Published: Oct 22, 2022 by K. E. Claytor
I recently took training for the 3D printers at my makerspace. As a first project I found these neat “kit-cards” on Thingiverse, a great resource for 3D print ideas. These reminded me of the model airplane kits I used to build as a kid and the hours of fun I had there. After printing them out and assembling them with kiddo, I thought they would look good in a mobile. So I put together a quick laser-cut arc template and assembled them into a mobile.
They were also great test pieces for the 3D printer. Using these I was able to test the different (raft/brim) adhesion options, adhesion material (I preferred the PLA, as it snapped off cleanly and could be soaked in water to remove the rest), and fill percentage.
The arc lengths on the mobile are all the same length, so I had to balance it to the models’ weights. Here’s the weight balancing diagram:
Cylon = 6g Viper = 5g
EnterpriseD = 8g Tie Fighter = 11g
Enterprise A = 3g XWing = 5g
Link to my laser-cut arc template (SVG):
Links to the ship models:
