PRINT A 3D MODEL PLANE STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE A 3D MODEL PLANE FOR 3D PRINTING USING TINKERCAD CONTENT: BACKGROUND Page 2 1. 3D Printing What s that? 2 PREPARATION Pages 2-12 2. Let s 3D print your plane 2 3. Joining the wings 2 4. Separating the wings from the body 3 5. Separating the engine from the body 5 6. Separating the propeller from the body 6 7. Joining the A-frame 7 8. Separating the A-frame from the body 8 9. Separating the tail from the body 9 10. Reinforcing the front wheel 11 11. Positioning the body for 3D print 12 12. 3D Print 12 1
BACKGROUND 1. 3D Printing What s that? 3D printing is the transformation of a virtual 3D model into something you can hold in your hand. It s a bit like an ink-and-paper printer, but instead of printing onto a flat page it squeezes out layers of thread-like fibres to make an object - such as a toy or model. PREPARATION 2. Let s 3D print your plane Your plane looks great, but to 3D print it you will need to make some adjustments. Some of the parts of the plane will have to be a little bit stronger and some will need to be joined. You ll have to break your model into different pieces and these will need to be printed separately and positioned one by one on the workplane (blue grid). 3. Joining the wings To combine the separate wings and make it one solid piece - add a roof shape. Bring the roof shape into the workspace and rotate it 180 degrees. Then, place it between the wings. Rotate it slightly making sure the corners of the roof fit into the wings the same amount on both sides. Move it so it s in the centre of the body. 2
Select the two wings and the roof space by pressing the left mouse button and the shift key at the same time. Once the wings have been selected press group on the top right hand of the screen. Now the wings have become one solid structure, but they re still joined to the body. You need to print them separately, you ll see how to do this next. 4. Separating the wings from the body The wings are now one piece, but in order to 3D print them you need to separate them from the body. If you separate them the way they are at the moment, with the roof you just positioned between them, you ll have this: You need the base of the roof to be flat, like the body of the plane, so you can then glue them together. 3
Cut off the end of the roof so it s flat, using the body of the plane as a tool. Duplicate the body of the plane and scale it horizontally. In the picture below the scaled body is coloured in orange: Select the scaled body and press hole within the inspector tools. This is the tool that helps you cut or create holes in your shapes using other shapes. Once the scaled body has turned from orange to transparent you will know you have successfully made it a hole. Then select both the scaled body and the wings and group them together making the wings one piece with a flat base. Now that the the wings are one piece, rotate it 90 degrees and move it down until you reach the workplane. 4
5. Separating the engine from the body Select, ungroup and separate the engine from the body of the plane. The base of the prism of the engine needs to be flat, so it can be glued to the body once it is printed. Again, use the body of the plane as the tool to cut off the bottom of the prism. Duplicate the body, make it a hole and group it with the engine. 5
Then, move the modified engine down until it s on top of the workplane. 6. Separating the propeller from the body Now, separate the propeller from the body. To do that, drag the propeller to an empty space on the workplane - so that it is close but not quite touching. Rotate it 90 degrees and move it down until the base of the cone shape is touching the workplane. 6
7. Joining the A-frame To make the A-frame one piece and stronger to be printed, add a roof to the inside. Bring in a roof and scale it up so it reaches the pointy end of the frame. Then, scale the lower corners so they stick into the poles. Then flatten it so it has the same depth the poles do. When the roof is properly surrounded by the poles, use two boxes to make some holes. Bring one box into the workspace and position it over the plane s body, make it a hole and group it with the roof. That way you give some strength to the pointy end of the A-frame. 7
Bring another box in, scale it wide and flatten it to about 6mm tall. Position it below the plane s body. Make it a hole and group it with the roof. This way you have strengthened the lower part of the A-frame. 8. Separating the A-frame from the body To separate the A-frame from the body, again use the body as a tool. Select the body, duplicate it and make it a hole. Then, group it with the middle part of the roof - the one that is intersecting with the plane. Now, select all the roof parts, poles and wheels and group them together. 8
Drag the A-frame, rotate it 90 degrees and position it on the workplane. 9. Separating the tail from the body The only part of the tail you need to separate from the body is the vertical one, however it must be on it s own. If the tail is all one group then ungroup it. Make sure the horizontal part of the tail intersects with the body of the plane and the vertical one intersects with the horizontal, the same way you see here: 9
Make an indent on the horizontal pole of the tail so that the vertical pole can slot into the space after printing. Slot the vertical pole shape into the centre of the horizontal pole - press hole when the vertical pole is in the correct position. Select both poles and group to make the indent. Once this is done, drag the vertical part of the tail to an empty space above the workplane, rotate it 90 degrees and move it down to the workplane. 10
Group the body and the rest of the tail together; they ll be printed as one piece. 10. Reinforcing the front wheel The front wheel of the plane is formed by a pole and the wheel. This structure needs to be strengthened, so add another pole. Select the pole and duplicate it, rotate the resulting pole until it looks straight, scale it smaller and attach it to the previous one making sure it sticks into the body of the plane. Select the two poles and the wheel and group them together. 11
11. Positioning the body for 3D print The body of the plane, the front wheel and part of the tail will print together as one piece. Select this piece and rotate 180 degrees. Move it so it s inside the workplane. 12. 3D Print Your plane is now ready to print. Select Design, scroll down and press Download for 3D Printing. All 3D printers are slightly different, so save your plane in the suitable file format suggested for your specific printer (.STL /.OBJ /.X3D Colors /.VRML Colors). Download the software for the 3D printer you are in possession of and follow the printing guidelines. 12