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Posted

Hi all,

 

I am presently building a 1/32 resin kit of the Mercury capsule that sadly did not come with one important part.  This kit is out of production and virtually impossible to find.  I do happen to have a 1/12-scale model of the Mercury capsule.  My thought is whether I can use the 1/12-scale part as some kind of template/model to 3D-print a 1/32-scale part.  I would greatly appreciate people's thoughts on this prospect.  I have virtually zero knowledge of 3D printing technology, so please be gentle ;)

 

Cheers

Brian

Posted (edited)

Hi Brian


I don’t know what printer you have but, as far as I’m aware, the printer can only print from a digital file consisting of sliced layers of the 3D body to be printed.

 

So, in this instance, you’d need a digital representation of the 1/12 scale component before you could print from it. If you have the ability to accurately 3D scan, that would do it. Then you could reduce the scale of that model to 37.5%, slice it and print it.

 

If you don’t have 3D scanning capability, I don’t think many people do, then the 1/12 scale component would merely be a reference for modelling the 1/32 scale version as far as I’m aware.

 

How complex is the component?

 

Martin

Edited by SnøMotion
Typo, as usual
Posted
2 hours ago, SnøMotion said:

Hi Brian


I don’t know what printer you have but, as far as I’m aware, the printer can only print from a digital file consisting of sliced layers of the 3D body to be printed.

 

So, in this instance, you’d need a digital representation of the 1/12 scale component before you could print from it. If you have the ability to accurately 3D scan, that would do it. Then you could reduce the scale of that model to 37.5%, slice it and print it.

 

If you don’t have 3D scanning capability, I don’t think many people do, then the 1/12 scale component would merely be a reference for modelling the 1/32 scale version as far as I’m aware.

 

How complex is the component?

 

Martin

Hi Martin,

 

Thanks for the reply.  So, I don't even have a 3D printer.  My question was more about the art of the possible, not necessarily the immediately practical.  I figured one would need to do some kind of 3D scanning, just wasn't sure how common that is.  A quick look on the internet reveals that I can pick up a scanner for only $25K!

 

The part in question is the retropack shown here in silver with black stripes on the head shield (just the cylindrical part, not the straps).  This is the 1/12 scale version and so is more detailed than the 1/32-scale part that originally came with my kit.

 

spacer.png

Image credit: https://imodeler.com/2017/06/friendship-7-ma-6-atomic-city-mercury-spacecraft-in-112-scale/

 

It occurs to me my best bet might be to search for existing 3D print files for this part on the internet...not sure how likely those are to be floating around, though.

 

Anyway, I appreciate your help and feedback!

 

Best,

Brian

 

Posted
6 minutes ago, bapowell said:

A quick look on the internet reveals that I can pick up a scanner for only $25K!

Yes! I had a look myself the other day after seeing someone on here mention using a dental scanner. I managed to find one in the UK for £7k, but even so…! :rofl:

 

10 minutes ago, bapowell said:

The part in question is the retropack shown here in silver with black stripes on the head shield (just the cylindrical part, not the straps).

Ah, okay, not a massively complex shape, then. It’s certainly something that could be modelled without too much trouble.

 

13 minutes ago, bapowell said:

It occurs to me my best bet might be to search for existing 3D print files for this part on the internet...not sure how likely those are to be floating around, though.

If you could find it, it would certainly be the easiest option. But, as you say, it’s how likely that would be.

 

Martin

  • Thanks 1
Posted

I can't remember where I saw it but there is are apps for mobile phones that lets you use it as a scanner - Place the item to be scanned on a turntable with a ruler and take a video of it turning.

 

Found this on google(There are others for Iphone) - not sure if it is the software I heard of.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.polycam&hl=en_GB&pli=1

 

On scaling up/down this is easy, a few click with a mouse in the slicing software, but if the item is at the minimum thickness that can be printed, it will be too thick when scaled up and wont' print if scale down.

Posted

3D scanning *does not* work the way most people seem to think it does.  It is *not* just as easy as taking a few pictures or doing a simple pass, then hitting print.  It simply isn't.

 

The correct answer to the OP is that the simplest, best solution would be to reverse engineer the larger scale part by  'scratchbuilding' it in CAD, then print it out.  Or in your specific case, to pay someone to reverse engineer the part, then pay them to print it.

  • Agree 1
Posted

Or you could just scratchbuild the part from plastic shapes and epoxy putty, and avoid all the faffing about with 3D printing (which has its place, but it's not a panacea for all ills). Seeing as you only need one, the work involved with all the 3D stuff is somewhat wasted, especially as you'd still have to find someone to print it.

Posted

I agree with the last two suggestions.  If it were me, I would look online for factory drawings or blueprints to start with and then model it from there.  It doesn't look too complex, but it does require some skill with 3D modelling and time.   Maybe find someone on Fiverr to model it for you?  Alternatively, it doesn't look too hard to scratch build, and the striped paint job will distract a viewer from seeing mistakes.

 

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