Ship modeling with 3 D printing.

Look at shapeways. This is a huge new aspect of the hobby.

my own observation is that purchasing a printer and designing parts, then making print files is not the best way to go. If you've got the time, money and skills, ok.

there are lots of other options. Simply buy produced parts online. Or commission someone to create files for what you want, send them to a printer and get your parts. Or write your files and send them to a printer.

I just visited Shapeways today and must say WOW!  They have some great looking 3D printing items for ships.  If cost of 3D printing keeps going down it will really change things. 

Hi,

A few years ago I bought a low cost 3D printer (DaVinci 1.0 from XYZ Printing) and have messed around with doing some ships and related stuff with it.  Because it was a low price older model it probably doesn't have the quality of some newer, more expensive units.

Below is a picture of three ships that I have printed (in white) alongside a store bought model of the LCS.  All these ships are to a constant 1/700 scale.  The larger white ship is a DDG model that I got for free off the internet.  I sliced the bottom off the model using some free ware tool, before printing, but printed the rest of the model as one piece.  I'm not sure if I had the printer set at its highest level of detail, but the model came out ok, though there are two small overhangs that only partially printed and I ended up stopping the print before it did the masts, because it didn't look like those were going to come out too well.  Overall the print wasn't too bad and is useful as a decorative item, but there is some noticeable "layering" along the model where you can see how the individual layers of the print stacked up.  If I wanted to try for something suitable for display I would probably reprint it at the highest level of detail, and maybe break the print into parts, and/or also maybe buy some better detail stuff from Shapeways etc to replicate some of the smaller detail.

The middle sized white model is for a notional frigate whose hull and superstucture I built up using some spreadsheets to develop the offsets.  I then exported those offsets from EXCEL to a text file and converted from text to ascii format.  For this model I printed the hull and superstructure separately and glued them together later.

The smaller white model is for a small corvette sized project I once worked on at work.  The model was developed in AutoCAD and another file and I tried printing it out as a complete single piece.  If you look closely you can see a band around the base of the masts that shouldn't be there, but got added by the printer software because a some small gaps and/or flaws in my initial CAD file. Similarly the bottom of the ship also got messed up a little due to similar flaws with the propeller shafts etc.  In general, based on my experience with this model and the larger DDG, I've kind of concluded that for complex models sometimes it might be best to print larger items in parts, such as maybe separating the superstructure from the hull or splitting the hull along the waterline etc, especially since my printer has an 8" x 8" footprint limit.

I've also been experimenting with some free software off the internet called Delft Ship that allows you to try and design your own hullforms.  Below is an image of a generic Pre-Dreadnought type battleship hull (roughly based on a small lines plan I found on the internet for the Russian Battleship Kniaz Potemkin).  I don't believe that the model shown below was to any specific scale, but I have been thinking of maybe trying to maybe do up an entire Pre-Dreadnought to a larger scale, probably doing it in pieces.

Regards

Pat

PS.  I think recently the company that the copy that made my printer was recently running a promotion where if you bought a dozen filament cartridges they would give you one of their older model printers (like mine) for free. 

crackers

Has anyone on the forum ever used 3 D printing to make objects for ship modeling ?

Several folk here have used the Shapeways 3d printed 1/350 crew members.  A couple have used the Shapeways-printed modification parts for ship conversions.

Now, using a printing firm like Shapeways is probably a much better deal than trying to "wing" it with an inexpensive home uinit.

My boss bought an inexpensive MakerBot, ostencibly so that we could print 3D models of architectural projects we were (are) modeling in SketchUp.  (Turns out SketchUp is not very "portable" to 3d models.)    The MakerBot we have would resolve to right at 0.3mm using its thermoformed filament.  The granularity of the product was directly related to orientation of the part being modeled. 

Because the filament was being heated to about 180ºC, there was considerable dimensional change in the material.  Which meant that you had to include considerable "slop" in how things fit together when making them as parts.  There was also a bit of a hiccup in that you really had to run parts in the same pass to guarantee they'd all be in the same "scale" (this may have been a limitation in how the AutoCAD model was exported as an stl (stereolithography) file, and how the MakerBot then loaded that up.  I never ran up enough parts to actually save them as a parts assembly to test this.  We then hit a wall in just how much additional filaments cost, once we ran out of the "sample" included with the printer.

It's still an emerging technology.  The skills and abilities needed are still evolving as well.  Then, there are practical things.  Like the lessons I learned from taking a solid AutoCAD 3D model and breaking that down for 3D printing are not obvious.

crackers

3 D printing is a process

Now, all that being said, there's a feloow who has done some exquisite 3D models built up here over in the Civil Aircraft folder.  So, it's very possible.

Hey! Can I get one that rigs my sailing ships? 

Went to the Hope It Don't Snow in Rochester, MN yesterday.  Saw handwrighting on wall- I need to get a 3D printer!  A couple of scratch or almost scratch models with loads of 3D printed stuff on them, and 3D printed accessories on a couple of other models.

Don, like your desire if you have deep pockets to fulfill your wish. 3D printers are expensive costing hundreds of $$$. Mirco-Mark, the small tool specialist, has the best 3D printer, the Dremel Idea Builder 3D40, that one can load the filament and with wi-fi connectivity to a computer, or can be operational without a computer, to turn out 3D projects in minutes. This is all yours for $1299.00. This is really sticker shock for a retiree like me.

Happy modeling    Crackers  

crackers

This is really sticker shock for a retiree like me.

Which ain't nothing on the equipment ShapeWays is using--that's still in the $3000-5000 range, with materials running $300-500 a batch.

Which makes $250 for a real of filament seem cheap.

As a side note, I browsed the Shapeways site pretty heavily last night.  They have an amazing range of add-ons for the Lindberg Blue Devil Fletcher-class destroyer.  Bith Bethlehem and Bath I.W. bridges, and to incredible detail.  Which seems an odd thing on the lindberg kit, since you're stuck with the out-of-box superstructure, stacks, and such.  Just the bridge, gun houses, torpedo tubes, and depth chage stuff will set you back in the neighborhood of $300, all to tack on a $40 kit (ok, so it sells for more, but it's only worth $40).

However, the 1/144 accessories do seem much more reasonable.

I love their 1/144 sailors. Not nearly as detailed as their CAD drawings, but still really good.

I'm still trying to figure out how to paint 1/350 sailors. About 50 of them on a card the size of a large postage stamp!

Hobbylinc has 1/350 naval figures already painted.

Happy modeling      Crackers

The online reviews I have seen for some of the new $300 range printers sound okay.  Are these reviews off-base?

These are what I got - 3d printed.

At least the hats are white already.

Don Stauffer

The online reviews I have seen for some of the new $300 range printers sound okay.  Are these reviews off-base?

 

Hi,

It might be worthwhile to go to any nearby store that has the printer and take a look at one (if there are any stores nearby).  Most places around me that sell 3D printers usually have samples of their output available to look at, and sometimes you can even get the sales person to run you off a sample (if you/they have time).

Regards

Pat

Don Stauffer

Are these reviews off-base?

Don, you have to take the reviews with a grain of salt.

Those can be quite nice for aking things like toothbrush holders, or gadgets that are 1-2" sized  Or, say a phone cover.  There's a semi-classic Maker part which will clip 1/4" glass panes into little shelf units.  Such things can be nicely moulded on MakerBots so that almost no layer lines show (pretty easy using a 4mm scantling, and double-thick casting process.

But, a 1/350 deckhouse with undercuts, maybe not so much.

Most of the printers have a utility which casts a "support" using the lightest material setting and least amount of "strength".  But, such things will also "curtain" the actual, desired, part.  Which gets tricky whe the detail you are priting is near the support filament size.  (if I get a chance, I'll photo some of my test shots from ot $450 MakerBot).

The debil is in the details.

Just out of curosity, how does a 3D pen work ? Is it for detail work ? The price for this devise was not quoted.

Happy modeling  Crackers   

Hi,

Over the last week or so I've had a chance to play around with some things that I've 3D printed and thought it might be of interest to others so I figured I'd post some pics here.

Below is a picture of a ~6 ship that I once printed, showing the visible layering you get from some 3D prining (click the link below the image for a larger scale pic).

(Bigger Image)

In the past I have tried smearing putty and/or using sanding sealer (or similar stuff) to try and fill the gaps in these layers.  Unfortunately Squadron Green/White putty tended to be too thick for use over large surfaces while sanding sealer o its own was typically too thin to do the job.  So I decided to try and experiment a little on another ship hull that I had printed.

The image below shows ~5" long Pre-Dreadnought hull, after some of these experiments.  On this model I tried costing one side with Mr Dissolved Putty, while on the other side I tried smearing the surface with some "HobbyLite - Balsa Colored Filler" from Hobbico, which I then covered with some sanding sealer from a company called SIG.

After a first coat it appeared that the Mr Dissolved Putty was still too thin to have a noticeable effect on the smoothness of the hull surface, but the filler and sealer that I used on the other side seemed to have a noticeable effect.  Unfortunately the Filler didn't always stick to the raw surface in all spots, especially near the bottom of the hull where there was alot of change in the width of the layers, so I ended up having to do multiple coats, with some light sanding in between (after the sealer had dried thotoughly).  Also in the end I did have to resort to a very small amount of Squadron White Putty in on or two problem areas.

However, overall I think that the hull came out fairly well, and much better than previous efforts that I had tried.

(Bigger Image)

Because I had a little trouble with getting the Filler to stick too the gull initially I think I might next experiment with maybe 1st coating the hull with some thinned paint or something to make it tacky and see if that helps. In addition I also recently picked up some Perfect Plastic Putty, so I might see how that works for filling the gaps as well.

Pat

crackers

Just out of curosity, how does a 3D pen work ? Is it for detail work ? The price for this devise was not quoted.

Happy modeling  Crackers   

 

3D pens are basically mini handheld 3D printers. They take a length of plastic rod, heat it up to just above melting and extrude it though a small nozzle. In this sense, they work the same as FDM printers. They can't really be used for detail work unless you need various sizes of plastic blobs and lines. The pens can range from over $50 to well over $150. As I've said in other places, anything FDM, stay away from in the modeling hobby. Currently FDM printers are not able to achieve the level of detail that SLA (stereo lithography)/DLP (direct light projection) and MJM (multi-jet modeling) printers can. 

I was looking for better detailed weapons for my 1/144 gato Fleet Sub and saw Shapeways 3" deck gun and Oerlikons and was very impressed with the level of details that is shown in the computer generated drawing but wonder how detailed the actual weapons will be?

Ford Motor Company has now begun to 3D printing some interior componants with its massive Stratasy Infinite 3D printer at the automaker's Research and Innovative Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Designs are uploaded from a computer and printed one layer at a time. Plans are in the making to 3D print entire car bodies in the future.

Article from Digital Trends. Happy modeling     Crackers  

Just got my 1/144 Gato 3D printed deck guns and man, I am impressed with the level of detail!!