In the image above, the big guy is just about 3.5" tall, Hard Rock Casino chip is 1.5" in diameter.

The models of the Heavy and Demoman were sliced using KiSSlicer with .15mm layers.  The Minigun (Sasha) was sliced using Slic3R with .1mm layers.  Neither model had support enabled.

Based on the pic with the bed, they look to be pretty small but it's hard to comment on quality when I'm not really sure how big the printed object is.  From what I can see there is room for improvement but your quality is already pretty good.

In that picture the torso is about 1.25" tall, and the legs are about 2".  The problem was that as the print height increased, I started to get a wobble in the print itself.  The base of the print had gotten partially loose from the print bed.   I could actually see it being moved around by the printhead.  By the time it got to the feet, It got so bad I simply aborted the print, then printed the feet up to the pant line and glued them on the model.

In the first picture, the parts appear quite "oozy" because the extruder head is constantly in contact with the very small print cross section.  It never has a chance to cool down, basically, even if you slow down the print speed. 

I think I'll give the nozzle fan a try.  The ooziness at the top of the feet was due to the wobble the model picked up when it became partially dislodged from the bed.  However if you look at the  picture with the Heavy holding the Minigun, you can really see some oozy strings due unsupported overhangs.  I wonder if a nozzle fan would help with that (printing short unsupported  runs).

For those that use KiSSlicer.  After the first layer is printed (whether it's a actual layer or the first layer of a raft), the printer stops at the last spot for about 30 seconds or so, before restarting and continuing the print without any further pauses.  What cause this?

How do you configure Slic3r to print different thickness layers (other than .1mm and .3mm).  When I change the layer thickness to something like 1.5mm or .2mm, I get an instant "Generated G-Code No Found".

What are some good techniques for printing support only where they're needed, and not enveloping the model with extra material.  I know the G-Code file just text, but it is feasible to edit it to remove some of the unwanted material and leave the one you want on?

See: http://solidoodletips.wordpress.com/201 … ruder-fan/

I plan on using the printer to create a little bit of everything from small mechanical models which I'll be primarily designing myself in Solidworks, to printing fun things like characters from games and movies, toys if you will.

These first few tries are my way of trying to find out what works, what doesn't what the best software is etc.  I'm finding that while Slic3r works fine for most mechanical drawings, it doesn't do such a good job with small complicated things, or organic looking ones. 

On the other hand I found that KiSSlicer is capable of producing very good output that closely approxiamtes the actual model.  The problem with KiSSlicer is that it doesn't have any "tweaked" Solidoodle settings, and it will probably take quite a bit of experimenting until I find the best setup.

Additionally I found that using supports is more painful than not using them.  KiSSlicer produced scaffolding like supports are nearly impossible to remove, while Slic3r nearly envelops the model in thin layers that you almost can't tell there's a model inside there somewhere. 

So what is the solution? 

Get creative with model cutting, and positioning.  You can cut a model in a few pieces that when laid flat on the platform will not require almost any support, it's only a matter of figuring out how to do it.  I needed to start thinking like the guys that design model kits.  All model kit parts were design to be injection molded as flat pieces that do not require undercuts or side holes, because tooling for such parts can get expensive, so everything is laid mostly flat,

I found that some parts of a model may print better in one direction (vertically), while others look better when laid horizontally.  Below there are two examples of the same model printed this way.  One of the Team Fortress Demomans was printed by slicing the model at the waist then printing the 2 halves upright.  The problem with that was shifting, which got worse as the vertical height increased.  The reason for this I think was flex in the model itself due to the relatively thin protrusions (the legs).

Printing the model by slicing it longitudinally produced different results.  Not much layer shifting but, due to my choice of sparse infill, the top layer on the back of the model did not have enough support to produce a solid top layer and I ended up with a hole.  Take a look at the 2 models side by side.  The feet on the vertically printed model wereall mangled up on the original print, so I had to print them separately, then I glued them on.

I also tried printed "The Heavy" from Team Fortress, which I documented in another thread.  Some of you wandered where his favorite gun, Sasha,  was...  Here she is!!

Here are is a shot of the heavy with Sasha (before cleaning) and Demoman.

So the big question:

Is this the best kind of output I should expect, or can it get better?  What techniques have you found that can yield better, cleaner output.  I need all the feedback you can give me.

Thanks.