Back when I used to build aircraft model kits the trick to get a crystal clear canopy was to use Future Floor Polish on them. It's a clear, self leveling acrylic that worked really well. I imaging a clear gloss spray paint would be the same, but thought I would throw that out there.

I remember seeing someone letting his clear prints drip for longer than usual and then removing the supports and then curing without any cleaning and they stayed crystal clear

"the difference between screwing around and science is writing it down" ~Adam Savage lol

I also found sanding helps keep it clear. Problem is the pixel resolution leaves "stairs" on the print surfaces, small enought we can't see, but big enough to refract light and make it look not clear. The clear coat helps bridge these rough edges and let the light scatter less. Try a super low layer height, like 0.01. It makes a big difference. And you really really need to tune in the clear stuff layer cure time, any bit of over exposure makes it harder to get it clear. I've done a lot of experimenting, and it's super tough to nail it lol.

The red living armor is really cool ✨ and so is the mask 👹 I didn’t realize how much finesse was involved in clear prints!

After curing, I stuff my prints in the oven, put it to around 60 degrees celcius and turn the oven on. By the time the oven hits 60, clear prints will have become more clear and any yellowing is pretty much undone completely.

i found when experimenting with anycubic standard green (translucent) resin that it is the alcohol that dull the shine of the resin. like it is attacking the surface of the resin. so my technique was to very quickly dunk the print in alcohol for a second and then thoroughly clean it in normal water. then let it dry and cure. gave me amazing results that made the resin look just as transparent and colored as in the bottle

For real! If you have a better method... LEMMI KNOW! I want to try out some other options with another followup to this! ResinLapse - The easiest way to create Resin 3D Printed Time lapses -www.etsy.com/listing/970847090/resinlapse-resin-3d-printer-timelapses

After the 1k/2k grit, try wet sanding with Zona Paper. Dice makers wet sand with Zona to give their masters a crystal clear finish.

Instead of rustoleum clear, I recommend picking up a 2k clear. Rustoleum and other store brand aerosol, use air dry, so they lose shine as they cure. 2k is chemically cleared, The same we use on automotives, so the shine you see when you spray, is the shine you get when its cured.

Bought myself a CR10S about 2 months ago, but watching your videos is REALLY making me want my 2nd printer to be a resin printer. Love the amount of time you spent on these tests and how thorough you were. Great content.

When I made my hourglass with Sirayatech Blu for one of my videos I brushed on Polycrylic. I found the spray version left little dots on the print from the droplets leaving a textured finish while brushing it on left it more glass like. I also did 2 coats. The tricky part is that if the print is hollow you have to get both sides. With a pourable coating you can just pour some inside the model, swish it around, then pour it out.

I found that recently cured prints tend to dull gloss clear coat. Waiting hours for the prints to fully off-gas and stabilize seems to yield better results. Also, try 2K clear coat, as I think the lack of solvents (catalytic curing), seems to help keep the prints clear.

you could potential try dipping prints in Pledge Revive It Floor Gloss, its a clear high gloss acrylic finish that lots on molders uses on clear parts like airplane canopy's or even airbrushed as a lacquer for more slight satin finish, might work on 3d print

Jesus that Oni mask looks insane !😍😍😍 absolutely jaw dropping💎👌💎

PSA: Don’t buy IPA more concentrated than 70/30. It is extremely hygroscopic and rapidly absorbs H2O from the air. 70/30 is the equilibrium point, and that’s what you’ll end up with after a day (maybe shorter if it’s really humid) unless you keep it sealed in the bottle it came in. For work, I investigated a case of cardiac catheter failures that was linked to this. The SOP called for 99% IPA applied to a wipe and used to clean the devices prior to lubricious coating. There were a handful of devices (not for human use at that point) which essentially fell apart in the final lot of OQ/PQ testing (really final tests period). Turns out that they’d keep the 99% IPA in a squeeze bottle with a small spout (maybe 1.5mm ID nozzle) that was never sealed. The amount used for each device was quite small, so the bottle would be filled every couple of weeks. That minuscule area exposed to the atmosphere, and the air sucked into the bottle after a squeeze, was enough for the IPA to absorb H2O and dilute down to 70%. Except that the bottle ran out at some point and fresh 99% IPA was put in and used on those 5 devices, which caused chemical stress cracking in the polymer shafts.

I have used a 'headlight restoring kit' quite a while ago to refresh our yellowed and oxidised car headlight (plastic) glass. The kit came with fine sanding paper, some polishing paste and a drill mount little buffer. Using it, the headlights lost most of their yellowing, became nice and smooth, but also became opaque due the microscopic scratches which were now even and totally covered the 'glass'. Then the kit had a tube of 'UV protectant' which also smelled like paint. I painted it on as directed and voila! the headlights looked brand new again! Completely clear and transparent. I would wager that this stuff, which is available on its own, would have the same effect on washed and cured resin prints. My observation is that the pores created by washing the prints stay there after curing - and get filled by this clear liquid, just like the tiny scratches on the headlights. I will try the stuff shortly, you have inspired my curiosity, Uncle Jessy.

Hey for the visor you can try zona paper to polish. It’s what we use to polish dice and it turns clear resin ice transparent.

Dude I am so envious of you... I have been watching your videos for weeks trying to convince my woman we need a printer and as much as I amaze her with your videos, she keeps proving to me we can't afford it. I can't wait to see what the future holds... Maybe one day we will all be printing our homes and toys lol

8 days ago I printed rc headlight lens on my channel with clear resin and sprayed clear coat without washing it, it came out amazing

For the yellowing, you are going to want to use more of a violet or purple to neutralize it to a black/gray/smoke tint. However, since the yellow is not actually being removed, the print would look a touch darker then something that is clear like glass or water. The blue you were using looked too cool so that is why it still looked blue or green even opposed to a "darker" clear. You'll need to mix in a very small amount of red, maybe dip a toothpick to give a touch. A drop would likely be too much. To make something clear, what I heard is painting resin with a very soft paint brush after curing partway, then curing the rest of the way would help a lot. You probably already know that because the layers are made by pixels which defuses light like frosted glass. Smoothing those pixels is what will make things clear, so filling the spaces the same material or material with the same light refraction properties. Clear coat probably does not match the refraction and so limits how clear you can get. However, you know for sure the resin it was printed from does match the refraction so it would work very well. I have even seen lens made using the resin painting method. (Be it, cheap lens quality, but hey good lenses require fine grinding.)

My resin crafting butt said "YES!" when I read the title, but apparently missed the "3D prints" part. 🤣 Still watched, cause I haven't spent nearly enough on resin and molds. Now I need to buy a 3D printer. 🤭

Hey Jessy! There is one thing you forgot to test: Dont clean at all, only cure. That can make a bit more messy print regarding uncleaned resin hanging around - but I get totally translucent prints with that method! :)

I've found that the more water (including water washable resins) contacts printed clear resins the cloudier your resulting part is. I've tried to print optical parts before and one successful technique was to clean a part made with water washable resin inside a ziplock filled with mineral oil. The resulting part is transparent to this day.

I just paint on a thin layer of clear resin with a small brush and then cure. works like a charm. awesome channel btw good stuff.

Man the Saturn is so great, I love it.

A few things I've found: - Automotive clearcoat is better - Print solid - If you're going to take your prints outside and don't want them to turn even more yellow, get yourself a car headlight restoration kit with UV protectant. It's usually kind of protectant that chemically bonds to plastic like a clearcoat that blocks UV light. - If you print a flat-ish surface, you can do the old wetsand polish thing where you keep doubling your standpaper grit. Once you hit 4000 grit, go ahead and clear coat.

I clean sand then "re dip" in resin hang to let any extra drip off then without touching any surface cure it under a light. this gives me an amazing high gloss clear finish.

Another issue is you are cleaning your prints almost right away and in doing so you are removing the thick goo that would dry shiny and clear. Just let them drip dry and be exposed to a little light in the room before washing and you'll have a more smooth surface to start with. With FDM printers the secret is extra pressure at the start by having the distance between the nozzle and the build plate more tight than usual and using a slow print speed moving nozzle slowly over the surface and using a little more heat and a lower fan speed and having ironing option on and just slightly over extruding maybe 2 or 3 percent and using extremely low layer heights so the pressure and heat smooshes the layers together. I've gotten printed rupies to to look completely clear.

I have had great luck making parts near glass clear by using the Micromesh system, I have seen it used for resin pen making and once you get your prints up to 12,000 they're just gorgeous. Another quick and dirty method for a quick clear look is coating the print in mineral oil, this can make them attract dust but if you rub it in well it can also fill in the surface imperfections for a very clear finish

Hey Unc J... try the tip someone in the comments said, quick dip in ipa then water. To add to that I suggest do not let it cure in any light until the clear coat is dry. I mean let the clear coat dry in the dark. Also try airbrushing a 2k polyurethane clear coat that is reduced thin enough to limit the amount of detail reduction. When all coats are dry , cure. ....lastly, please tell us what resins you used in this video. The greens I think it was 2 different ones are amazing, also that red figure after the clear was beautiful! I bet one of the green was syratech? Keep up the excellent work brother.

I just got my first bottle of translucent resin so this video came out at the perfect time haha I'm excited to try these methods out!!

try using Pledge Floor polish on the miniatures! either airbushing it on, or even just dipping them in it and then shaking off the excess.

Krylon Tripple Clear Glaze. I cure in water for just a minute or two. I also clean my stuff in Mean Green, I haven't used alcohol since it started getting difficult to get. Clear coat fills in the tiny scratches.

Hobby lobby or I’m sure Amazon had little 2 inch by 2 inch square sanding foam pads near the model cars and airbrush paints. Wet sad up to about 600 with plain sand paper but then use these pads. They are really fine grit. I think they go from 1000 grit to 12000 grit! It takes time but especially for the visor you would want total transparency. You can also use a good quality clear coat and then do the sanding for the absolute best result! I was a hydro dipper and learned these techniques . I also made resin ink pens that spun on a lathe which made wet sanding way easier due to fast revolutions.

Clear / super blonde shellac lays up better on matte surfaces than a few layers of rattle can clear unless you upgrade to Spraymax 2K* catalyzed clear ($$) or put on several layers of conventional rattle can clear. I get near optical clear with 2 coats of ~1-1.5 lb cut shellac. Bonus, you can make the shellac on demand with IPA or denatured you already have on hand. And alcohol inks work with shellac to adjust color or even do multi / layered color translucent prints. One other coating for ultimate UV protection / anti-yellowing would be Sylvania's Headlight Restoration Essentials kit. That coating has lots of self-levelers for creating an optical grade finish on freshly sanded plastic plus tons of anti-yellowing UV inhibitors. For wet sanding, probably start at 600 or 1000 on resin prints unless you have layer lines or glitches from a print that came out not so great. Below 600 grit, it's sanding much rougher than where the surface started and really changing the shape and details more than smoothing the surface finish. *If you're going to spring for a can of Spraymax 2K clear, make sure you have enough stuff spray to use it all in one go. It's a catalyzed urethane, the same as automotive clear coats and once you pop the can, it has pretty much that day to be used. And it requires a VOC respirator -- more so than any resin, alcohol, or other solvent that you have handled. In fact, I would recommend swapping in fresh VOC filters with it.

If you follow up on more sanding testing I would like to recommend also trying micro mesh pads and Zona Paper.

I love ur videos and I got myself elegoo Mars 2 pro and mercury. I've been experimenting with the clear resin prints, but I've only done simple shapes like rupees from zelda series and oval gems. I've gotten amazing result sanding with up to 7000 grit wet sanding paper and finishing off with flitz polish. Another successful result i had was with clear uv resin used to pore casting in silicone molds. It can be little tricky but with a bit of practice, this yielded some really cool results. After a quick cure and some light sanding, clean off all the debris (it catches all the dust). Then carefully cover the surface with the clear uv resin, just enough to cover the surface evenly. It kind of felt like putting on nail polish. It also seems to naturally smooth out while its still wet. When it stops dripping, and just settles on the surface, I give it a good cure in the Mercury. At least till most of the tacky ness is gone. Another thing is to do this one both surfaces of course. I do want to test out on visor like piece because I think I can get it super transparent.

I am very new to 3d printing. I watched this as an informational vid to projects I am working on. A few things crossed my mind while watching. One was the haze that envelopes headlight lenses and the cleaning there of with silicone oil sprays and cloth buffing. Another that crossed my mind was waxes. As someone mentioned floor polish for example. Being a zoids collector and some of them are of clear or translucent versions and a very old blog, by internet standards, was a product called "the treatment" applied to one of the guys clear parts zoids. The pics given by him were remarkable results. I will be trying the silicone method on a dome for a Mr. Freeze bust being made for a coworker's dream batman chess set I am working on for him. Hoping for the best.

So I work with resin pours and yes, you can get a super high polished finish with going higher grit sand paper, and some super fine cut polish. That Mando visor can be clear enough to wear and still see with relatively high clarity.

I can't give advice on the models, but I have experience making visors, lenses and other smooth large surfaces that need to be clear. I followed a similar to what I do for blacksmithing, sanding, buffing and polishing - no clear coat. This gave me massive control over how clear/opaque my prints are. I suspect if you want to clear coat them, you will have to go through the process twice, first without the clear coat on then again with it on being carful not to remove it all. I also do all of my processing and post in a well ventilated shed doing any sanding in a filtered extraction chamber, and use a 3 stage IAP cleaning process, quick dunk in dirty IPA, quick brush in moderately clean IPA finally 2.5 minute was in clean (or dam near) in an elegoo wash and cure. I keep my resin in clear lidded containers, and put them under uv-light between every few prints to cure the resin out of them. When they start looking bad I filter the IPA though filter paper, and eventually replace it. Making sure there is no liquid resin in the final wash bath has been the most pivotal thing i've found for clean prints.

Thanks so much, was just getting ready to set up a bunch of trials and then came across this. Saved a lot of time and resin. Thank you

When sanding use a sanding sponge instead of just a sheet of paper and that'll make a lot of difference as it'll form around the object and won't miss as many sunken surfaces; skip over the rougher grades and just use the finer grades right away. Or use pumice on a sponge dipped in mineral oil or olive oil instead of a sanding sponge. Or just use a buffing machine set to the lowest speed and use a very soft loose sewn buffing wheel with white rouge used for silver and brass and plastic.

Some people have printed my Scarlet Witch tiara in translucent red and it looks incredible. Just a spray of 2K clear on top, and amazing result. I also did this for the Starlord Blasters cartridges, clear coating and polishing the inside and outside and the result is incredible.

I work with epoxy resin mold making and what I have found is that when you sand you need to take it up to 10,00 grit to get that smooth and clear finish. Also, I have not had a lot of luck with clear sprays, they turn yellow and are not as smooth as a resin top coat.

I would think that the clean/clear/cure method would end up in an uncured/undercured part, as most clearcoats contain UV blockers by design.

I don’t think post processing is nearly as important as which clear resin brand you are using, kind of think you should do another video with 5-10 different clear resin brands. Having worked with epoxy for a long time, the brand makes a huge difference!

I tried printing something flat on a wham bam plate and it awesome you can print very detailed figure without support the base

A bit late to the video but I didn't see anyone else mention this... I find that IPA causes a lot of my issues with translucent prints, causing that cloudy/frosted look. Due to this, I wash with Mean Green (have never noticed an issue with color) in my ultrasonic cleaner, then cure in water for just a few minutes. In this process the water actually removes the stickiness, while if I air-cure them they remain sticky even when over-cured. Final step is to clear-coat with Krylon Crystal Clear, usually needs 2 coats. When printing in the colorless resin I usually don't cure for more than a minute or two before spraying them.

if you are planning to do a lot of wet sanding I highly suggest getting Micromesh wet sanding products. In a pack for a good price you get reusable/washable pads that can go up to 12,000 grit. I use them when making acrylic pens for a perfect looking surface.

What I have found (because my family was in the abrasive machine business) is that figurines cane be run through a rock tumbler or a vibration tumbler. Use walnut, then go to #20 glass bead. You've at that that point, wet sanding a detailed figure. Which does mean you might need to exaggerate your print a little, expecting abrasion.

Great video. I'd be wary of clear coating before curing as a lot of clear coats are UV protective, so they will block the curing and leave your part under-cured

from my time working with plastic model kits, try a much higher grit paper. You start achieving a clear transparency after 2000 grit, and I have always taken it to 7000 for most, and in clear/untinted up to 10000 grit. You can buy polishing compound to get an even higher shine. REmember soft sanding is going to take away the hard edges and produce some soft corners. Sanding with a hard stick will get you a flatter area to see through. Also be careful with your clear sprays, some can do wonders, some can actually only add a dull shine. My experience is to stick with some Alclad II Klear Cote, or Automotive Clear Coats. If you can add some leveling compounds (a paint additive for modelling paints) can help get a good transparency. Also, a good thing for removing support marks for clear parts is to do the same thing modellers do. Do some big supports, and grab a sharp pair of nippers and cut it with a little bit of the nub left. take your time and sand that nub down with a sand stick or cut it afterwards with some really shallow cutters. By tearing your supports off or cutting them right at the point of the part, you end up cracking it in a way that leaves a mark. You want to take as much stress off the cut as possible.

I keep telling you, once you get the process down you need to test visors and eye inserts. Maybe make the entire mando helmet smokey clear and masking off everything you want to stay clear and painting the rest.

I like the Oni mask. I wonder if in the future you might try clear coating only parts of the model and keeping other parts more opaque for some contrast. Also I wonder if you could lightup something like the ONI mask with leds, kinda purge mask style

You don't need any extra product to get a 100% transparent glass-like result. Have you ever noticed how the pieces just printed look very transparent and then they get dull when you wash them? this is bacause the resin pieces are made of microscopic cubes the size of the LCD screen pixels. When the piece is cleaned, all the curved surfaces have jagged surface due to this. Since the cubes are microscopic you can't see them but they are the cause of the rugged finish. What you have to do is one of two things: ONE: don't wash the piece. Just drain it well and cure it as is. All the transparency of the just printed piece will be preserved because the liquid resin covers the rugged cubic surface of the piece so the addition results in a smooth surface. TWO: Wash the piece and then apply liquid resin as if it was a varnish with a brush. You can wash the brush with ISO alcohol, of course. The first method is good for pieces with no detail (I have printed lightsaber blades perfectly transparent this way and I'm sure you could print that Mando visor as transparent as a piece of polycarbonate) and the second method is better for detailed figures since you can control where and how much "varnish" to apply.

I am so used to sanding PLA that sanding resin feels amazing. I actually love printing in ABS over PLA if I am going to be sanding the print just because ABS sands pretty nice compared to weird ole gummy PLA. The first time I took sandpaper to resin, I wont lie it gave me goosebumps seeing how easy it was. However I have to admit I haven't been using a mask while sanding mostly because I am am stupid and didn't even consider it.

IPA, as it is now called, is just a solvent for uncurled resin. Using a lower concentration won’t change that, but it may require a longer wash time or more agitation. On the other hand, after a certain point, a higher concentration does’t matter from a practical standpoint. If you are going to sand and polish, after 800 or 1000 grit, use a rubbing compound, the. A polishing compound that you can get at an automotive parts store... it works for me.

i have seen good results applying thinned UV resin with an air brush,

ive brushed some liquid resin over a model then cured it giving a nice shiny see through look

Wash part in wash station. Plug hollow part drain holes with a dab of hot glue. Dip part in warmish resin and let drip dry with best available orientation. Then go straight to cure in wash and cure. Skip the wash part.

Wow, Great test and retest! Love that your share your expriences with all of us :-)

For white resin that has discolor or turned brown, I pop prints a bowl of water and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes. Brings 'em back to pure white. May work on clear resin as well. Gotta be careful because the heat does soften prints momentarily and could warp smaller items.

I know this is an old video, but I'm Woodworking/woodturning when we work with epoxy and we're trying to get a clear/gloss finish, we and up through the grid (220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1,000 without skipping grits), then move in to either micromesh pads, and then playoff Pulliam with a buffer (not everyone uses micromesh). Again, probably not viable for miniatures or highly detailed, but for that Mando visor in guessing you could get it near glass looking

the method i found that works best for me... 3 steps... step 1.. 99% ipa wash for ten to 20 ... step 2 mr clean wash ( 2 to 5 mins) ... step 3 cure in container of 99% ipa.... only use 99% ipa and not 70% as water induces cloudiness... don't let parts dry between steps ... go for one step to the next immediate step... curing in a liquide removes oxygen from the surface which when curing cause resin to yellow, i have found that water cause cloudiness so I only use ipa.. the higher the % the better

That Mando visor would look great with black ink mixed with the resin!

With clear plastic I only ever put so much effort into it, but I read an article on removing scratches from model car windshields, aircraft canopies, etc., in which they detailed using multiple grades of wet sanding getting finer and finer, then rubbing with toothpaste, then finally coating it with FUTURE floor polish. You might give that a try and see what happens. The spray on clear coat seems to be skipping the toothpaste and FUTURE. Barring toothpaste, maybe some form of plastic polish. Google how to polish plastic to clarity. That should give you some ideas. Great vid.

You could maybe try a headlight restoration kit for your flat surfaces it comes with a the high grit sanding pads for a drill so you can do a high speed sand/buff some include a clear coat for uv protection

After curing try dipping it in Future floor wax. Might be labeled as Pledge Floor gloss. Dip it then look for bubbles or dust particles and if present, re-dip till there's none. Remove then let drip out/cure. It's acrylic based so can use Windex to clean up.

I know a lot of work went into this Jessy but if you haven't done an update, use 2K clear. The cans are about $25 but the clear is WAY WAY WAY YYYYYYYY better. You'll see just how shiny and clear things come out, it's a night and day difference.

So, speaking as 3D artist who primarily works in physics-based real-world materials ... most of the optical properties you're testing are based on surface smoothness. Highly clear plastics and glasses have surface smoothnesses measured in microns. Using a plastic polishing kit would give you spectacular results in my opinion.

I know I’m pretty late to the game here but, you can buy rattle cans of automotive 2k clear that absolutely won’t yellow and flashes pretty quick. And once you pierce the activator it can last up to a week. So if you have quite a few items to clear coat a can of automotive 2k clear may be an option, it won’t yellow and is much stronger then our typical clears.

Dude your channel is so informative, how do you squeeze so much content in the one video

the mad scientist back at it again!!!

I'm printing off a space ship and was curious about the screen as a I use translucent resin. I assumed polishing the resin like normal resin... Looks like that will be best! Interesting video!

Autosol, brasso or silvo and other metal polishes or cut and polish works wonders on some clear plastics

Thanks for making videos, I hope you keep making lots more, you make 3D printing fun again Uncle Jessy

I clean, dip my prints in polycrylic, amd lightly blow off excess with compressed air. The polycrylic seems to have some uv protection because it took 2 years for one of my prints to yellow sitting on a window sill.

the clearest I have gotten mine is by cleaning, curing, then coating with no-wipe gel (nail) polish top coat and curing again (gel polish has to be cured). I make mostly 1/6 miniatures and props. I got into resin 3d printing because it seemed to be so similar to gel nails. lol

from my own personal experience with my original elegoo mars, you might be able to get slightly better results from cleaning but the biggest thing is to clean properly and use a clear coat spray after curing. while the resolution of my elegoo mars is great, its not quite good enough to make a smooth enough surface to really allow good light penetration. I normally just use IPA to clean and water to rinse, cure it, and afterwords i would apply the clear coat (uv blocking) to seal and give it less cloudy result. 2-3 even coats seems to do well for me, some models i can see being harder but I havent had much issues in my own limited experimenting.

Great into. I just printed a clear beer light for work, but wasn't sure how to best clean it up

I've found that dipping it in resin before curing gives me the best result. It gets rid of all those pixels refracting light weirdly and you can't get a smoother finish than that.

Someone on reddit did a test of applying heat to a yellowed/over-cured print. Would love to see a more detailed test of that technique.

Use distilled water next time. The clear prints gets that haze from absorbing the minerals in the water

i found that _for some resins_ the prints seem way clearer since i started to run them under hot water after washing to soften the supports during removal, and then curing. maybe some of the "half washed away" outer layer gets washed off further during that process? (for other resins it just makes them goopy, fingerprinty and ruins the result, so i don't use those for prints that need support softening) a combination that works really well for its price/effort i found: 1:1 Elegoo ABSlike + "frenshion" (aliexpress fake brand as far as i can tell) cheapo fingernail gel resin, on the abslike's printing profile, washing in ancient dirty 99% IPA, washing/unsupporting under 60ish°C water (ouch), curing. have been printing structural components, miniatures, busts, etc with that, they all look and work pretty great even without a spray coat (though of course better with one). and as a bonus it's somewhere between just abslike and the expensive "tough flexy" resins in terms of hardness, so it's a bit more forgiving for tiny details in models you want to handle/drop.

It should be readily apparent why the parts are not clear when you clean/cure. It is not that the resin is not transparent and clear but that the layers are really thin and you got a lot of connection-lines that scatter the light. In that - cleaning is the problem: If you clean the parts as soon as they are printed you are removing any material that would fill those tiny grooves, but not cleaning is often also not an option. So if you can do not clean it. Curing in water has the benefit of reducing the oxygen, which also reduces yellowing. And of course - when possible sent it. That reduces the surface roughness which allows the clearcoat to fill in most of them, leaving a clear finish. it is the same thing as with frosted glass: The glass it self is perfectly clear, but the surface is roughed up - and when it gets wet (or you use some clear tape on it) it becomes perfectly transparent.

Those time lapses look so amazing

Something I learned a while back is to lower the percentage of alcohol. I heard somewhere that as long as it's above 10% or 20% it should still clean just fine. I tried it and it seems to help significantly with clarity on my clear prints. This also cuts down on the cost of IPA usage. Probably best to use distilled water, but I've been using filtered tap water. This tells me that the alcohol is causing microscopic fractures in the plastic similar to what you can see in many acrylics and other clear plastics that used to be used on phone screens back in the day. The clear coat basically fills in those microscopic fractures and makes the surface smooth again. If I remember right, alcohol leeches out the plasticizers that make plastics susceptible to this flexible so the outer layer is left super brittle and causes stress fractures just from its own tensions of holding itself together. What I'm curious about is how alternative cleaning solutions such as simple green affect clear prints. I haven't tried that yet.

sand with 2000 wet r dry paper (add a drop of dish soap to the water to keep the sanded bits washing away) then clear coat again. you can then use a fine buffing compound (auto store) to really make it shine.

When I use Elegoo's ABS-like clear transparent resin I found I only needed to cure for 30 seconds or so in the Wash & Cure station. Any longer then that and it started turning yellowish. Was told by some folks after my first few prints were yellowish that was all the time needed because the light goes all the way through. Which made sense but I had not thought about it.

the green resin is amazing

Rybonator has good results wet sanding with Zona polishing papers. Might be worth a try.

Not to too sure as we haven't tested it ourselves but a hobby trick is to use a pledge floor wax to make clear plastics more clear almost glass like but not sure if it'll react the same to resin.

The benefits of water curing are removing gaseous oxygen from getting to the model, so in order to get the best results you will need to clean it very quickly and limit the exposure to air as much as possible before putting it into the water. This is mostly for surface quality and even curing, since water allows a more even refraction of light in small crevices of the surface. Since these tiny areas get more light and cure more it will probably cause them to look hazier. I'd imagine that coating them in clear before curing will give you similar results since you are also forming a barrier between the model and the open air. But water curing is usually done for durability and surface quality rather than clarity throughout like with clear prints. So maybe if you want clear prints go with spraying on a clear coat, but if you want durable prints go for water curing?

Acrylic polishing compound with a dremel buffing wheel, you would need to wet sand after clean and curing, crystal clear coat 2000 grit, then buff and polish.

I just print, wash in 99.98/9 IPA, then cure (direct sunlight for minis if possible, as I found that they get less frosty as opposed to UV lights from my Wash & Cure), then use a fixative varnish produced by Jovi (hard to get some nowadays).

there are kits you can get for restoring car headlight clarity. it should be able to make your Mandalorian visor completely clear

If you can get the mandalorian visor working that it's clear to see through and tint it so it's dark but see through you could sell them like crazy because everyone who does mandalorian cosplay is always looking for visors that fit their helmets but also are dark enough that people don't see their faces but they can see out

Just ordered my first resin printer, but from my experience with other things, 91% alcohol makes a great solvent. I've used it to clean delta printer bed, clean glass and slate for laser engraving and while trying to use it to clean something off a wall and clean a toilet seat, took some paint off both. (completely different situations lol) 70% is much more watered down.

First time to this channel and for some strange reason I keep hearing “CARL!!” in my head.