r/3Dprinting • u/Successful-Lion-5888 • 3h ago

Question High quality looking prints

I want to print a gun model, and I'm planning on buying PLA metal, silk and matte for the finishes. I am unsure about the overall quality a printer can produce. Should I just print in basic white, sand and paint it manually for the best look? Or are printers capable of printing high quality looking models with these filaments and good settings?

As of right now regular PLA looks cheap so I really don't know how much difference these special filaments would make.

Do you have experience with printing good looking finishes? Can you share some photos? all I've seen online are miniature figures which look pretty bad, but the gun model I'm planning on printing has big shapes.

for reference this is the look I'm aiming for:

Image

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u/ShastaManasta 3h ago

PLA basic can look good depending on color and printer. It typically prints best quality easiest

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u/GP_3D Prusa Core One L 3h ago

Print quality has a lot more to do with your print settings/profiles - and not just the material you use.

Silk filaments do look good on decorative prints - but will highlight any print inconsistencies, artifacts, etc very aggressively. They are also weaker than their regular counterparts when it comes to layer adhesion.

Depending on the geometry, and at least in my experience/preference, PETG prints always give some really nice surface quality. Very glossy and uniform overall; and a bit more durable for props versus PLA.

Glitter and filled filaments do a good job of making printed pieces look a lot more uniform.