It’s only been a month since the release of the PrusaSlicer Masterclass, and we’re already bringing you another new Prusa Academy online course! This time, we’ve focused on postprocessing of 3D prints. That is, transforming a freshly printed model into its intended final form: from gluing, filling, and sanding, to complete painting and various methods of enhancing details.

Get the Complete Guide to 3D Print Postprocessing, Painting, and Detailing now

The course is designed for complete beginners, but it’s also quite long and thorough, so we believe that even more advanced users will gain inspiration and learn something new from it.

By the way, as a gift with the course, you’ll receive a completely free 3D model of the Waco YMF-5 biplane from 3DLabPrint, valued at $60 (so you’ll save more than the course itself costs)!

Course Format and Content

In terms of format, the course is essentially no different from previous Prusa Academy courses. It is based on text, divided into short paragraphs, paired with many pictures and, where necessary, short videos. As usual, you can continuously test your newly acquired knowledge with quizzes. If you pass them all, you can generate a certificate of completion.

The first half of the course consists of theory lessons.

We start with workshop equipment and continue with the necessary “grunt work,” i.e., gluing, filling, and sanding.

This is followed by painting, both with a paintbrush and spray paint; and we’ll also briefly cover airbrushing.

You’ll learn the basics of more advanced techniques for enhancing details and the overall look of the model, such as edge highlighting, washes, or drybrushing.

Sample projects

In the second half of the course, you’ll find sample projects where we demonstrate the techniques and tools described in the theory lessons on specific models.

In a detailed “step-by-step” format, we always describe the complete process from a fresh print to a finished model.

First up is Robo Alpaca, the popular mascot of our Prusa MK4 printers. This project focuses on the basics of brush painting.

In the second project, we show the Landy Mini model from 3DSets. In this case, we mostly used spray paint cans.

The theme of the third project is the Khanjarli dagger. It’s the same dagger that is featured as a sample project in the 3D Modeling in Autodesk Fusion course. Here, we demonstrate more advanced brush painting methods, such as imitating a metallic surface and sparkling gemstones using regular, non-metallic paints.

Free 3D Model of the Waco YMF-5 Biplane!

As mentioned in the introduction, the course includes a 3D model of the Waco YMF-5 biplane by 3DLabPrint, as a complete set of STL files, free to download.

ICON – eye
The Waco is primarily designed as a flying RC model with an impressive wingspan of almost 150 centimeters (60 inches)! The construction itself is not too complicated, a surprisingly small amount of filament is needed to print the parts, and as you can see in the video, the result is a beast with very solid flight characteristics.
However, we decided to turn the Waco into a non-moving, but all the more detailed, completely painted scale model, with a realistic period propeller and the rigging wires so characteristic of biplanes. Of course, it’s up to you whether you want to build your Waco as a flyable or non-flyable piece (there are alternative parts and instructions available for both variants).

Given that this conversion was somewhat demanding, and we didn’t want to scare away all the beginners 😃, the build is not presented as a detailed sample project. However, the in-progress photos are used throughout the course for illustration of various topics.

Other Prusa Academy Courses and Future Plans

To make the model look its best and to shorten and simplify the post-processing beautification phase as much as possible, it’s good to think ahead before you even start printing the model. You’ll find the necessary know-how for print optimization in our recently released PrusaSlicer Masterclass course.

Conversely, what still needs to be done after the model is completely finished and painted? That’s right, show it off! However, this requires perfect photos. You’ll learn to create these in our course focused on photographing 3D prints.

And what new courses are we planning to work on?

We were (pleasantly 🙂) surprised by how many of you are purchasing the Prusa XL as your first printer. Therefore, we will give it a dedicated beginners course, similar to the ones already available for the CORE One or MK4S printers. Of course, we will delve deeper into the specific capabilities that the XL offers, especially multi-material printing using multiple print heads.

We would like to further develop the topic of postprocessing and painting in courses focused on painting miniatures, as well as on the topic of painting with an airbrush.

We are also considering a sequel to the popular course about 3D Modeling in Autodesk Fusion, or courses for other modeling programs.

Of course, your suggestions for the content of new courses and feedback on existing ones are always welcome.🧡

Happy printing (and learning)!