Michael Bradley: Serial Slice Model

For this model I decided to re use my model from my free model 3d printing project.  It is the same base model with some slight modifications due to the nature of the project.  I initially thought about modifying the structure to make it easier to put together in the end, but decided against it, as I didn't want to lose any more detail than I had to.

Reference 1

Reference 2

Because this is the same model as before, the modeling techniques are the same, however I did some minor modifications to remove the "radar dish" objects from the top and bottom, which wouldn't have looked right with the slicing.  To create the slice model, I first scaled the model to ~15 inches and then used the contour command to create the slices as curves.  From there it was simply a matter of running square dowels through the middle and each of the 10 extra engines, which would otherwise have no means of being attached.  Finally I laid them out on a sheet and numbered them accordingly.

I was sure I wanted to use wood on this project from the beginning.  While I think I would have preferred a wood with some kind of grain to it, the MDF I used turned out very nice.  For the dowels, I chose to use a square metal rod rather than a wood one, so its shape might be more consistent and the model wouldn't twist at all.  It was not easy to cut, but it was extremely straight and held the slices together perfectly.

Ghosted Root Model

Ghosted Slice Model

Cut Sheet

Render 1

Render 2

Final 1

Final 2

Final 3