Another option is to use spray paint.Īfter any paint job, it is best to seal your model with either a mat or glossy clear coat to protect your colours. For difficult organic colours, you can use acrylic paints and mix them while you are painting to get the desired effect. Any ridges or edges that need to be preserved but get filled up with spray filler, you can easily scratch out.Īfter smoothing it is really up to you what type of paint you want to use. After drying your model, sand it again with a finer grain of sandpaper, use more spray filler, and sand again, spray fill again until your model is completely smooth. After cleaning you can use multiple layers of spray filler, a grey filler is better than white because it lets you see any left ridges or flaws better. Clean your model after filling and sanding and remove all the dust, preferably with some alcohol wipes. Sometimes you can use polyester filler to smooth your model or fix lines where multiple parts are joined/glued together. Of course, this is harder when you have very intricate details in your model.

You can use coarse sandpaper (80 grid) to get rid of the printing lines.

But both of these methods are not strictly needed to smooth your model. The acetone vapour method for ABS is the most known and popular, but not without health or fire hazard! PLA can be smoothed with ethyl acetate. There are several ways of smoothing your model.

Make sure your model is the best it can be before you proceed. For removing rough surfaces from where support was attached, you can use a Dremel tool. You can remove tiny artefacts using an Exacto blade or Stanley knife. Here are a few steps you should follow when painting your 3D models:Īfter your print has finished clean your model and give it the final retouches it needs. This unique feature opens a new set of possibilities for you to explore and innovate with.Īlthough it seems like an easy task, painting 3D prints takes a little effort in order to get a high quality and lasting paint. With additive manufacturing giving you the freedom of shape and model manipulation, you should also consider the personalization of your PLA 3D models by painting it.

Grid for paint 3d