Frogs 3D Zoetrope animation Pre-supported (4-Mation)

https://youtu.be/6kv-M7BIG5I

The final version of the 4-Mation frogs 3D Zoetrope animation. You'll need a strobe machine and the matching 2D cover with character position markings to make this. Find out more and buy a zoetrope machine kit at https://www.4-Mation.co.uk

Instruction video for assembling the animation: https://youtu.be/FGaPKyLN7go
Print the jpg file frogs_glueup_guide.jpg from the photos on this cults page before assembling.

Note there are just 39 frogs not 40 - this is because once per revolution one frog jumps from one frame/segment into the next. This starts at frame J and finishes at frame A - where there is an A frog and T frog. There is only one A frog.

How I paint the frogs (from pigmented resin prints): https://youtu.be/FdbaW9nJipw

See the pictures for a simple hack with tweezers to grip the frogs for painting. Wrap a small rubber band (like the one that comes around the carousel cover) a couple times round a pair of tweezers, and it's a perfect frog gripper!

The Lilies lychee file includes a paint-tool developed after I made the video on how I paint. It isolates the lily stamens so you can easily "jewel" them with mirror chrome powder without spilling any power on the lily petals.

Printing the frogs in pigmented green resin is really the right way to go here, otherwise holding the frogs to paint the body is very awkward...

Here's a video on how to separate the frogs from the supports: https://youtu.be/Cg86QR9Tn2o

Frogs_lychee.zip (universally compatible using Lychee STL export) is a single lychee file with all the frogs ready to print on an Elegoo Saturn or any other 8.9in resin printer. For smaller printers split the frogs file as you like. Lilies_Lychee.zip has the flowers - again split the file if have a smaller printer.

You can edit the Lychee files to suit your print setup - then you can export them in the standard Chitu CTB file format, or as STLs with supports and print directly on the platform if you're using Formlabs Preform for example.

Besides the frogs and the lilies, you also need 2 "stalk_support_slim_tall" and 1 "stalk_support_slim_short" to support the 3 jumping frogs. The short stalk is used for the 3rd frog - the one that's landing the end of the jump (indexed on it's belly with L, the first two are J and K). Stalks should be printed in clear resin and you can print them without supports straight on build plate.

Reprinting missing/broken Frogs
If you need to reprint just a few frogs (eg if you broke one or two removing supports - or if painting went wrong) - in Lychee look at the object list - each object is named with its index letter. So you can just hide the objects you don't want to print in that object list, and then re-slice an print.

For best results use 35 micron layers or smaller with the frogs.

Because these models are so small and detailed the supports have to be very small and dense - so you will need a strongly pigmented resin - and obviously green resin saves on painting. Painting the frog bodies is awkward, and standard green coloured resins are probably not going to be as bright as resin you pigment yourself.

The best solution is to add extra pigment to a white resin like Siraya Tech Fast White. Siraya Fast White is very weakly white, so I add extra white pigment as well as green colour.

I use westsenior resin (epoxy/polyurethane) pigments from ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk for the colours, and polytek white polyurethane pigment for the white. But I think almost any pigments designed for epoxy/polyurethane will work - as long as you don't exceed around 2% pigment by weight. You might also use alcohol dyes, but to get bright colour you really need pigment.

My recipe by weight is:
Siraya Fast White + 1.5% white polyurethane pigment + 0.5% green pigment + 0.1% yellow pigment.

With that much pigment in the resin you need a much longer curing time. On my Elegoo Saturn I need 3.4 seconds for a 35 micron layer.

The lilies I print before the frogs with Siraya White + 1.5% white pigment. Siraya white is a bit translucent so the pigment helps the flowers pop, and after they're printed you can add the green pigment for the frogs. I print the flowers at 50 micron, and with less pigment it's much faster with only 2.8 seconds for the thicker layer height.