Studio from now on.
 

Spitfire76

Well-known member
Build-ruary challenge day 29 of 29

I wont make any more progress on this plane this month but did manage to get one plane on my list flown for the build-ruary challenge.


Will continue the build though and hopefully get to fly it in the next month (or two!)
 
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Spitfire76

Well-known member
A friend has given me his old Ender 3 that he upgraded to a V2 and after some tweaking I got it to print a good first layer. I am now printing the remaining fuselage parts and the quality is as good as my P1P. Its also easier to print as I simply added the Ender 3 to prusaslicer and use the provided 3mf files. I did make a couple of changes though to the settings,

  • Perimeter generator - Arachne to Classic
  • Nozzle Temp - 240 to 245
 
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skymaster

Elite member
Make sure you double check your gear. like your servo's, use reliable one's. i would hate to see all that work go to waste. I want to see the maiden. looks super sharp.
 

Spitfire76

Well-known member
The build guide does point out that some sanding is required to make sure that the fuselage parts fit together but I found a lot of sanding was needed so purchased these sanding bands for my Dremel

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Spitfire76

Well-known member
The guide says to start the fuselage by gluing 09 with 08 and to use thin CA to “spot weld” them together. I guess I did an ok job but not brilliant.

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I also noticed that that I had simply printed 2 servo mounts but now wondering if one should have been mirrored.

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Amazon no longer stocks the FMS 50mm 4S 4500kv EDF and the FT Store only has a 70mm. The build guide does indicate that a 3s 5400 kv could be used when building with LW-PLA but wonder if I should just stick to the 4s.

Looks like I should stick to a 4s but just need to find an equivalent preferably on Amazon.

Apparently this is a good alternative but the lip needs to be removed.


Delivery is estimated to be between March 24 - April 4
 
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Spitfire76

Well-known member
I cancelled that order for the EDF in favor of the recommended FMS version which I plan to buy from Aliexpress. In the meantime I have modified the servo holders to fit the Emax servos.

I will have to put this build on hold for awhile as I need to get some other builds done for some events at our club.
 

Spitfire76

Well-known member
Despite my previous post that this build is on hold I re-ordered that XFLY EDF from Amazon as they now give me an estimated delivery date of Monday. I also finalized the servo mount modification using Autodesk Fusion to better fit the EMAX ES08MAII. There is only one servo mount STL file provided so I needed to make a mirror copy in the slicer. I also found that they actually go on top of the fuselage as shown on page 12 of the build guide so will print them again in white PLA and paint gray to blend in.

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