3D printing is reinventing model making in Romania

Model making stands out as one of the most enjoyable and popular hobbies, attracting both children and adults alike. It offers a fascinating and educational way to spend your free time. This hobby revolves around crafting models, either using kits, materials, and components purchased from suppliers or by leveraging modern technologies like 3D printing. Traditional kits consist of numerous pieces that must be assembled to create the final model, whereas 3D printing simplifies this process by reducing or even eliminating the need for assembly. Instead, it can produce a single piece that serves as the complete model. A model is typically regarded as a physical representation of an object, faithfully preserving all its original features and details.

The most popular subjects in the world of modeling are by far vehicles such as planes, ships, cars and armored vehicles such as tanks. Most models depict military vehicles, given the varying diversity of shapes and historical context compared to civilian vehicles. Other topics include science fiction vehicles and robots, real spaceships, buildings, animals, human figures, and movie characters.

In Romania this hobby has begun to be more and more widespread and groups of people with the same passion do not stop appearing, one of them is «The Romanian Modeling Federation», which aims to «organize and control the practice of the model in Romania, the expansion of the model throughout the country, as well as the application of an organized system of selection, training and participation in competitions in order to develop the show business and achieve prestigious results at the national and international level.»

Mr. Cornel Ganea is 49 years old and is part of the world of modeling enthusiasts, a passion that has gripped him since he was a child, and which he has developed to this day

We started with the classic method of making models, that is, kits made up of pieces of plastic, which were assembled and glued according to a design, and then there was the possibility of painting, with the few paints existing on the market.

After the revolution, more and more kit models appeared on the market, brought from the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Czechoslovakia, Russia (CCCP), of military machines, tanks, cars, etc., but not of Romanian machines, since the demand on the market was quite low, so making a mold of a Romanian car, tank, locomotive was quite expensive and unjustified, not offering Romanian model makers the possibility of modeling such a piece except with other classic and time-consuming methods, CNC, plastic pieces cut with cutter, or laser.

In any field we strive for perfection, so Mr. Cornel Ganea knew that this would not be possible using classical modeling methods, because highlighting some details and the correctness of some dimensions are very difficult to do manually, so he began to inform himself and look for a more advantageous alternative to his work.

He discovered 3D printing technology, a technology that promised to satisfy all his modeling needs.

In 2013, Cornel Ganea purchased his first 3D printer, or FDM printerwhich actually made his work much easier, and here we are talking about working time, but it also brought him a great advantage, namely the freedom to experiment and build complex and detailed pieces.

The move from an FDM printer to an SLA printer was driven by the need to build parts on a smaller scale, with fine and complex details, which was not possible with an FDM printer.

In 2017 Cornel Ganea purchased his the Form 2 3D printer by Formlabs, the printer with SLA technology (stereolithography), a technology that consists of the photopolymerization of a resin, with the aid of a laser beam. The laser hardens the resin according to the G-code generated by the slicer (program that transforms the 3D object into machine code), moving on to the next layer. The operation continues until the 3D printed object is complete.

“with an FDM printer you can work on a large scale, from 1 to 43 for example. You need it there too Module 2 for some details. The smaller the scale, the smaller the dimensions, the problems appear, and so from 1 to 87/120/160, the printer is used almost daily, or rather, whatever part you need, you do it entirely with Module 2, no more combinations are made between the FDM printer and the resin printer» – Cornel Ganea.

Because the pieces built by Cornel Ganea are very complex and small in size (scale 1 on 87/120/160) the Form 2 3D printer becomes his work companion, managing to print parts that could not be reproduced with any other technology completely without the need for other processes, “like for example this crane arm, which cannot be reproduced with any other technology, not even in the mold, they are made in such detail… one side is given away, to be able to remove it from the mold. It is printed like this, complete with all the parts needed for a crane arm. «says Mr. Cornel Ganea.

During his time working with the Form 2 3D printer, Cornel Ganea experimented with different types of resin, STANDARD TRANSPARENT resin (1 litre), HARD resin (1L) and STANDARD GRAY resin (14L), therefore STANDARD GRAY resin it was the one suited to his needs, giving him a very clear vision of the defects that could appear and of the piece itself.

“I stayed with the gray resin, because the color is the most advantageous in model making… white, you don’t see well, black, you don’t see well… gray is between the two, and you see better and if defects appear, or you have to change something in the drawing or change the way it is placed on the printer table to print certain details… plus it is the base resin… the most convenient. “

Another aspect that Mr. Cornel Ganea wanted to highlight is the ease with which 3D printing technology can be accessed. He was self-taught and quickly learned modeling techniques using an easy-to-use modeling program called SolidWorks.

The Form 2 3D printer made it easier for him to access this technology, having «plug and play» software, with pre-configured 3D printing profiles, so he didn’t need any training or prior preparation. All this aspect, of the pre-configured profiles, makes testing no longer necessary, thus also disappearing the waste of time dedicated to this process, the raw material used generated by failures due to incorrect settings, we are therefore talking about a waste percentage of approximately 2%.

«Another feature is the software, User Friendly or better to say Plug and Play, which means that the end user does not beat his head with all the settings, with everything behind the 3D printing technology, just a few clicks and you get to start the printer to start 3D printing.»

The future of 3D printing technology looked promising according to Cornel Ganea. He sees this 3D technology as applicable in many fields of activity, but also in everyday life, and he, we believe, is the living proof of this statement, given the complexity and novelty with which the technology presents itself, elements that have not represented an impediment for him, but on the contrary, a challenge, which he has overcome with BRIO!

«After all, a printer should not be seen as a printer that is only used for model making. It can be used in any other area, it can also be used at home for different objects… where their need presents itself like this… when you don’t even think about it… a soap dish, a paper clip, anything… it can appear. It’s a technology that deserves it. Whoever can access it and can use it, it’s really good because… the ideas come to you… as they say.“