Thanks for this wonderful info, my friend @gblair! Looks like 3D printing has come down to logical costs and offers a million of opportunities!

These printers are a lot of fun, John (@johnb). 3D printing can be very inexpensive. I would do some investigating and make sure it is something you would use before you jump down the rabbit hole. I haven't found many 3D print files that I can use in my modeling, but there is a bunch for my model railroad. If I can get good enough designing my own model parts and printing them, then the possibilities are endless for models.

Thanks, George (@chinesegeorge). You are right. Getting old sucks. My son-in-law tells me that getting old isn't for the weak. I have been lucky not to have had any surgery before now, and I am 72. I had some cancer surgery on my ear a couple of decades ago, but that was just a local anesthetic. My wife and I walk a couple of miles every day, and I still do some exercise, as well as Tai Chi.

I suspect you could get a decent 3D printer for less than $300, and most of the files I am using I find for free on the internet. The only real expense after you get the printer is buying the resin. I have heard that there are model clubs and co-ops that are buying printers for their members to use, so that might be something you could find. Who knows, there may be a bunch of files out there for model motorcycles.

Hi Cricket (@bikequeen): Unfortunately, using a 3D printer takes more space than just the footprint of the printer. Along with the printer, you also need to be able to wash and cure the things you make. I have a combination washer and cure station that takes up the same amount of space at the printer. This is also based on using water washable resin. If you use non-water washable resin, you will need to clean and rinse the part in alcohol. I prefer water washable resin simply because I don't want to mess around with a bunch of alcohol that needs to be stored. You also need a little room to store your bottles of extra resin. Once the part is printed, you will need some flat space to remove the part from the build plate, cut away the supports, clean the part, and so on. This doesn't need to be dedicated space, so you could use a counter top, shelf top, or any other accessible place.

3D printing is fun, but it does require a lot of experimenting to find the correct settings, along with a lot of failed prints while you figure out how things work. I don't think your space is insoluble, but you will need more space than just the printer. I am having a lot of fun with mine and have gotten where I can design and print simple items for my model trains. I have also printed some figures, which are also fun.

You might send a PM to Brian (@brithebuilder), as he a real pro at 3D printing and can probably give you some better advice than I can. Good luck!

I'm impressed by that lighthouse rail, George @gblair
Was it printed without the help of supporting struts.
The figure is beautiful as well.

Hi, John (@johnb): It was printed without any supports. I was surprised that it worked. I previously printed the railings with supports on each railing and found it was impossible to clean up the attachment points without breaking the handrails. I have printed the railings 3 times. The first two with supports. On the first one, I cured it before removing the supports. Curing hardens the resin, but the handrails proved too brittle to clean up wiithout breaking. On the second one, I tried removing the supports before curing. The supports were easier to remove from the resin in its softer, uncured state, but it still left little nubs of resin that were impossible to clean without breaking. The third one is in the photo above. This print takes very little resin to do, so I wondered if it would print without supports. Unsupported horizontal surfaces probably shouldn't have printed, but I think it was so small that they couldn't sag and break. I will send a photo of the completed lighthouse when done.

Hi Cricket (@bikequeen): You have a filament printer, which tends to be larger than mine, which prints using liquid resin rather than filament. Mine is probably half the size of yours. I understand your space dilemma now. I don't know much about filament printers, but I understand there a lot more settings that are required for each print. I am glad that I started with a liquid resin printer because I think their learning curve isn't quite as steep as a filament printer.

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten): I have a lot of fun with my 3D printer, but the printer and I are still a work in progress. Whenever I change what I am printing, it often requires new settings to make a successful print. I don't have enough experience to anticipate what the settings need to be, so there is period of experimentation and failed prints before I figure out what the setting need to be. I still hope to learn how to design my own stuff so that I can make new parts for my models. Still a long way from that point.