3d printable Traveller Ship Designs

[Condottiere]

A reactionless drive might be possible, but also require stuff and circumstances that are very difficult to coincide; viable commercial fusion reactors seem a more accomplishable goal.

In terms of getting stuff that I want, risk assessment sounds like considering options that could place me in jeopardy, financial, legal, personal or otherwise.

 

[Diveguy]

So, finally got my printer in, and 2nd Dynasty has been delivering on the Kickstarter campaign - thought I would share some samples for the board. Apologies for the image quality, had to re-size to meet the board limits.

First two are the "tactical" scale Type S Scout (on supports to show how it comes off the printer), and then with the SDB. These are intended for starship miniature combat on a hex sheet or the like.

The second is the 270-scale System Defense Boat, both on supports, and then primed and prepared for painting to show overall size.

I used the default printer settings for my setup and am very pleased with the results. Print quality and detail is good, particularly at this scale.

I'll work on getting the smaller ones painted this week. The larger SDB will wait, as I may try to throw some LEDs on it as part of the assembly.

 

[whartung]

On the larger model, do you plan anything besides painting? Perhaps sanding down the, uh, "tool marks"?

 

[Diveguy]

Whartung, yes I will probably try to do some more wet sanding - had to let the primer cure, and today had other real life issues pop up.
Given the nature of 3D printing I may only be able to accomplish so much... BUT, I'm always willing to write that texture off to "hi-tech whatever handwavium" as a justification.

Because, seriously, when the SDB first caught my eye 40 years ago as I flipped through an issue of JTAS, and then discovered Traveller - I never dreamed I'd be able to have a model of one. I'll take what I get!

 

[Topaz172]

I guess the idea of posting designs that can be printed by a service bureau is just wrong.

I still do not understand why these are not drag and drop, "pick a color", "here's the price, it'll be 2 weeks".

Sounds like you ahve to download the design, run them through some tool to make "supports", or whatever, and off you go.

I guess the market is simply not mature enough to support the lay person wanting to print something like these things.

There are two ways to print a file.... as the designer I send what I have designed to a service such as shapeways... they do the create support structures bit as part of their service. YOU download my file and send it to shapeways 'as is' and get a nice ship by return post.

The second way is to own a 3dprinter, download the file and you'd have to do the supports/slicing yourself. Doing the work yourself is obviously significantly cheaper and allows you to play around with scale,

As a customer you'd like to simply 'buy a model'...I get that.... in order to provide that service I'd need a commercial Licence from FFE, which I don't have.

Many hours of genuine fun went into creating these, I provide them FREE for the benefit of the community.

 

[Topaz172]

Three New designs available for download and printing.

The Serpent Class Scout (a CT era alternate to the classic type S)

Serpent Class Scout by Tuaththua

Design inspired by Serpent Class Scout from Traveller RPG I've not printed a test copy of this one yet. Designed with a minimum surface detail of 0.3mm

www.thingiverse.com

The Avian-X a 'Stretched Serpent' (CT era alternate to the free trader)

Avian-X Class Free Trader by Tuaththua

The Avian-X class Free Trader is a design inspired from the Traveller RPG Avian class, This design was requested for an upcoming sourcebook where it will depict an 'experimental prototype'. I have not yet run a proof print on this one, It should work with any 3d printer with a 0.3mm detail...

www.thingiverse.com

Warspite Class Mercenary Cruiser (and Walrus Class Escort Rider) - (a CT era alternate to the Broadsword with a heavy fighter )

Warspite Mercenary Cruiser with Walrus Escort Rider by Tuaththua

Warspite Class 800ton Mercenary Cruiser with Walrus Class Escort Rider inspired by a pen and ink illustration for Traveller RPG. Please note that I've not test printed it, so its possible that it may fail. It was designed to print with a detail resolution of 0.3mm. Consists of two models that...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[Micah461]

The Avian-X a 'Stretched Serpent' (CT era alternate to the free trader)

Avian-X Class Free Trader by Tuaththua

The Avian-X class Free Trader is a design inspired from the Traveller RPG Avian class, This design was requested for an upcoming sourcebook where it will depict an 'experimental prototype'. I have not yet run a proof print on this one, It should work with any 3d printer with a 0.3mm detail...

www.thingiverse.com

For the AvianX - Possibly the coolest 404 page I've ever run into! LOL! The Serpent with the H-P Victor cockpit is just plain AWESOME! You da man Topaz172!!

 

[Topaz172]

For the AvianX - Possibly the coolest 404 page I've ever run into! LOL! The Serpent with the H-P Victor cockpit is just plain AWESOME! You da man Topaz172!!

I think I fixed the 404

Avian-X link

 

[Topaz172]

Mongoose: Solomani Scout-Courier
A new addition to the fleet ... my take on the Solomani Scout Courier... I have shifted the cockpit location to make it more dynamic looking and added a 'serious engine'.

Its a shame I can't post on the mongoose forum (still waiting on that application)

 

[Topaz172]

The Classic Traveller Air Raft is now added to the collection... It is 164mm long at 28mm scale. It should easily be scaled to 225mm long at 1:35 scale.
Comes with all the usual accessories....Pintal mount, groundsheet, spade, random backpacks, a dent or two, roll-bar, a winch and a bicycle rack

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5206184

 

[coliver988]

The Classic Traveller Air Raft is now added to the collection... It is 164mm long at 28mm scale. It should easily be scaled to 225mm long at 1:35 scale.
Comes with all the usual accessories....Pintal mount, groundsheet, spade, random backpacks, a dent or two, roll-bar, a winch and a bicycle rack

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5206184

that's nice! though for me printing at Shapeways would be $$$. Guess I'll stick with my papercraft air rafts until I get around to getting a 3D printer, the time to mess with said printer, and the patience to deal with the aforementioned printer

 

[whartung]

For whatever reason, this isn't rendering for me. I see all of your others in the overall view, but even there it's only gears for the air raft. The main page just has a spinning circle.

I don't know if you're printing yourself or using Shapeways (or some other contract printer).

Could you post a walkthrough on how to print one on Shapeways (or whatever)? Do you have any photos of a printed model?

 

[coliver988]

For whatever reason, this isn't rendering for me. I see all of your others in the overall view, but even there it's only gears for the air raft. The main page just has a spinning circle.

I don't know if you're printing yourself or using Shapeways (or some other contract printer).

Could you post a walkthrough on how to print one on Shapeways (or whatever)? Do you have any photos of a printed model?

It never rendered for me either , but I imported it into Shapeways and then it rendered there. Very highly detailed. And while I would like one, cheapest print was about $70, and the "good" ones + $100. Eventually I may get a 3D printer but that is years away (time, space, money, patience all conspire against me. Mostly the patience part as I'd want a high fidelity one and those are finicky resin printers with a lot of prep & post work. I am lazy)

It is a large file and perhaps too large for the browser viewer to handle?

Anyway - thanks for that hard work!

 

[Topaz172]

It never rendered for me either , but I imported it into Shapeways and then it rendered there. Very highly detailed. And while I would like one, cheapest print was about $70, and the "good" ones + $100. Eventually I may get a 3D printer but that is years away (time, space, money, patience all conspire against me. Mostly the patience part as I'd want a high fidelity one and those are finicky resin printers with a lot of prep & post work. I am lazy)

It is a large file and perhaps too large for the browser viewer to handle?

Anyway - thanks for that hard work!

OK... I assumed that it was a standard format.. but looks like its a shapeways custom file....
I will upload an STL in a bit.

I agree its a bit of a trade-off paying more per print or the entire song and dance of owning, caring for and feeding a 3d-printer.

 

[whartung]

Why would one print cost more than another? Wouldn't the defining characteristic be, essentially, the amount of material in a print (and the type, of course)?

$70-$100 a print gets you very quickly in to home printer range.

 

[Topaz172]

For whatever reason, this isn't rendering for me. I see all of your others in the overall view, but even there it's only gears for the air raft. The main page just has a spinning circle.

I don't know if you're printing yourself or using Shapeways (or some other contract printer).

Could you post a walkthrough on how to print one on Shapeways (or whatever)? Do you have any photos of a printed model?

If you are doing it the shapeways way you create a login, and then upload an STL / OBJ / 3MF file of the design only. So in this case you'd take my file from thingiverse and load that up,

If you are doing a design yourself there are 'sanity checks' that have to be done to make sure that all of the walls are thick enough to print... these parameters will be different depending on the material you pick...Basically if the image goes red its not going to print. I usually go with 'versatile plastic' as its cheap and I know that paint sticks to it, (Hi-Res Resin is great for detail but I find acrylics don't bind well to it)

So in the case of my model.... load the file pick versatile plastic click print and wince at the cost.

By contrast (and I am no expert) ...a home 3d-print would require that you take my file and run it through some software that (I think ) comes with the printer..this software generates temporary support structures and slices. You load the output file from that into your 3d printer and leave it to run overnight. The whole leaving a potentially hot device running untended is one of the reasons I do it the expensive way!

On the plus side it is possible to have your air-raft printed in solid gold (un-hallmarked)for the price of a small apartment

 

[Topaz172]

Why would one print cost more than another? Wouldn't the defining characteristic be, essentially, the amount of material in a print (and the type, of course)?

$70-$100 a print gets you very quickly in to home printer range.

different materials cost different amounts... some materials have 'polishing' options. Beyond that shapeways charges by volume in the machine... if its >150mm they have to use one of their larger printers...but basically price is a dark art

 

[Topaz172]

OK I have updated the air raft with an STL version

Air Raft (Classic style) by Tuaththua

Before Star Wars started calling it a Landspeeder the classic name for a Gravitic Vehicle was an Air Raft, a term coined by Author Andre Norton and others. This Air Raft is based on illustrations in the classic Traveller RPG. This File has been test printed successfully The model has a detail...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[coliver988]

Why would one print cost more than another? Wouldn't the defining characteristic be, essentially, the amount of material in a print (and the type, of course)?

$70-$100 a print gets you very quickly in to home printer range.

into what I'd consider a barely adequate printer. I tend to go for long-term and quality, and after reading a bit, a resin printer. So, a bit more. Then all the chemicals, and as pointed out, putting the model through another program (usually comes with the printer) to add supports and all that. Then all the work of post-cleanup, curing, and keeping my cats away from toxic fumes. And I have way too many minis already (boxes of them, waiting to get painted). So while I love looking at 3D models, I'll probably stay away from getting a 3D printer as then my house would have even MORE minis!

(and I back 0-Hr's KS for spaceship minis & poster deck plans. Have all of them. And w/o begin able to play face to face, they just sit there, taunting me. I also have a few Traveller ship minis that people have posted on Shapeways. Really want to get back to face to face playing so I can bring out the toys!)

Regardless, I do keep saving Topaz's models as one day I may decide I need that particular ship in a model. So again: thanks!

 

[whartung]

Yea, see I can't speak to the big ring thing, but I'd like to think that the scout and far trader aren't any $70 to print.

And I wasn't suggesting you can get a printer to $70 (maybe you can, I hope it's clear I know ][ much about 3D printing). But start printing 2, 3, 4 of them, and you're, as I understand it, starting to get in the ball park.