On Zedabyu's journey to collect every Toy Story character ever designed, in this article, he's going to tackle seven of the eighteen small fry characters from the Toy Story short film.
Small Fry is the Poultry Palace's equivalent of the McDonald's Happy Meal set, a kids' set menu where a small toy was included as part of the set. In the short movie, these eighteen little toys are discarded by their kids and are now having a meeting to deal with their abandonment issues.
Zedabyu's goal this time is to fit all the seven toys he's printing into one full plate of his new Sonic Mega 8K S big resin 3D printer. With its 15" large building plate, it's undoubtedly not a hard task to do.
What's New About the Sonic Mega 8K S?
Similar to its older counterpart, the Sonic Mega 8K S boasted a 15-inch, full-metal, perforated building plate and a vat that could comfortably fit 1500 ml of resin. So what's new about it?
Zedabyu loves how it maintained the 8K resolution even in such a large format 3D printer. In addition, the 600 layers/hour printing speed easily catches his attention as another plus point, making printing a breeze even for large models. Combined with the ACF film for a better release, it'll definitely enhance your workflow efficiency.
He also loves how the new Sonic Mega 8K S printer comes with a lift-up lid. While the all-metal build makes the previous big 3D printer — the Sonic Mega 8K — extra sturdy, the doors will inevitably take up some extra space. On the contrary, the new lift-up lid required less space for mobility. Or, if you really lack space, Zedabyu suggests just unscrewing the lid and removing it when it's time to remove the print.
However, he also mentioned that since there'll be some space between the lid and the printer body, it'll be wise to install dust strips or make a vat cover to prevent dust from getting into the resin vat.
The Poultry Palace's Small Fry Toy Models
The seven toys in this project include the Lizard Wizard, Recycle Ben, Gary Grappling Hook, Ghost Burger, Koala Kopter, Funky Monk, and Vampire Express.
Zedabyu got all of the models from Cineplaytoys' Cult page, all split up into little parts for easy painting and printing.
To save resin, Zedabyu made sure that each model was hollowed. He added drain holes to avoid suction issues and combined some minor parts to make things easier. He used medium auto-support for all the models and carefully checked if any floating islands required manual support.
To his surprise, he managed to successfully squeeze all seven models and their parts into a single build plate. So there he goes to the printer.
Successful Print, Failed Models
The Sonic Mega 8K S is easily the real plug-and-play experience. He took it straight out of the box and started printing almost immediately. No calibration was needed, and he went straight into printing.
It took him just eight hours to complete the print, and the results were perfect.
However, he was surprised when he found that his models came out scratched and bumped after washing. Turns out, due to his excitement of using the Wash Mega S for the first time, he accidentally overwashed the models and caused them to bump into each other violently.
So, he reprinted all of the models for another eight hours. And lessons learned: this time Zedabyu set the washing station timer for just three minutes. As a result, the models came out cleaned, with perfectly smooth surfaces.
He let it dry, then used his new Cure Mega S to post-cure all the models. Thanks to its removable rack, he can effectively cure more model parts by utilizing both the turntable and the rack. He also highlights how the curing process will stop immediately if the door is opened to prevent our eyes from getting hurt by the light.
Painting and Coloring the 3D Printed Toy Story Models
To speed up his coloring process, Zedabyu prepared a color map beforehand. The color map allows him to group the model parts of the same color to paint them together. This will save him time because he won’t need to keep changing and washing his brush and paint in between. As usual, Zedabyu combined airbrushing and hand painting for his models.
And the final models are so good, just as expected. He paid extra attention to all the details, including intentionally overlining the model to replicate the low-quality control portrayed in the short movie. Which, of course, feels more painful than it actually is when you are a perfectionist.
Want to see his complete process and results? Make sure to watch this video below and let us know in the comments which of the Small Fry models are your favorite!
