A question for all who have experience in 3D printing. One of my favourite locos is A4 Silver Fox and to be honest the only thing preventing me from building one is that I would like it to have a proper cast Fox on the side. Is there a way to get one 3D printed from this image? - Taken by me today at York so my copyright If I could get a 3D file I could have waxes printed and get some cast in Nickel or even stainless steel. All thought on whether it's achievable welcome.
I imagine to get the fine finish for a wax casting for making metal copies you would need a commercial company as they would have the high definition printers. The only one that springs to mind is Shapeways but I think they might want to produce them for anyone to buy? Pete.
Hi Pete, I agree, the more immediate issue would be getting the STL file to produce the wax. In fairness to Shapeways if I get that far I wouldn't be too stressed about them selling to others (I only mentioned copyright of the photo just in case anyone thought I was planning to use someone else's photo to get the cast done - I am sure that there are plenty of similar images out on the web but we are very conscious of copyright and would want to infringe anyone else's).
you could try printing with either 3D printing with either a SLA or DLP resin based printer, then use the print(s) as model for a silicon mould to cast whitemetal Paul
Thanks Paul, Sorry I don't seem to have explained myself or the question clearly enough. I believe getting it printed/cast etc. is the relatively easy bit once I have a file for printing. What I am asking is, is it possible to create an STL file for printing from the photo above or would it need someone with a 3D scanner to actually scan the fox to create a file that would create the print for use as a master etc.?
Looking at the picture, how about tracing in Inkscape, then cutting out the shape with your cutter in layers of plasticard and carve the final result. Again forming a master for a home made mould.
Ok a bit late on parade here but if you could give me the dimension as on the pic I'll have a go. There are software packages where you can import the pic, trace round it and then create a 3d STL file. I have one.
Ha, York Paul said there would be questions like this, and simply put the answer is actually yes to both. I recently scanned the front faring from my triumph spitfire and scaled it down to 1:18th for an already made model. The scanner cost me a few quid from a computer exchange shop- it’s a Xbox 360game sensor, but the infra red scanner can be rejigged via a program called Skanit ? (Off top of my head) and it will then create your stl file for submission to shapeways if that’s your choice. Your file is only available to others should you choose to “sell it” and you can print as many as you want from that one file in number of materials, some more expensive than others. However, the down side with 3D scans at home like this is its crude and lacks detail that you may want for this, but you can edit it in later. The other option is to take an outline drawing and these can be imported to some 3D drawing programs (file format may vary so I won’t quote a type here) and can the me be “extruded” to give a depth required. Again, some small details like the flecks on the tail or even the eyes may have to be added post extrusion manually. Doable, but not as straight forward as you may think. May be a coulple of hours work. And what size are you thinking? Andy NB3DM
