3D Printing : Back to Reality With a Bang

No luck with the 3D printing unfortunately. I contacted the printers in the University and it turns out that the printer only prints in one colour. I think a shipwreck DSM in one colour would not be as impressive so I started looking through NCG files & folders for alternative models. We have some great ones of Maynooth campus from the 3D Campus project - created by Seamus Coveney and Damian Butler - both now employed elsewhere. 

As you can probably see from the image, these models are a work of art (ignoring the architects input of course) - and the level of detail is incredible. Surveyed with a Leica Scan Station (or maybe it was a HDS3000) and created using Leica Cyclone and 3Ds Max, everything is included. Metal work on the top of the cross on the spire, stained glass windows, it's all there. But most importantly - it still looks great in one colour! So I cut out the Chapel, Spire and St Pats as these are the most impressive parts of the south campus and sent those off to the Library. Unfortunately it was a non-runner as the printers said the model was not 'watertight' enough.

Which is ironic as I really wanted to print a shipwreck.

Snowflakes

I came across a great post a while back on close-range photogrammetry and snowflakes. IMaging something that small really is about as close range as you can get! You can watch a live feed of snowflakes (when it is snowing) or inspect them in detail at this link. If that isn't enough there is a whole gallery of them here.

Two other things I discovered while looking into this:

1. MS Word stubbornly refuses to recognise well-established terms like, 'photogrammetry' or 'orthophotograph', but has no problem with the term, 'selfie'.

2. Snowflakes can also be referred to as 'Hydrometeors'. I bet not many people are going to call their cat that.

Top 10 White Cat Names

1. Snowball

2. Cotton

3. Snowflake

4. Ivory

5. Casper

6. Crystal

7. Icicle

8. Snowy

9. Marshmallow 

10. Flurry

3D Printing Moves a Step Closer to Becoming Reality!

I noticed a sign offering 3D printing as I was browsing in Maynooth University library earlier! Combined with the shipwreck database from GSI there is a very real possibility of having my own 3D printed shipwreck surface model like the one in my last post.

There are lots to choose from around the Irish coast. There is an excellent one of a WW1 UBoat but I think the Lusitania has to win if it is possible....I have emailed the 3D printing team in the library to see if the models are all one colour or can different 'ink' colours be used. That will allow me to colour it by elevation like in the previous post. The surface model will have to be converted to a  Stereo Lithography (STL) format but I have found a few webpages giving instructions for that.

Watch this space...

3D Printing

I came across a fantastic image on LinkedIN a few weeks back. I posted in January about the GSI's database of shipwreck surface models but this is the first time I ever saw a digital surface model turned into a physical model with a 3D printer! The image had been reposted a few times before I came across it and with no extra information I can not ID the wreck or the creator of the model.

Still, a very cool image.