New Idea for detailing and correcting 1/800 and 1/720 Aircraft Carriers

It seems to me that you're on to something, Bill.  I have to believe that 3D printing has the potential to dramatically impact the hobby, as you say.  

I have a pretty decent understanding of how 3D printing works on the output side . . . but I'm not clear on the "intake" or scanning options on the front end.  What would be the best way to "scan in" existing parts?

Charles

Charles,

My school's Engineering teacher says that there is a scanner that can scan a 3-D object to a CAD drawing that can be rescaled as needed. I honestly don't know much about it but would love to learn. He has duplicated the flat parts I need and has rescaled them down from 1/600 to 1/720 and 1/800 but he needs that appropriate scanner for the rounded sponsons. The detail on the flat parts is nice and crisp.

Bill

Micromark is advertising a 3D printer for modelers:  http://www.micromark.com/3d-printer-kit,11656.html . That price is too much for me at the moment, and I don't know what additional software would be necessary to make it work. Micromark does sell the plastic filaments that make the parts.

Several firms have given hints of this medium's potential. Blue Ridge Models has just announced a series of 1/700 basket masts for battleships, and White Ensign has a little 1/700 trawler that looks superb.

It looks to me like this process is on the verge of becoming a big force in scale modeling. I don't think it's time for me to pour a great deal of money on it quite yet. But I suspect several other 3D printers, at lower prices, will come on the market within the next year or two.

Wow! The scanner alone is $799.00!

Bill, if you have measurements and a couple of pictures, I can model it for you.

Here's a low poly model of the HMAS Adelaide I did a year ago.

Watchmann,

I can do better than that! I can send you the actual parts that I would like scanned and reduced or enlarged in scale! Please send me your address if  this idea seems plausible. And, I would be glad to pay for your efforts!

Thanks!

Bill

Hi Bill,

I can't scan the parts, but I should be able to model them.  It would be easiest if I had some contour plans to work from, but I should be able to do it.  I think the printed parts might be rough to get them working with different models; there might be a lot of sanding and filling to get them looking right.

I did just find some free 3D software from AutoDesk that might work for scanning with a tablet or smart phone.

http://www.123dapp.com/

Catch is the one you might be very interested in!

http://www.123dapp.com/catch

matt

Matt

The only thing I have to work with are the 1/600 scale parts that I need to rescale down to both 1/720 and 1/800. I'm not sure how to get contour plans. Also, I am anticipating some fit problems if I can get the parts rescaled. That will be no problem.

Bill

I'm willing to give it a try, Bill.  Message me with your email address, and I'll send you that .stl file.  I rescaled my model of the HMAS Adelaide to 1/700th scale.  It should print to 6.5".

Hey Everybody,

GREAT NEWS ,how about a 3D printer for less than 300 bucks here's is a link to it

www.theverge.com/.../the-cheap-and-beautiful-mod-t-is-3d-printings-best-chance-at-going-mainstream

I think it could be a game changer as far as the cost of the printer .

COChef

Wow! That just might be worth checking out . . .

Bill

Hi,

I bought a low cost 3D printer (http://us.xyzprinting.com/) a few months ago and messed around with printing several different things.  The picture below shows 3 different 1/700 scale things I printed, along with a 1/700 scale plastic model of the LCS-1 for comparison.

Overall the quality of the printer that I bought is pretty decent, but I still end up with visible "layering" that would probably either need to be sanded down or maybe filled in with some putty to get a smooth surface.  In addition while gluing the ABS plastic from the printer to another printed part is pretty easy I haven't had a chance to experiment much yet with trying to "glue" the ABS plastic to styrene.  (For ABS plastic to ABS plastic all you have to do is make a paste from some acetone and scrap pieces from the printer to use as glue).

Right now though I'm messing around with modifying/kitbashing a plastic ship model and I've been thinking about trying to 3D print some parts, so hopefully this will give me a chance to experiment.  I'll try and post some pictures if things turn out well. 

PF

PS.  One other thing I've experienced while trying to 3D print stuff is that small "defects" in a model can cause weird results.  Specifically since the software for the printer kind of takes the model and slices it into a bunch of different layers, on a couple models that I've tried to print if you have multiple parts in a model and the "grid" that defines the shape of each don't match up fairly close the software can kind of get confused.  For some of the ships that I tried to print, if the model had something like a "bilge keel" or "rudder" that was added on to a hull, when "slicing the hull" it appeared like the software would sometimes get confused in where that "slice" extended to near the intersection of the hull and the "keel" or "rudder" and end up drawing that layer wrong, resulting in the printed ship having a "ridge" running around it at/near that layer.  I will see if I can find a good image to demonstrate this.

Hi,

Here are two images that might better help show what I was trying to explain above.  The 1st shows a 1/700 scale "what-if" frigate type vessel.  If you look closely you  can see some visible "layering" in the hull and superstructure.  A little bit of sanding and/or filing might be able to hide most of it, but it helps show some of the issues you might come across in trying to print a file with noticeable shape to it.

The next image shows the hull of a small corvette, that was modeled up using a professional CAD program called Rhino 3D.  In this one there were alot of errors.

Most  noticeably, the there appears to be a heavy "ridge" near where the "prop" shafts intersect the hull and there also appears to be a lighter "ridge" near the ship's waterline. which )as I noted in my previous post) I think is due to the "slicing" software that is used to translate the model into code for the computer getting confused where parts "overlap" or don't match up cleanly.

As such, even if you have a 3D CAD file that looks fairly good you have to be careful because it may not necessarily print cleanly and may require some clean up or rework before printing.