Model making using a 3d printer

For an urban proposal I made a 3d model of the site. Regarding the scale I wanted to print it in, I made sure details were not smaller than 1 mm in the print. I printed the model on a scale 1:500. 1 mm is fragile, especially for the ground plate, but possible.

For computer modelling I used sketch-up. I tried different ways to export it. Grouping different volumes in sketch-up worked best for me. I exported the sketch-up file to zCorp via Rhinoceros . The zCorp-file can be directly opened in the 3d-printer software and printed (ctrl-p).

The site is composed out of 4 parts. Two parts were printed in one time.

All parts have been drying in the building-chamber for one night. Then I removed all the powder that was not used. After that the parts have been 10 minutes in the oven and than dipped in superglue (secondenlijm). The model is very instable before it is dipped. After that it is still fragile, but usable. You can compare it to ceramics: It can have a lot of forces, but you never know when it breaks…

The glue not only works as a stabiliser, but it also intensifies the colours used by the printer.

The last model (I forgot to do the oven phase) broke before dipping. But with the glue it’s quite good to repair. After dipping the total model you almost don’t notice the small breaks. Still it’s better to be very careful an have a lot of patience.