Thank you very much BurrMan and Ed for your so detailed explanation :)

Very valuable suggestions!

Marco (mkdm)

An another challenger :)
https://pro.sculpteo.com/en/

Hi Marco,

I know I'm coming late to this 3D printing party. I have had three 3D printers and have also used multiple online services. For the most part, voxelization is not required when coming from MoI as long as you object is a single solid. You can add wall thicknesses in MoI or OnShape after the fact. Export as polys DOES NOT have to be as fine as you show, as the typical printing resolution isn't all that fine -- even though they say it is there is a "blurring" effect when you 3D print.

3D Coat is good if you have poly models created in non-solid modelers, where you can voxelize and be sure you have a solid. As someone earlier said, Shapeways (a great company for this sort of thing) has a 1M poly limit per object. The 3D printed cannon I shared before had lots of issues and I used Autodesk Netfab to help fine tune the wall and part thicknesses as well as detail resolution.

I would suggest starting on something simple, like you've shown. Just cut down on the number of polys coming out of MoI and you should be fine. Shapeways will alert you if a model in non-manifold and many times it will try and fix it for you.

Again, MoI is *great* for 3D printing and is one of the main reasons I started using it. Surface modelers are just too hard to control. Solids are the way to go. HTH.

Hello Chipp!

How are you ?
I hope fine ;)

Thank you very much for your precious advice!

@You : "...For the most part, voxelization is not required when coming from MoI...Export as polys DOES NOT have to be as fine as you show, as the typical printing resolution isn't all that fine -- even though they say it is there is a "blurring" effect when you 3D print..."

Hmmm....That's exactly what I was wondering...

@You : "...Just cut down on the number of polys coming out of MoI and you should be fine...."

OK! Got it :)

So, as I've said I'm totally a newcomer in the world of 3D Printing and I guess that in order to understand something more I need to send a simple model to one of the printing services around and see for myself how it's the "physical" result of the 3D printing.

I need to have the final objects in my hand to "feel" how it is, smooth or not, and how it looks :)

Also, consider that as I've said in my very first post, my intention is to do a "hand paint" of the printed model, so I also need to see the model in my hand to see how and if it's easy or not to paint it.

Do you have any experience in "hand painting" of 3D printed models ?

Thanks a lot for info.

I stay tuned :)

Hi Marco,

about hand painting, what i would do is asking the printing service, depending
on the material you choose, what primer they recommend prior painting and
after sanding. A primer for cars may be not the same as a primer for classic
plastic / resin scale modeling kits, for example.

Regards
Stefan

Hi Stefan!

@You : "...about hand painting, what i would do is asking the printing service, depending on the material you choose,..."

Thanks a lot for this good advice.

Ciao!

I agree with Stefan-- you never know how the primer or paint will react to the model.

So rich and precious information about 3D printing! Excellent idea the opening of such a thread in the forum Marco! Thanks! : - )

You're welcome Dimitri!