My first post was back in February - before I had even purchased a 3d printer, and it is now November and I am writing the introduction... This blog is all about my experiences for 3d printing. It is a way for me to share what I learn along the way, and to show off what I have created. Most pages are tagged Model and are about a specific model, and the prototype it is based on. Generally I try to visit the prototype, and include a couple of photos of that for comparison. I also try to learn the history of the building, which is not always easy, and record that on the page too. A lot are buildings in and around Preston, as that is where I live. Models are further divided into Building , Railway (i.e., railway-related buildings), Feature (bridges, tunnel portals, etc.), Rolling Stock , Vehicle and Clutter (smaller items) In addition, there are pages tagged How to and Prototype . If you want to know how to use Blender to make 3d models, there is an article I wrote on another s...
This is an issue I hit whilst revising Lund Church. A model is made up of polygons, and each polygon has a front and a back. In Blender it is not obvious which is which, though Blender does track it. And occasionally it gets it wrong, and a section of mesh is, in effect, inside-out. When you try to print out, there is just a hole there. In the image below you can see some of the stones to the left of the windows are not just missing but also caused holes in the superstructure. Microsoft 3D Builder does not spot it, all looks good in there. But Chitubox does. It will not actually say anything or stop you producing a bad file, but it does highlight bad bits in your model. In the image below, all that roof is wrong, the right side of the arches, a part of the cross at the end of the roof, and some stones in the tower. All are shown in a much darker colour. So what are normals? Behind the scenes Blender creates a vector (essentially a line) that starts from the centre of the polygon and ex...
This page is basically just images of real bridges! Iron Arch Bridge Made of cast iron, these were the earliest iron/steel bridges, and the first notable example is, of course, at Iron Bridge, and dates from 1779. They are the most attractive of iron bridges, but are fairly rare, and always seem to be built to take the railway over something, rather than taking something over the railway. Manchester There are two great example just west of Deansgate Station, one of which has three spans. This image shows how multiple arches were used to provide strength. It is not easy to see, but where the arch meets the stonework, the stone is angled to be mor-or-less normal to the curve. I cannot rember where this one was, Leeds maybe? Truss Bridge Truss bridges have girders across the span on two levels, these are the top and bottom chords , with ironwork connecting them called webs . The arrangement of the webs can vary significantly, giving the various types of truss bridges. Worcester This is n...
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