3D printing objects for ship kits

[Jonathan_219]

I've been thinking (a dangerous pastime I know) and it seems that there ought to be a way to 3D resin print parts that either aren't right or aren't included to finish out the deck details of kits. I really know nothing about 3D printing but I've been doing some research and there are some companies that are selling some items like that and I think that's great but what if they don't have the item or scale you need then what are you to do? As resin printers come down in price, I've seen some under $300, it seems like that should be an option but I don't know where I'd get the 3D plans to print the correct part, I don't really want to learn how to create those plans needed to print accurate parts but maybe that's what I need to do. I'd like to think that there could be a repository of plans that have been created by hobbyists that we could all share and use or adjust if needed and scale then to the right proportions for whatever ship we're working on and just print out the right cannon, for instance. I'm assuming that once a 3D plan has been created it could be scaled to whatever size it needed to be to fit the ship you're working on. It seems like pretty much anything needed from cannons to buckets to lanterns could be printed and added to kits with a fairly inexpensive printer and the right plans. Even figures for the crew should be within the realm of possibility. It seems like a new world of detail and accuracy is in our reach if we just had the right plans and a printer.

 

If someone has been down this road and knows why this would or wouldn't work then it would be interesting to hear. It's an emerging technology, resin printers seem to be able to produce the detail and size necessary, but it seems like the biggest barrier right now is the lack of public plans to create these pieces. I have no idea how hard it would be to create a 3D bucket or cannon in a format that would translate to whatever printer someone decided to use and if people would be willing to share their work after creating something like that where anyone that wanted to print a new one for their ship would be able to access. Possibly some companies will fill this void and there won't be a need for most people to print their own items but it seems that there are so many different possibilities that something like this would work in a lot of cases.

 

 

[noel_colledge]

There are web sites you can either purchase or are free for some items such as thingiverse but they are generic and not always accurate to a period. Using other sites such as hero forge you are able to design a figure that resembles a sailor, but it is biased towards fantasy so clothing is an issue. You are able to pose however you want for the situation though, and the cost of the .stl file is not that much.

 

One of the biggest issues especially on the slicer Citubox is determining what size to print, you can scale of course, but if drawing full size a calculation needs to be undertaken to determine how much to reduce by.

 

The best option still is to draw out your requirements on a 3d cad program or blender and print away once you have gone through the pain barrier of learning the programs which is where I am currently

[Jonathan_219]

I've been poking around, downloaded and installed Bender and have been looking at free and cheap sites for 3D patterns that would apply to shipbuilding. One of my biggest concerns is what resources are 100% legal to use as a basis for creating a 3D model. Let's say I learned Bender well enough to model a specific 16th century cannon and I found a picture of one on the net. Would it be legal to use that picture as a basis for creating a model? I don't want to use something without knowing that it's legal but I'm just a hobbyist that would make something with no intention of selling either the plan or product but I'd like to be able to make and share it with the community without worry. Copyright laws and just plain Intellectual Property common courtesy seem like a very deep subject.

 

The free and nearly free sites are tough to search, but there are useful things out there. I tried searching for barrels and found lots of patterns and could almost surely find one that fit my needs (purely hypothetical right now) either as is or with a little tweaking in Bender. Some of the more specific things like hull decorations or figureheads seem like they'd have to be made since they're more specific to a single ship.

 

Learning Bender seems like a pretty monumental task and that's not something I'm sure I want to tackle right now. I'm still trying to think this through and see if it's worth digging deeper. The possibilities are pretty amazing but if it's just one off pieces I'm not sure it'd ever be worth it.

[mikegr]

So Bender is the most popular 3d design program?

[Gregory]

Do you mean Blender ?

 

Blender seems to be more about 3D animation rather than creating objects for 3D printing.

 

Fusion 360 might be more of a go-to for parts creation.

 

It's free for hobbyists.

[PietFriet]

In my experience, it depends on what parts you want to make.

 

Blender's sculpting module is very well suited for designing and printing ship decorations (you can ignore the animation part).

 

I found Fusion 360 more suited for things like cannons, ship's bell and stern lanterns.

[Jonathan_219]

I did intend to say Blender instead of Bender, I blame Futurama. I will check out Fusion 360. I've done a couple of the Blender tutorials and am more lost than when I started.

[Jonathan_219]

Quote

The upshot is that once completed, tested and used on my model, the .stl files will be offered to other builders of the Sovereign so they don't have to be stuck with the ones offered by DeAgostini, Sergal, or Amati.  

 

This is the kind of thinking that could really push things forward. I'm sure some people would enjoy researching and creating the files necessary for something like this but I'd prefer to use existing files to make more accurate pieces for my models if they were available. I have the DeAgostini SotS on order (backordered forever) so this is something that I'd probably eventually use if it were available. I wonder if the forum would be able to host files like that so people would have a logical place to look if they need something, just thinking out loud.

[Gregory]

While you are here..

 

Have you heard of Meshcam ?

 

While it targets  CNC  users, it is a very powerful tool for refining STL files..

It is not free, but some might find it a worthwhile investment.

 

Here is a demo video of what it can do..

 

Meshcam Video

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by Gregory

[Tim Holt]

To be clear, it's not at all appropriate for the kinds of sculpted details I'm seeing here, but for really basic stuff (like jigs and non-ship parts), I use Tinkercad.  It's a simple free, web based system for solids modeling that Autodesk has. 

[Nirvana]

1 hour ago, Tim Holt said:

To be clear, it's not at all appropriate for the kinds of sculpted details I'm seeing here, but for really basic stuff (like jigs and non-ship parts), I use Tinkercad.  It's a simple free, web based system for solids modeling that Autodesk has. 

Tinkercad is a simple version of Fusion360, but both are free to be used by hobbyist.

[Jonathan_219]

Quote

Tinkercad is a simple version of Fusion360, but both are free to be used by hobbyist.

 

For Fusion 360 all I could find was a 30 day free trial and then $60/month or $347/year after that. Is there something I'm missing for hobbyist use?

 

Tinkercad looks like it might be a good option to just start learning the basics to be able to move to more advanced programs and have some background.

[PietFriet]

Try this link or Google 'Fusion 360 for personal use'.

[Haze Gray]

It’s still possible to get fusion 360 for free but the free version no longer allows export to the STL file format (which is what you would need for 3D printing).  An EAA membership is $75 I think and you get solid works for 12 months… that might be a good option.  

[PietFriet]

3 minutes ago, Haze Gray said:

It’s still possible to get fusion 360 for free but the free version no longer allows export to the STL file format (which is what you would need for 3D printing).

Are you sure about that? I have no problems exporting and .stl is still shown as a format you can export in the free version.

[noel_colledge]

It is still possible to export to .stl files, 

 

It is in the export drop down menu for the file, you just have to scroll down the menu box a little.

 

The most frustrating thing I find about the free version is not being able to save as a .pdf file anymore. Took me ages to find out how to get around this and actually print a file

[Haze Gray]

13 hours ago, PietFriet said:

Are you sure about that? I have no problems exporting and .stl is still shown as a format you can export in the free version.

Well that's great news - Autodesk must have caved to the community pressure, I remember it was late last year that they announced that the free versions would no longer support export to STEP or STL so good to hear they did the smart thing!!!

[PRS]

Just remember that resin printers are smelly and messy. 

 

Otherwise they print fantastic with no layer lines.

 

When purchasing a 3d printer stay away from the cheap chinese stuff. I had made that mistake myself before purchasing my Prusa MK3. It is a filament printer but I can use it right beside my computer and it does print very well. 

 

Prusa does make a resin printer and although pricy they are great quality and the company has excellent customer service.