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YouSu iForm 181 Resin for LCD 3D printers is new and available in three colors (Grey, Skin and White) and two sizes (500g and 1000g) on Amazon’s USA storefront. This brand name may be unfamiliar to some but, Guangzhou Yousu 3D Technology Co., Limited was established back in January 2013. Yousu’s entry into the resin market began in mid-2020.
My past use and review of Yousu’s filament lived up to expectations. (Yousu Silk Pearlescent PLA Review). Their new resin product description claims good details and adhesion. Let’s find out how well Yousu’s Form 181 resin lives up to their advertisement.
As Halloween approaches, this article features a model from newer artist Aaron Enkil Velkan Rivera which I found on Facebook. The model includes his vision of Wednesday Addams (from Addams Family) as both an adolescent as-seen-on-TV as well as a grown woman. Make sure you don’t upset her. She knows how to use that knife!!
NOTE: Personally, I am brand new to 3D resin printing. My first real prints are being created with Yousu’s resin. I hoped this new resin would be easy to use for me and experienced users. Keep reading to find out my results.
Yousu iForm 181 Resin Packaging
Similar to their filaments, Yousu Resin is professionally packaged and labelled. The outer boxes are custom labelled with the brand name and bottle image. The box lists the basic resin settings, directions, and safety warnings. The resin is contained within a metal canister using a lid with a tear of safety ring. Under the cap is an additional plug to further seal the resin inside. (The plug was easier to remove pulling up on the sides instead of the pull ring). Externally the metal canister is a nice metallic blue with an informative label. Overall, the packaging is clean, colorful, informative and professional looking.
Yousu Resin Printing
I did all of my prints on an Anycubic Photon S (LINK) which is my first resin 3D printer. Like a kid (or adult) on Christmas morning, I tore open my Yousu iForm Resin and started printing after glancing at some recommended settings. Initially, I used 9 seconds for normal exposure with 0.05 layers. Hey that one reviewer on Amazon couldn’t be wrong, right?
First Print Batch – iForm Resin
The first batch of model pieces using the iForm 181 did print. However, my inexperienced manual support placements caused multiple failures. Despite my haste, the detail level on my first print batch was impressive. Take a quick look.
As you can see my initial build plate had some issues with support failures. Beyond that, the prints look great, especially for 225mm / 9in scale. The slightly modified Supergirl bikini model is part of a diorama from Frag Mintz called DC Trinity (volleyball not included). (FB LINK)
Second Batch and Beyond
After watching several tutorial videos, I started a new project combining automatically and manually placed supports. The result with Yousu resin has been incredible, so far. Additional practice with support placement and removal is required, but I’m off to a good start. Check out some more pictures.
Time To Calibrate – iForm 181 Resin
Eventually, I printed some figure pieces where the supports and bottom of the print were not part of the hidden “cut” surface. In fact, I printed the head of a figure. This is when I noticed a lack of detail and excessive smooth surface near my supports. After a quick Google search, it appears OVEREXPOSURE is a problem. So I dialed down the normal exposure time in my slicing software to 7 seconds for my Yousu iForm181 Resin profile.
A quick reprint of the same head showed some improvement, but not perfection. Instead of a solo third copy of the same piece, I the other head figure with the same basic orientation. This time I set the exposure to 5 seconds in my iForm 181 profile. My results at 5 second were mixed.
I finally printed an exposure test, before running out of my initial 500g of grey Yousu iForm181 Resin. Testing exposure time on the Photon S requires an up-to-date firmware and using a specific filename. I used a design found on Thingiverse. (TV LINK1). Here’s an alternative calibration design. (TV LINK2)
Exposure Testing Results – Sort Of
Calibrating your printer for a new resin profile AFTER you have used nearly every last drop is not the best idea. Several of my calibration prints partially stuck to the vat FEP. The exposure and layer adhesion was too low. Since this resin from Yousu is not advertised as “quick” resin, I am going to edit my profile to use 7 seconds of “exposure time”. (The bottle recommends 3-15 seconds). Testing below 5 seconds had the most failures. When I open up a future grey iForm181 bottle, I will attempt additional calibrations.
NOTE: The details of my test prints did not look that different for each exposure time, beyond the quality of the raft-like bottom layer. Additional research on proper calibrating my new machine’s profiles is required. Do you have any tips specifically for a Photon S or Yousu iForm 181 Resin? Please leave some comments below.
Note 2: My models also appear to be suffering from “pooling”. As I continue to learn about resin printing, I will figure out the best way to calibrate new and new-to-me materials. Once I have a good profile, I will update this article for everyone.
Anycubic Photon S Chitubox Slicer Profile
Setting up your slicer profile can sometimes be a headache here is my Anycubic Photon S Chitubox slicer profile. Now if you dont have this LCD 3D printer you can still use the settings as a base point.
- Layer Hight – 0.05
- Bottom Layer Count – 10
- Exposure Time – 5 Seconds
- Bottom Exposure Time – 50 Seconds
Project Results – More Pictures
Although my prints have some new user imperfections and errors, overall the figures look incredible. The detail of the multiple fabric textures and lace patterns is outstanding. The tiny and delicate hands, hair braids, jewellery and knife blade printed flawlessly. Therefore people love their resin machines.
The base for the project will probably be done with an FDM printing. Subscribe to the newsletter and get to website notices for future updates and articles. For now, here are some more pictures of Wednesday Addams from Aaron Enkil Velkan Rivera.
Elephant in the Room – Can You Smell Me Now?
Can you believe I almost forgot to discuss the smell of the iForm 181 Resin? Perhaps I’m getting used to the smell. Maybe the acetone I’ve been using to clean my parts is even stronger. It’s hard to tell. However, I can compare it with the resin that came with my Photon S printer.
Upon opening the bottle, the two brands of resin have the same “flavor” smell. I found my printer’s sample bottle to be very strong after running a 10-hour print in an enclosed 2.5 car garage. After using Yousu’s resin for the same time period, the odour was about half as strong.
So to be clear, yes the iForm resin has a strong odour. However, the overall smell of the fumes were significantly less than the other brand and did not give me an instant headache. So depending on how sensitive you are to resin fumes, you may enjoy working with Yousu iForm 181 Resin.
Yousu Resin Conclusion
The printing of my first resin-based project is nearly complete. I started with comprehensive plans and expectations for my Photon S, Aaron’s models and the new Yousu iForm 181 Grey Resin. I am extremely impressed as a brand new resin hobbyist. Yousu’s resin recreated the models’ intricate details, despite my initial mistakes and multiple printing adjustments. Although my profile for the iForm needs additional tweaking, the new resin performs using different exposure times (within the recommended range) and various support sizes. This project was printed with 1/6 – 300mm – 12inch scale figures not tabletop miniatures or small sample files.
In conclusion, Yousu iForm Resin for 3D printers performs. Novices and experts can expect great prints with minimal resin odour.
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Overall Yousu iForm 181 (Grey) Resin is easy to use. The metal canister is professionally packaged and labeled with a secure cap. Following the recommended settings, my prints succeeded with exposure time as low as 5 seconds. Yousu's resin odor was low and acceptable. Print quality was impressive and showed minute details. Both new users and experts should check out this recently released product.
