[3D printing] Kerbal Tabletop Miniatures

[pellinor]

I always wanted to make a kerbal model in tabletop miniature scale. The idea was to pack as much KSP as possible into a single compact model, and I ended up with a space station with a docked spaceplane. So I started by using the craft file import script to get the meshes into blender. Thanks to esinohio for help with some of the part meshes that I failed to import properly. This model is optimized for "frosted ultra/extreme detail" from Shapeways, trying to push the envelope of this material.

The main steps to a printable model were:

* either thickening or removing thin details like handrails

* incorporating features from the normal maps and textures into the meshes

* making sure that the connections between parts are solid enough

(stock connections often have a slight 'disc of air' between them where the model would fall apart)

* making the meshes manifold ("water-tight")

* hollowing the model to make the print cheaper

Link: Model on Shapeways

The station is 1.25cm diameter which corresponds to 1:200 scale. Printed with a wall thickness of 0.3mm, the whole model uses about 2.2 cm^3 of material. At 0.3mm, the gigantor panels are quite flexible and arrived slightly bent. Convoluted surfaces like the tanks and science lab seem perfectly robust. For the handrails 0.2mm deep and wide was a good measure.

The design relies on the 'print it anyway' option, so I can violate the design rules here and there. The plane had small convoluted escape holes, which was not the best idea because there was support material left clogging the service bay and intakes. I'd recommend to either leave generous holes so the stuff can get out easily, or only a tiny hole (like 0.1mm, seems necessary to mark the interior as hollow) so it stays inside.

Since I had a self-imposed deadline for the print, it does not have all the details that were initially planned, but I am very happy with how it turned out. It is quite difficult to take decent photos of the transparent material (I'll post better ones when there is some paint on it). The details come out well, however some of the smooth surfaces have a slight grain to them (only noticeable for surfaces at right angles, and I already sanded the spaceplane wings).

Spinning this idea further, it would be nice to have a construction kit like arc5555 did with his kerbal paper models. So the main manual work only needs to be done once for each part. I could imagine two ways of making this work:

1) Printable meshes that let you build in blender, so if you place them next to each other they will intersect in a way to ensure a printable connection. In principle it should also be possible to tweak the existing blender import script to use these meshes instead of the in-game ones. This would be my favorite for models in tabletop-scale.

2) Like above, but instead of intersecting add some plugging interface to the stack nodes, so you print individual parts and snap/glue them together yourself. The interface might be as simple as a centered hole for inserting a pin. This way might be more fun to physically play with but will lead to models with visible seams. This is probably better suited for larger scales, together with cheaper materials or a home 3D printer.

For best results these meshes would be optimized for a specific scale and material (the most critical factor being wall thickness).

Being a slow painter with lots of other unfinished projects, I probably won't make another KSP model anytime soon. So I won't drive this idea of a construction kit any further, but would be happy to help if someone else wants to do it. Are there others interested in modelling at this kind of scale?

Edited September 24, 2015 by pellinor

[Parkaboy]

Nice job, that's pretty neat!

[MrWalrus123]

cool!

[pellinor]

No more tabletop players or scale modellers here?

Finally I built and primed the model, to allow some photos that actually show something. The priming was done in two steps: first black, then a light dusting with white spray paint mainly from one side, to make the structures more visible and give a rough idea of the lighting.

The solar panels have a shaft of 1mm thickness, and I ventured to draw a 0.4mm hole in it for inserting a reinforcement wire. And it worked! I can't stress enough how awesomely detailed this material is.

The background has a 1cm-grid, and the model is about 7cm long.

Edited September 24, 2015 by pellinor

[Garibaldi2257]

tabletop gamer and miniature painter here. these look awesome, although painting them looks like it will be a pain in the rear

[pellinor]

Small addition: on shapeways the model costs about 19 euros (+tax +shipping) in the "frosted extreme detail" material I used, and 13 euros in "frosted ultra detail" which should print just as well. So it was not even that expensive for its size and level of detail.

I just hesitate to put it up for sale because I printed a different file (a sprue, together with other parts). If anyone is interested in the blender file just contact me.

[roarke]

Miniature painter here too !

[steuben]

what did you use to get things into blender?

[pellinor]

what did you use to get things into blender?

With this import script:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/111483

Esinohio helped me with a few parts (like getting the solar panels in the extended state).

[IanThePineapple]

Could you please explain how you got the panels extended, and how you made the ladders thicker?

thanks!

[pellinor]

Extending the panels was esinohio's work. I rebuilt the ladders by hand, only using the original mesh as a guide.