The request for forgiveness comes from the fact that there will probably be many "Let Me Google That For You" questions herein...
You see, over here I am detailing my build of the venerable ACME Spitfire. I'd like to do this in a "Calvin and Hobbes" theme, with the venerable "Spaceman Spiff" riding in the nose cone. This requires:
1. A 3D Print of Spaceman Spiff. Thingverse has a model labelled a "work in progress". It's old. I D/L'd and got a 59.1 MB file with the .OBJ suffix. My home computer (quite capable for a lot of tough things, flight simulation, Solidworks, Finite Element Analysis) blue-screened trying to load it with the default Microsoft 3d viewer, so I don't know if it's a bad file or...?
2. A 3D print of a nose cone, hopefully with a slight bubble canopy, but likely just windows flush with the original contour. Here I did my homework and modeled the actual Spitfire nose cone in Solidworks. Which was NOT easy! I never did work with surfaces and lofts much, and to loft a cone-shaped surface when in fact that cone is not a right circular cone required some picking around, but it's done. I knit the inner, outer and bottom surfaces and filled it solid. I used a .047" thickness but now the questions start...
Q1: Assuming I massage this model to include canopy windows... I'd assume these would be thin membranes in the 3D print, to be cut out and repalced with clear plastic. But you have to have the right plastic to glue to other plastics - and the paper "off-centering" ring. I have .005" clear polystyrene sheet which would easily flex for my purposes, but how does that adhere to the sort of plastics used most often for 3D printing? I've seen nylon used on Shapeways, I don't think that would work too well...
Q2: What are your thoughts on the .047" thickness? That would I imagine, hinge somewhat on material... The "stock" nose cone is cardstock, the rolling and gluing of which would make a master origami artist start cussing, stomping, and throwing furniture through windows...
Here's a screenshot:
It's roughly 4 in. high and 3" in diameter at the base. The lip around the inside is where the "off-centering"ring would sit. There are two alignment notches cut out of it. The base is obviously cut at an angle to that lip, and it occurred to me that it might be better for 3D printing purposes if I rolled the model back to before I made that cut and have the base parallel with the lip, and presumably the bed, amd then just saw it off; I could even leave a cutting line in the model. But would anyone suggest any other changes/preparations? I know just enough to be dangerous, i.e sometimes interior supports are needed, etc...
And then comes the output file. Solidworks offeres several, including .STL, but what do folks around here use? I assume each printer has it's own "slicer" software?
Finally, I don't have a printer (yet). That takes a LOT of research, very confusing, many factors. My son wants one too - he does a lot of stuff with architectural miniatures at 1:12 scale, and we thought if we were careful we could each get a printer that used different processes/size/detail capabilties so as to have a wider range of capability "in the family", as it were. But in the meanwhile I would need this printed. I am not a freeloader, so anyone here that volunteered would be compensated. Or, I suppose I could use an on-line service, but I still need help specifying everything - it's a long way from "art" to "part", I've always said, not the least of which is tolerance requirements, which is a sideways way for asking about accuracy!
Much thanks to all who help!
You see, over here I am detailing my build of the venerable ACME Spitfire. I'd like to do this in a "Calvin and Hobbes" theme, with the venerable "Spaceman Spiff" riding in the nose cone. This requires:
1. A 3D Print of Spaceman Spiff. Thingverse has a model labelled a "work in progress". It's old. I D/L'd and got a 59.1 MB file with the .OBJ suffix. My home computer (quite capable for a lot of tough things, flight simulation, Solidworks, Finite Element Analysis) blue-screened trying to load it with the default Microsoft 3d viewer, so I don't know if it's a bad file or...?
2. A 3D print of a nose cone, hopefully with a slight bubble canopy, but likely just windows flush with the original contour. Here I did my homework and modeled the actual Spitfire nose cone in Solidworks. Which was NOT easy! I never did work with surfaces and lofts much, and to loft a cone-shaped surface when in fact that cone is not a right circular cone required some picking around, but it's done. I knit the inner, outer and bottom surfaces and filled it solid. I used a .047" thickness but now the questions start...
Q1: Assuming I massage this model to include canopy windows... I'd assume these would be thin membranes in the 3D print, to be cut out and repalced with clear plastic. But you have to have the right plastic to glue to other plastics - and the paper "off-centering" ring. I have .005" clear polystyrene sheet which would easily flex for my purposes, but how does that adhere to the sort of plastics used most often for 3D printing? I've seen nylon used on Shapeways, I don't think that would work too well...
Q2: What are your thoughts on the .047" thickness? That would I imagine, hinge somewhat on material... The "stock" nose cone is cardstock, the rolling and gluing of which would make a master origami artist start cussing, stomping, and throwing furniture through windows...
Here's a screenshot:
It's roughly 4 in. high and 3" in diameter at the base. The lip around the inside is where the "off-centering"ring would sit. There are two alignment notches cut out of it. The base is obviously cut at an angle to that lip, and it occurred to me that it might be better for 3D printing purposes if I rolled the model back to before I made that cut and have the base parallel with the lip, and presumably the bed, amd then just saw it off; I could even leave a cutting line in the model. But would anyone suggest any other changes/preparations? I know just enough to be dangerous, i.e sometimes interior supports are needed, etc...
And then comes the output file. Solidworks offeres several, including .STL, but what do folks around here use? I assume each printer has it's own "slicer" software?
Finally, I don't have a printer (yet). That takes a LOT of research, very confusing, many factors. My son wants one too - he does a lot of stuff with architectural miniatures at 1:12 scale, and we thought if we were careful we could each get a printer that used different processes/size/detail capabilties so as to have a wider range of capability "in the family", as it were. But in the meanwhile I would need this printed. I am not a freeloader, so anyone here that volunteered would be compensated. Or, I suppose I could use an on-line service, but I still need help specifying everything - it's a long way from "art" to "part", I've always said, not the least of which is tolerance requirements, which is a sideways way for asking about accuracy!
Much thanks to all who help!
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