Printing 3d models donated to the community

From Scan the World, triceratops is a model that demonstrates how you can print concave or hollow models by filling the void with removable supports. The next step is to print objects like this with a multi-filament printer using water-soluble filament for the supports. When you do this, you can just submerge the model in a water bath which dissolves the supports and you are left with only the model.

This castle is a fine example of the level of detail that can be achieved with the Prusa MK2 printer.

If you made it past the moat, you would have to also make it through the choke point into the castle where archers would extract their price.

View of the lord's manor on high ground.

Spinners were all the rage about a year ago and this was our favorite design on Thingiverse although these required a metric nut which was hard to find (and expensive) at the local hardware store. Due to the non-commercial license on this model, they were printed as gifts.

This series of cavemen were also printed using a model licensed as non-commercial. They are a good example of split printing, slicing the model in half, printing the front and back half separately and then gluing them together in order to prevent having to print with a lot of support material while retaining a high amount of detail on both the front and back of the figure.

Adalinda is a model that has been posed in a way that it is possible to print without supports and is very expressive.

Adalinda breathes the fire of peace in nature, her native environment.

After many unsuccessful attempts such as this one, it is easy to become wary about plating too many models in one print.

After a mostly successful print, it becomes more clear about what types of models are trouble free and which aren't. At this scale, it was difficult to successfully replicate items such as staffs. Also, a couple of the models didn't make it through the process intact. So, we created at least one 4-legged Frankencreature as you can see in the back right of the photo. Experimenting with printing this set of minis at a larger scale is on the list of things to do.

This lamp was printed in two different translucent filaments, simply by pausing the print and changing the filament. It was a happy accident due to the spool of the original color running out but the effect is quite nice.

When internally lit using LEDs, it looks swift and in a dark room throws cool patterns and shapes against the walls. If you are curious about the mathematics that Nik was working with to generate this model, check out the Wikipedia article on Voronoi diagrams which can be traced back to Descartes in 1644.

Thanks to all of the modellers mentioned in this post. The support of the community makes learning about 3d printing rewarding and fun.

The next desktop publishing revolution is here but it still has a long way to go before it is as mature. There are many techniques to successful printing that you will learn through trial and error. Don't get frustrated and your successes will soon outweigh your failures.