3D Printed Model of a Sailboat
- Thread starter rpwillia
- Start date
The 3D printer can print anything you can model right down to the loose connections on your battery. But at what cost to model? I am a computer modeler and I'll tell you outright; you can't afford it. Not for a bauble on the coffee table anyway.
Most libraries (at least up here in the soon to be frozen north) have "makerspaces" which have 3d printers. There is also a crowdfunding initiative underway for a 3d scanner that attaches to an ios device.
What that means is that a little scanner attaches to your iphone and scans large spaces, or objects. Scanning your sailboat is quite possible, but as mentioned above, might be a little ambitious.
Cool idea though.
What that means is that a little scanner attaches to your iphone and scans large spaces, or objects. Scanning your sailboat is quite possible, but as mentioned above, might be a little ambitious.
Cool idea though.
A cool idea indeed! Helps is your boat exists as a 3D model.
Its unlikely however, the the designer will release the 3D CAD file. ;^(
Not sure when the boat manufacturers incorporated 3d modeling into their design phase, but if your boat is 20 years old or newer there is probably a 3d model of at least the hull, deck and interior. Getting those proprietary 3d files from the manufacturer would be difficult to impossible. I have been working as a designer/CAD modeler for almost 30 years and we do send our customers a STEP file of the 3d model so that can install into their assembly. It is usually a gutted out shrink wrapped version though.
I have used a couple different laser scanners and modeled the results with a 3D printer and also have machined the models into wood and metal. As mentioned earlier this would be much too costly a venture unless you have access to this equipment and know how to use the modeling software. It is a very exciting field but still time consuming for something like this. One day it may become affordable for the public to do cool projects like this.
Note: I laser scanned a bike owns face and machined it in 3-d out of aluminum and he used it as an air intake cover on his Harley. Looked awesome!
Note: I laser scanned a bike owns face and machined it in 3-d out of aluminum and he used it as an air intake cover on his Harley. Looked awesome!
That is cool!
At work we have a few, and they are encouraging folks to use Blender, a 3D modeling program. Does sound like a bit of work, but interesting.