FDM Kit Tips and Info

As mentioned in the description of the listings the parts of my FDM printed Kits utilize dowel holes between them, for assembly both in alignment of parts and particularly strength. Four common sizes are used, 9.5mm dia, 6mm dia (both roughly 25mm long), wooden skewer roughly 3mm dia (roughly 15mm long), wooden toothpick (roughly 10mm long). I will use the largest possible on any split, toothpick dowels are usually only used on helmets or armour parts as those parts are only 5mm thick. I may put alignment marks on the print if orientation isn't clear or even number them so look out for that. As of June 2024 I am including 9.5/6mm dowels with the kits! They are not cut to length you will have to do that yourself, the 9.5mm are cut in half giving you two dowels, the 6mm will need about 1/4 cut off leaving one dowel. 

Note: The dowels are meant to be tight, they won't function otherwise, the 6mm dia dowels in particular can feel very tight, the rim of the dowel hole can be slightly smaller than the hole itself due to the first layer being thicker so using a blade to shave off that inner edge can help, using a 6mm drill bit can also work. The outside of the dowel can also be sanded down a little. Rest assured however that these are the holes/dowels I use myself. 

This is how I assemble the kits for myself: I put the dowels in one side of the seam (it is meant to be a tight fit), I use glue on the face of the seam, I then press the other side on and hold/clamp/tape them together while the glue sets. I then use a temperature controlled soldering iron (set to 220C) to 'weld' the seam by pushing and melting the two sides together. After this wood filler and some sanding should make the seam near invisible. Finally using filler primer to prime (automotive spray can is the go-to), and then regular paint etc etc if I actually knew how to paint lol. That's just how I do it, there's no need to do it the same way, but I highly recommend using the dowels at least as they are the core of strength holding everything together. 

Helmet/Armour: The same process as props, however as mentioned they only use toothpick dowel holes along the seams for alignment etc, and using tape to hold the parts together while the glue sets is pretty much necessary, taping the inside works better than the outside, or both is even better. Try to avoid assembling in a way in which a part will have to be joined to two different seams at once, do pairs which then join at a single seam to another pair.