The implementation of crystal-plasticity-based material models in finite element software can enable precise prediction of the deformation of crystalline materials, by employing a constitutive theory based on the dislocation slip mechanisms. Since modelling the microstructure of a poly-crystalline material requires an adequately fine meshing of the components, the simulation of plastic deformation is only possible if such implementations are robust and effective. This is especially of great importance in the case of using an explicit integration scheme for the finite element solver. This study presents a new technique for preparing models with complex geometry that contain grain orientation information and are suitable for use in the finite element software Abaqus. By implementing stable and robust user material subroutines, it is now possible to simulate large plastic deformation in small-scale structural components. Selected cases are discussed.