Mars Express (ESA mission) 1:25 model

The European Mars Express mission was launched in June 2003 on board of a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur. Developed by EADS Astrium Satellites for the European Space Agency (ESA), it entered Mars orbit on the 25th of December 2003 and has been studying Mars and its moons since. It was the first planetary mission attempted by ESA and has been largely successful, exceeding by far its design lifetime.

More details can be found:

• on the old ESA science portal: https://sci.esa.int/web/mars-expresshttps://sci.esa.int/web/mars-express
• on the general ESA website: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express
• on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Express

This 1:25 model was prepared based on pictures and schematics of the spacecraft found on the internet, and in particular on ESA websites, and tries to convey as much detail as possible at this scale.

Print instructions

Most pieces are designed for FDM printers and around a layer height of 0.2mm and a nozzle diameter of 0.4mm. No support is needed.

The 8 auxiliary thrusters and the 8 HDRM are much easier (and nicer) to print with a 0.2mm nozzle. Do not hesitate to use brims if necessary to ensure adhesion to the build plate.

The largest pieces are the two solar array wings, each of them being assembled from 1 recto part (bicolor) and 1 verso part (with clips for a steel piano string reinforcement) glued together. These pieces require a build plate of at least 170x170mm.
The tallest piece is the main body part with a height of 62mm which should fit most printers.

For each part the color(s) are indicated as a prefix in the name and the number of copies as a suffix (e.g. for "BLACK-BLUE_SA_recto_x2.obj”, 2 copies of the piece must be printed, with black then blue filament).

The tolerances used are 0.2mm vertically and at least 0.07mm in-plane to provide a snug fit (keep that in mind if you want to re-scale the model!). If the tolerances are not accessible to your printer (or your printer is better tuned than mine 😉) you may have to use sandpaper or a hobby knife to adjust them until they fit and/or use (more) glue.

The OSR and solar array parts can be a bit flimsy due to their low thickness, be careful when removing them from the build plate!

Do not hesitate to seam-paint on the pieces where they are glued to each other. The different pieces should be directly in their print orientation when you import them in your slicer, see what it looks like on the single-color plates illustrations below: 

Multicolor prints

6 pieces (the solar array “recto” part, both parts of ASPERA-IMA, a pair of SAS-X sensors as well as the two LGA) need a color change during printing, which is easy by adding a filament change directly in your slicer. The height at which the color change should be applied is written as a file note, and the following screenshots can help visualize what it should look like:

Assembly instructions

I recommend using common white glue (and patience 😉) to assemble the pieces instead of contact glue that often leaves white residues and can be messy.

There are quite a few pieces but assembly is overall relatively easy (although I do recommend trying some of my other more simple models before attempting this one). Please refer to the little montages below presenting how the different pieces are positioned with respect to each other:

Non-printed parts

5 parts are not meant to be 3D printed but still necessary to complete the model. They are not provided as part files, but can be seen on the labelled back view figure of the previous section:

• NOTPRINTED_Desk_support_stem_x1 is a 3mm diameter 100mm rod. Recommended is carbon/glass fiber (quite easy to source). It needs to be rigid as the completed model is quite heavy.
• NOTPRINTED_SA_piano_cord_x1 reinforces the solar array wings and works as a rotation axis. It is a 1.5mm diameter and 460mm long rod, I used steel piano string but carbon-fiber should work too.
• NOTPRINTED_MARSIS_Duopole_x2 and NOTPRINTED_MARSIS_Monopole_x1 are 1.5mm diameter rods too, representing the MARSIS antennas. At scale, each duopole should be 820mm long and the monopole should be 290mm. To be compatible with the display on the desk stand, I opted for a length of 100mm in carbon.

[NOT SPONSORED] For other EU makers I have had great luck with https://micro-modele.fr/ to source such small diameter materials.

I paint the lettering on the desk support using a silver paint marker to make it stand out.