eSUN PLA-LW PLA 3D Printer Filament, 1.75mm 1KG Spool Lightweight Strong Paint Adhesion Foaming PLA Filament for 3D Printers 3D Printed Airplane, Natural

I used the eSUN PLA LW (1.75mm, 1KG spool) to print parts for an RC airplane I’ve been working on and I’m honestly impressed with how well it performed. The lightweight part is not just marketing. My printed sections came out noticeably lighter than standard PLA and that made a huge difference when I was trying to keep the overall weight down for better flight performance. It printed clean with consistent extrusion and I didn’t have any weird clogs or brittle spots on the spool. Once I dialed in my settings, the parts came out strong enough to handle handling, assembly, and those little bumps that happen when you’re test fitting everything. For an RC plane, that balance of being light but still durable is exactly what I was hoping for. The paint adhesion is also a big win. I painted the airframe pieces and the finish grabbed really nicely without peeling or looking patchy. It took sanding and paint way better than I expected, which made the final look so much more polished. If you’re printing anything where weight matters, especially RC airplane parts, this is absolutely worth it. I’m already planning to order another spool for the next build.

Oh I am loving this. Building a 3d airplane and the prints are great. Know your LW printer settings.....this spool is great

Per eSun's Fast filaments print parameters document, I printed at 250°/50° (though label says 190°-270°, the doc recommends 240°), extrusion multiplier of 0.55, zero retraction, and density set to 1.2g/cm². Print speed of 40mm/s is recommended, I found I could safely go up to 80 on this large, smooth object. I found that the print yellowed out of the nozzle, but I turned part cooling off altogether and the yellowing stopped, leaving a natural cream color. Bed adhesion on glass is poor and requires glue stick and/or a large brim, but adhesion on textured PEI is so aggressive that I had to clean the PEI with acetone (which is technically safe, as PEI is a polyimide like Kapton). Half the bits of filament would peel off the bed cleanly, but the other half stuck really hard. cooling the bed sheet didn't facilitate cleaning or part removal. Perhaps turning off the bed heat would alleviate the problem. Overall a very cool product. Would be perfect for airplanes or water toys. This would also be a good material for lowering the mass of your hotend, if you have many printed parts on it which you could duplicate in lightweight material.

Because the LW PLA expands it has negative and positive aspects. The expansion allows you to print parts at less than half the weight. You can make several aircraft from 1 roll. The expansion also means retraction doesn't really work that well so it will take a while to get dialed in.

I'm part way thru building my first model aircraft. This product feels like paper when it prints. I'm making radio controlled paper airplanes...