CREAT3D Creative Hub: Snow Globe15 December 2017 | Sabina Gonzalez-George CREAT3D’s Creative Hub, Project Number 2: The Snow Globe. Let's get festive!
CREAT3D’s Creative Hub Project Number 2: The Snow Globe The Snow Globe is designed by our very own CREAT3D Team Member, Sach. It's available on Thingiverse, Thing 1218649, by Sach, published December 23, 2015.
With over 20 separate files to print we decided to use a range of 3D printers for this project: MakerBot Replicator+, Ultimaker 2 Extended+, Ultimaker 3, Formlabs Form 2 and the Leapfrog Bolt Pro.
Cabins & TreesWe wanted to create visually textured cabins and trees, so we used some specialist materials and a couple of little tricks. The cabins were 3D printed in colorFabb woodFill filament, and for the trees, we printed in PLA but reduced the fan speed on the Ultimaker 3 at the start of the print, so that the filament would create more of a hanging branch-like structure.
Tip: Although colorFabb generally advise against 3D printing less than 0.2mm layer height for woodFll, we found that the top surface tiling detail on the roofs improved when printing at 0.1mm layer height and a reduced print speed of 40mm/s.
We also used the new Cura Connect system to manage our print queues on the Ultimaker 3 - very useful system for managing our workflow! (We'll blog about Cura Connect separately).
Lower & Upper Bases Due to the large size of the upper and lower bases we opted to use the Leapfrog Bolt Pro, printing in colorFabb nGen. We decided to use nGen because of its properties. In particular, we needed the base to slot smoothly into the globe cover, and we got a great result, with no warping.
Tip: Be careful of pillowing on the top surfaces of this print! We would recommend increasing the top surface layers to avoid pillowing. We increased ours to 8 layers in Simplify3D. See images below: first image shows pillowing on top surfaces. Second image is with adjusted settings to increase the top layers. Remaining parts in PLA and ResinsWe split the remaining parts across the MakerBot 3D printers and Form 2, using PLA and a range of resins respectively. For the remaining models we used a range of PLA colours, and to create a sturdy, non-slip base we printed the globe's feet in Formlabs Flexible resin.
The finished globeThe finished snow globe gets us in the festive mood, so we assembled it quickly and easily whilst listening to classic Christmas songs! The only things that we didn't print this time round where the snowballs and the dome, but there's no reason you can't take this on. The balls could be done in a PLA, and the globe cover could be printed in Clear resin on the Form 2 (you would just need to split the file into sections for printing).
You can also add in electronics. The big holly doubles up as a button, which when pressed makes the snow happen. We used littleBits electronics for ours (full details on Thingiverse), or you can just go old school and give it a little shake
Tip: If you're handshaking your globe, don't forget to glue the objects into position!!
You can check out the print settings and material used in the table below, along with the approximate cost and time taken.
CREAT3D’s Creative Hub, Project Number 2: Our Festive Snow Globe which is currently causing a mini snow storm in the CREAT3D 3D Printer Showroom.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
