Information

This airbrush paint caddy stores 28 bottles* of paint in two tiers so you can see your colors easily. It has a drawer that is the full length of the caddy so you can fit small parts, tools and longer cleaning brushes too. The drawer opens from either end. Stoppers keep it from falling out.

Pieces fit together with friction-fit dovetails and the fit may vary by printer, filament and slicer settings. Refer to “Testing for Fit” and “Assembly Instructions” to ensure you don't break the pieces.

*It can accommodate bottles that are 31mm/1.2 in in diameter - 1oz/30ml paint bottles like these: Amazon.com: XDOVET Airbrush Paint, 28 Colors Airbrush Paint Set (30 ml/1 oz), Ready to Spray, Opaque & Neon Colors, Water-Based, Premium Acrylic Airbrush Paint Kit for Beginners, Hobbyist and Artists1 : Arts, Crafts & Sewing

Note: It does NOT fit acrylic craft paints like those sold at craft stores.

Printing Notes

Nozzle: .4

Layer Height: .2 (You can use .4 if you want, I just like the finish of .2 and wasn't concerned with printing time.)

Wall Loops: 3

Order of walls: Outer/Inner - helps maintain tighter tolerances for smooth assembly

Wall Generator: Arachne

Supports: For the middle piece and the little stoppers on plate 1, I use slim tree supports with Support Critical Regions Only checked to support. For all other parts, I don't use supports. The drawer complains about overhangs, but it works fine without them. If you use supports for the drawer, artifacts from support removal could interfere with drawer fit.

Brim: For the side and middle pieces, I use a 10mm brim set to inner brim only. I don't use outer brim because it may interfere with the dovetail fit if you can't get it cleaned up perfectly.

Plate Prep: For PLA, I use a very clean Cool Plate evenly coated with Bambu Lab liquid glue stick to ensure good bed adhesion because the parts won't fit together if there's any lifting from the plate.

Testing for Fit

The dovetails must be TIGHT, by design because they hold the entire piece together. Your tolerances may be different than mine due to different types of filament, slicer settings, printer calibration or even from print to print. So that you can test to get the best fit before choosing the version of the sides pieces that you need, I've included some smaller slices of the side pieces that include two dovetails each.

First, print the middle section - the part with the handle that is printed in gray in the examples. This has the male side of the dovetail.

Next, print the two side test pieces. Be sure to orient them on the plate the same way they'll be printed in the full piece with the open side of dovetail on the plate. Test the fit with the previously printed middle piece.

Here's an example of a fit that's too loose. The side piece has a visible gap and wobbles/moves when you push on it lightly with your finger.

Here's an example of the correct fit. The side is parallel to the middle piece when fully seated and does not wobble when push on it lightly with your finger.

Assembly Instructions

First, attach the sides to the middle piece and push them down so the dovetails are fully engaged. You can then GENTLY tap it with a rubber mallet or deadblow hammer, but DO NOT USE A REGULAR METAL HAMMER to put this together.

Once the sides are attached you can put the drawer in. If the slides don't line up, your sides and middle might need to be tapped in a little farther. If the drawer is too loose, you can try putting a little bit of blue tape on the slides.

Once the drawer is in place, you can insert the little stoppers into the holes in center paint holders of the middle piece. Use a butterknife or screwdriver in the slot to turn them to be parallel with the drawer ends. Now if you slide the drawer out from either end, it can't fall out.

Insert the pegs on the handle grip into the three holes on the middle piece being sure to line up the curved indentation to fit properly. Attach the other side of the grip by snapping it onto the pegs. Secure with a few drops of super glue or CA glue, if needed.

The fully assembled piece should look like this: