Antarctic Research Station "Neumayer III"

This is a realistic model of the German polar research station “Neumayer III”, operated by the Alfred-Wegener-Institute in Antarctica (https://www.awi.de/en/expedition/stations/neumayer-station-iii.html). It is mainly created based on dozens of photos. The model is very detailed, including e.g. antennas, the snowmelt or instrumentation on the roof of the station, all in the correct position. At the same time, printing it is still quite easy. There are a lot of color changes, but they are all in between layers, such that you can do them “by hand” on every FDM printer.

Update 02/2023

We created an even more detailed version, including station interior and underground structures: https://www.printables.com/model/377549

Printing Instructions

In general, you will need six colors: Red, Blue, White, Darkgrey, Lightgrey and Black. Optionally, you can combine the Light- and Darkgrey into one color. For the assembly, use some instant adhesive. Properly oriented, you wont need any support for all the parts. The model already contains some spacings (between 0.05 to 0.15mm), such that the parts should fit together well, if you print them without scaling.

Print all the parts in the amount and colors listed below.  If there is a color change in the part, the numbers show the height in millimeters where the change should happen. This height refers to the final printing orientation. You can find all parts properly oriented in the .3mf files. Those .3mf files are only to show you the correct orientation, for the actual printing, you might want to separate the parts and add the color changes for your printer at the described heights.

I printed most of the model with 0.2 mm layer height using Prusament PLA on a Prusa MK3S. For the antennas on the roof as well as the hydraulic pistons on the ramp, I used pieces of 1.75mm filament.

If you have any questions, let me know! If desired, I could also upload pre-sliced gcode files.
Happy printing!

Parts List

Black
4x Window_Staircase.stl
1x Window_West.stl
2x Windows_Entrance.stl
1x Balloonhall_Window.stl
2x Window_Nord.stl

Blue
2x AWI_W.stl
2x AWI_A.stl
2x AWI_I.stl
1x Staircase_Roof_Blue.stl
1x StationLow.stl

Darkgrey
1x Rampyoke_West.stl
1x Roofcrane.stl
1x Overhead_Crane.stl
1x Ramp_Carrier.stl
1x Rampyoke_East.stl

Darkgrey-White
1x SatelliteRadome.stl (2.80 mm)

Lightgrey
4x Air_Inlet.stl
1x Air_Inlet_Base.stl
5x Air_Inlet_Big.stl
1x Balloonhall_Door.stl
2x Balloonhall_Gate.stl
1x Main_Entrance.stl
1x Side_Entrance.stl
1x Snowmelt.stl
2x SnowmeltBox.stl

Red
1x Balloonhall.stl
1x Crane_Door.stl
1x Ramp_Front.stl
1x Staircase.stl
2x Windstop.stl

White
1x Base_Front.stl
2x Pin.stl
1x Staircase_Roof_White.stl

White-Black
1x Badge.stl (0.60 mm)
2x Windows_South_D1.stl (1.80 mm)
2x Windows_South_D2.stl (1.80 mm)

White-Blue
1x Letters_Neumayer.stl (2.00 mm)

White-Darkgrey
1x Base.stl (7.00 mm)
1x Ramp.stl (1.00 mm)

White-Lightgrey-Black
1x Window_West_D1.stl (1.40 mm, 2.00 mm)
1x Window_West_D2.stl (1.40 mm, 2.00 mm)
1x Windows_East_D1.stl (1.40 mm, 2.00 mm)
1x Windows_East_D2.stl (1.40 mm, 2.00 mm)

White-Red
1x Staircase_Loft.stl (0.60 mm)

White-Red-White-Darkgrey
1x StationUp.stl (21.40 mm, 23.00 mm, 23.40 mm)