I have some pictures but they're too big to upload. Will resize and post tomorrow.

Good stuff.

I was looking at the Prusa i3 models the other day. Think that might be my Christmas present. Or I'll end up buying it earlier if I get impatient.

Still fiddling with settings and whatnot to get decent prints,
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hotg3f9z5q7okl3/2014-08-15%2014.31.38.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bvykhmu0eh5e9zx/2014-08-15%2014.32.06.jpg

Is it difficult to get things setup and aligned?

Just really trial and error for a lot of stuff. And sometimes it randomly gives up mid print, which doesn't help.

Did you have to pay any customs duty on yours?

Nope, or the laser cutter. Luck of the draw I think though.

How's the 3D printer?

Just noticed it's 1year+1day since I posted. I'm seriously considering one again.

Temperamental. But it seems all hobby-grade 3d printers are. Friend just used it to print a hinge he designed, then smoother the surface with car body filler and took a cast in silicone. He can now produce lots of hinges for a project in resin. That's pretty cool.

It seems designs have improved slightly, or they're making them out to have. Loads of "2015" Prusa i3s on aliexpress under £200, many look better than what I was looking at last year. If only in appearance they look like a nicer more refined piece of kit, all come with LCDs, cooled nozzles etc.

There's so many things at the moment I'm thinking "I could print that" or "I need a custom made box/case therefore I need a 3D printer"

I've gone off the idea of an extruder printer. Too many limitations. I'd really like a selective laser scintering setup made out of a cheap Chinese laser cutter, or a UV curing system using a projector or similar. 

I've got a pretty bog-standard prusa i3, had it since February, and I still wouldn't say I've got it printing as well as it could.
Temperamental is right. And slow. This tie interceptor model took about 5 hours for example.

If you get an i3, look for one where the main vertical frame has some sort of support. On the standard design its free to flex quite a bit, which I'm sure is contributing to poorer print quality on mine. I'm going to build a big wooden frame for it at some point.

 

This may sound stupid, but support in what sense?

How much plastic did it take to make the tie interceptor?

I mean something like this, with bracing to stop the vertical part flexing backward and forward. The standard design, like this, isn't very rigid.

I can't remember exactly how much plastic that used, I think probably about 6-7m of 3mm filament (a 1kg spool is about 130m IIRC)
I don't generally pay much attention to how much plastic things are using, its cheap enough that its not usually enough to worry about.

Gotcha.

This would probably be the one I buy, which looks to have the rear bracing you're talking about - http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot-Full-Acrylic-Quality-High-Precision-Reprap-Prusa-i3-LCD-Acquired-DIY-3d-Printer-Kit-with/2026704108.html

Yeah, that looks OK.
The other important things are that it has a heated bed, and can print from SD.
I'd personally be a bit scared of breaking an acrylic frame, and some people do end up having problems with some of those Chinese hotends, but of course those are what make it so inexpensive.
 

http://3dprint.com/88238/electron-3d-prusa-i3/

Very interesting.

It's saying first batch sale over, 2nd batch starting within 48 hours, and the price is $249.

But it also mentions the auto levelling as an extra, need to check that.

I haven't even looked at it tbh, someone posted it on Facebook earlier. You. Definitely want autolevelling.