Hi All,
A while back there was a thread started by Brian077 dealing with the market research and availability of mythical creatures ship stands:
https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/threads/mythical-sea-creatures-research.5714/
There was also a quote within the thread from SZKUTNIK to design and CNC mill the pieces from wood. Although the quote was reasonable for the amount of work involved it was still a bit too high for the average ship modeller.
So, being the obsessive person that I am I allowed the thought of this project to stick around in my head for a while. I researched what was out there, I knew the learning curve for CNC milling wood stands was too long and so, after some time, I put the wheels in motion to get a 3D resin printer.
Why a 3D resin printer?
Well, the main reasons for me: It is simple to use, the finished model’s details are very fine, they use .STL files that I can use on the software I already know (Sketchup) and the printers are relatively cheap (my one cost around $400 aussie)- this allows me to make countless prints rather than paying once for a set of stands.
Another reason is that there is a wealth of free 3D files already available for download on the net.
So having bought the printer- run a few samples, trials, mistakes, watched videos to fine tune the prints I was able to get relatively good prints after a week or two.
This being my 3rd ever print - a skid for the Mini-Mamoli Britannia.
Designed on Sketchup:
Next was looking for a subject that could be used as the initial trial for a ship's stand.
As I mentioned, there are internet sites that have hundreds of ready to print files, the two main sites are:
MyMiniFactory and Thingiverse
MyMiniFactory has a section that contains file uploads of collections of actual scanned artefacts, statues, sculptures from museums around the world- then turned into highly detailed 3D scannable files.
https://www.myminifactory.com/scantheworld/
I researched this section looking for something that would look ok under a ship or, even better, as if it was already carrying the weight of the ship. Ideally the theme would be related to the sea.
This is what I narrowed it down to (not too many maritime themed samples):
Eventually I decided to use Thor (last picture) mostly because of his posture and the perspective of the sculpture.
His back and head looked ideal to support a ship and his legs brought forward meant he would not get too lost under the ship.
I know 3D printed parts are not to everyone’s taste, and I respect that sentiment as I was part of that camp only a few months back. To me it’s the flexibility and detail that can be achieved for models that will be painted over anyway that makes 3D parts a good alternative option.
So now the journey begins- The aim is to replicate a ship stand in a weathered bronze verdigris finish.
I plan to use this thread to experiment new techniques, get feedback from other members, make mistakes and learn from them, document the steps along the way (to allow me and others to reference them later) and hopefully have a reasonably good result for my first trial before moving onto the real thing. The model itself is 82mm long (from tips of toes to the back of the base) and 72mm tall.
From here I downloaded the free web file, uploaded the file onto a USB drive, plugged it into the printer and pressed the ‘Print’ button,
….and eight and a half hours later:
Rich (PT-2_