Tortoises – Finishing Comparison

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I decided to paint the Tortoise I printed most recently, the one printed with tree supports rather than zig-zag verticals, without any surface finishing at all apart from string removal.

Both models have been printed with identical quality parameters: 0.08mm layer height, 10% triangular infill, and printed fairly slowly. The one on the right, the first, has had many of its surfaces scraped down to remove as much of the printing layer lines as I reasonably could. The one on the left, the newer model, has not, but has just had paint applied straight over the surfaces as printed.

There is certainly a visible difference between the two models when seen in close-up, but with paint on, at tabletop distances, the variation in surface quality is pretty much invisible. For purely gaming purposes, I'm doubtful that the extra time and effort involved in smoothing down visible layer lines is really all that worth while.